This is a list of the famous and notable people from

Kimberley, Northern Cape Kimberley is the capital and largest city of the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It is located approximately 110 km east of the confluence of the Vaal and Orange Rivers. The city has considerable historical significance due to it ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

List of famous people from Kimberley, Northern Cape

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Benny Alexander Khoisan X (4 March 1955 – 13 October 2010), formerly Benny Alexander, was a South African political activist born in Kimberley, South Africa. Early life Bennett Alexander was the third child of Estelle and Johann Alexander, a labourer in Kimberl ...

, who adopted the name

Khoisan X Khoisan X (4 March 1955 – 13 October 2010), formerly Benny Alexander, was a South African political activist born in Kimberley, Northern Cape, Kimberley, South Africa. Early life Bennett Alexander was the third child of Estelle and Johann Alexan ...

, General Secretary of the

Pan Africanist Congress The Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (known as the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC)) is a South African national liberation Pan-Africanist movement that is now a political party. It was founded by an Africanist group, led by Robert Sobukwe, that ...

* Diane Awerbuck, South African novelist.

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Frances Baard Frances Goitsemang Baard (1 October 1909 – 1997) was a South African (ethnic Tswana) trade unionist, organiser for the African National Congress Women's League and a Patron of the United Democratic Front, who was commemorated in the renaming ...

, trade-unionist who grew up in Kimberley - and after whom the District Municipality is named. * Xenophon Constantine Balaskas, Springbok cricketer, 1930-1939. *

Barney Barnato Barney Barnato (21 February 1851 – 14 June 1897), born Barnet Isaacs, was a British Randlord, one of the entrepreneurs who gained control of diamond mining, and later, gold mining in South Africa from the 1870s up to World War I. He is perha ...

Alfred Beit Alfred Beit (15 February 1853 – 16 July 1906) was a Anglo-German gold and diamond magnate in South Africa, and a major donor and profiteer of infrastructure development on the African continent. He also donated much money to university edu ...

Benjamin Bennett Benjamin Bennett may refer to: * Benjamin Bennett (governor), Governor of Bermuda, 1701–1713 * Benjamin Bennett (politician) (1872–1939), Australian politician * Benjamin Bennett (writer) Benjamin Bennett (1904–1985) was a well known South ...

, author. * Dr Rudolph Bigalke, director of the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa (Pretoria), 1927 to 1962. * Rudolph Carl Bigalke, zoologist and one-time director of the

McGregor Museum The McGregor Museum in Kimberley, South Africa, originally known as the Alexander McGregor Memorial Museum, is a multidisciplinary museum which serves Kimberley and the Northern Cape, established in 1907. Overview Housed at first in a purpos ...

. *

Charl Bouwer Charles "Charl" Bouwer (born 27 March 1990) is a paralympic swimmer from South Africa competing in category S13 events. He was born in Kimberley. Swimming career Paralympics At the 2004 Summer Paralympics he competed in the 100m backstr ...

, paralympic swimmer and 2012 gold medallist, born in Kimberley

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* Clive Mopeleti, Filmmaker and Philanthropist.

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Clive Derby-Lewis Clive John Derby-Lewis (22 January 1936 – 3 November 2016) was a South African politician, who was involved first in the National Party and then, while serving as a member of parliament, in the Conservative Party. In 1993 he was convicted ...

, politician, imprisoned for his role in the

assassination Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...

Chris Hani Chris Hani (28 June 1942 – 10 April 1993), born Martin Thembisile Hani , was the leader of the South African Communist Party and chief of staff of uMkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC). He was a fierce ...

. Born in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

but grew up in Kimberley. *

Manne Dipico Manne Emsley Dipico, first Premier of the Northern Cape Province, South Africa, was born in Kimberley on 21 April 1959. He was appointed Chairman of the Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa (Necsa) in 2006. He is Chairman of Ponahalo Holding ...

Frank Dobbin Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curre ...

, rugby player

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Kgosi Galeshewe Kgosi (Chief) Galeshewe, (c. 1835 - 1924), was a chief of the Batlhaping group in South Africa. He was an anti-colonial revolutionary and orchestrated rebellions against the Cape Colony government. The Galeshewe Township in the Sol Plaatje Mun ...

