South African Culture

South Africa is often referred to as a 'rainbow nation' because of it's vast diversity within the nation. The country has 11 official languages that include: Afrikaans, English, Sotho, Swazi, Venda, Zulu, etc...

SOUTH AFRICA'S OFFICIAL LANGUAGES

South Africanisms

just now

sometime soon, shortly

now now

sooner than "just now"

lift

elevator

boot

trunk of a car

howzit

hello (a greeting), as in "how is it going"

koppie

rocky hill

play play

pretend

bakkie

pick-up truck

flat

apartment

robot

traffic lights

bundu

bushveld

kloof

ravine

braai

bar-b-que

A large number of South African blacks live impoverished lives in the rural areas around the cities, but it is here that their culture is more intact. Blacks who live in urban cities become more westernized and often speak English, Afrikaans, along with their native tongue.

Of the 45 million South Africans, 79.3% are Black, 9.1% are white, 9% Coloured and 2.6% are Asian.

The Black population is divided into four major ethnic groups, namely Nguni, Sotho, Shangaan-Tsonga and Venda. The subgroups of the Zulu and Xhosa are also pretty large. The majority of the White population is of Afrikaans descent (60%), with many of the remaining 40% being of British descent.

South Africa is divided into 9 provinces shown above. Most of the Coloured population live in the Northern and Western Cape provinces, whilst most of the Indian population lives in KwaZulu Natal. The Afrikaner population is concentrated in the Gauteng and Free State provinces and the English population in the Western and Eastern Cape and KwaZulu Natal.

There are 3 capitals. Pretoria is the administrative capital, Bloemfontein is the judicial capital and Cape Town, the larger of the three, is the legislative. Johannesburg is the largest city in South Africa.

About a quarter of the population is unemployed and lives on less than US $1.25 a day. (bloomberg news)

The currency of South Africa is the Rand. It is used here and in Swaziland and Lesotho.

The nation was ranked 113th in their literacy rate in 2009 with an 82.4% of the population being literate. The United States placed 19th with 99%. Report via the The United Nations Development Programme.

Sources:

South Africa Venues

South Africa's Media

South Africa is ranked number 33 on the Freedom Report from Reporters without Borders and is considered to have a FREE press.

Freedom of expression and the press is protected in the nation's constitution and generally respected. However, the government has threatened to withdraw advertising from publications that report on corruption or other scandals.

In recent years there has been an increase in the use of interdictions and gag orders by governmental and non-state actors. According to the South African Freedom House report, government and political figures have displayed increased sensitivity to media criticism in 2008. Sometimes, they even accuse journalists of racism and betraying the state. Journalists are also occasionally harassed and assaulted.

According to the Freedom house organization, most South Africans receive their news over the radio, which is mostly controlled by the state-owned SABC (South African Broadcasting Corporation) which also dominates broadcast media. The SABC has also been accused of having a pro ANC (the current party in power) bent and self censorship.

There are several private magazines and newspapers that include: the Mail & Guardian (english), The Cape Times, and the Sunday Times, which are all sharply critical of the government.

The Internet is completely unregulated, but is only used by 10% of the population regularly. The access costs prevent most people from using it.

In 2007, UNICEF reports that for every 100 inhabitants, 87 had cell phones, while only 8 out of 100 were using the internet. However, these numbers are quickly increasing.