I.

Introduction

South Africa, officially Republic of South Africa, republic and southernmost country of continental Africa, bordered on the north-west by Namibia; on the north by Botswana and Zimbabwe; on the north-east by Mozambique and Swaziland; on the east and south by the Indian Ocean; and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. The independent country of Lesotho forms an enclave in the eastern part of the country. South Africa has an area of 1,219,090 sq km (470,693 sq mi). The administrative capital of South Africa is Pretoria, the legislative capital is Cape Town, and the judicial capital is Bloemfontein.

II.

Land and Resources

The topography of South Africa typifies that of the continent of Africa as a whole. It comprises an interior upland plateau of ancient rock, separated from a narrow coastal plain by a mountainous escarpment known as the Great Escarpment. The plateau occupies about two thirds of the country and can be divided into three main regions: the Highveld, the Bushveld, and the Middle Veld.

The Highveld occupies the majority of the plateau and is mostly 1,500 m (5,000 ft) above sea level. It is characterized by level or gently undulating grasslands. The north-eastern limit of the Highveld is marked by a wide rocky ridge, called the Witwatersrand, which includes the city of Johannesburg and contains the world’s largest and richest goldfield. North-east of the Witwatersrand is the Bushveld, or Transvaal Basin. The Bushveld averages less than 1,000 m (4,000 ft) above sea level, but in parts reaches more than 1,800 m (5,900 ft); elevations decrease westward, towards the Botswana border and the River Limpopo. Much of the Bushveld is broken into basins by rock ridges. The Middle Veld occupies the western section of the plateau. It has an average elevation of about 915 m (3,000 ft), and also slopes downward. The Middle Veld is generally dry, ranching country, extending in the north into the arid Kalahari Basin; on the western coast it merges into the southern Namib Desert.

The plateau reaches its greatest heights in the east. Here it meets the Drakensberg, which form part of the Great Escarpment and contain South Africa’s highest point, Champagne Castle (3,375 m/11,072 ft). The Great Escarpment, which encompasses the plateau in a semicircle running from the north-east to the south-west, forms South Africa’s longest continuous topographic feature and provides some of the country’s most beautiful scenery. Other escarpment ranges to the south and west of the Drakensbergs include the Roggeveld, Sneeu, and Nuwveld systems.

In the south-west, and separate from the Great Escarpment, is one of the few areas of folded mountains in continental Africa. It includes ranges such as the Tsitsikama, Swartberg, Langeberg, and Drakenstein, as well as Table Mountain (1,086 m/3,563 ft) at Cape Town. Altitudes in these ranges average between 915 and 2,316 m (3,000 and 7,600 ft). Between the fold mountains and the Great Escarpment lie the dry tablelands of the Little and the Great Karoo, which are separated by the Swartberg Mountains. The Landeberg Mountains separate the Little Karoo from the coastal plain.

The coastal plain is fertile and generally narrow, reaching only about 130 km (80 mi) at its widest; at times it is only 30 km (19 mi) wide. Overall, South Africa has some 2,960 km (1,840 mi) of coastline with few indentations. Most of the coast has been subject to uplift and falling sea levels in the recent past. As a result, there are few drowned estuaries or natural harbours; the exceptions include the Kynsna Lagoon in the south-west and the Buffalo River at East London.

A.

Rivers and Lakes

The chief rivers of South Africa are the Orange, the Vaal, and the Limpopo. The Orange River is the longest river in the country at about 2,090 km (1,300 mi). It originates in Lesotho and flows in a north-westerly then westerly direction through the Highveld and the Middle Veld to empty into the Atlantic Ocean. The westernmost section of the Orange River forms the boundary between South Africa and Namibia. The River Vaal is the largest branch of the Orange River. It originates in the north-east of South Africa, near Swaziland, and flows some 1,210 km (752 mi) in a south-westerly direction, before joining the Orange River in the Highveld west of Kimberley. The River Limpopo originates in the north-east and flows north-west to the Botswana border, and then east along South Africa’s borders with Botswana and Zimbabwe before entering Mozambique and continuing to the Indian Ocean.

In general, South Africa’s rivers are highly seasonal in flow, and many are dry for much of the year. Combined with the steep increase in gradient at the Great Escarpment, this means that the rivers are of little use for navigation or hydroelectric power. However, they are utilized for irrigation in most parts of South Africa. South Africa can suffer prolonged droughts, necessitating extensive water conservation and control measures. Growth in water usage threatens to outpace supply. Other related environmental concerns are pollution of rivers from agricultural, urban, and industrial run-off; soil erosion; and desertification.

B.

Climate

South Africa has a temperate sub-tropical climate with considerable regional variations caused by differences in elevation, in wind systems, and in ocean currents. The eastern and south-eastern coasts, for example, are influenced by the warm, south-flowing Mozambique Current, which keeps temperatures higher, encouraging air circulation and facilitating the arrival of rain-bearing clouds from the east. In contrast, the western coast is under the influence of the cold, north-flowing Benguela Current, which not only cools temperatures significantly, but also contributes to the dryness and stability of the air masses over the western part of the country.

The climate of South Africa is generally dry—drought is relatively common and water is at a premium for both agriculture and industry. More than 67 per cent of South Africa is semi-arid or arid, receiving less than 810 mm (27 in) of rain annually. Rainfall generally decreases westward, and on the north-western coast precipitation averages less than 30 mm (1 in) a year. Only 6 per cent of South Africa, concentrated along the coast of KwaZulu-Natal Province, receives more than 1,016 mm (40 in) of rain a year.

Except for the Cape area, most of the country is under the influence of the easterly trade winds that blow across the Indian Ocean. During the spring and summer months of October to April, heating on the land can cause low-pressure areas that draw in these moisture-laden winds, bringing rain to the east and central areas. The eastern Lowveld receives about 890 mm (35 in) of rain a year. The Highveld receives between 380 and 760 mm (15 and 30 in) of rain a year on average; the amount diminishes rapidly westward. In the western coastal area, rainfall is as low as 51 mm (2 in) annually. In the drier regions of the plateau, the amount of rainfall and the beginning of the rainy season vary greatly from year to year.

The extreme south-western area round the Cape is under the influence of western winds originating over the Atlantic Ocean. This region receives about 560 mm (22 in) of rain a year, most of which occurs between June and September.

The average daily temperature in January in Durban, which is on a low-lying part of the north-eastern coast, is about 24° C (75° F). The corresponding temperature in Johannesburg, in the north-central Highveld, is about 19° C (66° F). Although closer to the equator than Durban, Johannesburg has a cooler summer largely because of its elevation (1,670 m/5,470 ft above sea level). The average daily January temperature in Cape Town, on the southern coast and influenced by cool winds from the South Atlantic, is about 20.6° C (69° F). The range of winter temperatures follows the same pattern. The average daily July temperature is about 17° C (62° F) in Durban, about 9° C (49° F) in Johannesburg, and about 12.2° C (54° F) in Cape Town. Snow is rare in South Africa, although winter frosts occur in the higher areas of the plateau.

C.

Natural Resources

Underlying the whole plateau of South Africa is a great complex of ancient crystalline rocks formed between the later Carboniferous and later Triassic periods. In the course of time, these rocks were worn down to form an almost level surface and were covered in most places by thick layers of sandstone and shale. These layers are nearly horizontal except in the south-west, where extensive folding has formed irregular hills and mountains. In the Witwatersrand and the Middle Veld the underlying bedrock is exposed.

