south african women

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Mrs Ples

Australopithecus africanus

Mrs. Ples Australopithecus africanus

• The most complete skull of a specimen ever found.

• Found in the area known as the “Cradle of Humankind”.

• Mrs. Ples was discovered by Robert Broom and John T. Robinson on 18 April 1947.

• Mrs. Ples may in fact be Mr. Ples. • The fossil has been dated to around 2

million years old.

Nadine Gordimer

Nobel Prize in Literature

Nadine Gordimer

• Born 20 November 1923• A South African writer, political activist and recipient of the

1991 Nobel Prize in Literature. • “through her magnificent epic writing she has been of a very

great benefit to humanity". – Alfred Nobel • Gordimer's writing has dealt with moral and racial issues,

particularly apartheid in South Africa. July's People was banned. • She was active in the anti-apartheid movement, joining the

African National Congress during the days when the organization was banned.

• She helped Mandela edit his famous speech I Am Prepared To Die, given from the defendant's dock at the trial. When Mandela was released from prison in 1990, Gordimer was one of the first people he wanted to see.

Miriam Makeba

Miriam Makeba• 4 March 1932 – 9 November 2008 nicknamed Mama Africa• Grammy Award winning South African singer and civil rights

activist.• In the 1960s, she was the first artist from Africa to popularize

African music around the world. • "Pata Pata", first recorded in 1957 and released in the U.S. in

1967.• Sang and toured with Harry Belafonte, Paul Simon, and her

former husband Hugh Masekela.Makeba campaigned against apartheid. The government revoked her passport in 1960, her citizenship and right of return in 1963. As the apartheid system crumbled she returned home for the first time in 1990.

The Click Song•Qongqothwane is a traditional song of the Xhosa people. •It is sung at weddings to bring good fortune. •European colonials who could not pronounce its Xhosa title•The Xhosa title literally means "knock-knock beetle“•popular name for various species of darkling beetles that make a distinctive knocking sound by tapping their abdomens on the ground.• These beetles are believed by the Xhosa to bring good luck and rain.

Zolani Mahola

Singer/Song-writer and Actress

Zolani Mahola

• Born 19 July 1981 in the Eastern Cape• 2002, lead singer of Freshlyground.• 2010 FIFA World Cup, Freshlyground

and Shakira, performed "Waka Waka“• At the Glamour Women of the Year

Awards 2011, she was declared “An Icon" of South African women in 2011.

Charlize Theron

Actress

Charlize Theron• Born 7 August 1975 in Benoni• She rose to fame in the late 1990s following

roles in the films The Devil's Advocate (1997,) Mighty Joe Young (1998), and The Cider House Rules (1999).

• 12th on Top 100 great South Africans list

Mighty Joe Young

The Italian Job

Monsterwon the Silver Bear, Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, and Academy Award for Best Actress, becoming the first South African to win an Academy Award in a major acting category

Snow White & the Huntsman

Natalie du Toit

Olympian

Natalie du Toit• Born 29 January 1984 in Cape Town • She began competing internationally

in swimming at the age of 14 in the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur

•In February 2001 her left leg was amputated at the knee after she was hit by a car while riding her scooter back to school after swimming practice. •Three months later, before she had started walking again, she was back in the pool with the intention of competing in the 2002 Commonwealth Games. •Du Toit swims without the aid of a prosthetic limb.

Medals and Awards• 2002 Commonwealth Games, Du Toit (18) won both the 50 m

and the 100 m freestyle in world record time. • She also made sporting history by qualifying for the 800 m

able-bodied freestyle final - the first time that an athlete with a disability had qualified for the final of an able-bodied event.

• At the Commonwealth Games, she was presented with the first David Dixon Award for Outstanding Athlete of the Games.

• In 2003, competing against able-bodied swimmers, Du Toit won gold in the 800 metres freestyle at the All-Africa Games as well as silver in the 800 metres freestyle and bronze in the 400 metres freestyle at the Afro-Asian Games.

• She narrowly missed qualifying for the Olympics in Athens in 2004, but during the Paralympics that were held in the same city, she won one silver and five gold medals.

• In the same year, her courage and achievements were acknowledged with a nomination for the Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year 2004.

• At the 2006 Commonwealth Games she won the same two golds as she had in 2002.

• She also won six gold medals at the fourth IPC World Swimming Championships, finishing third overall in a race which included 36 males and 20 females.

2008 Beijing Olympics• She was one of two

Paralympians to compete at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing

• Du Toit became the first amputee ever to qualify for the Olympics, where she placed 16th in the 10K, "Marathon", swim.

• At the Beijing Olympics women's 10 km race, she finished in 16th place, 1:22.2 minutes behind the winner.

• She also took part in the 2008 Summer Paralympics, winning five gold medals.

2012 London Paralympics

• On 27 August 2012, just three days before the start of the 2012 Summer Paralympics, she announced her intention to retire at the end of the event.

• She then went on to win 3 gold and 1 silver medal.