World Famous South Africans Trivia Quiz

Answer: Nelson Mandela

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born on 18 July 1918 in Mvezo near Umtata in what was then the Transkei but which is now part of South Africa. After studying law he became part of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa. At first he was for non-violent resistance, the way his great example Gandhi did, but later following several incidents and clashes with the apartheid regime he took up the armed struggle.

He became leader of the African National Congress and its armed wing Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation). On 5 August 1962 Mandela was arrested and send to prison on charges of sabotage and treason. Most of his prison time was spent on Robben Island where his plight became more and more known to the rest of the world and he became a symbol of freedom and equality.

In 1989 new South African President, F.W. de Klerk, started to dismantle the laws of apartheid. This led to the legitimizing of the ANC and the release of Nelson Mandela on 11 February 1990. His policy of reconciliation and negotiation helped pave the way for a new, fully democratic South Africa.

This brought him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 along with F.W. de Klerk. He was inaugurated as the first fully democratically elected President of South Africa on 10 May 1994. After serving one term as President he decided to retire from politics due to his declining health and to spend more time with his family. However he has been involved with many projects such as human rights, AIDS, children's charities and many more. On 18 July 2008 he celebrates his 90th birthday. He is affectionately referred to as Madiba after the important clan he descends from.

Answer: Field Marshal Jan Christiaan Smuts

Jan Christiaan Smuts was born on 24 May 1870 on the family farm near Malmesbury in the Cape Colony. He became a lawyer and found employment in Cecil John Rhodes' De Beers mining company. After the failed British Jameson Raid on the South African Republic he became opposed to British interference in the independent Afrikaner state and he left De Beers and moved to Pretoria.

There he became Attorney-General under Paul Kruger, President of the South African Republic. He fought in the Second Boer War and helped negotiate the peace in 1902.

After the war the South African Republic was given self-governance and Smuts became part of President Louis Botha's cabinet. He was instrumental in the negotiations that led to the forming of the Union of South Africa in 1910. Louis Botha became the first President of the Union and Smuts again was part of President Louis Botha's cabinet. During the First World War, Smuts conquered German South West Africa and led a campaign into German East Africa.

He became a member the Imperial War Cabinet under David Lloyd George. During this time he helped to create the Royal Air Force. Smuts and Botha were key negotiators at the Paris Peace Conference and both were signatories to the Treaty of Versailles.

It was here where Smuts to began to advocate the establishment of a League of Nations. Back in the Union of South Africa, Smuts was elected Prime Minister after Botha died in 1919. In 1924 he was defeated however by the upcoming National Party though he served as Deputy Prime Minister under Prime Minister Hertzog. With the start of the Second World War in 1939 Smuts was for helping Britain while Prime Minister Hertzog was for neutrality. This led to Hertzog being deposed and Smuts becoming Prime Minister again. During the Second World War Smuts became a Field Marshal in the British Army and once again became a member of the Imperial War Cabinet, this time under Winston Churchill. There even was a plan to appoint Smuts as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, should Churchill die or otherwise become incapacitated during the war. Towards the end of the war Smuts helped with drafting the United Nations Charter and he was also one of the signatories of the Paris Peace Treaty which ended the Second World War. This made him the only person to sign both the charter for the League of Nations and the United Nations as well as the only person to sign the peace treaties ending both the First and the Second World War. His involvement and closeness to the British however made him unpopular to the Afrikaner people of South Africa and he was narrowly defeated by the pro-Apartheid National Party in 1948. After his defeat he became the chancellor of Cambridge University. On 11 September 1950 he died of coronary thrombosis in Irene, near Pretoria, where he was buried.

Answer: Frederik Willem de Klerk

Frederik Willem de Klerk (born 18 March 1936) served as Cabinet Minister in various posts under Prime Minister and later President P.W. Botha. He became President of South Africa in 1989 after Botha suffered a stroke and was forced to step down. From the start he worked for a non-racist South Africa. One of his first actions was to legitimize the ANC and free Nelson Mandela.

He negotiated the country's transformation and started to have apartheid laws removed. For this he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with Nelson Mandela in 1993.

This led to the first fully democratic elections in South Africa on 27 April 1994. My wife and I were amongst millions who lined up for hours to cast our vote. When Nelson Mandela became the first fully democratically elected President de Klerk was appointed as one of the two Deputy Presidents along with Thabo Mbeki.

He served in this post until 1997 when he retired from politics.

Answer: Hansie Cronjé

Wessel Johannes "Hansie" Cronjé was a formidable cricket player and became captain of the Orange Free State province of South Africa. He was included in the 1992 World Cup squad when South Africa was allowed to play again after years of isolation due to the country's apartheid policy.

