South Africa at the 1968 Summer Paralympics
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Use South African English|date=July 2023}}
{{infobox country at games
| NPC = RSA
| NPCname = South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee
| games = Summer Paralympics
| year = 1968
| flagcaption =
| oldcode = SAF
| website = {{url|www.sascoc.co.za }}
| location = Tel Aviv
| competitors = 8
| sports =
| flagbearer =
| rank = 10
| gold = 9
| silver = 10
| bronze = 7
| officials =
| appearances = auto
| app_begin_year =
| app_end_year =
| summerappearances =
| winterappearances =
| seealso =
}}
South Africa was one of twenty-eight nations that sent athletes to compete at the 1968 Summer Paralympics in Tel Aviv, Israel from 4 to 13 November 1968.{{cite web|title=Medal Standings Tel Aviv 1968 Paralympic Games|url=http://www.paralympic.org/Sport/Results/reports.html?type=medalstandings&games=1968PG&sport=all|publisher=International Paralympic Committee|accessdate=28 April 2011}}{{cite web|title=Paralympic Games History – Summer |url=http://www.paralympic.org.au/games-amp-events/paralympic-games-history-summer/paralympic-games-history-summer |publisher=Australian Paralympic Committee |access-date=13 May 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605061121/http://www.paralympic.org.au/games-amp-events/paralympic-games-history-summer/paralympic-games-history-summer |archive-date= 5 June 2011 |df= }} The team finished tenth in the medal table and won a total of twenty-six medals; nine gold, ten silver and seven bronze. Eight South African athletes competed at the Games; five men and three women.{{cite web|title=Participation Numbers Tel Aviv 1968 Paralympic Games|url=http://www.paralympic.org/Sport/Results/reports.html?type=participation&games=1968PG&sport=all|publisher=International Paralympic Committee|accessdate=17 May 2011}}
At the time, South Africa was banned from the Olympic Games because of the policy of apartheid but was invited to the Paralympics.{{cite web|title=The Netherlands against Apartheid – 1970s|url=http://www.iisg.nl/collections/anti-apartheid/history/jaren70-5.php|publisher=International Institute of Social History|accessdate=28 April 2011}}
Archery
{{main|Archery at the 1968 Summer Paralympics}}
Three archers from South Africa appeared at the Games. Le Roux{{#tag:ref|Data is taken from the International Paralympic Committee website and is based on information contained/sourced in the original hardcopy final results publications. Some information from earlier Paralympic Games (ie 1960 - 1984) is incomplete and is missing first names of some athletes|group=n}} finished ninth out of ten athletes women's Columbia round open and J. Meyer finished fifteenth in the men's FITA round open event.{{cite web|title=Athlete Search Results|url=http://www.paralympic.org/Sport/Results/search.html?npc=RSA&gender=all&medal=all&sport=all&games=1968PG|publisher=International Paralympic Committee|accessdate=17 May 2011}} Margaret Harriman, who had previously competed in the Paralympic Games for Rhodesia won two gold medals; one in the women's albion round and one in the women's FITA round open event. Mayer and Harriman also competed in athletics and dartchery.
Athletics
{{main|Athletics at the 1968 Summer Paralympics}}
Eight South Africans took part in athletics events and won sixteen medals. Daniel Erasmus won two gold medals and two silver medals in men's throwing events and Hattingh did the same in women's events. Germishuizen won a bronze in shot put and a silver in discus. Nel took bronze in the men's club throw B. Le Roux won two silver medals and J. Meyer a gold and two bronze medals.
Dartchery
{{main|Dartchery at the 1968 Summer Paralympics}}
The only dartchery event at the Games was the mixed pairs event which took a knockout format. Meyer and Harriman entered for South Africa and defeated a team from New Zealand in the first round, but lost in the second round to the Great Britain pair.{{cite web|title=Results Tel Aviv 1968 Paralympic Games Dartchery Mixed Pairs open|url=http://www.paralympic.org/Sport/Results/results.html?eclass=open&sport=dartchery&competition=1968PG&gender=x&discipline=&event=Pairs|publisher=International Paralympic Committee|accessdate=17 May 2011}}
Lawn bowls
{{main|Lawn bowls at the 1968 Summer Paralympics}}
Daniel Erasmus won the gold medal in the men's singles and teamed up with Germishuizen to win another silver in the men's pairs.
Swimming
Table tennis
{{main|Table tennis at the 1968 Summer Paralympics}}
Hattingh and Le Roux competed in women's singles events; Hattingh won a bronze medal in the A2 classification. Nel took part in the men's A2 and beat American's Sheridan and Duval in the first two rounds before losing to Sharav of Israel.{{cite web|title=Results Tel Aviv 1968 Paralympic Games Table Tennis Men's Singles A2|url=http://www.paralympic.org/Sport/Results/results.html?eclass=A2&sport=tabletennis&competition=1968PG&gender=m&discipline=&event=Singles|publisher=International Paralympic Committee|accessdate=17 May 2011}}
Notes
{{Reflist|group=n}}