Icons Of Africa (46)
Charlene,[1] Princess of Monaco (French: Charlène; née Charlene Lynette Wittstock; born 25 January 1978), is the wife of Albert II, Prince of Monaco. She is also a former South African Olympic swimmer.
Charlene is the daughter of Michael and Lynette Wittstock. She was born in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) to a family of German, English and Irish descent. Her family relocated to the Transvaal, South Africa, in 1989. She represented South Africa at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, with her team finishing fifth in the Women's 4x100 m Medley. She retired from competitive swimming in 2007.
Charlene met Prince Albert in 2000 at a swimming event in Monaco. They were first seen together in 2006, and she has accompanied Prince Albert on many of his official duties since then. They announced their engagement in June 2010 and were married on 1 July 2011.
The Wittstock family is of German origin; Charlene's great-great-grandparents Martin Gottlieb Wittstock and Louise Wittstock emigrated to South Africa from the Pomeranian village of Zerrenthin in northern Germany in 1861 to escape hardship. In South Africa the Wittstocks worked as handymen and unsuccessfully hunted for diamonds.[7] Gottlieb's son Heinrich Carl Wittstock would marry Olive Florence Caldwell, of English origin. Their son Dudley Kenneth Wittstock, Charlene's paternal grandfather, married Sylvia Fagan Nicolson, also of English origin.[8]
Michael Wittstock said in April 2011 that he was considering moving the family from Benoni to Monaco because of South Africa's crime rate.[9]
[edit] Swimming career
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Charlene was a member of the South African women's 4×100 m medley team at the 2000 Summer Olympics, which finished fifth. She finished sixth at the 2002 FINA Short Course World Championships for the 200 m breaststroke. She left her Durban-based team (the Seagulls) to join the Tuks Swimming Club at the High Performance Centre at the University of Pretoria.[10] She was never enrolled for any academic courses at the University of Pretoria and therefore never graduated from the University; the Club sponsored her by providing her with free access to their pools, free coaching, accommodations, and gymnasium access.
She decided to leave Pretoria in January 2005 and returned to Durban; she then went to the north coast of KwaZulu-Natal, where she joined a former Tuks swimming coach, Brannislav Ivkovic. On 13 April 2007 Charlene regained her title as South Africa’s 50 m women’s backstroke champion when she completed the 50 m backstroke final at the Telkom SA National Aquatic Championships in 30:16 seconds, to finish third behind Australia’s Sophie Edington and Brazil’s Fabíola Molina.
She has won several national titles over the years. She planned to compete in the 2008 Summer Olympics in China, which she said would be her swansong, but she did not qualify.[11] Previously she had been out of competitive swimming for 18 months with a shoulder injury. Charlene said she would be swimming in Europe in the near future, hoping to better her times. "I have a year left of competitive swimming, and I just want to be the best I can be in that time. After that I want to get involved in charity work, and development work with athletes' commissions."[11] She has recently commented that her swimming days are behind her, enabling her to concentrate on her role as Princess of Monaco.
[edit] Special Olympics ambassador
On Friday, 27 May at an Amber Lounge charity fashion show during the 2011 Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix weekend, Special Olympics announced that Charlene has become a global ambassador for the movement, charged with promoting respect and inclusion for people with intellectual disabilities to a worldwide audience.[12] Charlene has said that the Special Olympics movement is close to her heart because, as a former athlete, she values its role in "using the power of sport to change lives".
[edit] Marriage
Charlene met Albert II, Prince of Monaco, in 2000 at the Mare Nostrum swimming meet in Monaco.[4][13] They were first seen together at the opening ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics.[2] Charlene moved in with Albert in 2006.[13] She accompanied him to the weddings of Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, in 2010, and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, in 2011.
On 23 June 2010, the palace announced the engagement of Charlene and the Prince.[14][15][16][17] Charlene, who was raised a Protestant, converted to Roman Catholicism, even though this is not a requirement of the Constitution of Monaco.[18] The future princess was also instructed in the French language and the Monégasque dialect, and became familiar with European court protocol.
The wedding was originally scheduled for 8 and 9 July 2011 but was moved forward to prevent a conflict with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) meeting in Durban on 5–9 July. The couple had invited members of the IOC, including president Jacques Rogge, to their wedding.[19] The couple plan to attend the IOC meeting; hence Charlene's first foreign visit as Princess will be to her childhood home, South Africa.[19]
During the week before the wedding, the palace was forced to deny reports that Charlene had been getting cold feet.[2][20] French weekly L'Express reported that Charlene tried to leave Monaco on Tuesday, 28 June, after rumours surfaced that Albert had fathered a third illegitimate child.[21] The report claimed Monaco police intercepted her at Nice Côte d'Azur Airport and confiscated her passport,[22] and that it took "intense convincing" by Albert and palace officials for her to stay.[23] The palace called the stories "ugly rumours" born out of jealousy.[21]
The couple were married in a civil ceremony on 1 July 2011 at the Throne Room in the Prince's Palace.[2] The Nuptial Mass on 2 July was a lavish affair.[2] Only days after the beginning of the couple's honeymoon in South Africa, several newspapers from Spain, Britain and elsewhere reported that Charlene and Albert were not staying at the same hotel, but were in fact booked in different hotels several miles apart. These reports fueled rumours about the couple's marital crisis that was sparked off even before their wedding.[24][25][26]
Wessel Johannes "Hansie" Cronje (25 September 1969 – 1 June 2002) was a South African cricketer and captain of the South African national cricket team in the 1990s. He was voted the 11th greatest South African in 2004 despite having been banned for life from professional cricket for his role in a match-fixing scandal.
