INTERESTING FACTS WORLD

Incredible and fun facts to explore

South Africans facts

While investigating facts about South Africans, I found out little known, but curios details like:

In the 1990s, the South African government dismantled all of its nuclear weapons, the first nation in the world which voluntarily gave up all nuclear arms it had developed itself.

how did african american culture develop in cities in the south?

Alison Botha, a South African woman who survived 46 stabs to her throat and abdomen by using one hand to hold up her partially severed head and the other to carry her disemboweled intestines in a t-shirt until she reached help.

In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across. Here are 50 of the best facts about South Africans I managed to collect.

what countries are south africans’ ancestors from?

  1. Harriet Tubman, in addition to organizing the Underground Railroad, served with the U.S. Army as a scout, spy, nurse and soldier during the Civil War, leading a raid with the African-American 2nd South Carolina regiment that freed over 700 slaves.

  2. Mexican Racing driver Pedro Rodríguez always traveled with a Mexican flag and a record of the national anthem, because when he won the 1967 South African GP the organizers did not have the Mexican anthem, and instead played the Mexican hat dance.

  3. A young Winston Churchill was on a South African train ambushed by Boers. Captured and sent to a prison camp, he escaped and then evaded a massive manhunt by hiding in a mine for days. He later led the liberation of the 180 soldiers remaining in the prison and returned home a hero.

  4. John Kani (King T'Chaka in Black Panther) lost his left eye during a beating by South African police after returning home from a Broadway production of "Sizwe Banzi Is Dead," which was critical of apartheid. He subsequently won a 1975 Tony Award for his performance.

  5. President Gerald Ford stood up for civil rights in 1934 by threatening to quit his college football team, unless they let Willis Ward (African American) play against the south’s Georgia Tech. He agreed to play only after Ward asked him to, because they couldn’t afford to lose that game.

  6. Trevor Richards, a 16-year-old South African immigrant, got suspended from his Omaha, Nebraska school when he nominated himself for a "Distinguished African-American Student of the Year" prize. He was the only pupil in this school to have ever lived in Africa.

  7. Stoffel—a Honey Badger in a South African wildlife center who’s escaped his enclosure twice to fight the lions in the exhibit beside his, built towers out of rocks and sticks to climb over his wall, and, when introduced with a mate, stood on her head to unlock the gate and get out once again.

  8. In the 1880s, a South African railroad employed a baboon as a railway signalman, paying him 20 cents a day and a half bottle of beer a week. He made no mistakes in 9 years.

  9. In 1986, at the height of apartheid, Glasgow, Scotland changed the name of the square where the South African consulate-general was based to Nelson Mandela Place, forcing the South African attaché to have to write this address if they wanted to receive mail.

  10. During Apartheid in South Africa, Glasgow renamed the street which at the time was the address of the South African Consulate from St George's Place to Nelson Mandela Place. Consular officials would be forced to look at his name when reading and addressing postal correspondence.

south africans facts
What are the best facts about South Africans?

South Africans data charts

For your convenience take a look at South Africans figures with stats and charts presented as graphic.

south africans fact data chart about Support for 2010 US Senate Candidate Alvin Greene in each So
Support for 2010 US Senate Candidate Alvin Greene in each South Carolina County vs. the African-American population of each county

What is true about south africans?

You can easily fact check it by examining the linked well-known sources.

I learned that South Korea's GDP per Capita in 1960 was $79, and received aid from many African nations because it was so poor. It is now the 12th biggest economy in the world

Gandhi received a British medal for helping to suppress black South Africans, said that Hitler was "not a bad man", and disallowed his wife from taking penicillin for pneumonia, from which she then died (he was against "alien medicine"). Later, he "allowed doctors to save his life with quinine". - source

A South African doctor tried to create a virus that would only affect black people. - source

In 2001, a South African company named Naspers decided to purchase a 46.5% stake into an up-and-coming Chinese tech company. This initial investment of $32 million into what would become Tencent has now ballooned to over $175 billion, making it one of the most successful investments in history.

Leka II, Crown Prince of Albania, was born in South Africa. The South African government declared his maternity ward temporarily Albanian territory to ensure that Leka was born on Albanian soil. - source

When south africa was colonized?

