James Mpanza (15 May 1889 – 23 September 1970) was a community leader and social activist in Johannesburg, South Africa, from the mid-1940s until the late 1960s.
[2] Mpanza was born on 15 May 1889 in Georgedale, today part of Mpumalanga (Hammarsdale), a township between Pinetown and Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal.
His father Ventile Mbihlana Mpanza, an ox cart driver, and his wife Evelyn had four children but their eldest son died before manhood.
Mpanza studied until year 6 at Georgedale Primary School, before qualifying with a third-class teaching certificate at Indaleni in Natal.
[3] The squatters had left the slums of Orlando but their plight was still not certain and Mpanza got the nickname of "Sofasonke" ("we shall all die") as he added his opinion of their outlook if they had no help.
[3] Mpanza died in 1970 at his home in Orlando East and he was given a large civic funeral and buried in Jabulani, Soweto Doornkop cemetery.
[3] The James Mpanza House where his family lived after his death was given a blue plaque to mark his contribution to the history of South Africa.