On April 21, 1938, Ben Macala was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa. Being mostly self-taught, he is reported to have spent a lot of his childhood sketching on rocks while herding cattle in the countryside. As one of the few black South African painters whose work was shown during the heinous Apartheid era, Macala is recognized for his groundbreaking historical significance. In 1997, he passed away in South Africa’s Soweto.