University of Fort Hare UFH Notable Alumni
| Name | DoB – DoD | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Z. K. Matthews | 1901 – 1968 | Lectured at Fort Hare from 1936 to 1959 |
| Archibald Campbell Jordan | 30 October 1906–1968 | Novelist, pioneer of African studies |
| Govan Mbeki | 9 July 1910 – 30 August 2001 | South African politician |
| Yusuf Lule | 1912 – 21 January 1985 | Interim president of Uganda 1979 |
| Cedric Phatudi | 27 May 1912 – 7 October 1987 | Former Chief Minister of Lebowa 1972–1987 |
| Kaiser Matanzima | 15 June 1915 – 15 June 2003 | President of bantustan Transkei |
| Mary Malahlela | 2 May 1916 – 8 May 1981 | First female black doctor in South Africa |
| Oliver Tambo | 27 October 1917 – 24 April 1993 | African National Congress activist, expelled while doing his second degree |
| Nelson Mandela | 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013 | Former President of South Africa; expelled and later attended the University of the Witwatersrand but did not graduate |
| Lionel Ngakane | 17 July 1920 – 26 November 2003 | South African film maker |
| Seretse Khama | 1 July 1921 – 13 July 1980 | First President of Botswana |
| Julius Nyerere | 19 July 1922 – 14 October 1999 | First President of Tanzania |
| Herbert Chitepo | 15 June 1923 – 18 March 1975 | ZANU leader |
| Robert Sobukwe | 1924 – 27 February 1978 | Founder of the Pan Africanist Congress |
| Robert Mugabe | 21 February 1924 – | President of Zimbabwe, attended 1949–1951 |
| Kenneth Kaunda | 28 April 1924 – | First President of Zambia |
| Allan Hendrickse | 22 October 1927 – 16 March 2005 | Politician, preacher, and teacher |
| Mangosuthu Buthelezi | 27 August 1928 – | Leader of the Inkatha Freedom Party, never graduated but transferred to University of Natal. Leader of KwaZulu Bantustan in apartheid South Africa |
| Leepile Moshweu Taunyane | 14 December 1928 – 30 October 2013 | Life President of Premier Soccer League, President of the South African Professional Educators Union |
| Desmond Tutu | 7 October 1931 – | Archbishop Emeritus, South African peace activist, Chaplain at Fort Hare in 1960 |
| Frank Mdlalose | 29 November 1931 – | First Premier of KwaZulu-Natal |
| Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri | 18 September 1937 – 6 April 2009 | Minister of Communications, South Africa |
| Manto Tshabalala-Msimang | 9 October 1940 – 16 December 2009 | Minister of Health of South Africa |
| Chris Hani | 28 June 1942 – 10 April 1993 | Leader of the South African Communist Party – Expelled, later graduated at Rhodes University. |
| Wiseman Nkuhlu | 5 February 1944 – | economic advisor to former President Thabo Mbeki, Head of NEPAD |
| Makhenkesi Arnold Stofile | 27 December 1944 – 15 August 2016 | former Minister of Sport of South Africa |
| Sam Nolutshungu | 15 April 1945 – 12 August 1997 | South African scholar |
| Nyameko Barney Pityana | 7 August 1945 – | lawyer and theologian, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of South Africa |
| Bulelani Ngcuka | 2 May 1954 – | South Africa’s former Director of Public Prosecutions |
| Loyiso Nongxa | 1954- | Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Witwatersrand |
| Joseph Diescho | 1955 – | Namibian novelist |
| John Hlophe | 1 January 1959 – | Judge President of the Cape Provincial Division of the High Court |
Charles Mugane Njonjo 1920-, former Kenyan Attorney General and Minister for Constitutional Affairs
|}Munyua Waiyaki former Kenyan Minister for Foreign Affairs