South Africa

:This article is about the country called South Africa. For the region, see southern Africa.

Society

Demographics

:Main article: Demographics of South Africa

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South Africa is a nation of 44.8 million people of diverse origins, cultures, languages, and beliefs. The 2001 Statistics South Africa census provided five racial categories by which people could classify themselves, the last of which, "unspecified/other" drew negligible responses, and these results were omitted. Results for the other categories were:

Related Topics:
Culture - Language - Belief - 2001 - Statistics South Africa - Census - Racial

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• African/Black—75%
• White—14%
• Coloured—9%
• Indian/Asian—3%

By far the major part of the population classified itself as African or black, but it is not culturally or linguistically homogenous. Major ethnic groups include the Zulu, Xhosa, Basotho, Venda, Tswana, Tsonga, Swazi and Ndebele. Some, such as the Zulu, Xhosa and Venda groups, are unique to South Africa.

Related Topics:
Zulu - Xhosa - Basotho - Venda - Tswana - Tsonga - Swazi - Ndebele

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Other groups are distributed across the borders with South Africa's neighbours: The Basotho group is also the major ethnic group in Lesotho. The Tswana ethnic group constitute the majority of the population of Botswana. The Swazi ethnic group is the major ethnic group in Swaziland. The Ndebele ethnic group is also found in Matabeleland in Zimbabwe. The Tsonga ethnic group is also found in southern Mozambique, where Tsonga people are known as the Shangaan.

Related Topics:
Basotho - Lesotho - Tswana - Botswana - Swazi - Swaziland - Ndebele - Matabeleland - Zimbabwe - Tsonga - Mozambique

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The white population descends largely from colonial immigrants: Dutch, German, French Huguenot, and British. Linguistically, it is divided into Afrikaans- and English-speaking groups, although many small communities immigrating over the last century retain the use of other languages.

Related Topics:
Dutch - German - French - Huguenot - British - Afrikaans - English

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The label "coloured" is a contentious one, but still largely used for the people of mixed race descended from slaves brought in from the East and central Africa, the indigenous Khoisan who lived in the Cape at the time, indigenous African blacks and whites. The majority speak Afrikaans. Khoisan is a term used to describe two separate groups, physically similar in that they were light-skinned and small in stature. The Khoi, who were called Hottentots by the Europeans, were pastoralists and were effectively annihilated; the San, called Bushmen by the Europeans, were hunter-gatherers.

Related Topics:
Khoisan - Cape - Hottentot - Bushmen

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The major part of the Asian population of the country is Indian in origin, many of them descended from indentured workers brought in the 19th century to work on the sugar plantations of the eastern coastal area then known as Natal. There is also a significant group of Chinese South Africans (approximately 100 000 individuals). See Asians in South Africa.

Related Topics:
Indian - 19th century - Sugar - Plantations - Natal - Chinese - Asians in South Africa

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Religion

In terms of religious affiliation, about three-quarters of South Africans are Christian, mainly Protestant. They belong to a variety of churches, including many that combine Christian and traditional African beliefs. Most of the non-Christian population hold traditional animistic beliefs. Minority religions include Islam, Hinduism, Judaism and Buddhism.

Related Topics:
Christian - Protestant - Animistic - Islam - Hinduism - Judaism - Buddhism

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Education

South Africa has 12 million learners, 366 000 teachers and around 28 000 schools - including 390 special needs schools and 1 000 registered private schools. Of all the schools, 6 000 are high schools (grade 7 to grade 12) and the rest are primary (grade 1 to grade 6).

Related Topics:
Private school - Schools - High school

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School life spans 13 years - or grades - although the first year of education, grade 0 or "reception year", and the last three years, grade 10, 11 and grade 12 or "matric" are not compulsory. Many primary schools offer grade 0, although this pre-school year may also be completed at nursery school.

Related Topics:
Education - Primary school

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By law, no child can be excluded from a state school if his or her parents can't afford to pay fees. If both parents' annual earnings are less than 10 times the yearly school fees (before tax), the child qualifies for a full fee exemption. Partial exemptions can also be made for parents with financial problems.

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There's a growing worldwide trend towards home schooling and South Africa is no exception, with thousands of families opting to home school their children, for a variety of reasons. Although home schooling is legal in South Africa, it is not actively encouraged by government: permission must first be sought from provincial authorities, and various requirements must be met. Some home schooling endeavours are seen by government authorities as an attempt to avoid racial integration in the classrooms.

