26.2026° S, 28.0412° E

JOHANNESBURG

Most Famous People Born in Johannesburg, South Africa

Notable people
1,234
Peak decade
1980s
Median birth year
1967
Most distinctive
Golf 14.8×

A young city with an old sporting establishment. Johannesburg's notables are dominated by cricketers, golfers, and rugby players at concentrations that, given the city's size, look almost statistical — the legacy of an English-speaking sporting culture that organised itself around the gold rush of the 1880s. There is almost no pre-20th-century tail at all; the entire bench fits inside the lifetime of the city itself.

Through the Decades

One face per decade — the most globally famous figure born in Johannesburg during each.

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1980s with 247 notable births.

What Johannesburg Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Cricket is Johannesburg's biggest profession — 13% of all notables (156).

Johannesburg over-indexes on golf14.8× the global rate.

Johannesburg under-produces politician — only 0.2× the global rate.

  1. Cricket156
  2. Player153
  3. Football110
  4. Actor65
  5. Sport50
  6. Politician32
  7. Golf31
  8. Singer28
  1. Golf3114.8×
  2. Cricket1569.9×
  3. Player1536.4×
  4. Swimmer254.2×
  5. Rower153.3×
  6. Boxer153.1×
  7. Sport502.4×
  8. Photographer132.2×
  1. Politician320.2×
  2. Writer280.7×

Profession Mix Over Time

Each band shows a profession family's share of Johannesburg's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.

19001925195019752000
  • Sports
  • Film & TV
  • Writing
  • Music
  • Science
  • Politics & Law
  • Other
All1,234
Sort By

Showing 110 of 1,234 notable people

0017 MUSIC

Manfred Mann (musician)

Born 1940

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0040 POLITICIAN

Kgalema Motlanthe

Born 1949

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0056 SOCIOLOGIST

Stanley Cohen (sociologist)

1942 - 2013

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0067 ACTOR

Marius Weyers

Born 1945

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0077 SINGER

John Kongos

Born 1945

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0084 POET

Mongane Wally Serote

Born 1944

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0089 POET

Christopher Hope

Born 1944

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0097 JOURNALIST

Matthew Parris

Born 1949

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0107 SCHOLAR

Njabulo Ndebele

Born 1947

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0136 PHYSICIST

Saul Teukolsky

Born 1947

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0138 PLAYER

Kitch Christie

1940 - 1998

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0139 WRITER

Beverley Naidoo

Born 1943

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0150 POLITICIAN

Gill Marcus

Born 1949

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0152 PSYCHOLOGIST

Les Greenberg

Born 1945

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0153 HISTORIAN

Antony Polonsky

Born 1940

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0155 RABBI

Daniel Lapin

Born 1947

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0161 ASTRONAUT

Mike Melvill

Born 1940

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0164 PLAYER

Raymond Moore (tennis)

Born 1946

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0165 ANTHROPOLOGIST

Adam Kuper

Born 1941

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0190 BOTANIST

Peter Goldblatt

Born 1943

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0193 CRICKET

Clive Rice

1949 - 2015

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0196 POLICE

Craig Williamson

Born 1949

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0199 WRITER

Lettie Viljoen

Born 1948

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0200 CRICKET

Ali Bacher

Born 1942

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0205 THEORIST

Ralph D. Stacey

Born 1942

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0215 PLAYER

Perrie Mans

Born 1940

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0246 RACER

Jon Ekerold

Born 1946

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0267 BALLET

Phyllis Spira

1943 - 2008

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0274 POET

Achmat Dangor

1948 - 2020

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0280 FOOTBALL

Colin Viljoen

Born 1948

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0282 BALLET

Monica Mason

Born 1941

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0300 BUSINESS

Clive Calder

Born 1946

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0329 SINGER

Sharon Tandy

1943 - 2015

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0336 ACADEMIC

Barbara Caine

Born 1948

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0352 ADVOCATE

David Kretzmer

Born 1943

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0361 DRIVER

Eddie Keizan

1944 - 2016

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0363 PLAYER

Bob Maud

1946 - 2006

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0379 GOLF

Hugh Baiocchi

Born 1946

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0396 WRITER

Janet Balaskas

Born 1946

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0397 PAINTER

Uli Aschenborn

Born 1947

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0418 POLITICIAN

Barend du Plessis

Born 1940

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0421 BOXER

William Meyers

1943 - 2014

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0436 PLAYER

Syd Nomis

1941 - 2018

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0437 GOLF

John Bland

Born 1945

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0451 LANDSCAPER

Elsa Pooley

Born 1947

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0467 GOLF

Vincent Tshabalala

1942 - 2017

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0471 BOXER

Arnold Taylor

1945 - 1981

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0474 PLAYER

Keith Diepraam

Born 1942

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0477 JOURNALIST

David Beresford (journalist)

