South African Quotes

South Africans are caring, compassionate and loving people.

— Patrice Motsepe

I'm always very proud of belonging to three minorities: gay, Jewish, white South African.

— Antony Sher

The South African government, unlike a lot of African governments, isn't poor.

— Charlayne Hunter-Gault

My father is a South African actor who danced in broadway musicals for 'Lion King.'

— Doja Cat

By 1960, the South Africans knew that they were becoming a pariah state.

— Noam Chomsky

South African cricket, we're pretty resilient.

— Dale Steyn

And I'm part of the generation of South Africans who feel we're lucky to be alive.

— John Kani

Many South African tribes used extracts from the African bush willow to heal the sick.

— Bob Pettit

I've never been bothered about being the highest wicket-taker in the world or the best South African bowler in the world.

— Dale Steyn

It was hugely helpful to me, being South African. I have never felt uncomfortable in posh society because I don't see what…

— Prue Leith

I have strong views about South African politics and I still don't feel I need to make public statements.

— Zola Budd

South Africans must recall the terrible past so that we can deal with it, forgiving where forgiveness is necessary but never forgetting.

— Nelson Mandela

I write about the human condition, as a South African. I sometimes see South Africa with the spectacles of the past and…

— John Kani

There are writers I return to no matter what I'm working on, writers like the South African J.M. Coetzee. He has an…

— Laila Lalami

I use a 1994 South African 5 rand coin to mark my ball. It reminds me of my '94 U.S. Open win…

— Ernie Els

My theatrical background was in the great work of the South African playwright Athol Fugard.

— Danny Glover

We are sort of not at the level of entertainment that the Western world is. Everything we see on the play in…

— John Kani

“The problem with the recent history of crime intelligence is this: there is little honour, no moral compass, a complete lack of…

— Jacques Pauw

I don't really understand Darren Lehmann coming out and saying the South African crowd has been out of order. Any England player,…

— Stuart Broad

It's funny because, growing up, I found inspiration from watching Steffi Graf and Amanda Coetzer, a South African who was in the…

— Kevin Anderson

The time will come when our nation will honour the memory of all the sons, the daughters, the mothers, the fathers, the…

— Nelson Mandela

The best tribute we can pay Madiba is to ensure that our political debate focuses on issues of how best we can…

— Helen Zille

“If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner. -Nelson…

— Nelson Mandela

Ensuring a better future for all South Africans will require increased access to higher education, a stronger and fairer labour market, deeper…

— Jose Angel Gurria

Well, Smoke n' Mirrors has very much a world music flavor and it doesn't park itself in one country. It borrows heavily…

— Lee Ritenour

Think bigger than society lets you think. And find mentors. My life is filled with people who knew me when I was…

— Charlize Theron

“The lessons for sociologists of education that I draw from my comparison of the UK and South African cases are (i) that…

— Michael F.D. Young

Those who professed themselves unable to believe in the reality of human progress ought to cheer themselves up, as the students under…

— Kingsley Amis

“What would happen if most people tried to act intelligently on their own behalf? Anarchy. (…) So what can we do with…

— Alasdair Gray

“Although few people will remember 3 June 1993, it was a landmark in South African history. On that day, after months of…

— Nelson Mandela

“The South African artist William Kentridge speaks to this type of certainty: 'To say that one needs art, or politics, that incorporate…

— Nick Flynn

“People wo are privileged tend to take their privilege for granted. South Africans are no exception in this regard. We take for…

— Frank Chikane

“Don't you know that the less you tell someone, the more they want to know? You're better off to make something up…

— Nora Roberts

“Sir Winston Churchill was born into the respected family of the Dukes of Marlborough. His mother Jeanette, was an attractive American-born British…

— Captain Hank Bracker

“Marjory Gengler (white American) to Mark Mathabane (black South African) in the late 1970s-- Marjory: Why don't blacks fight to change the…

— Mark Mathabane

“The culture generated by peer-orientation is sterile in the strict sense of that word: it is unable to reproduce itself or to…

— Gabor Maté

“His day is done. Is done. The news came on the wings of a wind, reluctant to carry its burden. Nelson Mandela’s…

— Maya Angelou

“Our neighbor, Hugo du Toit, was a very handsome Afrikaner, who, with his two sisters, was a close friend of Louis Botha,…

— Captain Hank Bracker, "Suppresed I Rise

“For many years South Africa was occupied primarily by Dutch farmers known as Boers who had first arrived in the Cape of…

— Captain Hank Bracker, "Suppresed I Rise

“There is, in fact, no need to drag politics into literary theory: as with South African sport, it has been there from…

— Terry Eagleton