South Africa

D

Local Government

Representation in the nine provincial assemblies is also based on the percentage of the vote won by political parties in the elections. The number of votes cast in each province determined the number of seats in each assembly. Thus, more densely populated provinces have larger assemblies than do those with fewer residents. Each province is headed by a premier, who is elected by the assembly. The premier presides over an executive council of ten members. The provincial legislatures have significant powers and responsibilities, including the writing of provincial constitutions. However, they are ultimately under the authority of the national parliament and the constitution. Elections at the end of 1994 decided the composition of city and town councils.

E

Health and Welfare

Life expectancy at birth in 2008 was estimated at 42.4 years (males 43.3 years, females 41.4 years). South Africa’s infant mortality rate in 2008 was 58. Childhood mortality (deaths before age five) is among the highest in Africa, outside war zones. Two hundred out of every 1,000 black children die (on average) before their fifth birthday; the sub-Saharan African average is 160 per 1,000; the white South African average is on a par with the most developed western European nations and the United States. In 1990, 5.6 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) was spent on health care. In 2004 there were 1,298 people for every doctor. South Africa’s Medical Research Council published a report in 2001 outlining the effect of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) on the country. The report estimated that between 5 and 7 million people could die from the disease by 2010, and that currently it is responsible for 40 per cent of adult deaths. The government, and president Mbeki in particular, disputes the links between Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and AIDS and the scale of the emergency in the country. South Africa has one of the highest numbers of AIDS and HIV sufferers in the world—officially estimated at 4.7 million.

F

Defence and Police

South Africa’s military and police institutions have undergone major restructuring with the dismantling of apartheid. The new South African National Defence Force (SANDF) consists of members of the former South African Defence Force (SADF) and the defence forces of the former Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda, and Ciskei (TBVC) homelands. It also includes members of former military formations, such as Umkhonto we Sizwe (“Spear of the Nation”), the armed wing of the ANC.

As of 2004, the SANDF comprised 55,750 full-time personnel, consisting of around 9,250 personnel in the air force, 36,000 in the army, and 4,500 in the navy. In addition there are full-time civilian and military members in support, command, and control roles. The police forces are now organized under the paramilitary South African Police Service, which includes the former South African Police (SAP) and other police forces, such as those of the TBVC homelands. There were 140,000 serving officers in the SAP in 1997. While there are regional police commissioners, the South African Police Service is subject to the control and direction of the national government. Although reorganized, both the army and police still carry with them the legacy of the recent past when they were the enforcers (often brutally so) of apartheid. The police, in particular, remain very unpopular in the townships. In 2003, South Africa spent US$2,633 million (1.6 per cent of its GDP) on defence.

G

International Organizations

South Africa is a member of the United Nations (UN), the Commonwealth of Nations (although it withdrew in 1961, only to rejoin in 1994), the African Union, and the South African Development Community (SADC).

VI

History

Archaeological evidence indicates that the area of modern-day South Africa was one of the cradles of human evolution. Some of the earliest hominid (human-like) remains, dating back more than 2.5 million years, have been found at various sites. Remains of Australopithecus africanus, a hominid believed by some scholars to be an ancestor of Homo sapiens, have been found at Taung, Sterkfontein, Swartkrans, and Kromdraai. Remains of the heavier Australopithecus robustus, dating back some 3 million years, have also been found at Makapansgat. Homo habilis, the earliest known toolmaker, lived in South Africa some 2.3 million years ago. Homo sapiens first appeared between 125,000 and 50,000 years ago.