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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.
Area: 1,219,912 sq km
Population: 43,586,097
Ethnic groups: black 75.2%, white 13.6%, Colored 8.6%, Indian
2.6%
Religions: Christian 68% (includes most whites and Coloreds,
about 60% of blacks and about 40% of Indians), Muslim 2%, Hindu
1.5% (60% of Indians), indigenous beliefs and animist 28.5%
Languages: 11 official languages, including Afrikaans, English,
Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 81.8%
male: 81.9%
female: 81.7% (1995 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 19.94% (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 4.2 million (1999
est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 250,000 (1999 est.)
Capital: Pretoria; note - Cape Town is the legislative center
and Bloemfontein the judicial center.
Administrative divisions: 9 provinces; Eastern Cape, Free
State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, North-West, Northern
Cape, Northern Province, Western Cape.
Political parties and leaders: African Christian Democratic
Party or ACDP [Kenneth MESHOE, president]; African National Congress
or ANC [Thabo MBEKI, president]; Democratic Alliance (formed from
the merger of the Democratic Party or DP and the New National Party
or NP) [Anthony LEON, leader]; Freedom Front or FF [Constand VILJOEN,
president]; Inkatha Freedom Party or IFP [Mangosuthu BUTHELEZI,
president]; Pan-Africanist Congress or PAC [Stanley MOGOBA, president];
United Democratic Movement or UDM [Bantu HOLOMISA]
Economy - overview: 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.
Population below poverty line: 50% (2000 est.)
Currency: rand
Information taken from the CIA
world factbook.
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Cambridge or ex-Cambridge students that
have spent time in South Africa (click here
to add yourself):
Name: James Lynch
Email: jimbob_lynch@hotmail.com
College: Corpus 1999-2002
Where did you go? Soshanguve, Gauteng Province, South Africa.
What did you do? I spent six weeks working for Link Community
Development in Soshanguve, Pretoria's largest township. I was working
on the Soshanguve Schools Development Programme with two other Cambridge
students, compiling annual feedback reports on the progress of those
schools involved in the scheme. Living in working in a township
was at once a privilege and a sobering experience.
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