[edit] Early life
Born in Bloemfontein, Cronje matriculated in 1987 from the prestigious Grey College school in Bloemfontein. An excellent all round sportsman, he represented the then Orange Free State in cricket and rugby at schools level. Cronje earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of the Free State.
His father Ewie had played for Orange Free State in the 1960s, and Hansie's older brother Frans had also played first-class cricket.
[edit] First-class career
Cronje made his first-class debut for Orange Free State against Transvaal at Johannesburg in January 1988 at the age of 18. In the following season, he was a regular appearing in all eight Currie Cup matches plus being part of the Benson and Hedges Series winning team, scoring 73 as an opener in the final. In 1989-90, despite playing all the Currie Cup matches, he failed to make a century, and averaged only 19.76; however, in one-day games he averaged 60.12. During that season he scored his maiden century for South African Universities against Mike Gatting's rebels.[1]
Despite having just turned 21, Cronje was made captain of Orange Free State for the 1990-91 season. He scored his maiden century for them against Natal in December 1990, and finished the season with another century and a total of 715 runs at 39.72. That season he also scored 159* in a 40-over match against Griqualand West.
In 1992-93, he captained Orange Free State to the Castle Cup/Total Power Series double.
In 1995, Cronje appeared for Leicestershire where he scored 1301 runs at 52.04 finishing the season as the county's leading scorer.
In 1995-96, he finished the season top of the batting averages in the Currie Cup,[2] his top score of 158 helped Free State chase down 389 to beat Northern Transvaal.[3]
In 1997, Cronje played for Ireland as an overseas player in the Benson and Hedges Cup and helped them to a 46-run win over Middlesex by scoring 94 not out and taking three wickets.[4] This was Ireland's first ever win against English county opposition.[5] Later in the same competition, he scored 85 and took one wicket against Glamorgan.[6]
[edit] International career
[edit] Debuts
Cronje's form in 1991/92 was impressive especially in the one-day format where he averaged 61.40. He earned an international call up for the 1992 World Cup, making his One Day International debut against Australia at Sydney. During the tournament he played in eight of the team's nine games, averaging 34.00 with the bat, while his medium pace was used in bowling 20 overs.
After the World Cup Cronje was part of the tour to the West Indies; he featured in the three ODI's and in the Test match at Bridgetown that followed he made his Test debut, this was South Africa first Test since readmission and they came close to beating a strong West Indian side, going into the final day at 122/2 chasing 200 they collapsed to 148.
India toured South Africa in 1992/93. In the first one day international, he hit the famous sixer when his team needed 6 runs of only 4 balls, and was awarded Man of the match, for his bowling. In the one-day series Cronje managed just one fifty but with the ball he was economical and took his career best figures of 5/32, becoming the second South African to take five wickets in an ODI.[7] In the Test series that followed he scored his maiden test century, 135 off 411 balls, after coming in at 0-1 in the second over he was last man out, after eight and three-quarter hours, in a total of 275. This contributed to South Africa's first Test win since readmission. At the end of the season in a triangular tournament with Pakistan and West Indies he scored 81 off 70 balls against Pakistan.
In South Africa's next Test series against Sri Lanka Cronje scored his second Test century, 122 in the second Test in Colombo; the victory margin of an innings and 208 runs is a South African record. He finished the series with 237 runs at 59.25 after scoring 73* in the drawn third Test.
[edit] Stand-in captain
In 1993-94, there was another Castle Cup / Total Power Series double for Orange Free State. In international cricket, he was named as vice-captain for the tour of Australia despite being the youngest member of the squad. In the first ODI of the triangular tournament with New Zealand and Australia, he guided South Africa to victory against Australia with 91*, which won him the man of the match award. He scored 71 in a rain-affected first test at Melbourne before a tense second test that South Africa won by 5 runs. An injury to captain Kepler Wessels meant Cronje was captain for the final day of the match. Between the second and third tests, the one-day tournament continued, now with Cronje as captain, South Africa made the final series but lost it 2-1 to Australia. He became South Africa's second youngest Test captain, after Murray Bisset in 1898-99, when he led the team for the third test at Adelaide but it was an unsuccessful start to his captaincy career as the series was squared.
In February 1994, there was the return series as Australia toured South Africa. Cronje started the ODI series with scores of 112, 97, 45 and 50* and when Australia played Orange Free State in their final match before the first Test, Cronje hit 251 off 306 balls, 200 of these came on the final day in which 294 runs were added. Despite this, Orange Free State lost the match. In the first test at Johannesburg, he added another century as South Africa won by 197 runs. This innings was the end of a 14 day period in which he'd scored 721 runs against the Aussies. However, he failed to reach fifty in the next two tests and four ODIs as both series were drawn.
There was another drawn series when South Africa toured England in 1994. Cronje scored only one century on the whole tour and scored only 90 runs in the three-test series. In October 1994, South Africa again came up against Australia in a triangular one day series also featuring Pakistan. Cronje scored 354 runs at an average of 88.50. Despite this, South Africa lost all their matches.[8] This series was Bob Woolmer's first as coach and Kepler Wessels' last as captain. Cronje, who'd previously been vice-captain, was named as captain for the test series with New Zealand in 1994-95.
