Most interesting or lesser-known inventions by South Africans?

Our military vehicles absolutely slapp.
During the event, three new maximum effective range records were set using various guns. A G6 howitzer with a 52-calibre gun achieved the longest range ever attained with a conventional 155mm artillery round: 76 kilometres, while the 52-calibre gun of PzH2000 self-propelled howitzer lobbed a shell 67 kilometres. Finally, a field howitzer with a 39-calibre gun attained a range of 54 kilometres.
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https://www.rheinmetall.com/en/medi...nce-records-for-indirect-fire-in-south-africa

Not to mention the G6 platform is an incredible feat of engineering in and of itself. Combination between the two means you can do hit and run artillery strikes.
 
konfab said:
Our military vehicles absolutely slapp.


https://www.rheinmetall.com/en/medi...nce-records-for-indirect-fire-in-south-africa

Not to mention the G6 platform is an incredible feat of engineering in and of itself. Combination between the two means you can do hit and run artillery strikes.
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Gerald Bull assisted Armscor in developing the G5, he has quite the Wikipedia page, ending with him being assasinated in Belgium (possibly by the Israeli's or one of the other countries he might have annoyed)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Bull
 
The most common scouring pad design in the world was an idea from a South African. Rex Lowe was looking at a few 3M products one day and came up with the idea of attaching the scouring pad (scotch-brite) to a softer upper spounge. 3M liked the idea and tried it out and the new model swept the world. The idea of combining the two products was however an idea that came out of South Africa. Not a story that was ever published to my knowledge but it was well known by those who knew Rex Lowe. At his funeral two years ago many of his friends and family turned up with a scouring pad in hand as a tribute to his inventiveness.

810fIfCWRtL._AC_SY300_SX300_QL70_ML2_.jpg
 
Oboe said:
South African engineer George Montague "Monty" Pratley invented Pratley Putty in the early 1960s. He developed the world's first epoxy putty with the assistance of chemist Frank Robinson.
Even NASA used it
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This stuff has helped me out many times.
 
bwana said:
What was so unique about the dolos?

en.wikipedia.org

Wave-dissipating concrete block - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
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Probably the distinct geometric shape - something resembling a ship's anchor - which put it leagues ahead of other wave dissipating blocks at the time weight-for-weight. i.e you could substitute larger Tetrapods for lighter and smaller Dolos. It's only in extreme conditions that the tetrapod (for example) outshines it. The odd shape also lends itself to random interlocking / placement. You can dump a bunch of dolosse without having to engineer their placement too heavily.
 
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1961, the Black & Decker Workmate, a portable, multipurpose workbench, was invented by Ron Hickman, and has since sold about 30 million units around the world.
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.
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en.wikipedia.org

List of South African inventions and discoveries - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
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