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One of the best all-rounders the world has ever seen, South African cricketer Jacques Kallis was known for his signature cover drive throughout his career. He remains the only cricketer to score over 10,000 runs and take more than 250 wickets in both ODI and Test cricket.
Wayde van Niekerk is a South African athlete who competes as a sprinter in the 200 and 400 metres. He is the current Olympic and world record holder in the 400 metres. Wayde van Niekerk holds the world record in the 300 metres as well. He won the gold medal in the 400 metres event at the 2016 Olympic Games.
Reeva Steenkamp was a British-South African model and TV personality. She had a successful career as a model before she was shot dead, at the age of 29, by Paralympic champion, Oscar Pistorius. Her death became international news and she was posthumously named SA Persons of the year along with Anene Booysen by the Daily Maverick in 2013.
Nobel Prize- and two-time Booker Prize-winning author J. M. Coetzee had started his career as a Fulbright scholar. After teaching English in the U.S. and South Africa, he now lives and teaches in Australia. He is best known for his colonial settings in novels such as Waiting for the Barbarians.
Jodi Balfour is a South African actress whose portrayal of Gladys Witham in the TV movie Bomb Girls: Facing the Enemy earned her the Canadian Screen Award under the Best Lead Actress in a Television Film or Miniseries category in 2015. On 30 June 2021, Jodi identified herself as queer, gaining popularity among the LGBTQ community.
Justin Gabriel is a South African wrestler best known for his achievements in WWE; he is a three-time WWE Tag Team Champion with Heath Slater. He also won two Slammy Awards during his time in WWE. In 2011, he was ranked 61st in the PWI 500 list.
South African former cricketer Gary Kirsten was known for his composure on the field. As the coach of the Indian national cricket team later, he led the team to their historic 2011 Cricket World Cup win, one that came after 28 years. He has also coached the South African team.
JP Duminy is a South African former cricket player who served as the vice-captain of the national Twenty20 team. In 2008, he played a major role in helping his national team win their first Test series in Australia against Australia. After retiring from all formats of the game in 2019, JP Duminy started working as a cricket commentator.
Herschelle Gibbs is a South African former cricketer who became the first player to hit six consecutive sixes in one over in One Day International cricket. Apart from his batting exploits, Gibbs was also known for his superlative fielding. After retiring from the game, he is into the coaching now.
Former Manchester United midfielder Quinton Fortune was one of the rare South Africans to be part of the Premier League. He had started his football career with the Tottenham Hotspur at 14 and later also played for Atletico Madrid. He has also been associated with anti-domestic-violence campaigns.
While she began her career as an international swimmer at 14, Natalie du Toit had her left leg amputated after a scooter accident. However, that didn’t deter her spirit, and she was the only disabled swimmer to compete at the Beijing Olympics. She has also won 13 Paralympic gold medals.
Lloyd Harris made headlines when he beat world no. 3 Rafael Nadal in an ATP 500 event in Washington. As a child, the tennis star excelled in a variety of sports, including rugby and swimming. He earned the nickname King at 19, when he beat players a lot older than him.
Trevor Jones is a South African music composer for films and TV series. Jones, whose music is renowned for its depth and emotion, has worked on many successful films like Excalibur, Mississippi Burning, and The Dark Crystal. Over the years he has received critical appreciation as well as nominations for BAFTA Awards and Golden Globe Awards.
Temba Bavuma is the current captain of the South African ODI and T20 national teams and a talented right-handed batsman. Initially mentored by Geoffrey Toyana, he was signed up by the Lions. He is the second from his country to score an ODI debut century.
South African-born New Zealand actor Lesley-Ann Brandt was first noticed for her performance as Naevia in the Starz series Spartacus: Blood and Sand. She later soared to fame as the Vertigo/DC Comics character Mazikeen in the hit Netflix series Lucifer. She has also appeared in a couple of music videos.
Abba Eban was an Israeli politician and diplomat who took up many ministerial roles during his career. He served as Israel's education minister, foreign affairs minister, and deputy prime minister. He also served as an ambassador to the United Nations and to the United States. In 2001, he was honored with the prestigious Israel Prize for lifetime achievement.
South African former footballer Benni McCarthy had played for a number of European clubs, such as Ajax Amsterdam, before moving on to the South African club Orlando Pirates. He also represented Bafana Bafana, the South African national team, in the 1998 World Cup and African Cup of Nations.
Pieter-Steph du Toit, a popular lock for the South African national rugby team and was also part of the 2019 Rugby World Cup-winning team. The Stormers player almost had to have a leg amputated after suffering a serious injury in a game against the Auckland Blues in 2020.
South African pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, known as Dollar Brand, is best remembered for his socially relevant music, such as the jazz piece Mannenberg, which became an anthem for anti-apartheid activists. As part of The Jazz Epistles, he was one of the first black South Africans to record a jazz LP.
Born to anti-Apartheid parents in South Africa, Eddie Kramer later moved to London with his family. An expert in classical piano, he later deviated to jazz and soon became one of the greatest rock producers/engineers of the world. His collaborators included The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and The Rolling Stones.
Apart from captaining the non-white South African cricket team, Basil D'Oliveira also played football. His inclusion in the England team later led to the boycott of apartheid-ridden South Africa from Test cricket for 22 years, in what is now known as the D'Oliveira Affair. He received honors such as the CBE.
Leon Botha was a South African disk jockey and painter whose association with Die Antwoord made him popular throughout the country. He was also famous for being one of the longest-lived persons with progeria. Leon Botha's life and career inspired the one-act opera Solarize.
Apart from the South African team, rugby player Damian de Allende also plays for the United Rugby team Munster. Part of the 2019 Rugby World Cup-winning team, he made more runs than any other Springbok player in the tournament. He was also signed by the Panasonic Wild Knights.
South African heavyweight kickboxer and boxer Mike Bernardo was a regular at the K-1 World Grand Prix championships in Japan. Post-retirement, he became a clinical psychologist. He shocked the world with his untimely death at 42, due to uncertain causes, and many still suspect he had committed suicide.
South African politician and African National Congress member Trevor Manuel has been a cabinet minister under the first four South African presidents. A qualified civil engineer, he grew up being tagged as a "Cape Coloured" in the apartheid era. He remains one of the longest-serving finance ministers of the world.
Educator Janet Smith is best remembered as the wife of former Rhodesian prime minister Ian Smith. Born to Scottish parents in Cape Town, Janet was a talented hockey player and later married a rugby player. Her first husband died in an accident during a rugby practice match.
Solly Zuckerman began his career as a research anatomist at the London Zoological Society. Known for his books such as The Social Life of Monkeys and Apes, he had also taught at Oxford University and worked on projects of the British government during World War II, thus developing operational research.
South African Party leader Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr lost his father at 3. After recovering from hydrocephaly at age 2, he turned into a child prodigy and completed his bachelor’s degree at 15. A Rhodes scholar at Oxford, he later served as the deputy prime minister of South Africa.
Former wide receiver Jerome Pathon began his NFL career with the Indianapolis Colts and later represented teams such as the Seattle Seahawks and the Atlanta Falcons. The North Shore Sports Hall of Fame inductee has also coached the teams of the San Diego and South Florida universities.