In 1994 he succeeded Keppler Wessels as captain of the national team. Under his captaincy they had a series win against every other test cricket nation except for Australia. His 99 wins as captain is still a South African record to date and the third most successful as captain worldwide.

In April 2000 he was accused of match fixing to which he confessed. He was sacked as captain and later was banned from playing or coaching cricket for life. On 1 June 2002 Cronjé was the only passenger aboard a cargo flight after his scheduled flight from Bloemfontein to George had been grounded.

The plane crashed into the mountains near George airport due to poor visibility and faulty navigational equipment killing Cronjé, aged 32, and the two pilots. Fortunately I was able to meet Hansie Cronjé when the South African team played a friendly match against the Netherlands in Amstelveen in July 1998 in preparation for the 1999 Cricket World Cup tournament.

Answer: Marius Weyers

Marius Weyers started his career in films when he found an 8mm camera and started directing horror movies. In 1961 he joined joined PACT (Performing Arts Council of the Transvaal) as an Assistant Stage Manager. Here he landed small parts which led to him becoming an actor.

After 11 years he left PACT and over the next eight years he performed in independent theatre with Barney Simon. He appeared in numerous stage productions, television shows and films. He made his international film debut in "Tigers Don't Cry" (1976) with Anthony Quinn.

He starred in "The Gods Must Be Crazy" (1980), a South African film that achieved international success. Roman Polanski so loved the film that he wanted to cast Marius as "Captain Red" in "Pirates" (1986) but the role, originally written for Jack Nicholson, went to Walter Matthau. Marius has appeared in numerous films such as Richard Attenborough's "Gandhi" (1982), "Farewell to the King" (1989) starring Nick Nolte, "Bopha!" (1993) directed by Morgan Freeman and starring Danny Glover and "Blood Diamond" (2006) with Leonardo DiCaprio.

Answer: Christiaan Barnard

Christiaan Neethling Barnard was born on 8 November 1922 in Beaufort West, South Africa. He was one of five sons though one of his brothers died at the age of 5 due to heart problems. After completing his internship and residency at the Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, he became a general practitioner in Ceres in the Western Cape province.

He returned to Cape Town in 1951 where he worked at the City Hospital and at the Groote Schuur Hospital. He obtained his Master's degree and doctorate in medicine from the University of Cape Town in 1953.

In 1956 he studied cardio thoracic surgery at the University of Minnesota for two years on a scholarship. He returned to South Africa in 1958 where he was appointed cardio thoracic surgeon at the Groote Schuur Hospital and he established the hospital's first heart unit.

He first performed kidney transplants while experimenting with animal heart transplants. On 3 December 1967 he performed the world's first human heart transplant operation. The patient was 55-year-old Louis Washkansky who suffered from diabetes and an incurable heart disease.

The operation was successful but he died of pneumonia 18 days later. Barnard's second heart transplant patient lived for 19 months. However another patient, Mrs Dorothy Fisher, lived for another 24 years after she has received a heart transplant and she was Barnard's longest surviving patient. In 1983 he retired after he contracted rheumatoid arthritis in his hands. While on holiday in Paphos, Cyprus, Barnard died as the result of an acute asthma attack on 2 September 2001. The Barnard family is a good South African family, my late wife was a distant cousin of Christiaan Barnard.

Answer: Gary Player

Gary Player was born in Johannesburg, South Africa on 1 November 1935. He is one of the most successful golfers in the history of the sport, ranking third (behind Roberto de Vicenzo and Sam Snead) in total professional wins. He was most prominent in the 1960s and 1970s and is often referred to as one of "The Big Three" golfers of this era along with Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus.

He is one of only five players to win all four of golf's Grand Slam titles, Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods being the other four.

He won the Masters and British Opens three times and is the only player to win the British Open in three different decades. He became the oldest golfer ever to play the Masters in 1998. Player has won 163 tournaments, including 9 Grand Slam and 19 Senior Tour victories.

He has also designed more than 250 golf courses all over the world.

Answer: Joseph Shabalala

Joseph Shabalala was born in the town of Ladysmith on 28 August 1941. He founded South African a capella group Ladysmith Black Mambazo and is their musical director. The name comes from the town where Shabalala was born, "Black" refers to black oxen, which were considered to be the strongest on the farm and the Zulu word "Mambazo", meaning "axe", refers to how the group "axed down" other choirs by winning almost every competition.

After their music was played on the radio they received their first recording contract in 1972 and their first album sold over 40,000 copies.

