Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - An haifi Thabang Sampson Phathakge Makwetla a ranar 18 ga Mayu, 1957 a Lydenburg, wani garin hakar ma'adinai a lardin Gabashin Transvaal, wanda yanzu ake kira Mpumalanga, Afirka ta Kudu. Tun lokacin da ya shiga cikin 'Yan makaranta na Soweto
a watan Yunin 1976, an tilasta masa guduwa daga kasar kafin ya iya shiga. Ya gudu zuwa Lesotho don kammala karatunsa kuma ya shiga kungiyar soja ta ANC Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), daga baya ya zama mai koyarwa da kwamishinan siyasa a kungiyar. Yayin da yake aiki a MK, an tura Makwetla zuwa ƙasashe makwabta, kamar Angola, Botswana, da Zambia.