[edit] Permanent captain
South Africa lost the first Test in Johannesburg but before the second test the two teams plus Pakistan and Sri Lanka competed for the Mandela Trophy, New Zealand failed to gain a win in the six match round robin stage while South Africa beat Pakistan in the final. This changed the momentum as South Africa secured wins in Durban and Cape Town, where Cronje scored his fourth test century, he was the first captain since W. G. Grace to win a three-match rubber after being one down.
In early 1995, South Africa won one-off tests against both Pakistan and New Zealand, in Auckland Cronje scored the only century of the match before a final day declaration left his bowlers barely enough time to dismiss the Kiwis.
In October 1995, South Africa won a one-off Test with Zimbabwe. Cronje scored a second innings 54* to guide them to seven wicket win. In two one-dayers that followed, he took five wickets as South Africa comfortably won both. South Africa won the five Test series against England 1-0 despite Cronje struggling, scoring 113 runs at 18.83. However, he top scored in the one-day series that they won 6-1.
In the 1996 World Cup, he scored 78 and 45* against New Zealand and Pakistan respectively as South Africa won their group but in the Quarter final with West Indies a Brian Lara century ended their ten game winning streak.
The 1996-97 season featured back-to-back series with India. The first away was lost 2-1. The home series was won 2-0. In the six tests combined, Cronje managed one fifty. Cronje produced better form against Australia, averaging over 50 in both test and ODI series although both were lost.
Cronje started 1997-98 by leading South Africa to their first series victory in Pakistan, his batting continued to struggle with his biggest contribution being taking the wickets of Inzamam-ul-Haq and Moin Khan in the Third Test.[9]
[edit] Better form
Cronje once again came up against Australia and once again ended on the losing side. In the triangular one day series they won the group with Australia just scraping through, they also won the first 'final' but South Africa lost the last two finals. During the group matches Cronje had threatened to lead his team off after Pat Symcox had missiles thrown at him, Symcox had the last laugh ending the match with 4/24. Before the Test series started he scored consecutive centuries against Tasmania and Australia A these were his first in two years.
In the first Test, Cronje scored 70 as South Africa saved the match; in the second Test, he lasted 335 minutes for his 88. Despite this, they lost by an innings. In the third Test, they scored 517 and although Mark Taylor carried his bat for 169, Australia needed to bat 109 overs to save the match. Mark Waugh batted 404 minutes, and, despite controversy when Waugh hit one of his bails off (under Law 35 he was adjudged to have finished his stroke and therefore given not out), South Africa fell three wickets short. Cronje put a stump through the umpires` dressing room door after the match and was lucky to avoid a ban.[10]
Cronje missed the first Test of the series with Pakistan because of a knee injury. The second Test at Durban was lost, but he top scored at Port Elizabeth with 85, to help square the three Test series 1-1. There was still time in the season for a two-Test series with Sri Lanka. The first was won with Cronje scoring 49 and 74; in the second Test, he took 3/14, his best bowling in Tests,and smashed 82 off 63 balls, his fifty being brought up with three consecutive sixes off Muttiah Muralitharan, and was reached off just 31 balls; at the time, it was the second fastest in Tests after Kapil Dev's.[11] In the triangular series, which South Africa won, he scored only one fifty at East London where he also took 2/17 off 10 overs.[12]
During the 1998 Test series against England, Cronje scored five consecutive fifties, having failed to score one in the nine previous Tests against them. In his fiftieth Test, at Trent Bridge he scored 126, his sixth and last Test century and his first in 29 matches. During his second innings of 67, he passed 3,000 runs - only the second South African to do so.[13] However, England won the Test, and the one at Headingley, to win the series 2-1, Cronje finished the series as South Africa's top scorer with 401 runs at 66.83.
[edit] Whitewash, tie and forfeit
In the West Indies series of 1998-99, Cronje captained South Africa to their only whitewash in a five Test series.[14] His best batting against West Indies came when playing for Free State; he scored 158* as they chased down 438 and made up a first innings deficit of 249.[15] In the ODI series he was South Africa's top scorer and took 11 wickets at 14.72 as South Africa won 6-1.
In March 1999, they toured New Zealand, beating them 1-0 in the Test series and 3-2 in the one-dayers.
At the 1999 World Cup, Cronje finished with 98 runs at 12.25 as South Africa was eliminated after the famous tied semi-final against Australia at Edgbaston. In the first match of the tournament versus India, Cronje came onto the field with an earpiece wired to coach Bob Woolmer, but at the first drinks break match referee Talat Ali ordered him to remove it.[16]
In October 1999, Cronje became South Africa's highest Test run scorer during the first Test against Zimbabwe.[17] The two Test series was won 2-0 thanks to innings victories. South Africa won the series with England in the fourth Test at Cape Town, Cronje's fiftieth as captain.
The fifth test of the 1999-2000 South Africa versus England series at Centurion was ruined by rain, entering the final day only 45 overs had been possible with South Africa 155/6. On the final morning as they batted on, news filtered through that the captains had met and were going to "make a game of it". A target of 250 from 70 overs was agreed. When South Africa reached 248/8, Cronje declared; both teams then forfeited an innings leaving England a target of 249 to win the Test, which they did with two wickets left and only five balls remaining. It ended South Africa's 14 game unbeaten streak in Test cricket. It was later learnt Cronje accepted money and a gift from a bookmaker in return for making an early declaration in this Test. (See below).
