South Africa – General info

The Republic of South Africa is located at the southern tip of the African continent. The country is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the west and Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Swaziland to the north. Lesotho is surrounded by South Africa.

Three geographical regions dominate South Africa’s landscape: the inland highlands, the mountains and the coastal region. The inland highlands are characterised by a largely constant altitude and are separated from the other landscapes by mountain breaks (the Great Escarpment), which rise above the plains (veld) of the plateau and are of varying heights and steepness.

Although there are two major river systems, the Limpopo and the Orange, the surface of the plateau is water-scarce. On the coast there are both sandy beaches and rocky bays, the hinterland is overgrown with shrubs. The mountainous region, which stretches from the Cape of Good Hope along the coast to the Limpopo Valley in the northeast of the country, consists of the Drakensberg, Nuweveldberg and Stromberg ranges.

After the 1994 elections, South Africa was divided into nine provinces: the Western Cape (provincial capital: Cape Town), the Eastern Cape, the Northern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State (Bloemfontein), North West Province (Mmabatho), Northern Province, Mpumalanga and Johannesburg.

Capital:
Pretoria (seat of government). Population: 525,583 (1991)
Cape Town (seat of Parliament). Population: 854,616 (1991)
Area – 1,219,080 sq km.
Population – 42,106,000 (1999)

Economy
South Africa has the most efficient economy in the southern part of the African continent. Livestock farming is widespread, and sugar and grain are produced in large quantities. The mainstay of the economy, however, is mining. Coal is found in large quantities and ores such as chromium, manganese, vanadium and platinum are also mined.

The country’s most valuable minerals are gold and diamonds, with which South Africa has dominated the world market for years.

Mining and agriculture are among the largest employers and dominate South Africa’s exports. The largest branch of industry is the manufacturing industry. Steel and heavy industry produce machinery and means of transport. In recent years, high-tech companies and the service sector have experienced an upswing.

The tourism industry continues to grow in importance and ranks fourth in foreign exchange earnings after mining, agriculture and the automotive industry. Since 1994, there has been a constant increase in the number of visitors. In 1999, 6 million foreign guests came to South Africa. The primary sector’s share of gross domestic product (GDP) is 12% with a decreasing trend, while the secondary sector currently accounts for around 30% and the tertiary sector for 58% of GDP.

Gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 3% in 2000. South African exports benefited from increased competitiveness due to the lower valuation of the rand. However, the development on the labour market stagnated and the unemployment rate stood at 36%.

The inflation rate in 2000 was 7.7%. At the end of 1999/2000 there was a budget deficit of 2.8%. The public debt amounted to 45% in the 2000/2001 financial year. The USA, Great Britain, Germany, Italy and Japan are the most important trading partners.

Political form of government
Parliamentary republic (in the Commonwealth) since 1961. New constitution since 1997: bicameral parliament: National Assembly with 360-400 members and National Council with 90 members. Head of State and Government: Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki, since 1999.

Currency
1 rand = 100 cents. Currency abbreviation: R, ZAR (ISO code). Banknotes are in circulation in denominations of 200, 100, 50, 20, and 10 R; Coins in denominations of 5, 2 and 1 R as well as 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1 cents.

Population
The big cities are sometimes characterized by sharp contrasts.

While better residential areas are often generously laid out and maintained, the “townships”, in which the majority of the non-white population groups still live, consist of simple houses, barracks or slum-like huts. Especially the townships, but also the inner cities of the big cities such as Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban suffer from the high crime rate in the country. Tourists in particular are a popular victim of robbers, who usually do not shy away from violence. In the event of a robbery, you should therefore absolutely refrain from defending yourself.

Driving a car
There is left-hand traffic in South Africa. No problem, because – the traffic is quite manageable outside the very big cities. In the roundabout alone, it takes some thought to drive in and out the right way.

Somewhat unusual are the 4-way stop signs at many road intersections. This means that whoever comes first drives first, then the second, the third, and so on. If you can’t count to four here, you will soon be able to enjoy the benefits of your fully comprehensive insurance (be careful: it has a fairly high deductible).

The rental car should be rented from home. Prices range from 440 to 820 euros for a small/medium-sized car for 25 days.

When overtaking: When overtaken, the safe driver goes all the way to the left or into the “emergency lane” and lets the overtaking driver pass. Then the overtaker thanks him by activating the hazard warning lights, while the overtaken person briefly uses the headlight flasher. Tourists can be recognized by the puzzled expression on their faces.

South Africa extends between 22 and 34 degrees south latitude and thus falls into the subtropics.

