Great South Africans


Great South Africans was a South African television series that aired on SABC3 and hosted by Noeleen Maholwana Sangqu and Denis Beckett. In September 2004, thousands of South Africans took part in an informal nationwide poll to determine the "100 Greatest South Africans" of all time. Votes were cast by telephone, SMS, and the website of the state-run South African Broadcasting Corporation television channel, SABC3, which aired a series of profiles and documentaries in the weeks leading up to the announcement of the top 100. The programme was modelled on the BBC's Greatest Britons series.
In South Africa, the list was headed by Nelson Mandela, a predictable and obvious popular choice, given his global stature as a statesman and symbol of post-apartheid liberation and reconciliation. Other popular choices ranged from Professor Christiaan Barnard, the pioneering heart surgeon, to General Jan Smuts, wartime Prime Minister and co-founder of the League of Nations, to Shaka Zulu, the 19th Century warrior leader of the Zulu Nation, to Internet entrepreneur and civilian space traveller Mark Shuttleworth.
Two days after the list was announced, Nelson Mandela had already received several thousands of votes more than any other candidate.

Controversy

At the time when the competition was announced, in June 2004, the SABC gave the assurance that the South African show would not ban certain political figures, as was the case in the German version which banned Nazis from the list. They soon came to regret their decision when the SABC became embroiled in a national controversy over the high rankings accorded to some South Africans who were less widely regarded as "great".
For example, Hendrik Verwoerd, the "Architect of Apartheid", ranked higher on the list than Albert Luthuli, South Africa's first Nobel Peace laureate, or Chris Hani, a famous anti-apartheid activist. Also present on the list was Eugène Terre'Blanche, the head of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging.
Other controversial choices included an 11th placing for Hansie Cronje, the disgraced former captain of the South African cricket team, who admitted to taking bribes to influence the outcome of test matches.
On 14 October, the SABC announced that the show was being cancelled, leaving positions 2 to 10 still formally undecided.
Letter columns in some newspapers called the show a farce and used the term "whites with cellphones" to explain the presence of Hendrik Verwoerd and Eugène Terre'Blanche high on the rankings. This view was rebutted by Afrikaans singer-songwriter Steve Hofmeyr who pointed out that Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, an anti-apartheid activist who was convicted of fraud post-apartheid, scored high on the list as well. According to Peter Matlare, CEO of the SABC, the show was stopped because "wider participation in the voting process" was necessary.
When the competition was announced, the SABC defined a Great South African as someone who contributed to the "country's life and development". When the show was stopped, the SABC claimed that their definition of a Great South African was actually someone who contributed to South Africa's development "and the promotion of humanity" and the fact that quite a few people on the list did not fit this description contributed to the decision to stop the show.