The Vela Incident, A nuclear explosion in the Indian ocean of unknown origin. The most widespread theory is that it was a joint Apartheid South African-Israeli nuclear test.

How have the descendants of these slaves contributed to south african culture?

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust allowed South African scientists from Transvaal Museum to analyze 24 pipe fragments found at William Shakespeare’s home. Eight of the pipes contained traces of cannabis and two contained traces of cocaine. Others appear to be laced hallucinogenic nutmeg extracts.

Adrien Beard was chosen to voice the character "Token", because he was the only African-American employed at South Park Studios at the time of token's first appearance.

About Isaac Woodard, an African-American World War II veteran who was beaten and blinded by police officers in South Carolina hours after being honorably discharged from the United States Army, the sheriff in charge of the attack was acquitted by an all-white jury

A South African vineyard's duck parade of over a 1000 ducks doubles as a pest control for erradicating snails, bugs, etc from their vineyards.

Jack, a baboon operated the railway signals for a South African railway operator under supervision of his paraplegic owner. He was paid with half-bottle of beer each week and never made a mistake in nine years of employment.

When south africa lockdown will end?

Solomon Northup, a free African American living in New York in the 1800s, was kidnapped and sold into slavery in the south. As a slave, he had no way to testify his case. He remained a slave for 12 years before finally being freed. He then wrote a memoir "Twelve Years A Slave".

The South African health ministry once stapled a leaflet to condoms they distributed

The South African government ordered sculptors to remove a bronze rabbit they hid in the right ear of a Nelson Mandela statue. "We don't think it's appropriate because Nelson Mandela never had a rabbit on his ear"

The Where’s Waldo book series was released with different names internationally. In Britain you were looking for Wally, Germans searched for tiny Walter, the French scoured the pages for petite Charlie, and if you were a young South African you tried to spot a little Willie.

The most dangerous job in the world is that of the South African farmer, with 156 deaths per 100,000

Difference between how the chinese culture and the south african culture interact?

Jackie the baboon, a member of the South African Infantry Brigade during World War I. With acute hearing he was able to give early warnings of enemy movement or impending attacks, would regularly march with his company and always saluted an officer.

A study was done which swapped South-African and American diets for a period and it was noticed that Americans ate two to three times the amount of meat and animal fat than the South-Africans. The South-African diet is high in fiber and has reduced risk for colon cancer.

The Great Migration, or the relocation of more than 6 million African Americans from the rural South to the cities of the North, Midwest and West from 1916 to 1970.

A South African plant produces seeds that look and smell like animal dung, tricking dung beetles into burying and germinating the seeds.

Nelson Mandela's wife Winnie was found personally responsible for a campaign of kidnapping, torture, and murder by the South African Truth and Reconciliation commission

In 2009, a South African IT company had a carrier pigeon race against the country's largest internet service provider, Telkom, over 80 km. In a two hour period, a 4GB flash drive was carried by Winston the pigeon and read, while only 4.2% of the data had been transferred by Telkom.

A South African police officer was shot in the back while writing a ticket for a pulled over driver. After he returned fire, handling the situation, he resumed writing the ticket for the driver.

Japanese, South Koreans and Taiwanese were considered 'honorary whites' by the Apartheid-Era South African government and were granted most of the rights usually reserved for white citizens

A south African doctor invented a anti rape condom in 2005

America: The Story of Us was filmed in South Africa and uses mostly South African actors.

There are plans to build a giant South African flag from indigenous plants & solar panels in the Karoo desert that will be visible from space.

In 2008 a South African man bungee jumped from 100ft, using a cord made only of 18,500 condoms

A Bunny, is a South African fast food dish consisting of a hollowed out loaf of bread filled with curry. During the apartheid regime, Indians were not allowed in certain shops and cafes and so the shop owners found this quick way of serving the people through back windows.

The highest BAC recorded was 1.41% from a South African who was caught driving after stealing 15 sheep.

The South African constitution permits their courts to use the laws of other countries when making judgments on human rights

This is our collection of basic interesting facts about South Africans. The fact lists are intended for research in school, for college students or just to feed your brain with new realities. Possible use cases are in quizzes, differences, riddles, homework facts legend, cover facts, and many more. Whatever your case, learn the truth of the matter why is South Africans so important!

Editor Veselin Nedev Editor