S.A. HALL OF FAME

Those who have expanded our horizons...The stuff of legends.
Nelson Mandela 1918 - ?
Freedom fighter, boxer, lawyer, political prisoner, president and 'Father of the Nation'. He founded the ANC's armed wing 'Umkhonto we Sizwe' in 1961 and led his country into the post-Apartheid era in 1994. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.

Chris Barnard 1922 - 2001
Surgeon who performed the first human heart transplant in the world, in 1967. He was also the first to do a "piggyback" transplant in 1971, and the first to do a heart-lung transplant. He pioneered a system of post-operative intensive care that markedly decreased patient mortality.

Desmond Tutu 1931 - ?
Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Cape Town, head of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission and activist. He boldly engaged in a nationwide defiance campaign under Apartheid. Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.

"Sailor" Malan 1910 - 1963
The outstanding fighter pilot of the Second World War, and by the end of 1941 was the top scorer with 32 kills, plus 2 unconfirmed - a record which he held for three years. He developed the "Ten Rules for Air Fighting", which remains still today the classic tenets for successful air fighting.

Steve Biko 1946 - 1977
Activist and black consciousness leader who preached Black solidarity to “break the chains of oppression”. He died in police custody after being beaten and interrogated for 24 days.

MiriamMakeba 1932 - ?
Singer and human rights activist was exiled for 30 years from her home country and is the first South African to win a Grammy award. She twice addressed the General Assembly of the United Nations and is a winner of the 1986 Dag Hammerskjold Peace Prize.

Jan Smuts 1870 - 1950
Lawyer, Boer general, guerrilla leader, Allied Field Marshall, statesman and philosopher. He helped found the League of Nations and wrote the Covenant of the United Nations. He also originated the concept of 'Holism'

Albert Luthuli 1898 - 1967
Mission teacher who became a leader of the ANC. He believed in non-violence and defied the Verwoerdian administration with protest actions such as passbook-burning. He was awarded the 1960 Nobel Peace Prize.

CharlizeTheron 1975 - ?
Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actress, dancer and animal activist had a major role in a hard-hitting anti-rape campaign in South Africa and frequently acts as an unofficial, but highly effective ambassador for her home country.

Enoch Sontonga circa 1873 - 1905
Composer and teacher who created the song "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika", which became the anthem of three countries and generations of Africans.

Olive Schreiner 1855 - 1920
The first South African novelist of consequence, and one of the most significant feminist theorists of the twentieth century. Her most famous works were "Story of an African Farm" and "Women and Labour".

Nadine Gordimer 1923 - ?
Novelist, essayist, screenwriter, political activist and champion of the disenfranchised won the Booker Prize in 1974 for 'The Conservationist' and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1991.