List of Famous people born in South Africa

Kgalema Motlanthe

First Name Kgalema
Born on July 19, 1949 (age 76)

Kgalema Petrus Motlanthe is a South African politician who served as President of South Africa between 25 September 2008 and 9 May 2009, following the resignation of Thabo Mbeki.

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George F. R. Ellis

First Name George
Last Name Ellis
Born on August 11, 1939 (age 86)

George Francis Rayner Ellis, FRS, Hon. FRSSAf, is the emeritus distinguished professor of complex systems in the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. He co-authored The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time with University of Cambridge physicist Stephen Hawking, published in 1973, and is considered one of the world's leading theorists in cosmology. From 1989 to 1992 he served as president of the International Society on General Relativity and Gravitation. He is a past president of the International Society for Science and Religion. He is an A-rated researcher with the NRF.

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Navanethem Pillay

First Name Navanethem
Born on September 23, 1941 (age 84)

Navanethem "Navi" Pillay is a South African jurist who served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014. A South African of Indian Tamil origin, she was the first non-white woman judge of the High Court of South Africa, and she has also served as a judge of the International Criminal Court and President of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Her four-year term as High Commissioner for Human Rights began on 1 September 2008 and was extended an additional two years in 2012. She was succeeded in September 2014 by Prince Zeid bin Ra'ad. In April 2015 Pillay became the 16th Commissioner of the International Commission Against the Death Penalty. She is also one of the 25 leading figures on the Information and Democracy Commission launched by Reporters Without Borders.

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Greg Marinovich

First Name Greg
Last Name Marinovich
Born on January 1, 1962 (age 64)

Greg Marinovich is a South African photojournalist, filmmaker, photo editor, and member of the Bang-Bang Club.

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Beverly Barkat

First Name Beverly
Born on November 30, 1965 (age 60)

Beverly Barkat is an Israeli visual artist.

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Blondie Chaplin

Terence William Chaplin
First Name Blondie
Born on July 7, 1951 (age 74)

Terence William "Blondie" Chaplin is a singer and guitarist from Durban, South Africa, where he played in the band The Flames in the mid-to late-1960s. He became known to international audiences in the early 1970s as a singer and guitarist for The Beach Boys. He is a long-term backing vocalist, percussionist, and acoustic rhythm guitarist for English band The Rolling Stones on their recordings and tours over a 15-year period, starting in 1997. To date he has released two solo studio albums.

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Roelof Dednam

First Name Roelof
Born on August 21, 1985 (age 40)

Roelof Jakobus Dednam is a male badminton player from South Africa. Dednam played badminton at the 2008 Summer Olympics in men's doubles with Chris Dednam, losing in the round of 16 to Howard Bach and Bob Malaythong of the United States.

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Derek Hanekom

First Name Derek
Last Name Hanekom
Born on January 13, 1953 (age 73)

Derek Andre Hanekom is a South African politician, activist and former cabinet minister.

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Jovica Rujević

First Name Jovica
Born on July 1, 1977 (age 48)

Jovica Rujević is a Serbian male badminton player, and a former South Africa national badminton team. In 1996, he was the semi finalist at the South Africa International tournament in the men's doubles event with Dave Calvert. In 2013, he reach the final round at the Botswana International tournament in the men's doubles event partnered with Andries Malan. The duo became the runner-up after defeated by the Slovenian pair in the rubber game. At the Balkan Badminton Championships, he won the bronze medal in the mixed team event. He and Malan also the semi finalist at the 2016 South Africa International tournament. He also play for the Novi Sad badminton club, and in 2013 he won the men's and mixed doubles title at the Vojvodina Championship, and also became the runner-up in the men's singles event.

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Amanda Coetzer

First Name Amanda
Last Name Coetzer
Born on October 22, 1971 (age 54)
Height 158 cm | 5'2

Amanda Coetzer is a South African former professional tennis player. Coetzer finished in the WTA rankings top 20 for ten consecutive seasons (1992–2001), peaking at world No. 3. She reached three Grand Slam semifinals and one Grand Slam doubles final. Coetzer earned a reputation for regularly beating players who were ranked higher than she. By virtue of scoring so many upset wins in spite of her five-foot-two (1.58m) stature, she gained the nickname: "The Little Assassin".

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