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Previous KwaZulu Flag
Full country name: The Republic of South Africa
Area: 1,221,037 sq km
Population: 43.1 million
Capitals: Pretoria (administrative); Bloemfontein (judicial) and Cape
Town (legislative).
People: 77% black, 10% white (60% of whites are of Afrikaner descent,
most of the rest are of British descent), 8% mixed race, 2.5% of Indian or Asian
descent.
Languages: Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, Pedi, English, Tswana, Sotho, Tsonga,
Swati, Venda, Ndebele.
Religion: Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish and traditional religions.
Government: Republic and independent member of the British Commonwealth
President: Thabo MbekiGDP: US$146 billion
GDP per head: US$2133
Annual growth: 0.9%
Inflation: 7.8%
Major industries: Mining, finance, insurance, food processing
Major trading partners: USA, UK, Germany, Japan, Italy
After the British seized the Cape of Good Hope area in 1806, many of the Dutch settlers (the Boers) trekked north to found their own republics. The discovery of diamonds (1867) and gold (1886) spurred wealth and immigration and intensified the subjugation of the native inhabitants. The Boers resisted British encroachments, but were defeated in the Boer War (1899-1902). The resulting Union of South Africa operated under a policy of apartheid - the separate development of the races. The 1990s brought an end to apartheid politically and ushered in black majority rule.
South Africa is a middle-income, developing country with an abundant supply of resources, well-developed financial, legal, communications, energy, and transport sectors, a stock exchange that ranks among the 10 largest in the world, and a modern infrastructure supporting an efficient distribution of goods to major urban centers throughout the region. However, growth has not been strong enough to cut into the 30% unemployment, and daunting economic problems remain from the apartheid era, especially the problems of poverty and lack of economic empowerment among the disadvantaged groups. Other problems are crime, corruption, and HIV/AIDS. At the start of 2000, President MBEKI vowed to promote economic growth and foreign investment, and to reduce poverty by relaxing restrictive labor laws, stepping up the pace of privatization, and cutting unneeded governmental spending.
South Africa is a multiracial society and defining distinct subgroups by skin colour only will potentially get you into trouble. Those of Afrikaner and British descent won't be too happy to be confused with one another, and there are several major and many minor groupings in the traditional black cultures.
The mingling and melding in South Africa's urban areas, along with the suppression of traditional cultures during the apartheid years, means that the old ways of life are fading, but traditional black cultures are still strong in much of the countryside. Across the different groups, marriage customs and taboos differ, but most traditional cultures are based on beliefs in a masculine deity, ancestral spirits and supernatural forces. In general, polygamy is permitted and a lobolo(dowry) is usually paid. Cattle play an important part in many cultures, as symbols of wealth and as sacrificial animals.
The art of South Africa's indigenous populations can be one of the only ways to connect with lost cultures. Rock and cave paintings by the San, some of which date back 26,000 years, are a case in point. In other cases, such as the elaborate 'coded' beadwork of the Zulus, traditional art has been adapted to survive in different circumstances. Zulu is one of the strongest surviving black cultures and massed Zulu singing at Inkatha Freedom Party demonstrations is a powerful expression of this ancient culture. The Xhosa also have a strong presence; they are known as the red people because of the red-dyed clothing worn by most adults. The Ndebele are a related group, who live in the north-western corner of what is now Mpumalanga in strikingly painted houses.
Aside from the Afrikaners, the majority of European South Africans are of British extraction. The British are generally more urbanised and have tended to dominate the business and financial sectors. There is also a large and influential Jewish population and a significant Indian minority.
Although South Africa is home to a great diversity of cultures, most were suppressed during the apartheid years when day-to-day practice of traditional and contemporary cultures was ignored, trivialised or detroyed. In a society where you could be jailed for owning a politically incorrect painting, serious art was forced underground and blandness ruled in the galleries and theatres. The most striking example of this was the bulldozing of both District Six, a vibrant multicultural area in Cape Town, and Johannesburg's Sophiatown, where internationally famous musicians learned their craft in an area once described as 'a skeleton with a permanent grin'. Groups such as Ladysmith Black Mambazo have managed to bring South Africans sounds to a wide Western audience, both during and after apartheid.
