President Jacob Zuma came 35th, behind the likes of actress Angelina Jolie (12th), the institute said in a statement.

The Dalai Lama was ranked 13th, US president Barack Obama 14th, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg 20th, footballer David Beckham 24th, the Pope 26th, Prince Albert of Monaco 28th, and Madonna 29th.

Zuma beat Wikileaks founder Julian Assange 37th, entertainer Lady Gaga 41st, Hugo Chavez, president of Venezuela 49th, George W Bush 50th and Cuban leader, Fidel Castro 51st.

Mandela, who has retired to his home in the Eastern Cape, beat tennis star Roger Federer into second place.

Just over 5000 members of the general public in 25 countries were asked to assess these individuals using the institute's "RepTrak Pulse" to measure their reputation on a 0-100 point scale based on four attributes in April-May 2011.

These were: the degree to which a person is liked, respected, admired, and trusted.

The institute said Mandela's powerful story of offender to beloved first president of South Africa had made him a symbol of the worldwide struggle against injustice.

He was a continuing source of inspiration to people the world over, the institute commented.

Tennis champion Federer had a passion for South Africa and its people, "due no doubt to his mother's heritage", the institute said.

(Federer's mother, Lynette, is South African-born. His father, Robert, is Swiss).

Business "visionaries" ranked high on the list, and included Microsoft's Bill Gates 3rd, investor Warren Buffet 4th, music and airline mogul Richard Branson 5th, Apple innovator Steve Jobs 6th, and India's Ratan Tata 7th, CEO of the Tata group.

North Korea leader Kim Jong-il took last place in the study.

Trophy-rich golfer Tiger Woods also sat near the end of the list.

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Sun May 19 21:44:35 SAST 2013 ::

Sep 22, 2011

SILII

k
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Sep 22, 2011

OomGreat

Zuma, maybe 4 234 432 546 765 987 203
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Sep 22, 2011

svavava

yho msholozi, nawe stop being a clown bt a leader
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Sep 22, 2011

Msiphos00

the old steal ahead of them all I wonder who will ever make it to beat him,

And last but not least Maumar Gadaffi is ranked number.......................?????
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Sep 22, 2011

Printa

Obvious
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Sep 22, 2011

MommaC

President Jacob Zuma came 35th

That high?
I demand a re-count
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Sep 22, 2011

tsayaya

Zuma can top the lead if people who are voting are only women. Women like a man who chow them to come nice, just ask the ANCWL, they chose him over Mbeki at Polokwane.
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Sep 22, 2011

Mybra

Ha ha ha... I wonder about our young man in the disciplinary hearing. The one and only.
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Sep 22, 2011

Knan

What number is Julius Malema and Kenny Kunene?
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Sep 22, 2011

Reyataz

MommaC, I am also amazed that he is even ranked at all. It's probably just because he is the president of SA, not for any achievements he can talk about (unless of course having std 2, fathering a multitude of kids, having many wives and concubines, and singing and dancing like a true buffoon and being an honorary pastor of some sect count.)
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