Right IconThis ranking is based on an algorithm that combines various factors, including the votes of our users and search trends on the internet.
Entrepreneur, engineer and industrial designer, Elon Musk, is famous as founder of the electronic payment firm PayPal, and the SpaceX spacecraft company. He is also the CEO of Tesla Motors. Elon Musk has plans to revolutionize transportation on earth as well as to space through futuristic technology.
Sharlto Copley is a South African actor best known for playing important roles in science fiction films, such as District 9, Elysium, Europa Report, Chappie, and Hardcore Henry. His portrayal of Wikus van der Merwe in District 9 earned him several accolades including a couple of IGN Movie Awards.
Born to stage-actor parents in South Africa, Arnold Vosloo is best known as Imhotep from The Mummy franchise. He is also often mistaken for Billy Zane from Titanic for his uncanny resemblance to the actor. The Dalro Award-winning actor has also appeared in series such as 24 and Bosch.
Joost van der Westhuizen was a South African rugby player. He took part in three Rugby World Cups, helping his national team win the 1995 World Cup. Widely regarded as the greatest scrumhalf in the history of the game, van der Westhuizen was inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame in 2007.
The veteran British actress who belongs to the Golden Age of Hollywood is known for her stellar roles in films like Miranda, Third Time Lucky and State Secret. Glynis Johns is also a singer, distinguished by her husky voice. She acted on the stage and the television. The daughter of actor, Mervyn Johns, has a son from her first marriage.
Faf du Plessis is a South African cricketer who captained the national team in the ODI format from 2013 to 2019. He has also captained the national team in the other two formats of the game. He became the first South African player to score centuries in ODI, T20, and Test cricket after he scored his first T20I century in 2015.
Nigel Green was an English actor best remembered for playing supporting roles in movies like Jason and the Argonauts and The Ipcress File. Thanks to his commanding height of 6 ft 4 in, strapping build, and regimental demeanor, Green was often cast to play men of action and characters with imposing physique.
South African-born American mathematician and computer scientist Seymour Papert is best remembered for co-inventing the computer programming language Logo, which is also an educational tool. He was part of the faculty at MIT and was known for his pioneering research on children’s learning processes, the constructionist movement, and AI.
Michael Levitt is a biophysicist who has been serving as a Stanford University professor of structural biology since 1987. Along with Arieh Warshel and Martin Karplus, Levitt received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2013. He has also received several other awards, including the DeLano Award for Computational Biosciences and was inducted into the National Academy of Sciences in 2002.
Austin Stevens is a South African-born Australian herpetologist, television personality, naturalist, wildlife photographer, author, and documentarian. Stevens is renowned for hosting the popular TV series Austin Stevens: Snakemaster on Animal Planet from 2004 to 2009. Apart from showcasing snakes, the show also focused on other wild animals like rhinos and hyenas.
Better known as the resident poet of the space rock band Hawkwind, Robert Calvert was born in South Africa and later moved to England with his family. Initially a building surveyor, he later joined the counterculture movement of the late ‘60s. He is best remembered for songs such as Urban Guerrilla.
Magnus Malan was a South African military man and politician active during the last years of apartheid in South Africa. He joined the Permanent Force as a cadet and steadily rose through the ranks in the ensuing years. He began his political career in the 1980s. A controversial figure, he was allegedly involved in the KwaMakhutha massacre.
South African actor-singer Steve Hofmeyr is best known for his role in Egoli: Place of Gold. He is also the former husband of actor Natasha Sutherland. He seems to have turned into controversy’s favorite child, with exaggerated claims of whites being killed in South Africa and his denial of apartheid.
Max Theiler was a South African-American virologist and physician. After getting his medical degree in South Africa, he went on to earn a diploma in tropical medicine and hygiene in London. During his career, he developed a vaccine against yellow fever, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1951.
Frederik van Zyl Slabbert initially studied theology, before switching streams and taking up sociology, eventually earning a PhD in the subject. Apart from leading the Progressive Federal Party, the South African politician also made a mark as a successful entrepreneur, eventually co-founding the trust Khula and serving several corporate boards.
Pierre Spies is a South African former rugby player who played for the South African national team from 2006 to 2013. He also represented the Bulls at Super Rugby where he spent the majority of his career. Renowned for his great strength, Spies was adjudged South Africa's Sportsman of the Year and Most Promising Player of the Year in 2008.
While breaking junior records in discus, Gerhard de Beer was also fascinated by rugby. He later moved to the University of Arizona on a track and field scholarship and began playing American football. Beer has played for the Buffalo Bills, the Indianapolis Colts, and the Houston Roughnecks.
Winner of four singles and seven doubles tournaments. South Africa born right handed tennis player, Andrew Pattison, began his professional career in 1970 and won his first singles tournament in 1974. In the same year he reached his career-high ATP singles ranking, attaining a career record of 270-247 in singles and 239-237 in doubles over a period of thirteen years.
South African field hockey player Dirkie Chamberlain is an Olympian and also has an African Cup of Nations gold. She began playing hockey as a teenager and later played for clubs such as MOP Vught, Kampong Hockey, and HGC Ladies! She now plays for Holcombe and is also a fitness instructor.