When Shabalala became a Christian in 1975 they changed their repertoire to include generalized Christian, Methodist, and Zionist hymns sung in the Zulu language. They achieved world fame after Paul Simon collaborated with them for his "Graceland" album in 1986.

The group appears on "Homeless", which Shabalala co-wrote, as well as on "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes". In 1987, the group won their first solo Grammy Award for "Shaka Zulu".

They have released more than forty albums and have recorded with notable artists such as Stevie Wonder, Julia Fordham and Dolly Parton. They also performed when Nelson Mandela received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 and when he was inaugurated as President in 1994.

Answer: Steve Biko

Stephen Bantu Biko was born on 18 December 1946 in King Williams Town in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. He became a student leader and founded the Black Consciousness Movement (BMC) to teach blacks in South Africa to be proud of themselves.

He was a charismatic champion of black emancipation in apartheid South Africa. His views and speeches were deemed detrimental by the apartheid regime and he was banned in March 1973. He was not allowed to speak to more than one person at a time, was restricted to certain areas, and could not make speeches in public.

It was also forbidden to quote anything he said, including speeches or simple conversations. He however managed to get messages out through various means with the help from friends and people sympathetic to his cause. On 16 June 1976 the Soweto Uprising took place.

This was in response to the forcing of Afrikaans to be used as the language of instruction in schools while most black students would have preferred English or their own indigenous language.

The uprising was crushed by the police who shot several of the protesting school children. After the uprising Biko was kept under closer surveillance. He was finally arrested at a police roadblock in Port Elizabeth on 18 August 1977. He was brutally mistreated and suffered serious head injuries. He was left chained and naked in his prison cell for days. The police then realised that he was in need of medical attention and he was transported, still chained and naked, to a hospital in Pretoria, 1100km away. He died shortly after he arrived there on 12 September 1977. The police claimed his death was the result of an extended hunger strike. Donald Woods, a personal friend of Biko, photographed his injuries in the morgue and along with journalist Helen Zille exposed the truth behind Biko's death. Because of this Woods and his family were forced to flee to England. There he campaigned against apartheid and wrote a book telling of Biko's life and death. The book was subsequently banned in South Africa. It was made into a film, "Cry Freedom" (1987) by Richard Attenborough starring Denzel Washington as Steve Biko and Kevin Kline as Donald Woods. Peter Gabriel recorded a song about "Biko" on his 1980 album "Peter Gabriel" and the song was included on the soundtrack of "Cry Freedom". Only a few kilometres away from the prison in Port Elizabeth were Biko was held lived a teenage boy who later came to learn the truth about the atrocities committed against Biko and who would years later make this quiz.

Answer: Four Jacks and a Jill

Four Jacks and a Jill started as The Nevadas which was formed by 18-year old guitarist Clive Harding in October 1962. They changed the name to The Zombies in 1964. However lead singer, Johnny Collini left the group. During a performance in Cape Town they teamed up with Glenys Lynne who was already an established vocalist and recording artist in South Africa.

The Zombies cut their hair, changed their style and changed the band name to Four Jacks and a Jill. They released their first single "Jimmy Come Lately" in 1965 which became an instant hit.

In 1967 they recorded "Timothy" for the Jamie Uys movie, "The Professor And The Beauty Queen". The song reached the #1 position and earned the group their first Gold Record. The single was released in Britain and in New Zealand where it reached #8 on the charts.

Their next single "Master Jack", written by David Marks about life working in the mines, also made its way to the top of the charts. Four Jacks and a Jill were the first South African group to have three hits in the Top 20 at the same time with "Timothy", "Master Jack" and "I Looked Back". "Master Jack" was also released in the U.S. where it reached #8 on Billboard's Hot 100 making Four Jacks and a Jill the only South African group to have had a hit in America with a single recorded in South Africa.

The single reached #1 in Canada, Malaya, New Zealand and Australia, and was also successful in England, Germany, Sweden and Japan. Following the success of "Master Jack" they toured the world over. Their next single, "Mister Nico", also written by David Marks, only managed to make it to #12 on the local Top 20 and #98 on Billboard's Hot 100. In 1983 Glenys and husband Clive became born-again Christians. The group recorded a gospel album in 1983 but after that Clive disbanded the group. Four Jacks and a Jill still remains South Africa's longest-running pop group. In 2000 they reformed and released "2000 And Beyond" with new songs, new recordings of some of their old songs and remixes. They have also released several new Christmas and Christian albums. After making a fansite for the group I received an autographed copy of their first Christmas album "A Time for Giving" (2003) as a thank you gift.