1947 - 2016

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0479 DRIVER

William Ferguson (racing driver)

1940 - 2007

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0500 POET

Robert Berold

Born 1948

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0517 GOLF

Bobby Verwey

Born 1941

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0528 ARCHITECT

Stanley Saitowitz

Born 1949

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0533 ACADEMIC

John Eekelaar

Born 1942

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0544 PLAYER

Raymond Rahme

Born 1945

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0555 MEDICAL

Abu Baker Asvat

1943 - 1989

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0562 SCULPTOR

Roland Brener

1942 - 2006

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0586 JOURNALIST

Barry Duke

Born 1947

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0601 DEAN

Meyer Feldberg

Born 1942

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0632 CRICKET

Brenda Williams

Born 1949

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0664 PHOTOGRAPHER

Michael Meyersfeld

Born 1940

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0668 JOURNALIST

Paul Trewhela

Born 1941

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0677 BOXING

Stanley Christodoulou

Born 1944

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0679 CHOREOGRAPHER

Peter Goss

Born 1946

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0696 COMPOSER

Graham Newcater

Born 1941

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0701 WRITER

Tim Hurson

Born 1946

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0726 BOTANIST

Heidi Marguerite Anderson

Born 1944

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0734 HARPSICHORDIST

Elizabeth de la Porte

1941 - 2020

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0744 WRITER

Michael Arnheim

Born 1944

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0755 PRIEST

Cyril Axelrod

Born 1942

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0759 FOOTBALL

Cliff Durandt

1940 - 2002

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0766 GOLF

Allan Henning

Born 1944

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0832 DIPLOMAT

Abdul Minty

Born 1941

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0837 CONGRESS

Renfrew Christie

Born 1949

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0842 BUSINESS

Kerr Neilson

Born 1949

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0845 PSYCHOLOGIST

Andrew Colman

Born 1944

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0863 AUTHOR

Louise Prinsloo

Born 1946

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0877 GOLF

Tienie Britz

Born 1945

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0895 ENTREPRENEUR

Harold Ruttenberg

1942 - 2005

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0903 PLAYER

Terry Ryan (tennis)

Born 1942

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0923 CRICKET

Sam Black (cricketer)

Born 1947

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0938 PRIEST

Edward Gabriel Risi

Born 1949

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0957 WRITER

Neville Frankel

Born 1948

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0963 FOOTBALL

Thomas Johnson (South African footballer)

1942 - 2011

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0974 BUSINESS

Graham Mackay (businessman)

1949 - 2013

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0983 OFFICER

Roy Andersen (South Africa)

Born 1948

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0987 ADVISOR

Larraine Segil

Born 1948

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0989 CRICKET

Ray White (cricketer)

Born 1941

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0998 BOTANIST

Roger Pearson Ellis

Born 1944

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1005 JOURNALIST

John Matisonn

Born 1949

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1011 ACTOR

Kosie Smith

Born 1946

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1016 CONGRESS

Aubrey Mokoape

Born 1944

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1031 ASTRONOMER

Bernie Fanaroff

Born 1947

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1032 CRICKET

Andy Dindar

Born 1942

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1089 SWIMMER

Murray McLachlan (swimmer)

Born 1941

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1090 CRICKET

Archibald Sim

Born 1942

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1095 POLITICIAN

Johnson Mlambo

Born 1940

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1105 CRICKET

Myles Conte

1947 - 2014

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1112 CRICKET

Brian Bath

1947 - 2014

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1115 OFFICER

Gerrit Opperman

Born 1945

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1151 CRICKET

Bruce Groves

1947 - 2014

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1153 SWIMMER

Dottie Sutcliffe

Born 1946

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1176 SWIMMER

Laura Ranwell

Born 1941

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1182 CRICKET

Derrick Townshend

1944 - 2013

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1192 STUDIES

Michael Berning

1941 - 2006

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1200 POLITICIAN

Sam de Beer

Born 1944

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1201 DRUMMER

Selwyn Lissack

Born 1942

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1214 MILITAR

Mosoeu Magalefa

1949 - 2014

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1217 CRICKET

Richard van der Knaap

Born 1947

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1226 PLAYER

Dawie Snyman

Born 1949

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