The grasslands of the central South African plateau have dark-to-black soils, or chernozems, which are similar to those of the North American prairies. In the western, more arid areas, the chernozem soils give way to poorer, chestnut-coloured soils. In the south the soils are thin and often red. The soils in the north-east are reddish and yellowish. Soil erosion is a big problem in much of the country. Soil conservation measures, like water conservation, have long been a government priority.

South Africa is very rich in mineral resources, which provide two thirds of the country’s exports. Gold and diamonds are the best known, and together with coal have traditionally had most economic importance. Gold is mined primarily in the Witwatersrand, the site of the world’s richest goldfield, discovered in 1886. The gold in the Witwatersrand occurs in minute specks, invisible to the naked eye, in pebble beds called bankets, which are mined to depths below 3,000 m (10,000 ft). Vast and easily worked coal seams occur in the north-east between Lesotho and Swaziland.

Most of South Africa’s diamonds come from diamond fields near Kimberley, which were discovered in 1870. Surface workings were soon exhausted, but the diamonds were traced to their source rock and mined by large-scale methods. South Africa also has many other commercial mineral deposits, including copper, nickel, platinum, uranium, asbestos, chromium, fluorite, phosphates, vanadium, tin, titanium, beryllium, and manganese and iron ores. The platinum-group minerals and chromium deposits are located mainly in the Bushveld, north of Pretoria. The largest manganese and iron ore deposits are in the north of the Cape area, while titanium sands exist on the eastern coast. Uranium is extracted commercially in the Witwatersrand.

South Africa has some natural gas offshore of the Cape, but no commercially exploitable oil deposits have been found. During the international sanctions of the apartheid era, oil-from-coal plants were established in Orange Free State and the eastern Transvaal.

D.

Plants and Animals

The natural vegetation of South Africa varies from region to region according to the amount of rainfall. Along the eastern coast, where rainfall is heaviest, there is tropical vegetation with many palms. In some of the valleys of the Great Escarpment and along the southern Cape coast are forests, composed chiefly of yellowwood, stinkwood, ironwood, and cedar. The south-western Cape has a distinct vegetation of drought-resistant grasses, shrubs, and trees, and is home to many of South Africa’s 20,000 species of flowering plants. In the Eastern Uplands the land supports a luxuriant growth of grass and some trees.

Most of the plateau is covered with grassland, which on the Highveld resembles a prairie and is often completely treeless. The Bushveld, however, supports savannah vegetation with scattered trees and bushes in a park-like grassland. On the Middle Veld, where rainfall is slight, the grassland is very poor. The vegetation consists almost entirely of coarse desert grasses, which grow in tufts and become green only after rain. The Great Karoo and the Little Karoo are covered with dry scrub.

South Africa has more than 200 species of mammals, including large mammals, such as lion, elephant, zebra, leopard, monkey, baboon, hippopotamus, and many kinds of antelope. South Africa has a long history of wildlife conservation. Population pressures, the expansion of agricultural land and towns, and environmental problems mean that today, such animals are found almost only on wildlife reserves. A particular success of conservation in South Africa has been the preservation of elephant and white rhinoceros populations; around 90 per cent of the world’s white rhinos live in South Africa.

One of the most notable of South Africa’s 30 national parks is Kruger National Park in the north-east along the border with Mozambique. Founded in 1926, it occupies about 19,485 sq km (7,523 sq mi). Nearly every species of wildlife indigenous to the country is found in the park. Other national reserves are Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, in the north-west; Addo Elephant National Park, near Port Elizabeth; and Mountain Zebra (Bergkwagga) National Park, near Cradock.

There are also many smaller reserves, marine sanctuaries, and botanical gardens in South Africa. South Africa’s bird life is also abundant and includes, among the larger birds, ostrich, francolin, quail, guinea fowl, and grouse. Snakes are fairly common throughout the country. Large numbers of fish inhabit South Africa’s coastal waters.

E.

Environmental Concerns

The biological and ecological diversity of South Africa is considerable, with many endemic species and unique biomes. Coastal estuaries, swamps, floodplains, coral reefs, and islands serve as breeding grounds for seals and sea birds. Some important South African biomes are threatened, such as the Northern Karoo grasslands, the Karoo semi-desert with its many succulents, and especially the fynbos—a shrub land of extraordinary species richness in the winter-rainfall zone of the south. Concern for the environment has grown since the country's emergence from apartheid, and efforts are under way to save a number of endangered species, including the black rhinoceros, the pangolin, and the humpback dolphin. About 13 per cent (1997) of the land is cultivated, and only about 2 per cent is covered with patchy natural forests. Extensive areas have been reforested to conserve soil. South Africa's extensive system of protected areas includes several national parks as well as hundreds of nature reserves and a number of private game reserves. Together, these areas protect about 5.4 per cent (1997) of the land. The government has actively encouraged the voluntary participation of private landowners in the protected area system, which represents an important source of income for the country. In some cases the government has chosen to raise funds by selling off some of its parks to private developers.

The most serious environmental threats are uncontrolled livestock grazing, rampant urban development, and surface disturbance and pollution associated with mining. Farming on marginal agricultural land has resulted in heavy soil loss, and desertification continues, especially in the Karoo region. Acid rain is a problem in the High Veld region because of power plant pollution.

South Africa has ratified the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands and is party to international environmental agreements concerning Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, and the Antarctic Treaty, as well as agreements on biodiversity, endangered species, hazardous wastes, marine dumping, marine life, nuclear test ban, ozone layer, ship pollution, and whaling. Regionally, South Africa cooperates with Botswana and Lesotho on the management of protected areas on adjoining borders.

III.

Population

South Africa has a population of 43,997,828 (2007 estimate), which gives a population density of 36 persons per sq km (93 per sq mi). South Africa has a multiracial and multi-ethnic population. Of the nearly 44 million inhabitants, approximately 75 per cent of the population is black African, 13 per cent is white, 9 per cent is Coloured (mixed ethnic background), and 3 per cent is Asian.

The blacks belong to nine ethnic groups: Zulu, Xhosa, Batswana, Venda, Sotho, Ndebele, Tsonga, Swazi, and Pedi. The Zulu are the largest of these groups, making up about 22 per cent of the total population. Whites are descended for the most part from British, Dutch, German, and French Huguenot (Protestant) settlers. The people of Dutch ancestry, who often have German and French heritage as well, are known as Afrikaners or Boers and form about 60 per cent of the white population. The Coloured population, which lives chiefly in the Cape provinces, is of mixed racial origin, mainly black and Afrikaner. The Asians are mainly of Indian ancestry and are most numerous in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. A small number of people of Malay origin are also included in the Asian population. They reside mostly in the Cape provinces. In 2005, 58 per cent of the population was classified as urban.

A.

Racial Segregation

Racial segregation and white monopoly of power characterized South Africa from before the founding of the Union of South Africa in 1910. This formalized white control of the political structure, but it was only in the 1940s that the concept of racial segregation, known as apartheid, began to be elaborated into a total state policy reinforced by laws and permeating all aspects of social, economic, and political relations between people. This state policy was designed to guarantee the future political and social domination by the country’s white minority over the non-white population.