Cronje top scored with 56 after South Africa were left reeling at 21-5 in the Final of the triangular tournament which featured England and Zimbabwe.[18] Cronje struggled against India in his final Test series, scoring 25 runs in two Tests and taking six wickets. South Africa still completed their first series win in India, India's first lost series at home since 1987.
On 31 March 2000, his cricket career finished with a 73-ball 79 against Pakistan in the final of Sharjah Cup 1999/2000.[19]
[edit] Career record
Under Cronje's captaincy, South Africa won 27 Tests and lost 11, completing series victories against every team except Australia.[20]
He captained the One Day International team to 99 wins out of 138 matches with one tied match and three no results. He holds the South African record for matches captained in and matches won as captain.[21] His 99 wins as captain makes him the third most successful captain worldwide in terms of matches won, behind Ricky Ponting and Allan Border, and in terms of percentage of wins (73.70), behind Ponting and Clive Lloyd.[22]
Between September 1993 and March 2000, he played in 162 consecutive ODIs, a South African record.[23]
[edit] Match fixing
On 7 April 2000, Delhi police revealed they had a recording of a conversation between Cronje and Sanjay Chawla, a representative of an Indian betting syndicate, over match-fixing allegations. Three other players, Herschelle Gibbs, Nicky Boje, and Pieter Strydom, were also implicated.
On 8 April 2000, the UCBSA (United Cricket Board of South Africa) denied their players were involved in match-fixing. Cronje said "the allegations are completely without substance".[24] However, on 11 April Cronje was sacked as captain after confessing to Ali Bacher that he had not been "entirely honest". He admitted accepting between $10,000 to $15,000 from a London-based bookmaker for 'forecasting' results, not match fixing, during the recent one day series in India.
On 7 June, the King Commission began. The following day, Gibbs revealed that Cronje had offered him $15,000 to score less than 20 runs in the 5th ODI at Nagpur. He also admitted another offer of $15,000 to Henry Williams to concede more than 50 runs in that same match. Gibbs scored 74 off 53 balls and Williams injured his shoulder and couldn't complete his second over, so neither received the $15,000. Off-spinner Derek Crookes, who was also a witness, admitted being surprised to open the bowling at Nagpur.[25]
On 15 June, Cronje released a statement that revealed all his contact with bookmakers. In 1996 during the third Test in Kanpur, he was introduced to Mukesh Gupta by Mohammad Azharuddin. Gupta gave Cronje $30,000 to persuade the South Africans to lose wickets on the last day to lose the match. South Africa was 127/5 chasing 460, Cronje was already out and spoke to no other players. "I had received money for doing nothing." During the return tour, Cronje received $50,000 from Gupta for team information.
In the 2000 Centurion Test, Marlon Aronstam contacted him offering R500,000 for the charity of his choice together with a gift if Cronje declared and made a game of it. He also admitted asking Pieter Strydom to place a R50 bet on South Africa to win for him. After the match Aronstam visited Cronje, giving him two amounts of money (R30,000 and R20,000) together with a leather jacket. The promised R500,000 did not materialise. Before the one-day series, Cronje received repeated calls from "Sanjay" asking him to fix a match. Cronje gave him the names of Gibbs, Strydom and Boje to try to get rid of him. Cronje was offered $140,000 for the fifth ODI if Gibbs scored under 20, Williams went for more than 50 and South Africa scored around 270.[26]
On 28 August, Gibbs and Williams were suspended from international cricket for six months. Gibbs was fined R60,000 and Williams R10,000. Strydom received no punishment.[27]
On 11 October, Cronje was banned from playing or coaching cricket for life.[28] He challenged his life ban in September 2001 but on 17 October 2001, his application was dismissed.[29]
[edit] Plane crash
On 1 June 2002, Cronje's scheduled flight home from Johannesburg to George was grounded so he hitched a ride as the only passenger aboard a Hawker Siddeley HS 748 turboprop aircraft. Near George airport, the pilots lost visibility in clouds and were unable to land, partly due to unusable navigational equipment. While circling, the plane crashed into the Outeniqua mountains northeast of the airport. Cronje, aged 32, and the two pilots were killed instantly.
In August 2006, an inquest into the plane crash was opened by South Africa's High Court.[30] The inquest concluded that "the death of the deceased Wessel Johannes (Hansie) Cronje was brought about by an act or omission prima facie amounting to an offence on the part of pilots."[31]
Theories that Cronje was murdered on the orders of a cricket betting syndicate flourished after his death and were most recently re-floated by former Nottinghamshire coach Clive Rice in the wake of the death of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer in March 2007.[32] Cronje's involvement in match-fixing, the suspicion of murder in both the Cronje and the Woolmer cases, and links between cricketers and betting syndicates have since appeared in the 2008 novel Raffles and the Match-Fixing Syndicate by Adam Corres.[33]
[edit] Bowling
Cronje was also a more than able bowler, bowling looseners to help to keep the pressure off the main bowlers Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock and Lance Klusener. Despite the fact that Cronje bowled just simple medium-paced deliveries batsman Sachin Tendulkar ranked Cronje as the most difficult bowler he had ever played.
| “ | "Hansie Cronje. Honestly. I got out to Hansie more than anyone ... I never knew what to do with him | ” |
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—Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar, on being asked the name of the most difficult bowler he ever faced.[34] |
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[edit] Life in film
Hansie is a biographical film released in 2008 about the life of Hansie Cronje that aims to portray him in a positive light and as a victim of circumstance lured by an evil system of illegal gambling and bookmakers from India. It is written and produced by his older brother Frans Cronje and directed by Regardt van den Bergh. The title role is played by Frank Rautenbach.[35]
Patrice Tlhopane Motsepe (born 28 January 1962 in Soweto) is a South African mining magnate. His company, African Rainbow Minerals, has interests in gold, ferrous metals, base metals, and platinum. He topped the Sunday Times Annual Rich List in 2011, with his wealth estimated to be around R22.99 billion ($3.28 billion)[1].
