Quotes From South Africa’s Most Prominent Figures
We all have that one quote that we’ve memorised to get us through long Mondays or a difficult situation. It’s even better if the quote is from a person you look up to. It serves as an external source of energy to soldier on. The list below gives you 10 quotations for 10 of South Africa’s most prominent figures.
“When a man has done what he considers to be his duty to his people and his country, he can rest in peace.” – Nelson Mandela
“I didn’t have much, but I was always happy to share what I did have. It seemed like every African that came to New York City would show up at my apartment door at dinnertime, and I couldn’t turn them away. I wasn’t much older than any of them, but they started calling me ‘Mama Africa’ and the name stuck” – Miriam Makeba
“Together, hand in hand, with that stick of matches, with our necklace, we shall liberate this country.” – Winnie Mandela
“Comrade Blade Nzimande is complaining that EFF stole the ‘red colour’, he does not have a copyright on the ‘red colour’. There’s nothing we can steal from him because he has nothing but that skuurpot (pot scourer) face of his. Why didn’t he complain when Vodacom was red?” – Julius Malema
“Many of our own people here in this country do not ask about computers, telephones and television sets. They ask – when will we get a road to our village.” – Thabo Mbeki
“In essence, the education department argues that the quality of the education children receive is irrelevant, as long as someone stands in front of the class.” – Hellen Zille
“Being Black is not a matter of pigmentation, being black is a reflection of a mental attitude.” – Steve Biko
“I had other plans for my life. I wanted to be a minister of the Anglican church with Bishop Clayton. After we married, I was going to train for the ministry in Cape Town. But God had other plans for me. Gods plan was for me to fight in the political liberation for my people.” – Oliver Thambo
“So long as the Zulu people are here, clearly I will still have a role to play in this country.” – Mangosuthu Buthelezi
“Where in this wide world can man find nobility without pride, friendship without envy, or beauty without vanity?”– Bantu Holomisa
