This is a list of notable and famous South Africans who are the subjects of Wikipedia articles.
Academics
Academics
Shulamith Behr, art historian (1946–2023) Estian Calitz, academic (born 1949) Jakes Gerwel, academic and anti-apartheid activist (1946–2012) Adam Habib, political scientist (born 1965) Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr, academic and politician (1894–1948) Thamsanqa Kambule, South African mathematician and educator (1921–2009) Loren Kruger, academic and author (born 1958) Tshilidzi Marwala, academic and businessman (born 1971) Revil Mason, archeologist (1929–2020) Shula Marks, historian (born 1938) Njabulo Ndebele, Principal of the University of Cape Town (born 1948) D. C. S. Oosthuizen, philosopher (1926–1968) Adriaan N. P. Pelzer, historian and Vice-Principal University Pretoria (1915–1981) Michiel Daniel Overbeek, South African amateur astronomer and prolific variable star observers (1920–2001) Pierre de Villiers Pienaar, pioneering role in speech language therapy and lexicography in South Africa (1904–1978) Calie Pistorius, academic and Principal of the University of Pretoria (born 1958) Milton Shain, academic and professor of Modern Jewish history at the University of Cape Town (born 1949) Benedict Wallet Vilakazi, author, educator, and first black South African to receive a PhD (1906–1947) David Webster, anthropologist (1945–1989)
Medical and veterinary
Abraham Manie Adelstein, UK Chief Medical Statistician (1916–1992) Christiaan Barnard, pioneering heart surgeon (1922–2001) Wouter Basson, medical scientist (born 1950) John Borthwick, veterinary surgeon in the Cape Colony (1867–1936) Mary Malahlela, first black woman to register as a medical doctor in South Africa (1916–1981) Joan Morice, first female veterinary surgeon in South Africa (1904–1944) Anna Coutsoudis, public health scientist (born 1952) Patrick Soon-Shiong, surgeon, founder Abraxis BioScience, billionaire (born 1952) Arnold Theiler, veterinarian (1867–1936) Max Theiler, virologist, 1951 Nobel Prize winner (1899–1972) Lindiwe Sidali, surgeon (born 1984)
Scientists
Andrew Geddes Bain, geologist (1797–1864) Peter Beighton, geneticist (1934–2023) Wilhelm Bleek, linguist (1827–1875) Robert Broom, palaeontologist (1866–1951) Sydney Brenner, biologist, 2002 Physiology or Medicine Nobel Prize winner (1927–2019) Phillip Clancey, ornithologist (1918–2001) Allan McLeod Cormack, physicist (1924–1998) Zodwa Dlamini, biochemist Clement Martyn Doke, linguist (1893–1980) Mulalo Doyoyo, professor and inventor (born 1970) Edward Stuart Cardinal Dyke, botanist, (1872–1915) Alexander du Toit, geologist (1878–1948) Robert Allen Dyer, botanist (1900–1987) Melville Edelstein, sociologist, killed due to Soweto uprising (1919–1976) Wendy Foden, conservation biologist J. W. B. Gunning, zoologist (1860–1913) Quarraisha Abdool Karim, Associate Scientific Director of the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) (born 1960) Salim Abdool Karim, South African epidemiologist and infectious diseases specialist (born 1960) David Lewis-Williams, archaeologist (born 1934) Lucy Lloyd, anthropologist (1834–1914) Thebe Medupe, astrophysicist (born 1973) Hans Merensky, geologist (1871–1952) Godfrey Mzamane, novelist, literary historian, academic and intellectual pioneer (1909–1977) Dumisani Mzamane, medical doctor, South Africa's first black nephrologist (1932–1997) Joab Mzamane, agriculturalist (1920–1989) Mabel Nevill, human computer (1865–1958) Austin Roberts, zoologist (1883–1948) Peter Sarnak, mathematician (born 1953) Ramotholo Sefako, astrophysicist (born 1971) Buyisiwe Sondezi, physicist (born 1976) Basil Schonland, physicist (1896–1972) J. L. B. Smith, ichthyologist (1897–1968) Phillip Tobias, palaeontologist (1925–2012)
Theologians Also see: Prelates, clerics and evangelists
David Bosch (1929–1992) John W. de Gruchy (born 1939) Dion Forster (born 1972) Johan Heyns (1928–1994)
Writers
Authors
