One of eight children, Molefe was the son of a laborer and a domestic worker, though he was raised largely by one of his aunts, Sanah Tsatsimpe.
[citation needed] Molefe was one of the founding members of the Azanian People's Organization at its formation in 1978 and became the first chairman of the Soweto branch in 1979.
[1]: 193 He left the group in 1981 as a result of a dispute over the role of white Africans in the anti-apartheid movement, and the following year he became one of the Committee of Ten within the Soweto Civic Organization,[1]: 193 serving in that capacity until 1984.
He held this position until April 2004, when he resigned from politics citing a desire to tend to his "personal health and family".
[8] Molefe denied the accusations, and attributed them to what he termed Plaatje's "unstable history of making false allegations".