Ever since the first white settlement was founded in South Africa in 1652, racial segregation had been part of the country’s social and economic pattern. The causes for this segregation were varied, and included contemporary ideas about race and culture that Europeans brought with them. In the early 20th century, racial segregation started to become an explicitly formulated programme in South Africa. The Native Lands Act of 1913, which demarcated rural areas for European and non-European residence and ownership, was one of the first steps taken to establish racial segregation. This act and subsequent legislation—the Development Land and Trust Act 1936—restricted blacks, who at that time, as now, made up over 75 per cent of the population, to ownership of only about 14 per cent of the land.

B.

Dismantling of Apartheid

By 1960 and the introduction of “Grand Apartheid” under Hendrik Verwoerd, the extremely limited political rights that non-whites had before 1948 were eliminated. Beginning in the 1970s the government established ten small black homelands, which were to be the primary residence of South Africa’s black ethnic groups; four of these homelands were declared independent, although virtually no country other than South Africa recognized them.

During the late 1980s and early 1990s the government was forced to dismantle the legal basis of apartheid, but inequality remains a fact of life in South Africa. The inequalities apartheid created—especially in access to housing, jobs, education, and medical and health facilities—will take many years to correct. Other consequences, such as the undermining of family life by regulations forcing men to migrate to work, leaving their wives and children in rural areas, will be even harder to deal with.

C.

Way of Life

The apartheid system left a profound imprint on South African society. Most whites enjoy a standard of living and way of life comparable to, or higher than, those in the most developed countries in the world. However, this is not the case for non-whites, specifically blacks. Although blacks make up 75 per cent of South Africa’s population, they earn only 28 per cent of the country’s total income. By contrast, whites, who make up only 13 per cent of the population, earn 61 per cent of the income. The income figures for Asians and Coloureds are 3 and 9 per cent respectively, which corresponds more closely with their proportions of the total population.

The income gap between South Africa’s blacks and whites, one of the widest in the world, is reflected in many other ways. The average household income of a white family is 12 times that of a black family. More than half of all blacks live below the poverty line, and black unemployment is more than 50 per cent. A quarter of all blacks live in shacks or have no housing, and 40 per cent do not have access to clean water. Only one third of black homes have electricity.

The gap in living and health standards is widest in rural areas. White farmers own more than 87 per cent of the land and produce more than 90 per cent of South Africa’s agricultural output. Black farmers under apartheid were pushed off their land altogether, or on to marginal, less productive areas. Land redistribution is a major issue facing the new majority government, which has to balance black expectations for a return of their land with the need, in the immediate term, to keep the country’s 50 per cent of urban dwellers fed.

Owing to the legacy of residential segregation laws, whites generally live in the centre of major urban areas, relatively close to the central business district, while blacks live in outlying townships. There has been some movement of black middle-class families into former white residential areas since the early 1990s, but most blacks who work in cities still face a long commute from home in the townships to work. The average commute is 37 km (23 mi), and a two- to four-hour commute is not uncommon. Commuting is also generally more expensive and dangerous for blacks than whites.

Since 1975 the number of wealthy blacks in South Africa has increased, and this small black middle class now enjoys a lifestyle similar to that of wealthy whites. However, during this same period the incomes of the poorest 40 per cent of all blacks decreased significantly, reflecting a widening income gap even within the black population. The emergence of a black class structure can be seen in Soweto, which, though dominated in many ways by shacks, also has its upmarket residential areas with large, fine houses and gardens.

D.

Social Problems

Violence is the most serious social problem in South Africa; in the early 1990s the country was estimated to be one of the most dangerous in the world, outside war zones, with over 40,000 murders a year; less than 20 per cent of these were politically linked. Even so, most of the crime and political violence can be traced to the legacy of apartheid. The enormous housing shortage for blacks has helped create the conditions for violence; in the townships it is not uncommon for as many as 17 people to be living in three or four rooms. The high rate of unemployment, especially among black youths, also tends to aggravate the problem of crime. These problems tend to be even worse in rural areas.

Political violence, or what is often called “black-on-black violence”, was directly linked to the apartheid government, which was in power until April 1994. The findings of the independent Goldstone Commission in early 1994 confirmed that forces within the government, the so-called “third force”, had played an important role in encouraging and directing the violence in order to halt South Africa’s move to democracy. These activities included support to the Inkatha Freedom Party of Zulu Chief Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi.

E.

Political Divisions

Until 1994 South Africa was divided into four provinces (Cape Province, Natal, Orange Free State, and Transvaal) and ten black homelands. Under the country’s interim constitution, which took effect at the time of the country’s first multiracial elections in April 1994, South Africa is divided into nine provinces. These provinces are: Gauteng, capital Johannesburg; Limpopo, capital Polokwane (formerly Pietersburg); Mpumalanga, capital Nelspruit; North-West, capital Mmabatho; Free State, capital Bloemfontein; KwaZulu-Natal, joint capitals Pietermaritzburg and Ulundi; Eastern Cape, capital Bisho; Northern Cape, capital Kimberley; and Western Cape, capital Cape Town.

Other provincial capitals are under debate and may change. The black homelands, including those that were declared independent—Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda, and Ciskei—were dissolved and reincorporated into South Africa when the interim constitution took effect.

F.

Principal Cities

The largest cities in South Africa, with their populations, include Cape Town (2,993,000, 2001 estimate), the legislative capital; Johannesburg (3,225,796, 2001), the focus of the goldfields and South Africa’s main commercial and financial centre; Durban (3,090,122, 2001), an important seaport; Pretoria (1,651,000, 2001 estimate), the administrative capital; Port Elizabeth (692,348, 1996), industrial city and major port; Springs (80,776, 2001), a manufacturing centre; Bloemfontein (364,000, 2001 estimate), the main seat of the judiciary and a trading centre for cattle and sheep; and Germiston (164,252, 1996), site of the largest gold refinery in the world. However, the largest settlement in the country is probably Soweto, the black township established outside Johannesburg as a dormitory area for workers in the city, which has since developed into a de facto city in its own right.

About 50 per cent of the population of South Africa is classified as urban. More than 25 per cent of the total population lives within the Pretoria, Witwatersrand, and Vereeniging (now Guateng) metropolitan area, which lies within a 70-km (43-mi) radius of Johannesburg. The three metropolitan areas of Gauteng, Cape Town, and Durban account for 38 per cent of the country’s urban population. Concentrations of urban migrants are increasing around the major cities, housed in makeshift settlements or shanty towns known as “squatter camps”.

G.

Religion

About 68 per cent of the people of South Africa are Christians, mainly Protestant. Most Afrikaners belong to the Dutch Reformed Church, and most South African whites who speak English as their first language belong to the Anglican, Congregational, Methodist, or Roman Catholic Churches. Blacks are also members of these denominations; in addition, many of them adhere to so-called independent Churches, which combine elements of Christianity and traditional African religions. A significant minority of blacks also follow traditional beliefs. Of the non-Christian religions in South Africa Hindus comprise 1.3 per cent and Muslims 1.1 per cent. South Africa also has a Jewish community of some 67,600 people, although a number of Jews have emigrated to Israel in the past 25 years.

H.

