Abraham Lubavitch (1884-1958), known in South Africa as Abe Lax moved from Mažeikiai in Lithuania to South Africa. He was the only son of Bere Leibovitz and Henne Friedman and born in 1848. He was blessed with five sisters. His date of arrival was some time before in 1906. We know this as the Government Gazette announcement of his naturalization in 1921 noted that he was naturalized on 21 July 1920 and that he had bene in the country for 14 years. On his application he was listed as a storekeeper and butcher. 

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He reached Vryburg before 1915 as he was donating to Jewish causes by then. In the Vryburg district he was initially in partnership with Abbie Lewis in Madiboego and then Woolf Freidman, who was related his mother. Woolf preceded Abe. Their company was called Lax-Friedman and they were in the skins and hides trade. They traded in Vryburg, Port Elizabeth and Durban. He was later joined by his sisters Tzirre (married Chanan Poliak) and Pessa (married Morris Wald). Later, he moved to Gobabis in Namibia. He passed away in 1958 and is buried in Johannesburg. 

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The town of Mazeikiai was located on the railway line between Libau (Liepaja) an Romny, in Ukraine (built in 1868) and five years later it was connected to Riga by rail. Hence, the town and its Jewish community were connected to the Jews of Courland. The would explain why the Lax (Lubavitch) family had family in Riga, Lativa. See Raymond Ravinsky’s account of his trip to Mazeikiai.