- Charlize Theron is the first South African to win an Oscar Award. She won the award for Best actress for her lead role in Monster. (Photo: Charlize Theron)
- Nelson Mandela is one of the most widely recognised and respected personalities in the world.
- The only street in the world to house two Nobel Peace winners is in Soweto. Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu both have houses in Vilakazi Street, Orlando West.
- South Africa is home to two of the world's most profoundly compassionate philosophies - Ubuntu and Gandhi's notion of "passive resistance" (Satyagraha), which he developed while living in South Africa. Ubuntu stresses the fact that all people are fundamentally connected, that we are human because of each other: "I am because you are".
- Four out of five South Africans are black Africans. (Source: Census 2001)
- KwaZulu Natal (9.4-million) has the largest population, followed by Gauteng (8.8 million). (Source: Census 2001)
- The province with the smallest population is Northern Cape (0.8 million).
(Source: Census 2001)
- People come from around the world to shoot their TV commercials in South Africa and the local advertising industry is amongst the top prize-winners at international awards shows.
- Ladysmith Black Mambazo became the first South African music group to win a Grammy Award in 1987. The award was for Best Traditional Folk Album.
- Miriam Makeba won the 2001 World Music Grammy Award for her album, Homeland.
- Lebo Morake, popularly known as Lebo M, won a Grammy Award for music composed for the block buster movie: The Lion King.
- Streetwire art is unique to Southern Africa - born in the shantytowns and on dusty back roads and baptised on the street, this genre is today a thriving and legitimate art form in its own right.
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