, BaTlhaping leader and anti-colonial resistance leader. * Henry Richard Giddy, member of the Red Cap Party that led the rush on Colesberg Kopje or 'New Rush', later Kimberley

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Dorian Haarhoff Dorian Haarhoff (born 1944) is a South African-Namibian writer and poet. Haarhoff was born in 1944 in Kimberley, Northern Cape, then part of the Cape Province. He is a naturalized citizen of Namibia. He wrote his first poem in 1955 and has been pu ...

Reeza Hendricks Reeza Raphael Hendricks (born 14 August 1989) is a South African cricketer who plays for Gauteng and for the South Africa national cricket team. He is a right-handed opening batsman. He made his international debut for South Africa in November 2 ...

, Professional cricketer for the

Highveld Lions DP World Lions is a professional cricket team in Johannesburg, Gauteng. The home venue is the DP World Wanderers Stadium. The team plays in the CSA 4-Day Series first class cricket competition as well as in the Momentum 1 Day Cup, CSA Pro ...

and

The Proteas The South Africa national cricket team, also known as the Proteas, represents South Africa in men's international cricket and is administered by Cricket South Africa (CSA). South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council (I ...

. *

Richard Henyekane Richard Henyekane (28 September 1983 – 7 April 2015) was a South African professional footballer who also represented the national team. Early and personal life Henyekane hails from Kimberley's Galeshewe township; his younger brother Josep ...

, South African football striker. * William Benbow Humphreys (1889-1965), politician, founder of and principal benefactor behind Kimberley's

William Humphreys Art Gallery The William Humphreys Art Gallery, in Kimberley, South Africa, was opened in 1952 and named after its principal benefactor, William Benbow Humphreys (1889–1965). Origins In 1948, William Humphreys gave to the City of Kimberley a major part of ...

, and recipient of the Freedom of the City of Kimberley.

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Dan Jacobson Dan Jacobson (7 March 1929 – 12 June 2014) was a South African novelist, short story writer, critic and essayist of Lithuanian Jewish descent. Early life and career Dan Jacobson was born 7 March 1929, in Johannesburg, South Africa, where his p ...

, author. *

Leander Starr Jameson Sir Leander Starr Jameson, 1st Baronet, (9 February 1853 – 26 November 1917), was a British colonial politician, who was best known for his involvement in the ill-fated Jameson Raid. Early life and family He was born on 9 February 1853, of ...

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* Bronwyn Katz, sculptor and visual artist, and a founding member of

iQhiya Collective iQhiya is a network of young black women artists based in Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa. They specialise in a broad range of artistic disciplines including performance art, video, photography, sculpture and other mediums. iQhiya is an ...

* Victor Khojane, otherwise known as

Dr Victor Victor Khojane, better known as Dr Victor or Dr Vic, is a reggae and R&B musician, who was born in Kimberley, South Africa.Aggrey Klaaste Aggrey Zola Klaaste (6 January 1940 – 19 June 2004) was a South African newspaper journalist and editor. He was best known for being editor of the Soweto-based newspaper, the '' Sowetan'', from 1988 to 2002. He introduced the concept of "nation b ...

, Editor of

The Sowetan ''The Sowetan'' is an English-language South African daily newspaper that started in 1981 as a liberation struggle newspaper and was freely distributed to households in the then apartheid-segregated township of Soweto, Johannesburg, Gauteng Pr ...

, grew up in Kimberley. * Bernard Klisser, after whom the Kimberley suburb Klisserville is named. *

Jbe' Kruger James Barry Kruger (born 23 June 1986) is a South African professional golfer who plays on the Japan Golf Tour, the Sunshine Tour and the Asian Tour. He was born in Kimberley, Northern Cape and turned professional in 2007. He is known professi ...

, golfer.

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George Labram George Labram was an American engineer employed as Chief Mechanical Engineer at the De Beers diamond mines in Kimberley, Northern Cape, Kimberley during the Siege of Kimberley. Early life Labram was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1859, but attende ...

De Beers De Beers Group is an international corporation that specializes in diamond mining, diamond exploitation, diamond retail, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors. The company is active in open-pit, large-scale alluvial and c ...