The list

This is the original list of "100 Greatest South Africans", with positions 2 to 10 still to be confirmed by public vote, before the show was taken off the air:
  1. Nelson Mandela, first president of post-Apartheid South Africa and joint Nobel Peace Prize winner
  2. Christiaan Barnard, pioneering heart transplant surgeon
  3. F. W. de Klerk, former president and joint Nobel Peace Prize winner
  4. Mahatma Gandhi, political activist
  5. Nkosi Johnson, child HIV/AIDS activist who died of the disease
  6. Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, politician and 2nd wife of Nelson Mandela
  7. Thabo Mbeki, second president of post-Apartheid South Africa
  8. Gary Player, golfer
  9. Jan Smuts, statesman and philosopher
  10. Desmond Tutu, cleric and Nobel Peace Prize winner
  11. Hansie Cronje, cricketer
  12. Charlize Theron, actress and Academy Award winner
  13. Steve Biko, political activist
  14. Shaka Zulu, founder of the Zulu nation
  15. Mangosuthu Buthelezi, politician and a Zulu prince
  16. Tony Leon, politician
  17. Brenda Fassie, singer
  18. Mark Shuttleworth, Web entrepreneur, founder of Thawte, distributor of Ubuntu Linux and second fee paying space tourist
  19. Hendrik Verwoerd, former prime minister and primary architect of Apartheid
  20. Chris Hani, political activist who was Secretary General of the SACP when he was assassinated
  21. Bonginkosi Dlamini, also known as "Zola", poet, actor and musician
  22. Patricia de Lille, politician
  23. Johnny Clegg, also known as "The White Zulu", musician
  24. Helen Suzman, stateswoman
  25. Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX
  26. Pieter-Dirk Uys political satirist and entertainer
  27. Paul Kruger, four times president of South African Republic
  28. Anton Rupert, businessman and environmentalist
  29. Jonty Rhodes, cricketer
  30. Leon Schuster, filmmaker, comedian, actor and prankster
  31. Oliver Tambo, political activist who spent 30 years in exile
  32. Steve Hofmeyr, musician and actor
  33. Walter Sisulu, political activist
  34. Cyril Ramaphosa, fifth president of post-Apartheid South Africa, politician and businessman
  35. J. R. R. Tolkien, English author
  36. Beyers Naude, cleric and anti-apartheid activist
  37. Ernie Els, golfer
  38. Miriam Makeba, musician
  39. Patrice Motsepe, businessman
  40. Trevor Manuel, draftsman, minister of finance and politician
  41. Albert Luthuli, cleric, politician and 1960 Nobel Peace Prize winner
  42. Robert Sobukwe, former political activist and founder of the PAC
  43. Tokyo Sexwale, politician and businessman
  44. Danny Jordaan, politician and soccer administrator
  45. Fatima Meer, scientist and political activist
  46. Ahmed Kathrada, political activist
  47. Joe Slovo, communist politician
  48. Natalie du Toit, disabled olympic swimmer
  49. Jomo Sono, soccer coach
  50. Francois Pienaar, captain of the Springboks, the winning team in the 1995 Rugby World Cup
  51. John Kani, actor, entertainer, writer, and Tony Award Winner
  52. Penny Heyns, olympic swimmer
  53. Jeremy Mansfield, radio and TV personality
  54. Lucas Radebe, former Bafana Bafana and Leeds United soccer captain
  55. Mamphela Ramphele, political activist, academic, businesswoman and mother to the son of Steve Biko
  56. Cecil Rhodes, businessman and Prime Minister of the Cape Colony
  57. Albertina Sisulu, political activist and wife of Walter Sisulu
  58. Aggrey Klaaste, journalist and editor who advocated Nation Building during the struggle years
  59. Alan Paton, author
  60. Harry Oppenheimer, businessman
  61. Zackie Achmat, HIV positive AIDS activist and critic of government AIDS policies
  62. Doctor Khumalo, soccer player
  63. Jan van Riebeeck, first colonial administrator
  64. Bruce Fordyce, ultra-marathon runner
  65. Enoch Sontonga, teacher, lay-preacher and composer wrote "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika"
  66. Zola Budd, athlete
  67. Sol Plaatje, journalist and political activist
  68. Danie Craven, rugby player and administrator
  69. Alan Boesak, cleric and politician
  70. Felicia Mabuza-Suttle, talk show host, public speaker and businesswoman
  71. Yvonne Chaka Chaka, musician
  72. "Baby" Jake Matlala, boxer and junior flyweight champion
  73. Kaizer Motaung, founder of Kaizer Chiefs Football Club
  74. Basetsana Kumalo, former Miss South Africa, presenter and businesswoman
  75. Antjie Krog, poet, novelist and playwright
  76. Dullah Omar, politician
  77. Mandoza, musician
  78. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, politician and former wife of Jacob Zuma
  79. Raymond Ackerman, businessman
  80. Nadine Gordimer, 1991 Nobel Prize-winning author
  81. Daniel François Malan, former Prime Minister responsible for laying the groundwork for Apartheid
  82. Frederik van Zyl Slabbert, politician
  83. James Barry Munnik Hertzog, former Prime Minister
  84. Hector Pieterson, a young boy whose death has become the symbol of the Soweto uprisings of June 1976
  85. Sewsunker "Papwa" Sewgolum, golfer
  86. William Smith, TV teacher and presenter
  87. P. W. Botha, former prime minister and state president
  88. Hugh Masekela, musician
  89. Bulelani Ngcuka, politician
  90. Jody Scheckter, Formula One world champion
  91. George Bizos, lawyer
  92. Mbongeni Ngema, playwright, actor, choreographer and director
  93. PJ Powers, musician
  94. Mimi Coertse, musician
  95. Mrs Ples, the oldest hominid skull found at Sterkfontein cave
  96. Abdullah Ibrahim, aka "Dollar Brand", musician
  97. Govan Mbeki, political activist and father of Thabo Mbeki
  98. Jamie Uys, film director
  99. Jacobus Hendrik Pierneef, artist
  100. Athol Fugard, playwright

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