These are the 10 most admired people in South Africa – Helen Zille is third
Global market research firm, YouGov, has released the results of its 2016 “most admired” rankings, which reveals who are the most admired people in the world, and South Africa.
The list of admired people is determined by getting nominations from panelists across 30 countries to determine the top 20 men and top 20 women across the world.
Each listed individual was nominated in at least two countries. The list was then put to a poll in each country, including 10 popular local figures in each region.
The admiration score is the combination of two metrics – the answers to the questions: “who do you truly admire?”, where respondents could make multiple selections, and “who do you MOST admire?”, where they could only pick one.
For the third year in a row, the world’s richest man, Bill Gates, was voted the most admired man in the world. Hollywood actress and humanitarian, Angelina Jolie was ranked as the most admired woman.
“In the third installation of YouGov’s massive international study of personality admiration involving over 31,000 interviews, it’s safe to say the global public values humanitarianism over politics,” the group said.
According to the local results, 10 South Africans were also nominated for a local vote.
Trevor Noah was ranked as the most admired South African man in the country (and the second-most admired overall, below Bill Gates), while Public Protector, advocate Thuli Madonsela was the most admired woman in the country.
With the exception of Noah, the 10 nominated personalities from South Africa are all big political figureheads – including president Jacob Zuma, who was least admired among his peers.
Trevor Noah
The 10 most admired South Africans
| South African | Admiration score |
|---|---|
| Thuli Madonsela | 11.7 |
| Trevor Noah | 8.4 |
| Helen Zille | 6.3 |
| Mmusi Maimane | 5.1 |
| Thabo Mbeki | 4.8 |
| Steve Hofmeyer | 4.1 |
| Graca Machel | 3.0 |
| Winnie Mandela | 2.6 |
| Patricia de Lille | 1.2 |
| Jacob Zuma | 1.1 |
Score is the admiration percentage of the share of men/women
South African-born businessman Elon Musk, and Hollywood star Charlize Theron were also ranked among the top personalities in South Africa.
Neither president Jacob Zuma nor Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille made it into the top 20, however.
These are the top 20 most admired men and the top 20 most admired women in South Africa:
| Men | Score | Women | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Gates | 9.7 | Thuli Madonsela | 11.7 |
| Trevor Noah | 8.4 | Oprah Winfrey | 10.0 |
| Barack Obama | 6.7 | Angelina Jolie | 6.5 |
| Richard Branson | 6.5 | Helen Zille | 6.3 |
| Dalai Lama | 5.4 | Celine Dion | 5.9 |
| Mmusi Maimane | 5.1 | Joyce Meyer | 5.1 |
| Thabo Mbeki | 4.8 | Queen Elizabeth II | 5.0 |
| Stephen Hawking | 4.7 | Charlize Theron | 4.2 |
| Johnny Depp | 4.5 | Michelle Obama | 3.8 |
| Jackie Chan | 4.3 | Sandra Bullock | 3.5 |
| Mark Zuckerberg | 4.2 | Ellen DeGeneres | 3.2 |
| Steve Hofmeyr | 4.1 | Graca Machel | 3.0 |
| Billy Graham | 3.2 | Serena Williams | 2.9 |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | 2.7 | Meryl Streep | 2.8 |
| Elon Musk | 2.6 | Angela Merkel | 2.8 |
| Lionel Messi | 2.4 | Winnie Mandela | 2.6 |
| Robert Mugabe | 2.3 | Shakira | 2.1 |
| Brad Pitt | 2.3 | Emma Watson | 1.9 |
| Warren Buffett | 2.1 | Taylor Swift | 1.9 |
| Pope Francis | 2.0 | Hillary Clinton | 1.9 |
Score is the admiration percentage of the share of men/women
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