List of University of Johannesburg people

This is an incomplete list of notable alumni and faculty (past and present) of the University of Johannesburg including notable people from the merger of the Rand Afrikaans University (RAU), the Technikon Witwatersrand (TWR) and Vista University into the University of Johannesburg.

Name	Class year	Notability	References
Lisa-Marie Deetlefs	N/A	South African Olympic field hockey player	^[1]
Zaid Timol	N/A	South African rugby player who plays for the Lions	^[2]
Uzair Docrat	N/A	South African basketball player	^[3]
Thornton McDade	N/A	South African Olympic field hockey player	^[1]
Caylib Oosthuizen	N/A	South African rugby player for the Tel Aviv Heat	^[4]
Shireen Sapiro	N/A	South African Paralympic swimmer	^[5]
Micheen Thornycroft	N/A	Zimbabwean Olympic rower	^[6]
Francois Uys	N/A	South African rugby player who plays for the Free State Cheetahs	^[7]
Irvette van Zyl	N/A	South African Olympic long-distance runner	^[1]
Walter Venter	N/A	Former South African rugby player who represented the Golden Lions, Leopards, Falcons, Griquas and the Lions	^[8]
Jano Vermaak	N/A	South African national rugby player	^[9]
Adel Weir	N/A	South African squash player	^[10]

Name	Class year	Notability	References
Zibusiso Mkhwanazi	2005	Entrepreneur	^[11]
Bridget van Kralingen	1985	Senior Vice President of IBM Global Business Services	^[12]
Lizelle Bisschoff		Founder of the Africa in Motion (AiM) film festival in Scotland	^[13]

Name	Class year	Field of expertise	Academic level	Notability	References
Nicolaas Johannes Diederichs	N/A	Economics	Doctorate (Ph.D.)	First chancellor of the Rand Afrikaans University and Minister of Finance of South Africa (1967–1975)	^[15]
Farid Esack	N/A	Religion	Professor	Islamic studies	^[16]
Hendrik C. Ferreira	N/A	Engineering	Professor	NRF "A-rated" researcher specialising in Communication technologies, Information systems and technologies, Electronic engineering, Applied mathematics, Communication technologies & Information systems and technologies	^[17]
Adam Habib	N/A	Political Science	Professor	Former deputy Vice Chancellor	^[18]
Tshilidzi Marwala	N/A	Engineering	Professor	Known for extensive contributions to the field of mechanical engineering; received the Order of Mapungubwe in Bronze for outstanding contributions to, and inspirational achievements in, the field of engineering science	^[19]
Gerrit Viljoen	N/A	Classical literature & Philosophy	Masters	First vice-chancellor of the Rand Afrikaans University, Minister of Education in South Africa (1980–1989), and Minister of Constitutional Development (1989–1992)	^[20]

Name	Doctorate field	Year awarded	Notability	References
Richard Goldstone	Law	2010	Former Constitutional Court judge	^[21]
Richard Maponya	Management	2010	Businessman	^[22]
Willem Boshoff	Fine Arts	2010	South African artist	^[23]
Aung San Suu Kyi	Literature	2011	Nobel Peace laureate	^[24]
Barack Obama	Law	2013	44th president of the United States	^[25]
Kees Schouhamer Immink	Engineering	2014	Digital pioneer	^[26]
Barbara Masekela	Humanities	2025	Poet, academic and diplomat	^[27]
Margaret Busby	Humanities	2025	Publisher	^[28]

Athletes