Language

There are 11 official languages in South Africa: Afrikaans (6.2 million), English (3.5 million), Ndebele (588,000), Northern Sotho (3,840,000), Southern Sotho (2,704,000), Swati (1,019,000), Tsonga (1,646,000), Tswana (2,822,000), Venda (666,000), Xhosa (6,858,000), and Zulu (10,700,000). Afrikaans and English are the languages of record. The former, a variant of the Dutch language, is the first language of almost all Afrikaners and many Coloured people. English is used as the primary language by many whites and is also spoken by many Asians and blacks. To most blacks, however, a Bantu language (see Niger-Congo Languages) or Khoisan (Click) language is their first language. In addition to English, many Asians also speak a language of India. Fanagolo, a Zulu-based pidgin, is spoken by several thousand mainly as a lingua franca among mining communities. A group of Afrikaner intellectuals, concerned that Afrikaans is being marginalized in South Africa, met at Hammanskraal in May 2000, to launch the Group of 63, which seeks special constitutional protection for Afrikaans and other minority languages. Members include the South African writer Breyten Breytenbach. It is the first time since early last century that Afrikaners from such a diverse political spectrum have united on a cultural project.

I.

Education

The legacy of apartheid in South Africa possibly manifests itself most clearly in education. Government spending on black education has increased significantly since the mid-1980s, and especially since 1990. However, although education has been legally desegregated, in practice most black children are still restricted to ill-equipped schools. In the early 1990s expenditure for white pupils was about four times higher than that for black pupils. The teacher-to-student ratio for blacks was 1:60 in urban areas and 1:90 in rural areas in the early 1990s. By comparison, the teacher-to-student ratio for whites averaged 1:30 or even lower. As a result of these conditions, only 41 per cent of all black students passed the secondary-school final qualification exam (a requirement for university entrance) in 1991. In the same year, 96 per cent of all white, 95 per cent of all Asian, and 83 per cent of all Coloured students passed the exam. Also, the black literacy rate is less than 50 per cent, while the white literacy rate is virtually 100 per cent. Overall literacy in 2005 was 87 per cent. In 2002–2003, 5.4 per cent of gross national product (GNP) was spent on education. Today's government is tackling the education of the poorest children in society by introducing fee-free schools in the most deprived areas. All children attend school from age 7 (grade 1) and matriculate at age 15 (or completion of grade 9), before entering work or further education.

In 1993 South Africa’s primary and secondary schools enrolled about 6.4 million black students, about 1 million whites, 897,000 Coloureds, and 256,000 Asians. By 2000, the figure for total enrolments in primary schools in South Africa was 7.44 million; there were 21,367 primary schools.

The major university institutions are the University of Cape Town (founded in 1829); the University of KwaZulu-Natal (2004), in Durban, Pietermaritzburg, Pinetown, and Westville; the University of the Free State (1904), in Bloemfontein; the University of Pretoria (1903); Rhodes University (1855), in Grahamstown; the University of Stellenbosch (1918); the University of the Witwatersrand (1922), in Johannesburg; the University of Fort Hare (1916), in Alice; the University of Limpopo (2005), near Polokwane and also at Ga-Rankuwa; the University of the North West (1978) at Mmabatho; and the University of the Western Cape (1960), in Bellville.

J.

Culture

The historical segregation of racial and ethnic groups in South Africa has resulted in distinct cultural developments. Within the white population English and European cultures have re-emerged as dominant influences, especially with the erosion of the Afrikaner-created apartheid system, and the end of the international isolation it caused. The historical distinction between the more religious and nationalistic Afrikaners and the more cosmopolitan English speakers is diminishing, especially among young people.

Among blacks, urban and rural cultures continue to differ. Urban black culture is multi-ethnic and increasingly draws on international influences, such as those of African-Americans. These influences have increased since the end of international sanctions against South Africa, which restricted artists from other countries from performing in South Africa. In the major urban areas the end of apartheid has brought about more interracial cultural activities. Generational differences within both the white and black populations also play a role in cultural expressions. In rural areas black cultural activities tend to emphasize the traditions of particular ethnic groups. Traditional Afrikaner culture is also strongest in rural areas. In recent years a new sense of self-pride has developed in the Coloured community and has found expression in writing, theatre, and music.

J.1.

Libraries and Museums

Nearly all South Africa’s cities have public libraries, the largest of which is the Johannesburg Public Library, with more than 1.5 million volumes. Other important libraries include the South African Library, in Cape Town; the State Library, in Pretoria; and libraries attached to institutions of higher education.

Notable museums include the National Museum, in Bloemfontein, which contains archaeological, palaeontological, and anthropological collections; the Africana Museum, in Johannesburg, which has historical and ethnological collections pertaining to South Africa; and, in Cape Town, the Michaelis Collection, the South African National Gallery, and the South African Cultural History Museum.

J.2.

Literature

South Africa has three main literary traditions, in the English, Afrikaans, and Bantu languages. A specifically South African literature in English had its beginning with the publication in 1883 of The Story of an African Farm by Olive Schreiner. Later writers in English who dealt with the South African land and peoples, and in particular with the country’s political problems, include the novelists Laurens van der Post and Alan Paton; the short-story writer and novelist Nadine Gordimer, winner of the 1991 Nobel Prize for Literature; and the playwright Athol Fugard. Poetry is represented by such names as Roy Campbell, F. T. Prince, and Roy McNab.

Afrikaans has proved particularly fruitful as a medium of poetry. It reached its mature expression in the 1930s with such poets as N. P. van Wyk Louw, Uys Krige, and Elisabeth Eybers. Also of note are the poet, dramatist, and critic D. J. Opperman and the poet Breyten Breytenbach, an outspoken foe of the oppressive policies of the former white minority government. Among Afrikaaner novelists are Étienne Leroux and André Brink. J. M. Coetzee, twice winner of the Booker Prize, is another opponent of apartheid.

Black South Africans have a long and rich oral tradition. With the coming of white settlers traditional themes were given written expression, and in recent years numbers of black writers have made significant contributions to South African literature in the major languages of Sesotho, Xhosa, and Zulu as well as in Afrikaans and English. Among the leading 20th-century black writers are Thomas Mofolo, B. W. Vilakazi, J. R. Jolobe, Bloke Modisane, Alex La Guma, Mongane Wally Serote, Njabulo Ndebele, and Es’kia Mphahlele. See African Literature.

IV.

Economy

South Africa has Africa’s largest, most diversified, and most developed economy. Its gross national product in 2004 was about US$165 billion, equivalent to US$4,770 per capita.

Until World War I the South African economy was based principally on mining (especially of diamonds and gold) and agriculture. Since then, however, and particularly since World War II ended in 1945, manufacturing has developed rapidly, and is now the leading sector of the country’s economy. Another area that has expanded fast is financial services—the country has the most developed financial sector in sub-Saharan Africa. The estimated national budget for 2005 included revenue of about US$70.95 billion and expenditure of about US$72.34 billion. Economic developments in the 1990s were driven largely by the new government’s attempts to improve living conditions for the black population, to increase exports, and to reduce the extremely high levels of unemployment. The economy in recent years has absorbed less than 5 per cent of the more than 300,000 workers entering the workforce every year. In 2005, 7.52 million tourists visited South Africa and spent an estimated US$3,375 million.

