George Milwa Mnyaluza Pemba is without doubt a great South African artist. Yet, until shortly before his death in 2001 when he was 89 years old, he was little recognised. Pemba was born 2 April 1912 in Korsten, Port Elizabeth. His talent emerged early in his life. He attended a mission school in Bethelsdorp, near Port Elizabeth but was often chastised by the teachers for wasting his time drawing. At age 16, he won first prize in an art competition at the local agricultural show. In 1931, Pemba studied at the Lovedale Teacher Training College in Alice, so that he would have a stable career and would be able to help his family financially. Pemba's beginnings as a painter occurred at a time and place not only highly unfavourable, but well nigh impossible, for a young black man to succeed as an artist. Rural and township life were his main sources of inspiration and his works became accurate reflections of the social and political conditions of his people. The balance and the harmonious arrangements of the elements in his compositions, together with the richness of his colours, contribute to the gentleness, but at the same time to the vitality of his work.