However, compared to areas with similar latitudes, temperatures are lower in many regions. On the west coast, the cold Benguela sea current ensures moderate temperatures, in the central highlands it is the altitude (Johannesburg is at 1753 m altitude) that hardly allows the thermometer to climb above 30 degrees, even in midsummer.

In winter, temperatures drop to freezing point – also due to the altitude – and sometimes even below. Only on the coasts is it warmer.

Precipitation falls mainly in the summer months, except in the Western Cape, which is considered a winter rain area.

The seasons are exactly the opposite of those in Europe: when winter prevails in Germany, it is summer in South Africa – and vice versa.

The South African winter (June to August) is dry and pleasantly warm, except in the region around Cape Town, where it can rain heavily at this time of year and get very cool at night.

In the Drakensberg, snow is then possible. In midsummer (October to February), temperatures rise to 30 degrees Celsius, and humidity is high in Durban and the neighboring provinces.

In the months in between, climatic conditions prevail throughout South Africa that can be compared to the southern European spring and autumn.

South Africa is justifiably proud of its rich natural heritage, which is carefully protected in the numerous nature reserves and national parks. The country is home to more than 300 species of mammals, more than 500 species of birds, more than 100 species of reptiles, as well as countless species of insects.

South Africa is not only home to the three largest land mammals in the world: the African elephant, white rhinoceros and hippopotamus, it is also home to the tallest (giraffe), the fastest (cheetah) and the smallest (pygmy shrew).

Biodiversity is great, although some species have become extinct since the arrival of Europeans. Most of the big game lives in the national parks, where you also have the greatest chance of seeing buffalo, lions, leopards, elephants, white and pointed rhinos.

All wildlife reserves in South Africa are located in the savannah or semi-savannah.

There are many antelope species such as impala, kudu or springbok, but also ostriches, flamingos and zebras. The overwhelming diversity of South Africa’s wildlife should be seen with your own eyes.

With over 20,000 plant species – around 10% of all plants in the world – South Africa has an extremely species-rich flora.

Around 8000 species are concentrated in the small western Cape region. Of the six flora kingdoms on earth, this “fynbos” vegetation zone at the Cape is one. These are mainly evergreen hardleaf plants with mostly fine, needle-like leaves.

The fine bush is particularly rich in magnificent flowering plants, especially the magnificent Proteas, of which there are already 130 different species.

If the abundance of flowering plants is downright overwhelming, the situation is completely different with the forest stands. Just 1 percent of South Africa’s area is covered with forests.

These are located almost exclusively in the precipitation-rich coastal strip of the Indian Ocean and in the adjacent intermediate altitudes of the marginal threshold mountains. Unfortunately, these are mainly plantations and imported tree species, mostly eucalyptus, pines or spruces.

The original rainforest largely fell victim to overexploitation. The native forest was of little economic benefit, which is why it was ruthlessly removed by farmers in South Africa’s early history. Only small patches of the Indigenous Forest are still preserved here and there. The coveted hardwoods – yellowwood, stinkwood and ironwood – are now under strict conservation.

By far the largest part of South Africa is grassland. Especially in the Highveld, a vegetation of various grasses, low bushes and isolated acacia trees, mostly camel thorn or hawthorn, dominates.

In the northwest, vegetation is becoming sparser due to lower rainfall.

Especially in the dry hot Namaqualand you can find numerous water-storing succulent species as well as aloes and euphorbias.

Finally, in the northeast, the grass and thorn savannah increasingly turns into a more densely overgrown bush savannah.

Particularly striking here are the baobab trees, which can be seen well in the northern part of the Kruger Park.

The settlement of South Africa by Europeans began in Cape Town. After the English decided against establishing a colony at the Cape of Good Hope, it was the Dutch who were the first to recognize the strategic and economic importance of the Cape. On behalf of the Dutch East India Trading Company, the merchant Jan van Riebeeck landed in the picturesque bay at the foot of Table Mountain on 6 April 1652.

Since the beginning of the 18th century, the settlers at the Cape have expanded further and further north and east. These settlement movements were carried by the so-called trekboys, white farmers who penetrated further and further inland in search of grazing land for their cattle.

Since the end of the century, it was the Xhosa peoples settling in the east who opposed the Trekburs.

In the urban communities, the danger of confrontation grew. Here, the citizens striving for political self-determination faced a weak, corrupt and economically almost bankrupt colonial administration. The countless disputes finally ended in open protest. The townspeople demanded independence from the colonial administration. The first republics were proclaimed in Swellendam and Graaff-Reinet. However, their existence was short-lived.

The power struggle between citizens and administration ended with the landing of British ships at the Cape and the takeover of the colony by the English Kingdom in 1795.

