South Africa- Country Profile

7/31/2019 South Africa- Country Profile

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Country profile of SOUTH AFRICA

Submitted by,

Badal Agarwal

1121334

2nd Year MBA


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Contents

1. GEOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................... 1

2. HISTORY .................................................................................................................. 2

3. CULTURE ................................................................................................................. 5

4. BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................ 7


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1. GEOGRAPHYSouth Africa is the southernmost nation of the African continent, with a coastline on the Indian and

Atlantic oceans. The country shares international borders with Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique,Swaziland and Zimbabwe. The country ranks 25th in terms of total land area available. South Africa has

a large coastline (2,798 kilometers) along the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The southern coastal region

rises to form small mountains towards the north. Mafadi in the Drakensberg at 3,450 m (11,320 ft) is the

highest peak in South Africa. Excluding the Prince Edward Islands, the country lies between latitudes

22 and 35S, and longitudes 16 and 33E. The interior of the country is vast, flat and populated

scrubland. The eastern coast line is lush and well- watered.

Climate:

South Africas climate is generally mild and sunny. The Cape Mountains Region has warm, dry

summers and cool, wet winters. Much of the Coastal Strip has hot, humid summers and dry, sunny

winters. In the Plateau, summer days are hot, but nights are cool. The winter is cold. The coldest place

in South Africa is Sutherland in the western Roggeveld Mountains, where midwinter temperatures can

reach as low as 15 C (5 F). The deep interior has the hottest temperatures: a temperature of 51.7

C (125.06 F) was recorded in 1948 in the Northern Cape Kalahari near Upington. The deserts are hot

and dry. Only about a fourth of South Africa receives more than 25 inches of rain yearly. More rain falls

in the east than in the west.


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2. HISTORYSouth Africa has a huge history which dates back to a period of 40000-25000 BC where in, the San-

southern Africas first residents and one of the worlds oldest traditional cultures left a series of rock

paintings which documented their nomadic lifestyles and hunter-gatherer traditions. The history of

South Africa can be very well broken down into some periods.

Before 1652:

For thousands of years San were the only inhabitants of the region. They belonged to the nomad culture,

moving from place to place in bands hunting animals. A.D. 100s saw a group called Khoikhoi move in

from the north and by 500 they had occupied what is now called as South Africa. The Khoikhois were

known to raise cattle and sheep and had settled in communities. In the A.D. 200s, people who spoke

various Bantu languages started moving in from the north to the area what is now called as Eastern

South Africa. By the 500s, some of the Bantu speaking people started grouping into chiefdoms which

were headed by a chief who would settle disputes. 1488 marks the year when the Portuguese sailors

became the first Europeans to see what is now South Africa, which was in the midst of a process of

finding a sea route east to India

1652-1815

Portuguese during 1488 showed little interest for colonization due to the areas fierce weather and rockyshoreline. The Portuguese had little competition in the region until the late 16th century, whenthe English and Dutch began to challenge the Portuguese along their trade routes. The first European

settlers arrived in 1652 who were basically workers of The Dutch East India Company. The company

only wanted to set up a base (for replenishing the supplies during their voyages) at the location what

presently is known as Cape Town. By 1657, the company had allowed workers to start their own farms

and they were known as Boers. By 1700s whites had occupied most of the good farmlands around

Cape Town. Slowly the Whites territory started expanding and Khoikhoi and San population started

declining. By 1700s the Whites had almost occupied 33% of Cape Town and the area was known as

Cape Colony.


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1815-1910

As the 18th century drew to a close, Dutch mercantile power began to fade and the British moved in to

fill the vacuum. They seized the Cape in 1795 to prevent it from falling into French hands, then briefly

relinquished it back to the Dutch (1803), before definitively conquering it in 1806. In 1820 the British

authorities persuaded more than 5000 British nationals to settle in South Africa to create a buffer zone.

In 1860s diamonds were discovered in the mines of present day Kimberley. The British within no time

flocked from everywhere and took hold of the entire area. In 1871 UK annexed it and it became a part of

the Cape Colony. By 1879 the British had occupied wide areas of the country and even conquered much

independent chiefdom such as the Xhosa and the Zulu kingdom. In 1880, the Boers rose in revolt against

the British in the Anglo-Boer War of 1880-81, which resulted in the victory of the Boers. Boers then

renamed the Transvaal as South African Republic (SAR). Between the 1886 and 1902 many Anglo-Boer

wars were fought on many reasons which led to the Boers finally surrendering in 1902.

1910-1948

1910 saw the union of the four colonies (Orange Free State, Transvaal, Cape Colony, and Natal) to the

Union of South Africa, a self governing country within the British empire. The union gave the entire

power to the Whites, which was opposed by many Indians and black Africans. Mohandas K. Gandhi

worked for greater rights of the Indians in South Africa. His methods of non-violence resulted in Indians

gaining some additional rights. Gandhi inspired the black Africans into forming the South African

Native National Congress (SANNC) in 1912. Botha and Smuts led the South African forces against

Germany in the 1st World War. Later they went on becoming the prime ministers. In 1924, the National

party and Labor party joined forces and won the control of the government. Hertzberg became the prime

minister and brought about a lot of changes in the favor of the Afrikaans. In 1931, South Africa gained

full independence as a member of Commonwealth of Nations. After World War II (1939-1945), South

Africa became a founding member of the UN.