A.

Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing

Limited rainfall and infertile soils restrict the areas in South Africa suitable for crop-raising. As a result, about 87 per cent of farmland is devoted to raising livestock, particularly sheep, goats, cattle, pigs, and poultry. Large areas in the commercial arable sector are irrigated, and the country produces almost all the food crops it needs, except in the worst drought years. However, the country is well known for the high quality of its fruit crops. Whites generally operate large, commercial farms; most blacks, struggling with poor land, have small farms and still use traditional, often only marginally productive, methods—in no small part because access to modern methods has been denied them.

Black farmers have minimal access to agricultural credit, to extension (training) facilities, or to a market system in which to sell their crops. South Africa’s estimated annual agricultural output includes a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. In 2005 it included (in tonnes) sugar cane, 21.7 million; maize, 12 million; potatoes, 1.91 million; wheat, 2.03 million; grapes, 2 million; and sorghum, 354,449. Other crops include sweet potatoes, pumpkins, tomatoes, and barley. Livestock included an estimated 25.3 million sheep, 13.8 million cattle, 6.41 million goats, 1.65 million pigs, and 122 million chickens and other poultry.

South Africa has some 9 million hectares (23 million acres) of forested land. Of this, approximately 1.3 million hectares (3.1 million acres) is commercial forest. Timber production comes largely from stands of pine, eucalyptus, and wattle planted under the state forestation programme. Bark from the wattle tree, used in tanning, is an important export. The annual timber harvest in 2005 was 33.1 (2005) million cu m (1,168 million cu ft). Sawnwood production in 1997 totalled 2.66 million cubic m (93.9 million cu ft), while plywood production amounted to 68,800 cu m (2,429,649 cu ft).

Coastal fishing, for both domestic and foreign markets, is an important industry. Much of the catch is processed into fish meal. In 2004 the annual fish catch was about 885,106 tonnes. Anchovy are among the most important fish caught; other species include hake, pilchard, herring, snoek, and mackerel.

B.

Mining

The mining industry has been a dominant sector of the South African economy since the late 19th century, when large-scale gold and diamond production began. In the late 1990s leading products of South Africa’s mines included gold, coal, platinum, iron ore, diamonds, chromium, manganese, vanadium, vermiculite, antimony, limestone, asbestos, fluorspar, uranium, copper, lead, silver, and zinc. The country has no known major deposits of petroleum, but large amounts of oil are produced synthetically from coal-to-oil plants, established during the apartheid era.

C.

Manufacturing

Prior to World War II manufacturing was of less importance than mining or agriculture. During and after World War II a substantial expansion of manufacturing took place, and in the early 1990s this sector of the economy contributed an estimated 25 per cent of the gross domestic product; in 2005, 19 per cent. Most of the capital for this expansion was from private sources, both domestic and foreign, but the government also played a key role. The pressures caused by international sanctions, plus traditional suspicion between the Afrikaner government and the English-dominated industrial sector, encouraged the former to take a large direct stake in the economy, through state corporations. Many of these are now being privatized.

The new government, which is dominated by the African National Congress (ANC), has maintained a mixed economy. Leading manufactured products of South Africa include chemicals, petroleum and coal products, tobacco, wine, processed food and beverages, transport equipment, iron and steel, metal products, machinery, paper, and textiles. Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, and Port Elizabeth are leading manufacturing centres.

D.

Energy

Almost all of South Africa’s electricity is produced in 22 thermal facilities, most of which burn coal. The country also has one nuclear, two hydroelectric, and three gas-turbine stations. In 2003 the country’s annual production was approximately 215.9 billion kWh. The main challenge for the sector over coming decades will be to bring the 80 per cent of black homes without electricity into the National Grid.

E.

Currency and Banking

The rand, divided into 100 cents, is the monetary unit of South Africa (7.18 rand equalled US$1; early 2007). The South African Reserve Bank (established 1920) is the sole bank of issue. In addition, the country has many commercial, savings, and investment banks including 55 foreign banks. The Johannesburg Stock Exchange is an important institution. The rand has been under considerable pressure by the international markets and depreciated by 20 per cent in 1996.

F.

Commerce and Trade

In the early 1990s South Africa’s yearly exports earned more than its imports cost, largely because of the great revenue from foreign sales of gold. However, in 2004 annual exports were valued at US$40.2 billion and imports at US$47.8 billion. Gold accounts for about 27 per cent of the annual value of exports, which also include metals and metal products, foodstuffs, diamonds and other precious stones, iron and steel, and chemicals. Major imports are machinery and electrical equipment, transport equipment, chemicals, and foodstuffs. South Africa’s main trading partners include Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Italy, and other EU countries. (South Africa is joined in a customs union with Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, and Swaziland.)

G.

Labour

Major labour organizations in South Africa include the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), the National Council of Trade Unions, the South African Confederation of Labour, and the Federation of South African Trade Unions. In the late 1970s, blacks were given more opportunities to form unions, and some white unions began to accept non-whites as members. Many of the trade unions, grouped particularly in COSATU, played a significant role in helping bring about a negotiated end to apartheid, developing the strike as an expression of political opposition. Many blacks work on a temporary basis in the factories and mines; some of these workers come from nearby countries. Unemployment affects one third of the working population, and among blacks is about 50 per cent.

H.

Transport

The railway system, which links all main centres, is almost entirely owned by the state and is controlled by a government agency, the South African Transport Services (Transnet). Its subsidiary, Spoornet (the renamed South African Railways) operates about 20,047 km (12,457 mi) of track. The country also has some 275,971 km (171,480 mi) of roads, about 21 per cent of which are paved. About 3.8 million passenger cars are in use; in 2002 there was a ratio of 144 motor vehicles per 1,000 people. The major airline is South African Airways, and the country is also served by several smaller carriers as well as foreign airlines. The busiest airport is at Johannesburg; the second biggest is at Cape Town. The country’s main seaports are Cape Town, Mossel Bay, Port Elizabeth, East London, Durban, Saldanha, and Richards Bay.

I.

Communications

Postal, telegraph, and telephone services are operated by two independent public companies—the South African Post Office and Telkom SA—formed in 1991 from the former government department in charge of posts and telecommunications, which are the most highly developed in Africa. There were around 5.2 million telephones in use in 1993. Radio broadcasting is provided by the state-controlled South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), which provides 23 radio services in 16 languages and 4 television services in 7 languages. There were approximately 14 million radios in South Africa in 1997. At one time considered primarily a mouthpiece of the apartheid government, the SABC has since 1990 made efforts to develop a more independent, neutral coverage. Television broadcasting began in 1976; by 2000 there were 6 million televisions.

The country has 29 main newspapers, of which 17 are daily newspapers (most published in English); these include Die Burger (Afrikaans), of Cape Town; The Star (English), of Johannesburg; and the Sowetan (English) in the black townships. The press was heavily censored under apartheid. Since it ended, a full range of news, from the political far left to the far right, has been expressed. In 1996 the circulation of daily newspapers was 1,287,000.

V.

Government

In February 1990 South Africa’s white minority government lifted the ban on anti-apartheid political organizations and freed African National Congress (ANC) leader Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners. The government and the black liberation movement, led primarily by the ANC, then entered into negotiations to dismantle apartheid and open the way to political democracy in South Africa.

