Wits Notable Alumni

Notable Alumni of Wits

• Nelson Mandela (1943) - Former President of South Africa, key figure in ending apartheid.
• Joe Slovo (1950) - Anti-apartheid activist and politician.
• Julius Nyerere (1952) - First President of Tanzania, known for his role in African socialism.
• Sydney Brenner (1951) - Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on genetic regulation.
• David Graaff (1956) - Businessman and former Mayor of Cape Town.
• Arthur Chaskalson (1952) - Former Chief Justice of South Africa, instrumental in the country's constitutional development.
• George Bizos (1950) - Human rights lawyer, defended Nelson Mandela and other anti-apartheid activists.
• Helen Suzman (1941) - Anti-apartheid activist and politician, known for her work in the South African Parliament.
• Richard Goldstone (1954) - Former Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, known for his work in international human rights.
• Mark Shuttleworth (1995) - Entrepreneur, founder of Canonical Ltd., and the first South African in space.