Ntšeliseng 'Masechele Khaketla
Ntšeliseng 'Masechele Khaketla | |
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| Born | Ntšeliseng Caroline Ramolahloane 1 January 1918 Ha Majara, Berea, Basutoland |
| Died | 16 August 2012 (aged 94) Maseru, Lesotho |
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| Education | Fort Hare University (BA) |
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| Spouse | Bennett Makalo Khaketla (m. 1946; died 2000) |
| Children | 6, including 'Mamphono Khaketla |
Ntšeliseng 'Masechele Khaketla // ⓘ (née Ntšeliseng Caroline Ramolahloane // ⓘ; January 1, 1918 – August 16, 2012) was a pioneering Sesotho-language playwright, poet, short fiction writer, literary translator, and teacher from Lesotho. Khaketla achieved several notable firsts, including becoming the first Mosotho woman to earn a bachelor's degree when she graduated with a B.A. from University of Fort Hare (then South African Native College at Fort Hare) in 1940. The following decade, Khaketla became the third published female Sesotho-language creative writer and the first published female Sesotho-language playwright with the appearance of her play Mosali eo u 'neileng eena (1954).
Khaketla also co-founded the first private school in Lesotho, Iketsetseng Primary School, and became the first woman to be appointed as a high court assessor.
Despite receiving little academic attention during her life, she is now regarded as one of the founding figures in Sesotho literature.