Mary Benson (campaigner) Mary Benson (campaigner) Mary Benson (8 December 1919 – 19 June 2000) was a South African civil rights campaigner and author. Born in 1919 in Pretoria, Benson served in the South African Women's Army during World War II. After the war, she was secretary to film director David Lean. Benson became acquainted with the author Alan Paton, and read his novel "Cry, the beloved country" (1948), whose main theme was racial discrimination in South Africa. This affected her greatly, and she became a campaigner for the rights of black people there. She worked with Michael Scott (who, in 1946, was
South Africa at the Paralympics has competed at the Summer Games ever since. South Africa made its "Winter" Paralympics début at the 1998 Games in Nagano, Japan. It thus became the second African country to compete at the Winter Paralympics, following Uganda in 1976. South Africa has competed at every edition of the Winter Paralympics since then. To date, only one athlete, alpine skier Bruce Warner, has represented South Africa at the Winter Games. He has yet to win a medal. South Africa at the Paralympics South Africa has competed at both the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games. The country made its Paralympic début at