Since 2003, he is the owner of football club Mamelodi Sundowns.
[edit] Personal
He is married to Dr. Precious Makgosi Moloi and they have three sons.
Patrice Motsepe won South Africa's Best Entrepreneur Award in 2002.[2] In 2004 he was voted 39th in the Top 100 Great South Africans. This accolade was, however granted by the government funded state broadcaster. In 2008 he was 503-rd richest person in the world, by the Forbes World Billionaires List. In that same issue of Forbes magazine, it was noted that the source of his wealth was not through any entrepreneurial zeal but through his association with the ruling political party the African National Congress (ANC).
But for all the adulation, in South Africa such success comes with a price: being labeled an oligarch. Even many blacks have complained that the country's 1994 transformation from apartheid to democracy has benefited only the elite few. The criticism stems from laws that require substantial black ownership in certain industries, including mining. A handful of politically connected individuals have grown enormously wealthy as a result. One of Motsepe's sisters, Bridgette Radebe, who's married to transport minister Jeffrey Radebe, heads a mining company and is said to be among the wealthiest black women in the country. "It's called crony capitalism," says Moeletsi Mbeki, 62, brother of South Africa's former president and an outspoken critic of the race-preference laws. "It's an anticompetitive system." [3]
Since 2004, he is also a Non-Executive Director of Absa Group and Sanlam[2] and was previously a partner of Bowman Gilfillan.
Motsepes' African Rainbow Minerals company's name changed to ARMgold, while joining with Harmony Gold Mining Ltd, in 2002 when is it was listed on the JSE Security Exchange. Motsepe is also the founder of African Rainbow Minerals Platinum (Proprietary) Limited and ARM Consortium Limited which later equally split ownership with Anglo American Platinum Corp Ltd. From 2005, Motsepe ran as the Chairman of Teal Exploration and Mining Incorporated. Motsepe runs as the chairmen of Ubuntu-Botho Investments, Non-Executive chairman of Harmony Gold Mining Co Ltd and deputy Chairman of Sanlam Ltd. Motsepe is currently South Africa's president of Chamber of Commerce and Industry.[4]
Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South African lawyer, trade union leader, activist, politician and businessman. He was born in Soweto, Gauteng province. While Ramaphosa was previously a major figure in South African national politics, he has in recent years become a prominent figure in the business community.
Widely respected as a skilful and formidable negotiator and strategist, Ramaphosa is best known for building up the biggest and most powerful trade union in South Africa — the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) — as well as for the crucial role he played, with Roelf Meyer of the National Party, during the negotiations to bring about a peaceful end to apartheid and steer the country towards its first democratic elections in April 1994.
He is married to Dr. Tshepo Motsepe and they have four children.
While at university, Ramaphosa became involved in student politics and joined the South African Students Organisation (SASO), and the Black People's Convention (BPC). This resulted in him being detained in solitary confinement for eleven months in 1974 under Section 6 of the Terrorism act, for organising pro-Frelimo rallies. In 1976 he was detained for a second time, and held for six months. After his release, he became a law clerk for a Johannesburg firm of attorneys and continued his studies through the University of South Africa (UNISA), where he obtained his B. Proc. Degree in 1981.
[edit] Political activist and trade union leader
After obtaining his degree, Ramaphosa joined the National Council of Trade Unions (NCTU) as a legal advisor. In 1982, CUSA requested that Ramaphosa start a union for mineworkers; this new union was launched in the same year and was named the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). Ramaphosa was arrested in Lebowa, on the charge of organising or planning to take part in a meeting in Namakgale which was banned by the local magistrate.
Ramaphosa was elected as the first General Secretary of the union, a position he held until he resigned in June 1991, following his election as Secretary General of the African National Congress (ANC). Under his leadership, union membership grew from 6,000 in 1982 to 300,000 in 1992, giving it control of nearly half of the total black workforce in the South African mining industry. As General Secretary, he James Motlatsi (President of NUM) and Elijah Barayi (Vice President of NUM) also led the mineworkers in one of the biggest strikes ever in South African history.
In 1985, the NUM broke away from CUSA and helped to establish the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU). When COSATU joined forces with the United Democratic Front (UDF) political movement against the National Party government of P. W. Botha, Ramaphosa took a leading role in what became known as the Mass Democratic Movement (MDM).
When Nelson Mandela was released from prison, Ramaphosa was on the National Reception Committee.
[edit] Politician
Subsequent to his election as Secretary General of the African National Congress in 1991, he became head of the negotiation team of the ANC in negotiating the end of apartheid with the National Party government. Following the first fully democratic elections in 1994, Ramaphosa became a member of parliament; he was elected the chairperson of its Constitutional Assembly on 24 May 1994 and played a central role in the government of national unity.