In 1993 the two sides agreed to hold the first multiracial elections in South Africa’s history in April 1994. A Transitional Executive Council was formed to supervise the elections, which would put in place new national and provincial governments. After difficult negotiations amid rising violence, much of it politically linked, an interim constitution was approved to serve as the country’s law until a permanent one could be written and adopted by the new parliament. The negotiators agreed that the new government would be one of “national unity”, in which minority parties with at least 5 per cent of the vote would be represented. However, the minority parties would not be able to exercise veto power over the decisions of the majority governing party.

A.

Executive and Legislature

Nelson Mandela was elected President of South Africa at the first session of the new parliament in 1994. Any party that won 80 or more seats in the elections earned the right to appoint a deputy president. Thabo Mbeki of the ANC was selected First Deputy President, and former president F. W. de Klerk of the former ruling party, the National Party, was named Second Deputy President. Under the terms of the interim constitution, the president has ultimate authority in governing the country, but he must consult the deputy presidents before making decisions. Cabinet posts were allocated on the basis of the number of seats political parties hold in the parliament. The ANC was given 18 posts; the National Party, 6; and the Inkatha Freedom Party, 3.

South Africa’s new parliament is composed of two chambers—a 400-member National Assembly and a 90-member Senate. Seats in the National Assembly were awarded on the basis of the percentage of the vote received by political parties in the April 1994 elections. Each party gained four seats for each percentage of the vote it won. In the event the ANC gained 62.6 per cent of the vote, and control of seven of the nine provincial legislatures. The National Party, which had dominated government under the apartheid era, was the next largest party, followed by the Inkatha Freedom Party (Zulu) of Chief Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi. Members of the Senate were elected by the provincial assemblies. Each of the nine provincial assemblies chose ten senators.

The key task of the new parliament was to write and adopt a new constitution, which had to win the support of at least 67 per cent of the members of parliament to take effect. Parliament members held office until June 1999, when the first elections under the new constitution took place. On May 8, 1996, the Constitutional Assembly voted to pass a new constitution, which, after certification by the Constitutional Court, was enacted and established in time for the national elections of 1999.

B.

Political Parties

The major political parties of South Africa are the ANC, founded in 1912; the Democratic Alliance, founded in 2000 as a result of a merger between the New National Party (NNP; known until 1998 as the National Party) and the Democratic Party; the Inkatha Freedom Party, founded in 1975; the Pan-African Congress, founded in 1959; the South African Communist Party, founded in 1921; and the Conservative Party, founded in 1982. In 2001 the NNP left the Democratic Alliance.

The ANC, the oldest liberation movement in Africa, won a clear majority in South Africa’s first free and democratic elections in April 1994. After the ban upon it operating in South Africa was lifted in February 1990, and most of its leaders freed from long imprisonment, it grew rapidly and made major gains in attracting non-blacks to its membership. It counted on the support of the South African Communist Party in the 1994 elections.

The National Party was the second-place winner in the elections. It was the ruling party from 1948 to 1994 and was responsible for instituting the apartheid system. During the 1994 elections, based on de Klerk’s crucial role in the negotiations bringing a peaceful end to apartheid, the National Party sought to portray itself as a party of reform and a friend of non-European voters. The Inkatha Freedom Party, which threatened to boycott the elections until a week before they were held, is the major opponent of the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal Province.

C.

Judiciary

A new Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court, was created under the interim constitution. The Constitutional Court consists of a president and ten judges, all of whom were selected by the Cabinet from a list compiled by an independent nominating commission. The Constitutional Court determines the constitutionality of all laws.

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 2007 was estimated at 42.5 years (males 43.2 years, females 41.7 years). South Africa’s infant mortality rate in 2007 was 59. 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 1,445 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.

A.

Early Settlement

Of the contemporary population of South Africa, the original inhabitants were the Khoisan-speaking peoples, the hunter-gatherer San and the Khoikhoi pastoralists. They were subsequently absorbed or forced into the most marginal areas by more technologically advanced migrants to the region; their descendants today live in the Kalahari in Botswana (San) and southern Namibia (Khoikhoi). The Bantu-speaking peoples, who are the ancestors of the vast majority of modern black South Africans, are thought to have begun arriving in the area about ad 100, bringing with them early Iron Age technology and lifestyles. In the ad 1000s a more advanced technology appeared; some scholars have attributed this to a new wave of Bantu migrations from the north, others to developments locally. It was at this time that the San began falling back towards the Kalahari, while the Khoikhoi were initially concentrated in the Cape area.

B.

Arrival of the Portuguese and Dutch

European interest in South Africa began with the Portuguese in the 1400s. They explored the coast in search of gold and the sea route to the East. In 1488 the ships of Bartolomeu Dias were blown round the Cape of Good Hope during a storm. Ten years later another Portuguese explorer, Vasco da Gama, rounded the Cape before successfully reaching India. The apparent lack of mineral wealth and the hostility of the Khoikhoi on the Cape discouraged the Portuguese from taking any interest in the hinterland beyond the Cape. However, other Europeans, following the Portuguese lead to the East, used the Cape as a base for taking on meat and water. Prime among these were the English and the Dutch. The latter, in 1652, decided to establish a settlement on the Cape.

The first settlers, sent by the Dutch East India Company and led by Jan van Riebeeck, were supposed to set up a half-way station in Table Bay, on the site of Cape Town. However, shortage of labour quickly led to two decisions that were to have far-reaching consequences on South Africa’s history. First, the Dutch East India Company allowed the use of slave labour, mainly imported from India and Indonesia, but also including some of the local Khoikhoi population. Second, former company servants were allowed to become “free burghers”, and to set up farms outside the settlement.

The first of these farmers, who came to be known as Boers (Afrikaners), settled along the Liesback River. Their numbers grew gradually, as more Dutch arrived and, after 1688, Huguenots fleeing persecution in France. The settlers began to put increasing pressure on the Khoikhoi.

By the 18th century most Khoikhoi, despite armed resistance, had lost their lands to these European settlers and Cape Town had become an important port and way station for East Indies trade. The Boer colonists, mostly farmers and cattle herders, soon developed their own distinctive culture and language (Afrikaans). By the late 1700s the white settlers had spread about 500 km (310 mi) north and 800 km (497 mi) east of Cape Town, and had encountered the Bantu. Nguni Bantu clans had settled in the area between the Drakensberg and the sea, while Sotho clans occupied the interior north of Cape Colony.

In the early 19th century competition for trade and land led to conflict between the Bantu clans, known as the mfecane. Hundreds of thousands died during the wars that eventually engulfed much of southern Africa. Entire clans disappeared during the fighting, and centralization resulted in the creation of powerful Bantu nations, notably that founded by the Zulu King Shaka, but also including the Swazi, Xhosa, and Sotho nations.

C.

Early British Settlement

During the Napoleonic Wars in Europe, France occupied the Netherlands, and British forces twice occupied the Cape region, in 1795 and 1806. In 1814, towards the end of the fighting in Europe, the United Kingdom purchased the Cape Colony from the Dutch for £6 million. After 1820 thousands of British colonists arrived in South Africa, and they demanded that British law be imposed. English became the official language in 1822, the Khoikhoi were given protection, and slavery was abolished in 1833.

D.