Lady Anne Barnard, travel writer and artist (1750–1825) Herman Charles Bosman, author (1905–1951) André Brink, author (1935–2015) Justin Cartwright, novelist (1943–2018) J. M. Coetzee, 2003 Nobel Prize-winning author (born 1940) K. Sello Duiker, novelist (1974–2005) Sir Percy FitzPatrick, writer, businessman and politician (1862–1931) Graeme Friedman, author and clinical psychologist Damon Galgut, author (born 1963) Nadine Gordimer, 1991 Nobel Prize-winning author (1923–2014) Alfred Hutchinson, South African author, teacher and activist (1924–1972) C. J. Langenhoven, writer and poet (1873–1932) Pule Lechesa, essayist, literary critic, and poet (born 1976) Kgotso Pieter David Maphalla, the Sesotho language writer (1955–2021) Dalene Matthee, author (1938–2005) Gcina Mhlope, author, storyteller, playwright, director, actor (born 1959) Deon Meyer, author (born 1958) Phaswane Mpe, novelist (1970–2004) Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh, author and musician (born 1989) Alan Paton, author (1903–1988) Margaret Roberts, herbalist and writer (1937–2017) Karel Schoeman, novelist and historian (1939–2017) Olive Schreiner, author (1855–1920) Mongane Wally Serote, poet and writer (born 8 May 1944) Wilbur Smith, novelist (1933–2021) J. R. R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of The Rings (1892–1973) Etienne van Heerden, novelist (born 1956) Marlene van Niekerk, novelist (born 1954) Lyall Watson, writer (1939–2008) David Yudelman, writer Rachel Zadok, London-based South African writer (born 1972)
Editors Kojo Baffoe, magazine editor (born 1972) Khanyi Dhlomo, magazine editor (born 1975) Laurence Gandar, Rand Daily Mail editor (1915–1998) Niel Hammann, editor of magazines (born 1937) John Tengo Jabavu, political activist and newspaper editor (1859–1921) Aggrey Klaaste, journalist and editor (1940–2004) Max du Preez, newspaper editor (born 1951)
Poets See also: South African poets and Afrikaans language poets
Roy Campbell, poet (1901–1957) Judy Croome, poet (born 1958) Sheila Cussons, poet (1922–2004) Jonty Driver (1939–2023) Jakob Daniël du Toit, poet a.k.a. Totius (1877–1953) Elisabeth Eybers, poet (1915–2007) Stephen Gray, writer and poet (1941–2020) Ingrid Jonker, poet (1933–1965) Moira Lovell, poet, playwright and literary critic (born 1951) Antjie Krog, poet, novelist and playwright (born 1952) Laurence Lerner, poet (1925–2016) Lucas Malan, Afrikaans academic and poet (1946–2010) Chris Mann, poet (1948–2021) Eugène Nielen Marais, poet, writer, lawyer and naturalist (1871–1936) Michael Mosoeu Moerane, first black South African to write a symphonic poem, choral music composer and maternal uncle to Thabo Mbeki (1904–1980) Thomas Pringle, poet and journalist (1789–1834) N.S. Puleng, poet and author (born 1958) N. P. van Wyk Louw, poet (1906–1970) Mongane Wally Serote, poet, activist and politician (born 1944) Stephen Watson, poet (1954–2011)
Journalists
Jani Allan, journalist and radio personality (born 1953) George Claassen, journalist (born 1949) Robyn Curnow, CNN television reporter and anchor John Charles Daly, television journalist, executive and game show host (1914–1991) Arnold S de Beer, journalist and academic (1942–2021) Frene Ginwala, journalist and politician (1932–2023) Arthur Goldstuck, journalist (born 1959) Devi Sankaree Govender, investigative journalist (born 1972) Niel Hammann, journalist (born 1937) Noni Jabavu, journalist, editor and first black South African woman to publish an autobiography (1919–2008) Archibald Campbell Jordan (1906–1968) Lara Logan, CBS television reporter/correspondent (born 1971) Peter Magubane, South African photographer (1932–2024) Leanne Manas, television journalist and anchor (born 1974) John Matisonn, print and radio journalist for both South African and United States broadcasters (born 1949) Zakes Mda, journalist (born 1948) Nathaniel Ndazana Nakasa, South African journalist and short story writer (1937–1965) Sam Nzima, South African photographer, who took the image of Hector Pieterson for the Soweto uprising (1934–2018) Henry Nxumalo, investigative journalist under apartheid (1917–1957) Sol Plaatje, journalist and political activist (1877–1932) Percy Qoboza, journalist, editorial writer, and political activist (1938–1988) Barry Streek, journalist, political activist, author, parliamentary media manager (1948–2006) Redi Tlhabi, journalist and broadcaster (born 1978) Eric Lloyd Williams, journalist and war correspondent (1915–1988) Donald Woods, journalist and anti-apartheid activist (1933–2001)