After he lost the race to become President of South Africa to Thabo Mbeki, he resigned from his political positions in January 1997 and moved to the private sector, where he became a director of New Africa Investments Limited. He came in first place in the 1997 election to the ANC's National Executive Committee.[1]
While not a member of the South African Communist Party (SACP), Ramaphosa has claimed that he is a committed socialist.
The media continually speculates on Ramaphosa joining the race for the presidency of the ANC in 2007, before the 2009 South African presidential election. [1] However, he has stated that he is not interested in the presidency. On 2 September 2007, The Sunday Times reported that Ramaphosa was now in the election race, but by that evening he released a statement once again holding back on any commitment. [2]
In December 2007, he was again elected to the ANC National Executive Committee, this time in 30th place with 1,910 votes.[1]
[edit] Businessman
Among other positions, he is executive chairman of Shanduka Group, a company he founded. Shanduka Group has investments in the Resources Sector, Energy Sector, Real Estate, Banking, Insurance, and Telecoms (SEACOM). He is also chairman of The Bidvest Group Limited , and MTN. His other non-executive directorships include Macsteel Holdings, Alexander Forbes, Standard Bank and SABMiller. In March 2007 he was appointed Non-Executive joint Chairman of Mondi, a leading international paper and packaging group, when the company demerged from Anglo American plc.
[edit] Honorary doctorates and awards
Among others, Ramaphosa has received honorary doctorates from the University of Natal, the University of Port Elizabeth, the University of Cape Town, the University of the North, the National University of Lesotho, the University of Massachusetts and the University of Pennsylvania. In October 1991, he was a visiting Professor of Law at Stanford University.
Ramaphosa received the Olof Palme prize in Stockholm in October 1987.
In 2004, he was voted 34th in the Top 100 Great South Africans.
Ramaphosa was included in the 2007 Time 100 [3], an annual list of 100 men and women whose power, talent or moral example is transforming the world.
[edit] International positions
In his role as a businessman, Ramaphosa is a member of the Coca-Cola Company International Advisory Board as well as the Unilever Africa Advisory Council. He was also the first deputy chairman of the Commonwealth Business Council.
Along with the ex-president of Finland, Martti Ahtisaari, he was appointed an inspector of the Irish Republican Army weapons dumps in Northern Ireland. Ramaphosa is the Honorary Consul General for Iceland in Johannesburg, South Africa.
In the 2007–2008 Kenyan crisis, which followed the disputed re-election of President Mwai Kibaki in December 2007, Ramaphosa was unanimously chosen by the mediation team headed by Kofi Annan to be the chief mediator in charge of leading long-term talks; however, Kibaki's government expressed dissatisfaction with the choice of Ramaphosa, saying that he had business links with Kibaki's opponent Raila Odinga, and on February 4 Annan accepted Ramaphosa's withdrawal from the role of chief mediator.[2] According to Ramaphosa, Odinga had visited him in 2007, but he did not have any "special interest" that would lead him to favor one side or the other;[3] however, he said that he could not be an effective mediator without "the trust and confidence of all parties" and that he therefore felt it would be best for him to return to South Africa to avoid becoming an obstacle in the negotiation process.[4]
Morné Steyn (born 11 July 1984 in Cape Town) is a South African rugby union player who plays at the Flyhalf position. He plays at number 10 for the Springboks internationally, as well as for the Bulls in the Super 14[3] and for the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup. He was member of the team that won the 2009 Super 14, ending the season as the leading point scorer ,[4] and setting a record of 4 drop goals in one single match, in the semifinal against the Crusaders[5]
Steyn has won an U-21 World Cup, 2 Currie Cups, 3 Super rugby titles and 1 Tri-Nations.
On 1 August 2009 the Springboks won their match vs New Zealand in the 2009 Tri Nations Series in Durban with a score of 31–19. Steyn scored all of South Africa's 31 points (8 penalty kicks and a converted try).[6] This broke quite a few records, amongst them the record for the most points by an individual in a Tri Nations match – previously held by Andrew Mehrtens with his score of 29 against Australia in 1999 (One conversion and nine penalties). During this match Steyn also had one drop goal attempt come off the upright and pushed one more penalty wide of the posts. This was while earning his fifth Test cap and only his second start for the Springboks.
[edit] Records
- World record for most points scored by a player who has scored all their team's points (31).
- Most points scored against New Zealand (31) in a single test
- South African record for penalties in a test (8) – beating the seven achieved twice by former fullback and now kicking coach of South Africa, Percy Montgomery.
- All of the above records achieved with his 31 points scored in the Tri Nations 2009 match against the All Blacks in Durban on 1 Aug 09[7]
- South African record for most points in a test against Australia.
- Fastest 100 points by a Springbok (8 Test matches, 3 as replacement)[8]
- Fastest 200 points by a Springbok (16 Test matches)
- Fastest 300 points by a Springbok (24 Test matches)
- Most drop-goals in a Super Rugby season (11).
- Most points scored against the All Blacks for a Springbok (31).
- Most points in a Tri Nations match (31).
- Most drop goals in a Super Rugby game (4) (in the 2009 Super 14 semi-final against the Crusaders)
- Most drop goals in Super Rugby (21)
- Most points in a Super Rugby season (263) – Beating Dan Carter's record of 221 set in 2006.