The Great Trek

These measures were bitterly resented by the Boers, and resulted in the Great Trek, in which some 10,000 Boers moved northward between 1836 and 1838. These voortrekkers (forerunners) moved east and north, settling across the Orange River, the Vaal River, and in Natal. After military attacks in 1836 they drove the Ndebele people across the River Limpopo and in 1838 defeated the Zulu at the Battle of Blood River before establishing a series of settlements in the area. The British, wishing to retain control over the voortrekkers, soon occupied the coastal region of Natal and established a Crown Colony there in 1843.

E.

The Boer Republics

Most Afrikaners then left Natal and headed west and north, where they established the Orange Free State and the Transvaal republics. The British along the eastern Cape frontier encroached on Xhosa lands, causing several bloody wars. The governor of Cape Colony, Sir Harry Smith, gained control over the Orange River territory in 1848. His expansionist policy, however, was repudiated by a British government keen to curtail its commitment in South Africa. In the Sand River Convention of 1852, Britain recognized the independence of the Transvaal Boers and in the Bloemfontein Convention of 1854, the independence of the Orange Free State.

By the late 1850s the territories of the Transvaal Boers beyond the River Vaal had coalesced into the South African Republic. Although attempts to unite the republic and the Orange Free State were fruitless, the two Boer republics maintained a close relationship in succeeding years.

Until the 1860s the Bantu nations of the north and east, including the Swazi and Sotho, cooperated and competed with the Boer settlers, maintaining a relative equilibrium. However, the period between the late 1850s and early 1870s brought the deaths of a generation of very able and charismatic African leaders—including Mswati of the Swazi (1865) and Moshoeshoe I of the Sotho (1870). Their loss swung the balance of power towards the colonists, who had long been keen to aquire the fertile land controlled by the Africans, and black labour to work it.

F.

British Annexations

The discovery of diamonds and gold during the late 1860s and early 1870s gave new force to this desire. In 1868 the British annexed Basutoland, and in 1871 Griqualand West, which included the Kimberley diamond fields. In 1877 the Nguni territory was annexed, and in 1879, following the Zulu wars, Zululand was taken over. The Venda in the north held out the longest, but their defeat in 1898 saw the completion of the annexation of the African kingdoms.

Meanwhile, in the east, the British colony of Natal had been granted representative self-government in 1856; in 1872 Cape Colony gained self-government and control over all areas except economic and foreign affairs. In 1877, as part of the annexation of South Africa’s mineral-rich hinterland, British rule was imposed on the South African Republic (Transvaal). However, the Afrikaners took up arms against the British in 1880, and their republic was granted semi-independence. In 1883 Boer leader Paul Kruger was elected President of the Transvaal.

G.

The South African War

The discovery of the world’s largest gold deposits on the Witwatersrand in the southern Transvaal in 1886 coincided with German occupation of South West Africa (now Namibia). The mining industry was financed by the British, and thousands of English miners—called Uitlanders (“foreigners”) by the Boers—entered the Transvaal. Britain thwarted President Kruger’s plans to extend his control to Bechuanaland (now Botswana), annexed the region, and effectively blocked the South African Republic from joining with German territory to the west. Kruger refused to grant civil equality to Uitlanders and taxed foreign companies heavily. After compromise discussions failed, British financier Cecil Rhodes, Prime Minister of the Cape Colony, in 1895 encouraged the Uitlanders to revolt, supported by a small invasion force under the command of Sir Leander Starr Jameson. The Jameson Raid was a failure, and although Rhodes was absolved of any involvement in it, he was forced to resign as prime minister.

Relations between the Cape Colony and the two Afrikaner republics worsened after British statesman Alfred Milner became Cape Governor in 1897. In October 1899 Kruger declared war; the South African War (Boer War) pitted the might of the British Empire, represented by some 500,000 troops, against some 87,000 Afrikaners and foreign volunteers. After some initial success by the Boer forces, British forces had occupied all major urban centres by mid-1900. The Boers, however, continued to wage a costly guerrilla war that was countered by scorched-earth policies by the British, which included the destruction of farms and the internment of the civilian population in concentration camps Some 25,000 Afrikaner women and children died of disease and malnutrition in the camps; 14,000 Africans died in separate camps. In May 1902 the African forces sued for peace.

H.

Formation of the Union of South Africa

Under the terms of the Treaty of Vereeniging (May 31, 1902), the Transvaal and the Orange Free State became British Crown colonies. In 1906 and 1907 they were given constitutions as self-governing colonies. By the South Africa Act of Union of 1910 the British Parliament established the dominion of the Union of South Africa, with the four colonies as its provinces. The South African Party won the first elections, and the former Boer army commander, Louis Botha, became prime minister.

Between the start of the diamond rush to Kimberley in 1870 and the end of the South African War in 1902, the South African economy was transformed. From being an economic backwater, dependent on agricultural products like wool and wine, the country became a major supplier of precious minerals, undergoing rapid urbanization and industrialization. Notwithstanding the influx of Europeans to work in the mines, there were still huge labour shortages.

I.

Use of Black Labour

The annexation of the African states, therefore, was accompanied by moves to force their largely self-sufficient populations off the land to become wage labourers in the mines. These moves included restrictions on African ownership of land, culminating in the 1913 Land Act, which restricted black land ownership and land use to a small percentage of the country. The Land Act ended the individual independence of South Africa’s black peoples by removing their access to land.

The pattern of labour recruitment, remuneration, and accommodation that characterized South African mining for more than a century was established at this time in the goldfields. Black labourers, mainly migrants from elsewhere in South Africa (but also from neighbouring states), were limited to unskilled jobs, paid low wages, and housed in single-sex compounds, separated from their families who remained in the rural areas. Such methods kept costs low and made control of black workers relatively easy, although there were spasmodic outbreaks of violence by the compound dwellers throughout the next 100 years.

J.

Boer Opposition

In the Cape, the diamond and gold discoveries further north fed an emerging financial industry. Although Boers in the 1870s comprised two thirds of the Cape’s white population, political power was controlled by the English-speaking elite of merchants, lawyers, and landholders. Hostility to this state of affairs led to the emergence of Afrikaners nationalist organizations, notably Die Afrikaner Bond in 1880.

Between 1872 and 1904, the annexation of the Transkeian territories to Cape Colony increased the number of Africans in the colony. Under the Cape Liberal Franchise, based on non-racial criteria, many blacks were able to vote. Hostility to this from the Afrikaner organizations, especially the Bond, led to successive moves to change the franchise qualifications to limit black voters.

K.

Formation of the African National Congress

This led, after 1884, to the development of new black political and educational organizations. In 1912, partly in response to this, and partly in response to the failure of the British to honour their South African War promises of “equal laws and equal liberty”—which had encouraged some 10,000 black troops to fight on their side—black leaders organized what eventually became the African National Congress (ANC). In 1902 Coloured (mixed ethnic background) leaders had set up the African Political (later People’s) Organization, which battled for Coloured rights under the presidency of Abdullah Abdurahman, and at times linked up with black organizations. In the Transvaal, Indians, led by Mohandas K. Gandhi, opposed the imposition of laws requiring them to carry passes. It was during this period (1906-1908) that Gandhi began to develop his methods of satyagraha (non-violent non-compliance).

L.

