33.9250° S, 18.4249° E
CAPE TOWN
Most Famous People Born in Cape Town, South Africa
- Notable people
- 1,062
- Peak decade
- 1980s
- Median birth year
- 1970
- Most distinctive
- Cricket 10.4×
A city whose leaderboard is almost entirely cricket, and then everything else. The long shadow of South African Test cricket fills most of the top of the list — Newlands is one of the oldest Test grounds in the world and it shows — but the names that travel furthest come from the quieter corners: J. M. Coetzee, the 2003 Nobel laureate in literature; Abdullah Ibrahim, the pianist whose 'Mannenberg' became an unofficial anthem of the anti-apartheid movement; and Marlene Dumas, one of the highest-priced living painters anywhere. A surprising density of botanists too, drawn in by Kirstenbosch and the Cape Floral Kingdom on the city's doorstep.
One face per decade — the most globally famous figure born in Cape Town during each.
Notable Births by Decade
Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1980s with 230 notable births.
What Cape Town Is Known For
Click any row to filter the list of people below.
Player is Cape Town's biggest profession — 16% of all notables (166).
Cape Town over-indexes on cricket — 10.4× the global rate.
Cape Town under-produces politician — only 0.5× the global rate.
Profession Mix Over Time
Each band shows a profession family's share of Cape Town's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.
- Sports
- Politics & Law
- Music
- Writing
- Science
- Film & TV
- Other
- Field: Swimmer Clear ×
Natalie du Toit
Born 1984
Sarah Poewe
Born 1983
Tamsin Cook
Born 1998
Karl Otto Thaning
Born 1977
Achmat Hassiem
Born 1982
Darren Murray (swimmer)
Born 1991
Jonty Skinner
Born 1954
Renate du Plessis
Born 1981
Simon Thirsk
Born 1977
Lynette Cooper
Born 1944
Michael Houlie
Born 2000
Don Johnston (swimmer)
1929 - 2018