- Steyn also holds the record for most consecutive successful kicks at goal in Test play since statistics for that category were first kept in the late 1980s. He had a streak of 41 successful attempts that ended on 6 November 2010 against Ireland. The previous record was 36, held by Chris Paterson of Scotland.[9][10]
Peter De Villiers made history when he became South Africa's first black coach after being chosen to succeed World Cup winner Jake White in January 2008. Controversy surrounded the appointment as it was admitted by SARU chief Oregan Hoskins that De Villiers' race was a deciding factor in him beating Heyneke Meyer to the post.
De Villiers played scrum half for the Griquas and Boland teams during apartheid before beginning his coaching career with amateur club Tygerberg in 1996. His first club appointment was as assistant coach for Western Province in the Currie Cup in 1998, a post he held whilst managing the Under-19s Springboks side. He took the U-19s to third in the World Championship in 1998.
De Villiers coached Currie Cup team Valke during 2002 and 2003, before taking charge of the Springbok U21s. He supervised three U-21 world championships, leading the Boks to third in 2004, first in 2005 and second in 2006. In 2007 De Villiers was handed the coaching role of the Emerging Springboks. He took them to victory in that season's Nations Cup, beating Argentina A 24-10 in the final.
By taking the sensible step of maintaining the Rugby World Cup winning squad to the best of his abilities, De Villiers has managed to secure a strong base of players to continue the Springboks' recent success.
After a mixed season in 2008 which saw the Springboks' first win in New Zealand for 10 years as well as a damaging 19-0 reversal to the same opposition on home soil, De Villiers took charge for the visit of the 2009 British & Irish Lions.
His relationship with the media took a battering during the tour as outspoken comments about scrum-half Ricky Januarie and flanker Schalk Burger's ban for gouging drew censure from SARU and fierce criticism from the Lions. Centre Brian O'Driscoll labelled De Villiers 'a disgrace' following the incident, but the coach had the best of the on-field confrontations as his side pulled through 2-1 in the Test series.
Later the same year, De Villiers went on to steer the Springboks to only their third Tri-Nations title and first since 2004. Three victories over the All Blacks and two more against the Wallabies propelled them to the southern hemisphere crown with their only reverse coming at the hands of Australia in Brisbane.
During their tour of the Northern Hemisphere towards the end of 2009, the Springboks suffered defeats to Ireland and France. They gained their revenge over France, though, when the Six Nations Champions toured South Africa in June. There were also wins over Wales and two against Italy.
But controversy continued to stalk De Villiers in 2010. After opeing their 2010 Tri-Nations campaign with successive defeats to New Zealand, the South Africa coach claimed that his side were the victims of a refereeing conspiracy. New Zealand coach Graham Henry shrugged of the claims by saying, ''I can't really take anything he (De Villiers) says seriously".
Matters continued to deteriorate for South Africa with defeat to Australia in Brisbane - the third defeat in their opening three fixtures for the World Champions. De Villiers was given a vote of confidence by his employers at the South African Rugby Union (SARU) and assured that his job was safe before he was issued with a notice of alleged misconduct by the IRB for his co
Joost van der Westhuizen (born 20 February 1971) is a former South African rugby union footballer who was the Springboks' first choice scrum-half in the mid-to-late 1990s and early 2000s. He was capped 89 times for the Springboks and scored 38 tries. He retired as the most capped Springbok of all time, a record since broken by Percy Montgomery at the 2007 Rugby World Cup, and held the record for the most test tries by a South African player,a record that he now shares with Bryan Habana. His career test try tally of 38 makes him the scrum-half with the most tries in Test Rugby. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest half-backs of all time, as evidenced by his presence in the 2007 induction class of the International Rugby Hall of Fame.
With his uncharacteristically big build for a scrum-half, he was known as an aggressive and fast runner and ferocious defender. Van der Westhuizen was best suited to a very physical type of game, often mixing it up with the forwards. He enjoyed his greatest success when playing alongside Chester Williams and the great fullback, Andre Joubert, especially when they attacked at pace around the blind side of the scrum.
He played in the 1995 and 1999 Rugby World Cups. In the former he defended heroically, famously tackling New Zealand's giant wing Jonah Lomu, amongst others leading to the Springbok World Cup victory. Van der Westhuizen's strengths as a rugby player lay in his dangerous ability to 'snipe' around the fringes of rucks, often leading to tries, as well as his fearless defence. Van der Westhuizen was also an inspirational player and captain, a talismanic figure in many successful Springbok sides. Van der Westhuizen played in the 2003 Rugby World Cup before eventually retiring from international rugby, having won every tournament trophy available to a South African rugby player aside from the Super 12 or a series victory over a British and Irish Lions touring team. His honours include the Currie Cup twice (1998 & 2002), a Tri-Nations title (1998) and the World Cup (1995). In July 2004 he joined Supersport as a commentator. His contract with the channel was later terminated.[1]
On 12 May 2011, Van der Westhuizen's publicist announced that he had a muscle related neural disease, believed to be a form of motor neurone disease. Doctors at the Cleveland Clinic in the United States[2] have since confirmed that the former Springbok captain has Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and has only an 80% chance of living for two to five years from diagnosis.[3]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Joost van der Westhuizen Heystek | ||
| Date of birth | 20 February 1971 (age 40) | ||
| Place of birth | Pretoria, South Africa | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Weight | 88 kg (13 st 12 lb) | ||
| University | University of Pretoria | ||
| Rugby union career | |||
| Playing career | |||
| Position | Scrum-half | ||
| Provincial/State sides | |||
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| Blue Bulls | |||
| correct as of 26 December 2007. | |||
| Super Rugby | |||
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| Bulls | |||
| correct as of 26 December 2007. | |||
| National team(s) | |||
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| 1993–2003 | South Africa | 89 | (190) |
| correct as of 26 December 2007. | |||
Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (born 12 April 1942) is the President of South Africa,[4] elected by parliament following his party's victory in the 2009 general election.