Artists
Performing artists
Actors and actresses
Anel Alexander, actress, producer (born 1979) Ayanda Borotho, actress (born 1981) Ivan Botha, actor (born 1984) Lesley-Ann Brandt, South African born actress (born 1981), notable for her role as Mazikeen in the show Lucifer Kai Luke Brümmer, actor (born 1993) Peter Cartwright, actor (1935–2013) Baby Cele, actress (born 1972) Presley Chweneyagae, actor (1984–2025) Sharlto Copley, actor, (District 9) (born 1973) Katlego Danke, actress (born 1978) Embeth Davidtz, actress (born 1965) Gopala Davies, actor and director (born 1988) Jack Devnarain, actor (born 1971) Ryan de Villiers, actor (born 1992) Sindi Dlathu, actress (born 1974) Pallance Dladla, actor (born 1992) Lillian Dube, South African actress (born 1945) Vinette Ebrahim, actress (born 1957) Kim Engelbrecht, actress (born 1980) Willie Esterhuizen, actor Connie Ferguson, actress (born 1970) Shona Ferguson, actor (1972–2021) Brett Goldin, actor (1977–2006) Zoe Gail, actress (1920–2020) Gugu Gumede, actress (born 1991) Roxane Hayward, actress (born 1991) Hennie Jacobs, actor (born 1981) David James, actor, stage, television, and film actor (born 1972) Sid James, film and television actor (1913–1976) Glynis Johns, actress (1923–2024) Adhir Kalyan, actor (born 1983) Atandwa Kani, actor (born 1984) John Kani, actor, entertainer and writer (born 1943) Dawn Thandeka King, actress (born 1977) Shannon Kook (born 1987) Paballo Koza, actor (born 2002) Alice Krige, actress (born 1954) Deon Lotz, actor (born 1964) Sello Maake Ka-Ncube, actor (born 1960) Gail Mabalane, actress (born 1984) Joe Mafela, actor, writer and singer (1942–2017) Maps Maponyane, actor (born 1990) Warren Masemola, actor (born 1983) Khanyi Mbau, radio and television personality and actress (born 1985), notable for Happiness Is a Four-letter Word Nomzamo Mbatha, actress (born 1990) Michelle Mosalakae, actress (born 1994) Thuso Mbedu, actress (born 1991) Sean Michael, (born 1969) Enhle Mbali Mlotshwa, actress (born 1988) Masoja Msiza, actor (born 1964) Patrick Mynhardt, actor (1932–2007) Themba Ndaba, actor (born 1965) Menzi Ngubane, actor (born 1967) Jessica Nkosi, actress (born 1990) Kenneth Nkosi, actor (born 1973) Winnie Ntshaba, actress (born 1975) Winston Ntshona, actor (1941–2018) Nandi Nyembe, South African actress (born 1950) Tarina Patel, actor (born 1986] Madelaine Petsch, actress (born 1994) Terry Pheto, actress (born 1981) Tanit Phoenix, actress (Death Race: Inferno, Lord of War, Safe House, Femme Fatales, Mad Buddies) (born 1984) Sasha Pieterse, actress (born 1996) Sandra Prinsloo, South African actress (born 1947), The Gods Must Be Crazy, Quest for Love Ama Qamata, actress (born 1998) Basil Rathbone, actor (1892–1967) Jo-anne Reyneke, actress (born 1988) Ian Roberts, actor, playwright, singer (born 1952) Angelique Rockas pioneer of multi-racial theatre in the UK (born 1951) Buhle Samuels Stelio Savante, actor (born 1970) Clive Scott, actor (1937–2021) Rapulana Seiphemo, actor (born 1967) Cliff Severn, actor (1925–2014) Raymond Severn, actor (1930–1994) Antony Sher, actor, author and painter (1949–2021) Cliff Simon, actor (1962–2021) William Smith, TV teacher and presenter (born 1939) Linda Sokhulu, actress (born 1976) Shaleen Surtie-Richards, actress (1955–2021) Janet Suzman, actress (born 1939) Reine Swart, actress, producer Charlize Theron, actress (born 1975) Pearl Thusi, actress, model, MC (born 1988) Siyabonga Thwala, actor (born 1969) Chioma Umeala, South African-Nigerian actress (born 1996)