1948-1994 (Apartheid era)From 1948 successive National Party administrations formalized and extended the existing system of

racial discrimination and denial of human rights into the legal system of apartheid, which lasted until

1991. In 1948 the National Party, came to power under Malan. It began the apartheid program were

different racial groups were given different rights and privileges. There was a lot of opposition on

against these racial policies by various groups of people. In 1959 Pan-Africanist Congress was formed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Great_Britainhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Great_Britain


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But due to some happenings the government banned both the ANC and PAC in 1960. On May 31, 1961,

South Africa became a republic and left the Commonwealth.

With increasing local and international opposition to apartheid in the 1980s, including an armed

struggle, widespread civil unrest, economic and cultural sanctions by the international community, and

pressure from the anti-apartheid movement around the world, State President FW de Klerk announced

the unbanning of the African National Congress and Pan Africanist Congress as well as the release of

Nelson Mandela on 2 February 1990, which signaled the beginning of a transition to democracy. After

years of negotiations under the auspices of the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA), a

draft constitution appeared on 26 July 1993, containing concessions towards all sides: a federal system

of regional legislatures, equal voting-rights regardless of race, and a bicameral legislature. Nelson

Mandela was elected as President on 9 May 1994 and formed a government of national unity, consisting

of the ANC, the NP and the Inkatha.

1994- Present

After considerable debate, and following submissions from advocacy groups, individuals and ordinary

citizens, the Parliament enacted a new Constitution and Bill of Rights in 1996. After the enactment of

the constitution focus turned to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, established in 1995 under the

dictum of Archbishop Desmond Tutu to expose crimes committed during the apartheid era. All those

victims were asked to tell their stories and the perpetrators were made to confess and were severely

punished for their crimes against mankind. In 1997, Mandela resigned as ANC head. In 1999, Mandela

retired as the president of South Africa. ANC won the majority in national assembly that year and

elected Mbeki as president. In 2007, Mbeki lost the ANC leadership to Jacob Zuma. ANC again won

majority of seats in 2009 and Zuma became the president of South Africa.


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3. CULTUREOne of the most outstanding things about South African culture is that it is not one single culture, but

rather a range of different cultures representing every level of a very stratified community. Hybrid

mixtures of these different cultures also exist, making South Africa one of the most culturally diverse

countries in the world.

The South Africans are by custom polite and circumspect in their speech; although residents of the

major urban centers may bemoan the decline of once-common courtesies The South African black

majority still has a substantial number of rural inhabitants who lead largely impoverished lives. But due

to the increasing urbanization and adoption of the western culture aspects of traditional culture has

declined. Urban blacks usually speak English or Afrikaans in addition to their native tongue. Indian

South Africans preserve their cultural heritage, languages and religious beliefs, being either Christian,

Hindu or Muslim and speaking English, with Indian languages like Hindi, Telegu, Tamil or Gujarati

being spoken less frequently as second languages. There is a much smaller Chinese South

African community, made up of early immigrants, apartheid-era immigrants from Taiwan, and post-

apartheid immigrants from mainland China.

South African womanhave enjoyed a uniquely high profile during the countrys turbulent history. They

were at the centre of many of the major movements. But the daily reality is quite different for many of

them with at least 20% and some places 40% of reported rapes of girls below 18 years of age. This

shows how the woman status in South Africa is still undermined and the concept of women

empowerment is yet to take action.

South Africans are sports fanatics, with many international sports being played within the country such

as Cricket, Football, etc. In 2010 South Africa even hosted the FIFA World Cup, and football is the

nations most favorite sport followed by rugby and cricket. The country also has participated and won

many medals in the Olympics.

The country also has a wide variety of Art and Architecture. The oldest artifacts found in South

African caves date back to 75000 years. Numerous cave paintings of the Khosian people (10000 BC)

makes South Africa a very rich country in terms of art. Contemporary South Africa has a vibrant art

scene, with artists receiving international recognition. The architecture of the country mirrors the vast


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ethnic and cultural diversity, mostly which has been influenced by distant, other countries. The rural

landscape of the country is populated with traditional African architecture.

The cuisine of South Africa is heavily meat-based and has spawned the distinctively South African

social gathering known as a braai, or barbecue. Vegetarianism is becoming widely accepted. In places

such as Durban with Indian population in plenty, Indian foods are very popular. There are other cuisines

as well such as the Peri-peri chicken from the Portuguese community.


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4. BIBLIOGRAPHY

South Africa, World Book Encyclopedia. (2010) Jamey Bainbridge, Kate Armstrong (2009), Lonely Planet-South Africa, 8

th

Edition, LonelyPlanet Publications.

http://www.everyculture.com/Sa-Th/South-Africa.html#breferred on 1st July, 2012 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africareferred on 6th July, 2012 http://www.southafrica.com/culture/referred on 6th July, 2012 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_South_Africareferred on 6th July, 2012
http://www.everyculture.com/Sa-Th/South-Africa.html#bhttp://www.everyculture.com/Sa-Th/South-Africa.html#bhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africahttp://www.southafrica.com/culture/http://www.southafrica.com/culture/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_South_Africahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_South_Africahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_South_Africahttp://www.southafrica.com/culture/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africahttp://www.everyculture.com/Sa-Th/South-Africa.html#b

South Africa- Country Profile

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