Engineer who designed and built

Long Cecil Long Cecil is a cannon built in the workshops of the De Beers De Beers Group is an international corporation that specializes in diamond mining, diamond exploitation, diamond retail, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacturing secto ...

. * Richard Liversidge, ornithologist and museum director.

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Gail Nkoane Mabalane Gail Mabalane (née Nkoane; born 27 December 1984) is a South African actress, model, media socialite, businesswoman and singer. She is most notable for acting roles on South African television series "The Wild", and recently starred on tele-nov ...

, actress, model and singer *

Phakamile Mabija Phakamile Mabija was an African anti-Apartheid activist who died while in police custody in 1977. Biography Phakamile Mabija lived in Vergenoeg, in the Northern Cape. As a member of the Anglican Church's NOMAD team, he was a delegate in the Nation ...

, anti-apartheid activist. *

Thebe Magugu Thebetsile "Thebe" Magugu (born 1 September 1993) is a South African fashion designer. Born in Kimberley and based in Johannesburg, he rose to prominence as the winner of the 2019 LVMH Young Fashion Designer Prize, and a finalist in the 2021 ...

, fashion designer. *

Adolph Malan Adolph Gysbert Malan, (3 October 1910 – 17 September 1963), better known as Sailor Malan, was a South African fighter pilot and flying ace in the Royal Air Force (RAF) who led No. 74 Squadron RAF during the Battle of Britain. He finished h ...

, better known as Sailor Malan, famed

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

fighter pilot and later leading member of the anti-Apartheid

Torch Commando The Torch Commando was a South African organisation, born out of the work of the Springbok Legion, a South African organisation of World War II veterans, founded in 1941 during the Second World War, and the War Veterans Action Committee estab ...

and Springbok Legion in South Africa. *

Brian Marajh Brian Melvin Marajh (born 2 April 1960) was the thirteenth and current Bishop of Kimberley & Kuruman in South Africa. He was previously the eighth bishop of George, before, on 19 September 2021, the Electoral College of Bishops elected to trans ...

, Bishop of George. *

Manie Maritz Manie Maritz (1876–1940), also known as Gerrit Maritz, was a Boer officer during the Second Boer War and a leading rebel of the 1914 Maritz Rebellion. Early years Maritz was born in Kimberley, Northern Cape then in the British colony of the ...

, Boer general. * Z.K. Matthews, President of the African National Congress, spent his youth in Kimberley. *

Sarah Gertrude Millin Sarah Gertrude Millin, née Liebson (19 March 1889 – 6 July 1968), was a South African author. Biography Millin was born in Žagarė, Kovno Governorate on 19 March 1889, was one of a family of seven children. Five months later her parents, I ...

, author, spent her formative years, 1888–1912, in Kimberley and the nearby Waldeck's Plant. *

Harold Arthur Morris Harold Arthur Morris (1884–1977) was the fifth person to be awarded the Freedom of the City of Kimberley, South Africa, an honour conferred in 1967 in recognition of outstanding services to the City and the Northern Cape. Morris was born in Ron ...

, Freeman of Kimberley. *

Karen Muir Karen Muir (16 September 1952 – 1 April 2013) was a South African competitive swimmer. Born and raised in Kimberley, Northern Cape, Kimberley, she attended the Diamantveld High School, where she matriculated in 1970."Tributes pour in for Kare ...

, Olympic medalist (swimming).

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* Gideon "Mgibe" Nxumalo - Jazz pianist, arranger, composer.

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Ernest Oppenheimer Sir Ernest Oppenheimer (22 May 1880 – 25 November 1957), KStJ was a diamond and gold mining entrepreneur, financier and philanthropist, who controlled De Beers and founded the Anglo American Corporation of South Africa. Career Ernest Oppenhei ...

Harry Oppenheimer Harry Frederick Oppenheimer (28 October 1908 – 19 August 2000) was a prominent South African businessman, industrialist and philanthropist. Oppenheimer was often ranked as one of the wealthiest people in the world, and was considered South A ...