Zuma is the President of the African National Congress (ANC), the governing political party, and was Deputy President of South Africa from 1999 to 2005.[5] Zuma is also referred to by his initials JZ[6] and his clan name Msholozi.[7][8] Zuma became the President of the ANC on 18 December 2007 after defeating incumbent Thabo Mbeki at the ANC conference in Polokwane. Zuma was also a member of the South African Communist Party (SACP),[9] briefly serving on the party's Politburo until he left the party in 1990.[10] On 20 September 2008, Thabo Mbeki announced his resignation after being recalled by the African National Congress's National Executive Committee,[11] following a conclusion by Judge Nicholson of improper interference in the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), including the prosecution of Jacob Zuma for corruption.
Zuma has faced significant legal challenges. He was charged with rape in 2005, but was acquitted. In addition, he fought a long legal battle over allegations of racketeering and corruption, resulting from his financial advisor Schabir Shaik's conviction for corruption and fraud. On 6 April 2009, the National Prosecuting Authority decided to drop the charges citing political interference.
| Assumed office 9 May 2009 |
|
| Deputy | Kgalema Motlanthe |
|---|---|
| Preceded by | Kgalema Motlanthe |
| President of the African National Congress | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 18 December 2007 |
|
| Deputy | Kgalema Motlanthe |
| Preceded by | Thabo Mbeki |
| Deputy President of South Africa | |
| In office 14 June 1999 – 14 June 2005 |
|
| President | Thabo Mbeki |
| Preceded by | Thabo Mbeki |
| Succeeded by | Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka |
| Member of Parliament | |
| In office 1999–2005 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born | Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma 12 April 1942 (age 69) Inkandla, South Africa |
| Nationality | South African |
| Political party | African National Congress (1959–present) |
| Spouse(s) | Gertrude Sizakele Khumalo (1973–present) Kate Zuma (1976–2000)[1] Nkosazana Dlamini (1982–1998) Nompumelelo Ntuli (2008 – present) Thobeka Mabhija (2010–present)[2] |
| Children | 20 |
| Religion | Protestantism, Full Gospel Church of Southern Africa[3] |
Heinrich Wilhelm Brüssow (born 21 July 1986 in Bloemfontein, South Africa) is a South Africanrugby union footballer. He plays for the Free State Cheetahs provincial team, Cheetahs in the international Super Rugby competition and the Springboks. His usual position is open-side flanker.He attended Grey College in Bloemfontein where he played in the First XV and was later selected for the Under-18 Free State Craven Week side. Brüssow was part of the Free State Cheetahs squad who shared the Currie Cup glory in 2006 with the Blue Bulls, before playing in the 2007 Currie Cup final against the Golden Lions, scoring a crucial try and helping the team to a 20-18 win. In 2008 he was voted best open-side flanker in the Super 14 and Currie Cup. This earned him a call-up to the Springboks squad for the November 2008 tour to the British Isles. He only played the final 4 minutes in the end-of-tour test against England.
In 2009, Brüssow was again a flanker in the Super 14 competition. However, selectors excluded him from the Springboks squad. Soon afterwards he played for the Free State Cheetahs against the British and Irish Lions team; Brüssow was finally called up for Schalk Burger, who failed to recover from an injury for the first test against the Lions.[2][3] He received the Man-of-the-Match award in the Springboks' win against the All Blacks on the 25 July 2009.[4] Brüssow once again featured in a Currie Cup final in 2009, but the Free State Cheetahs lost to a hungry Blue Bulls team.
Early March 2010 Brüssow's career took a blow when he injured his cruciate knee-ligament[5] in a Super 14 game against the Hurricanes, which kept him from international rugby till August 2011.
He returned to international competition on the 13th of August 2011 against Australia where he played for a short stint from the bench where he showed he still has all the ability that made him so popular in 2009.[6] On the 20th of August 2011 Heinrich Brüssow gave a Man-of-the-Match display of his skills as the Springboks managed to defeat arch-nemesis New Zealand All Blacks in Port Elizabeth.| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Heinrich Wilhelm Brüssow | ||
| Date of birth | 21 July 1986 (age 25) |
||
| Place of birth | Bloemfontein, South Africa[1] | ||
| Height | 1.81m[1] | ||
| Weight | 102 kg[1] | ||
| School | Grey College, Bloemfontein[1] | ||
| University | University of the Free State[1] | ||
| Rugby union career | |||
| Playing career | |||
| Position | Flanker | ||
| Provincial/State sides | |||
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| 2006- | Free State | ||
| Super Rugby | |||
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| 2007- | Cheetahs | ||
| National team(s) | |||
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| 2009- | South Africa | 15 | (5 |
Songwriter,singer, Presenter,Poet and Afrikaans Activist. 2 million units sold of his own music, he is truly a Icon of Africa 