One of the most exciting aspects of the new South Africa is that the country is in the process of reinventing itself and, with such a large proportion of the population marginalised from the economic mainstream, this is occurring without much input from professional image makers. Hopeful signs include gallery retrospectives of black artists, both contemporary and traditional, and musicians from around Africa performing in major festivals. The new South Africa is being created on the streets of the townships and cities.
Steve Bantu Biko
One of the foremost figures in South Africa's struggle for liberation from the apartheid regime. Murdered by the police when he was only 30, he had already established him self as a n important leader through his work as a political activist and his analysis on Black Consciousness.
Works: I Write What I Like (1978)
I Write What I Like is a collection of Biko's lectures, articles, letters, and trial testimonies that was smuggled out of South Africa after Biko's murder. This 1996 edition was published to coincide with 50th anniversary of Steve Biko's birth. This edition includes a preface by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who states, "It is good that there is this new edition to enable us to savour the inspired words of Steve Biko- perhaps it could just spark a Black renaissance.
Dennis Brutus
Known as the "singing voice of the South African Liberation Movement",
Dennis Brutus, more than any other single person, was responsible for South
Africa’s and Rhodesia’s exclusion from the Olympic Games. In the 1960s
and early 1970s Dennis Brutus was a hated figure for those defending sports
apartheid. Knowing that if white South Africa was deprived of its fanatical
sports devotion it would be forced to change, he helped secure suspension from
the Olympics in 1964 and expulsion in 1970.
Political campaigns led to his being banned from all political and social activity.
Trying to escape his ban to attend an Olympic meeting in Europe in 1963, he
was arrested and subsequently sentenced to eighteen months of hard labor. He
was held captive on Robben Island off Capetown, South Africa, where he spent
time breaking stones with Nelson Mandela.
Works:
Brutus' first collection of poetry, Sirens, Knuckles and Boots (1962), was published in Nigeria while he was in prison. Even in Letters to Martha and Other Poems from a South African Prison (1969), which records his experiences of misery and loneliness as a political prisoner, Brutus exhibits a restrained artistic control and combines tenderness with anger. His later works include A Simple Lust (1973), China Poems (1975), Stubborn Hope (1978), Salutes and Censures (1984), Airs and Tributes (1989), and Still the Sirens (1993).
Nadine Gordimer
Born in Springs, South Africa, 20/11/1923. Daughter of Isidore and Nan Gordimer. Has lived all her life, and continues to live, in South Africa.HAs received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1991.
Works:
Novels A Guest of Honour, The Conservationist, Burger's Daughter, July's People, A Sport of Nature, My Son's Story and her most recent, None to Accompany Me.
10 short story collections, the most recent Jump, published 1991, and Why Haven't You Written: Selected Stories 1950-1972, published 1992.
Non-fiction: The Essential Gesture; On the Mines; The Black Interpreters.
Nelson Mandela
Works:
Long Walk to freedom (autobiography)
No Easy Walk to Freedom (1973)
The tenth anniversary of this South African leader's imprisonment on Robben
Island fell in 1973. This also marked the first appearance of this collection
of speeches and writings in the African Writers Series.
Visas: Entry permits are issued free on arrival to visitors on holiday
from many Commonwealth and most Western European countries, as well as Japan
and the USA. If you aren't entitled to an entry permit, you'll need to get a
visa (also free) before you arrive.
Health risks: Malaria is mainly confined to the eastern half of South
Africa, especially on the lowveld (coastal plain). Bilharzia is also found mainly
in the east but outbreaks do occur in other places, so you should always check
with knowledgeable local people before drinking water or swimming in it.
Time.
South Africa is geared towards travel by private car, with some very good highways but limited and expensive public transport. If you want to cover a lot of the country in a limited time, hiring or buying a car might be necessary. If you don't have much money but have time to spare, you might organise lifts with fellow travellers and, if you don't mind a modicum of discomfort, there's an extensive network of minibus taxis, buses and trains.
Two major national bus operators cover the main routes and will usually be
pretty comfortable.
Swaziland has asked South Africa to open negotiations on reincorporating some
nearby South African territories that are populated by ethnic Swazis or that
were long ago part of the Swazi Kingdom.