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Sol Plaatje Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje (9 October 1876 – 19 June 1932) was a South African intellectual, journalist, linguist, politician, translator and writer. Plaatje was a founding member and first General Secretary of the South African Native Nation ...

Dipuo Peters Elizabeth Dipuo Peters (born 13 May 1960 in Kimberley, Northern Cape) was the Minister of Transport of the Republic of South Africa from 10 July 2013 until 30 March 2017, in the Zuma administration, and former Minister of Energy from 2009 to 201 ...

, second Premier of the Northern Cape Province. * Frank Templeton Prince, poet.

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Cecil Rhodes Cecil John Rhodes (5 July 1853 – 26 March 1902) was a British mining magnate and politician in southern Africa who served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896. An ardent believer in British imperialism, Rhodes and his Br ...

* J.B. Robinson * Dr Donald Ross, cardiac surgeon *

Bevil Rudd Bevil Gordon D'Urban Rudd (5 October 1894 – 2 February 1948) was a South African athlete, the 1920 Olympic Champion in the 400 metres. Biography Rudd was born in Kimberley. He was the son of Henry Percy Rudd and Mable Mina Blyth; pa ...

, Olympic medalist (athletics). *

Charles Rudd Charles Dunell Rudd (22 October 1844 – 15 November 1916) was the main business associate of Cecil Rhodes. Early life He was born at Hamworth Hall, Northamptonshire, the son of Henry Rudd (1809–1884), who had a shipbuilding business in Lo ...

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A.H.M. Scholtz Andrew Henry Martin Scholtz (28 July 1923, Kimberley – 17 November 2004, Mafikeng) was a South African writer. Biography Early life and education Andrew Henry Martin Scholtz was born on 28 July 1923 in Kimberley, South Africa. Scholtz was ...

, author. *

Olive Schreiner Olive Schreiner (24 March 1855 – 11 December 1920) was a South African author, pacifist, anti-war campaigner and intellectual. She is best remembered today for her novel ''The Story of an African Farm'' (1883), which has been highly acclaimed ...

, author, who lived in Kimberley 1894-1897. *

Gert Smal Gert Petrus Smal (born 27 December 1961, Kimberley, South Africa) is a former South African rugby union player and assistant coach of the South African and Irish national rugby union teams. He is currently the forwards coach at Japanese Top Le ...

, former rugby union player and coach. *

Robert Sobukwe Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe (5 December 1924 – 27 February 1978) was a prominent South African anti-apartheid revolutionary and founding member of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), serving as the first president of the organization. Sobukwe w ...

, founder of the

. *

Richard Southey (colonial administrator) Sir Richard Southey (25 April 1808 – 22 July 1901) was a British colonial administrator, cabinet minister and landowner in South Africa. Early life Southey was the son of 1820 Settlers leader George Southey of Culmstock, Devon, and later of B ...

Henrietta Stockdale Sister Henrietta, CSM and AA (9 July 1847 – 6 October 1911) was a British nursing pioneer and Anglican religious sister. Through her influence and pressure the first state registration of nurses and midwives in the world was brought about wh ...

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Jimmy Tau Jimmy Tau (born 23 July 1980 in Kimberley, Northern Cape, Kimberley, Northern Cape) is a South African former association football, soccer player who played as a Full-back (association football), right-back. He played for Kaizer Chiefs and Orla ...

, football player and Kaizer Chiefs captain *

William M. Timlin William Mitcheson Timlin (11 April 1892 – 7 June 1943) was an architect and illustrator. Early life He was born in Ashington, Northumberland, the son of a colliery fireman. He showed talent for drawing at Morpeth Grammar School, and recei ...

, artist and architect, responsible for many notable Kimberley buildings.

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Charles Warren General Sir Charles Warren, (7 February 1840 – 21 January 1927) was an officer in the British Royal Engineers. He was one of the earliest European archaeologists of the Biblical Holy Land, and particularly of the Temple Mount. Much of his mi ...

Maria Wilman Maria Wilman (29 April 1867 – 9 November 1957) was a South African geologist and botanist. She was the first Director of the McGregor Museum in Kimberley, South Africa and the second female South African to attend the University of Cambridge ...

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of People From Kimberley, Northern Cape People from Kimberley, Northern Cape