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For university entrance, a matric "endorsement" is required (a minimum of three subjects passed at the higher, rather than standard, grade), although some universities do set their own additional academic requirements.

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In 2004 South Africa started reforming its higher education system, merging and incorporating small universities into larger institutions, and renaming all higher education institutions "university" (previously there had been several types of higher education institution). There are over 1 000 000 students enrolled into South African universities, and universities of technology. All the universities are autonomous, reporting to their own councils rather than government.

Related Topics:
Higher education - Council - Government

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Budget

Compared with most other countries, education gets a really big slice of the pie - usually at least 20% of the total budget, and six percent of the country?s GDP, the country?s investment in education rates among the highest in the world. Recently education received $9.4-billion, amounting to 24% of non-interest expenditure. The education budget is expected to increase by 8.5%, with most of the additional funds to be ploughed into the provinces.

Related Topics:
Education - Budget - GDP

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Culture

:Main article: Culture of South Africa

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While it may be argued that there is no "single" culture in South Africa because of its ethnic diversity, South Africans of all races and backgrounds are united by a sincere desire to see to it that the horrors and injustices of Apartheid are never again repeated. Today, the diverse cultural foods are enjoyed by all and especially marketed to tourists who wish to sample the large variety of South African cuisine. In addition to food, music and dance are equally enjoyed and appreciated by all.

Related Topics:
Food - Music - Dance

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South African cuisine is heavily meat-based and has spawned the distinctively South African social gathering known as a braai.

Related Topics:
Meat-based - Braai

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South Africa has also developed into a major wine producer, with some of the best vineyards in the world lying in valleys around Stellenbosch, Franschoek and Paarl.

Related Topics:
Wine - Vineyard - Stellenbosch - Franschoek - Paarl

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There is great diversity in music from South Africa. Many black musicians who sang in Afrikaans or English during apartheid have since begun to sing in traditional African languages, and have developed a unique style called Kwaito. Of note is Brenda Fassie, who launched to fame with her song "Weekend Special", which was sung in English. More famous traditional musicians include Ladysmith Black Mambazo, while the Soweto String Quartet performs classic music with an African flavour. White and Coloured South African singers tend to avoid traditional African musical themes, instead preferring more European musical styles. There is a thriving market for Afrikaans music, covering all the genres of Western music.

Related Topics:
Kwaito - Brenda Fassie - Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Soweto String Quartet - Afrikaans - Genre

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The country's black majority still has a substantial number of rural inhabitants who lead largely impoverished lives. It is among these people, however, that traditional dance and music survive; as blacks have become increasingly urbanised and westernised, aspects of traditional culture have declined. Urban blacks usually speak English or Afrikaans in addition to their native tongue. There are smaller but still significant groups of speakers of Khoisan languages which are not official languages, but are one of the eight officially recognised languages. There are small groups of speakers of endangered languages, most of which are from the Khoi-San family, that receive no official status; however, some groups within South Africa are attempting to promote their use and revival.

Related Topics:
Urbanised - Westernised - English - Afrikaans - Khoisan languages - Endangered language

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The white minority lead lifestyles similar in many respects to whites found in Western Europe, North America and Australasia. Historical enmity between Afrikaans and English-speaking whites has given way to banter that is purely amiable today.

Related Topics:
Western Europe - North America - Australasia - Afrikaans - English

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Despite considerable discrimination under apartheid, Coloureds tend to relate more to white South African culture rather than black South African culture, especially Afrikaans-speaking Coloured people whose language and religious beliefs are similar or identical to white Afrikaners. A small minority of Coloureds, known as Cape Malays are Muslim.

Related Topics:
Afrikaans - Language - Religious - Afrikaner - Cape Malay - Muslim

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Asians, predominantly of Indian origin, preserve their own cultural heritage, languages and religious beliefs, being either Hindu or Sunni Muslim, and speaking English, with Indian languages like Tamil or Gujarati being spoken less frequently. Most Indians arrived on the famous Truro ship as endentered labourers in Natal to work the Sugar Cane Fields. There is a much smaller Chinese community in South Africa, although its numbers have increased due to immigration from Taiwan. Since the Taiwanese were classified as White, rather than Asian, under apartheid, they tend to be more culturally similar to whites in many ways than they are to other Asians.

Related Topics:
Asians - India - Hindu - Sunni Muslim - Tamil - Gujarati - Chinese - Taiwan - Taiwanese

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