List of South African inventions and discoveries

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A classic jukskei game

The following is a list and timeline of innovations as well as inventions and discoveries that involved South African people or South Africa including predecessor states in the history of the formation of South Africa. This list covers innovation and invention in the mechanical, electronic, and industrial fields, as well as medicine, military devices and theory, artistic and scientific discovery and innovation, and ideas in religion and ethics.

18th Century[]

• 1743 Jukskei is a folksport originating from the Cape and is thought to be the forerunner of the American game Horseshoes.
• 1772 Rooibos tea is recorded by naturalist Carl Thunberg, who noted that "the country people made tea" from a plant related to rooibos or redbush which reignited popular interest in the tea. Khoisan people of the Cederberg region had made the tea for hundreds of years prior.^[1]

18-19th Century[]

• 1787-1828 The iklwa, a shorter style of spear, was popularized under the rule of Shaka Zulu.

20th century[]

1900-1930[]

• 1925 Pinotage is South Africas signature variety wine grape and was bred from a cross between Pinot noir and Cinsaut grapes.

1930-1960[]

• 1940s The Wadley loop circuit was designed by Dr. Trevor Wadley and was first used for a stable Wavemeter.^[2]
• 1950 Sasol, the world's first oil-from-gas company and the country's largest fuel producer, was founded.
• 1950 Q20 lubricant is invented by Mr. Robertson in Pinetown.^[2] Q20 is an all purpose lubricating spray that is owned by the Triton-Leo Group (Pty) Ltd.^[3] The name derives from "it has 20 answers to 20 questions".
• 1957 Flame ionization detector by Harley and Pretorius at the University of Pretoria in Pretoria, South Africa
• 1959 Tellurometer was the first successful microwave electronic distance measurement equipment and was also invented by Dr. Trevor Wadley.
• 1960s Helikon vortex separation processis an aerodynamic uranium enrichment process designed around a device called a vortex tube.The Uranium Enrichment Corporation of South Africa, Ltd. (UCOR) developed the process, operating a facility at Pelindaba near Pretoria.

The prototype CT scanner

Dolosse - Cape Town, South Africa

1960-1980[]

• 1963 The CT scan, or CAT scan, was invented by Allan MacLeod Cormack. He shared the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Godfrey Hounsfield for his work on X-ray CT.^[2]
• 1963 The dolos is invented. It is a concrete block weighing up to 20 tons in a complex geometric shape, used to protect harbor walls from the erosive force of ocean waves.
• 1965 Freddie "Saddam" Maake claimed to have invented the vuvuzela by fabricating an aluminium version in 1965 from a bicycle horn.
• 1965 Dr. Selig Percy Amoils unveiled the Amoils Cryo Pencil, the world's first surgical tool to use extreme cold to destroy unwanted tissue, at Baragwanath Hospital. Amoils refined the cryoextraction technique for cataract surgery. It has been used to treat Margaret Thatcher and Nelson Mandela's eyes. His invention has been widely used for cryosurgery in gynecology and ophthalmology.
• 1967 Dr. Christiaan Barnard completed the world's first successful heart transplantation on 3 December 1967 in Cape Town.^[2]
• 1969 Pratley's Putty was carried aboard the Apollo 11 Eagle landing craft. George Pratley invented Pratley's Putty to hold electrical box components.
• 1970 The diamond vitrectomy cutter was invented by Selig Percy Amoils.
• 1975 The Scheffel bogie was invented by Dr. . This novel bogie design was used to facilitate the development of the South African narrow-gauge railway system.^[4]
• 1971 Percy Tucker of Benoni, Gauteng founded , the world's first computerized ticketing system. It was deployed nationally in 1971.^[5][6]
• 1974 Kreepy Krauly was invented by , formerly from the Belgian Congo.^[7]
• 1978 South African Class 6E1, Series 4 unit no. E1525 set the world narrow-gauge rail speed record of 245 kilometres per hour.^[4]

1980-2000[]

• 1980 The Casspir, a mine-resistant military personnel vehicle, is produced.
• 1981 Mark Gillman and Fred Lichtigfeld uncovered a new biological principal between 1981-83 i.e. that gases can act as neurotransmitters.^{[8][9][10][11][12][13][14]} This discovery was confirmed as a biological principle at Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, USA) almost a decade later.^[15] Discoveries of a new neurotransmitter class have previously been rewarded with a Nobel Prize e.g. Dale and Loewi (1936) and Furchgott, Ignarro and Murad (1998).^[16]
• 1984 Development began on the Denel Rooivalk, the first military attack helicopter capable of making a 360 degree loop, a feat previously seen as impossible.
• 1989 The was invented by . ^[17] It is a radar system used by professional golfers for analysing recorde trajectory, their launch angle, speed and direction.
• 1991 The Action Potential Stimulation (APS) Therapy device was invented by . It consists of adhesive electrodes and is used to treat sports injuries and chronic pain conditions.^[18][19]
• 1992 ,^[2] a device that measures the speed of cricket balls, was invented by ^[20] from Somerset West and used in the 1999 Cricket World Cup.^[18] Johnson also invented the (invention)^[18] that measures the speed and angle of objects; it is used in various sporting tournaments.^[18]
• 1995 The Shark Shield, a portable electronic device that emits an electromagnetic field, was invented. It is used in scuba diving, spearfishing, ocean kayak fishing, and surfing to repel sharks.
• 1995 Thawte Consulting was founded by Mark Shuttleworth. It is a certificate authority (CA) for X.509 certificates.
• 1996 Vodacom became the first network to introduce prepay mobile phones under the 'Vodago' package, using an 'Intelligent Network' platform. This made it possible to debit customers’ accounts in real time,^[21] and led to a dramatic increase in use.^[22]
• 1997 CyberTracker was developed by the non-profit CyberTracker Conservation. It allows illiterate animal trackers to record environmental data.
• 1997 The hippo water roller was invented. It is a device for carrying water more easily and efficiently than traditional methods, particularly in the developing world. It consists of a barrel-shaped container which holds the water and can roll along the ground, and a handle attached to the axis of the barrel.
• 1998 Charl Fourie designed the Blaster (flamethrower) to provide defense against carjackings.
• 1999
  • The Smartlock safety syringe, a three part single use syringe, was invented. It is credited with dramatically reducing HIV infection rates in South Africa.^[23]

Cabral, Alvin R. (November 1, 2015). "Why you should be open to change". Khaleej Times. Retrieved 10 April 2019. </ref>^[24]

21st century[]

• 2001 designed the Cobb grill, a charcoal briquette stove as a safer alternative to the paraffin stoves that cause many home fires in rural areas of South Africa. The grill was featured in the Time Magazine's best inventions of the year in 2001.^[25]
• 2001 Engineer created the oil-can guitar.^[6]
• 2004 Ubuntu (operating system) was first released by entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth.
• 2005 Prof Mulalo Doyoyo invented the "cementless concrete" Cenocell.
• 2008 The freeplay fetal heart rate monitor was invented. It is a hand-crank powered diagnostic device.^[26][27]
• 2013 Amoriguard, a paint whose fillers are based on recycled industrial waste is invented by Prof Mulalo Doyoyo.
• 2013 Dr Sandile Ngcobo invented the world first Digital Laser (Ngcobo, S., Litvin, I., Burger, L. et al. A digital laser for on-demand laser modes. Nat Commun 4, 2289 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms3289).
• 2019 Prof Mashudu Tshifularo becomes the first to transplant 3D-printed bones for reconstructive middle ear implants on 3 March 2019, at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital.

References[]