The historical events in South Africa in the 19th century are shaped by the “Groot Trek”. More than 10,000 Boers, the so-called “Voortrekkers”, left the Cape Colony with their families from 1835 onwards and moved north and northeast.

At the end of the 18th century, larger ethnic communities were formed from loose tribal associations all over southern Africa. This process was by no means peaceful, but was the result of protracted wars. The development of the Zulus kingdom also took place during this time. Through an almost unimaginable level of cruelty and violence, the notorious Zulu warrior Shaka gained supremacy over various Zulu clans. He systematically expanded his sphere of influence. Shaka’s warriors invaded the Zulu villages and burned them down. Women and children were impaled, young men were drafted, the chiefs tortured and forced into loyalty.

After the Voortrekkers had negotiated in vain with the Zulus for settlement and pasture land and were exposed to several catastrophic raids, they regrouped in 1838 for the decisive battle. On 16 December, 464 Boers under the command of Andries Pretorius defeated about 10,000 Zulu warriors.

The Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama reached the bay of today’s Durban at Christmas 1497. He called it “Rio de Natal”, Christmas River. Since then, the bay has been visited by sailors and merchants from time to time, but it was not until 1823 that a real settlement was established here: “Port Natal”. In 1835, the town was named Durban, after the then governor of the Cape Colony, Sir Benjamin Durban. Life in the small port town was marked by uncertainty. The Zulus regarded Natal as their tribal territory and tolerated the white settlers only because the city was useful to them as a trading center.

In 1844, Natal became a British crown colony.

The Anglo-Zulu War continued and ended – after numerous other battles with heavy losses – in 1887 with the victory of the English.

After the Voortrekkers were defeated by the English in Natal in 1842, the Great Trek moved further northeast and finally ended in the areas south and north of the Vaal River. In the north, the independent Transvaal was first created, which was later transformed into the South African Republic.

In the meantime, the Cape Colony had continued to expand, and in 1848 the entire land between Vaal and Orange was declared British territory.

On 23 February 1854, the Treaty of Bloemfontein was signed, which led to the creation of the Orange Free State.

The policy of consistent racial segregation was initiated after the founding of the South African Union in 1910 by a bundle of laws, all of which further curtailed the rights of the black majority of the population. The “Mines and Works Act” of 1911, for example, obliged blacks to do only menial work, thus guaranteeing the availability of cheap labor. The Native Land Act of 1913 declared 7.3% of South Africa’s area to be black reservations and prohibited them from purchasing land outside of these areas.

Since there were no opportunities for political protest – due to the lack of voting rights and a general ban on strikes for non-whites – the “African National Congress” (ANC) and other resistance movements were founded. They were all poorly organized and not very effective at first. The white governments were therefore able to continue their policy of racial segregation more or less unmolested.

After World War II, conflicts intensified, and there were numerous wildcat strikes by black workers. The insecure whites then helped the right-wing conservative National Party under Dr. D.F. Malan, who had guaranteed drastic measures against the “black danger”, to an overwhelming election victory. Malan coined the term “apartheid” and initiated the consistent implementation of this disastrous policy.

In February 1990, only a few months after taking office, Frederik Willem de Klerk heralded the end of apartheid with a historic speech to parliament and spoke out in favour of a democratic South Africa. The ban on the ANC (African National Congress) was lifted. Just a few days later, Nelson Mandela was released after 27 years of imprisonment on Robben Island. In secret negotiations between the ANC and the government, it had previously been agreed to renounce violence in the future and to work together towards a peaceful transition and a new constitution.

In April 1994, the first free elections were held in South Africa. As expected, the ANC won an overwhelming election victory.

On 10 May 1994, Nelson Mandela became the first black president of the new South Africa, succeeding Frederik Willem de Klerk, whose National Party won around 20% of the vote in the 1994 elections, and became the second vice-president of the interim government in South Africa. The first vice-president was Thabo Mbeki, now chairman of the ANC and president of the Republic of South Africa.

Local specialties include sosaties (a kind of shashlik), bobotie (minced meat with curry), bredies (stew with meat, tomatoes and other vegetables), crayfish (crayfish) and biltong (dried meat).

Drinks
There are excellent local wines, and sherry is also pressed in the country. Liquor stores, where spirits are sold, are open Mon-Fri 09.00-18.00 and Sat 09.00-13.00. In the meantime, alcohol is also available in supermarkets. They shake hands to greet each other. For private visits, the usual forms of politeness are expected. Casual clothing is appropriate, and elegant clothing is appropriate for special occasions. Smoking is prohibited in cinemas and theatres.

Gratuities
10% is customary if the tip is not included in the price. Porters, waiters and room service staff, porters and taxi drivers expect a tip; no service charge is included in the hotel bills.