The Two World Wars

At the outset of World War I in 1914, Botha pledged Britain full support, and in 1915 he crushed an insurrection by extremist Afrikaner elements. Botha himself led the South African forces that conquered German South West Africa (now Namibia). In 1920 the territory became a League of Nations mandate under South African supervision.

Botha died in 1919. He was succeeded as prime minister by another pro-British military leader, Jan Christiaan Smuts. The National Party had been founded in 1914 by James Barry Hertzog, to further the cause of Afrikaner nationalism and white supremacy. Hertzog unseated Smuts in 1924, at a time of rising black militancy. He remained prime minister until 1939. During the economic depression of the 1930s a coalition was formed: Hertzog and Smuts became dual leaders of the United Party. Britain’s declaration of war against Germany in 1939 split the coalition. Hertzog, who tried to keep South Africa neutral, was replaced as prime minister by Smuts, and the Union declared war on Germany on September 6, 1939. Because of pro-German sentiment among Boers, however, conscription was not introduced. All members of the Union’s armed forces were volunteers, and their only combat action was in east and north Africa and Italy.

M.

Apartheid Instituted

Discrimination against non-whites was inherent in South African society from the earliest days. A clause in the Act of Union of 1910 provided that the native policies of the provinces would be retained and could be changed only by a two-thirds majority vote of parliament. In Cape Colony alone the Coloured community and a few black Africans had the right to vote. Notwithstanding Gandhi’s 21-year struggle before World War I to assure civil rights for Indian residents, they still had second-class status after the war.

South African blacks had an even lower status in the white-dominated state. Urban blacks lived in segregated areas and could not hold office or vote. They had no viable labour unions, and technical and administrative positions were closed to them. Even so, the National Party accused Prime Minister Smuts of allowing whites to be swallowed in a black sea. In the 1948 elections, led by Daniel F. Malan, the National Party won a narrow victory and began to implement its harsh concept of apartheid, which was designed to separate the races economically, politically, geographically, and socially. Strikes and protests for economic and political rights by non-Europeans in the aftermath of World War II—inspired in part by the anti-colonial movement in Asia and Africa—had emboldened racist forces to take steps to head off any new militancy.

The government’s position was strengthened when the National Party merged with the smaller Afrikaner Party in 1954. Malan, with growing support in parliament, introduced several laws designed to relegate all non-whites to permanent inferior status. A severe anti-Communist law (equating Communism with political, economic, or social changes brought about by unconventional means) was passed in 1950; marriage between whites and blacks was made a crime; and education for blacks was defined differently than for whites.

Most drastic was the Group Areas Act of 1950, which, augmented by later legislation, provided that specific areas be reserved for each of South Africa’s four racial groups as defined by apartheid, that is, the Europeans (whites), Bantu (blacks), Coloureds (mixed race), and Asians. These laws and the homelands concept, which robbed most blacks of their South African citizenship and which denied them the right to live in cities without special permission, were the foundations of apartheid. All blacks were assigned to specific tribal areas and had to carry passes when they entered restricted (white) areas. The goal was to create so-called “homelands” for all blacks. In response to these harsh policies, the ANC decided to pursue a more militant stance through mass civil disobedience. Nelson Mandela emerged as a central leader at this time.

In 1951 the Separate Representation of Voters Act was passed by a simple majority. It provided for the removal from the white register of the names of Coloured voters in the Cape of Good Hope Province, reversing a policy that had been in effect since 1852. The bill was declared unconstitutional by the nation’s Supreme Court in March 1952 because it had been passed by less than the two-thirds majority required to amend voting laws. Legislation to give parliament power to overrule the Supreme Court was passed in May, but it was also declared unconstitutional.

Malan retired in November 1954 and was succeeded by another National Party leader, Johannes G. Strijdom, who soon removed legal obstacles to further implementation of apartheid. To assure support for the programme, six more supreme court judges were appointed to hear constitutional questions, a step that received parliamentary approval in May 1955; nationalist control of the senate was effected by increasing membership from 77 to 89 in the November elections. The Separate Representation of Voters Act was repassed in February 1956 and became law. The Cape’s Coloureds were disenfranchised, and the courts’ power in constitutional areas was curbed.

N.

Struggle with the UN

The Union of South Africa had rebuffed attempts by the UN to assert its authority in South West Africa after World War II. A special UN commission conducting an inquiry into racial discrimination in South Africa repeatedly requested Premier Malan’s permission to transfer its hearings from Geneva to Union territory, and was repeatedly ignored. As apartheid took hold in South African society, more than 2,000 of its citizens from all racial and ethnic backgrounds gathered in 1955 to write the Freedom Charter. This charter, which offered a vision of a non-racial, unified, and democratic South Africa, was adopted by the ANC as its basic statement.

The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution in February 1957 calling for UN trusteeship over South West Africa. In October it sanctioned the creation of a “good offices” committee to negotiate with the Union on the disposition of South West Africa. After a visit by UN officials to South West Africa in May 1962 (the first permitted by South Africa), the investigating commission called for UN action to guarantee the political rights of the territory’s residents.

In June 1964 the UN Security Council condemned apartheid and ordered a study to be made of sanctions against South Africa. The UN General Assembly voted in October 1966 to terminate South Africa’s mandate over South West Africa, which was renamed Namibia, and established a council to assume responsibility for the territory. South Africa rejected all UN actions and proceeded to integrate the territory into its own economy.

In June 1971 the International Court of Justice ruled that South Africa’s presence in Namibia was illegal. The situation became critical when guerrillas from the South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO) began crossing the border from Angola to attack South African targets in Namibia. The South African government responded by building up defences, attacking Angola, and aiding the rebels who were fighting the Cuban-supported Angolan government. The war continued into the 1980s, when international political and economic pressure finally forced South Africa to take a more conciliatory attitude. US-sponsored peace talks in December 1988 eventually resulted in independence for Namibia.

O.

Strengthening Apartheid

Shortly after the 1958 elections for the House of Assembly, in which the Nationalists increased their seats from 94 to 103, Strijdom died. He was replaced by Hendrik Verwoerd, another uncompromising supporter of apartheid. Black opposition to apartheid, although non-violent, led to numerous incidents and many deaths, most notably the Sharpeville massacre in March 1960, when 67 blacks were killed. After this, the government declared a state of emergency. Thousands of blacks were arrested, and their political parties—the ANC and the recently organized Pan-African Congress (PAC)—were banned.

On October 5 an all-white referendum in the Union decided that South Africa should become a republic. In general elections held on October 18 Verwoerd’s National Party retained power. On May 31, 1961, the country officially became the Republic of South Africa. It also withdrew from the Commonwealth of Nations.

In 1962 the government, determined to maintain segregation, passed the so-called “sabotage act”, which outlawed most forms of political opposition. The ANC and the PAC decided that change through non-violent methods was no longer possible, and the groups began to organize armed resistance to the regime. In 1964 Mandela, at the Rivonia trial, was convicted of sabotage and treason and sentenced to life imprisonment. In the March 1966 elections the National Party increased its majority, but in September Verwoerd was assassinated. His successor, Balthazar J. Vorster, continued the policy of apartheid.

P.

The Black Homelands

As part of its strategy to divide the majority population, the government took steps in the 1960s to establish ten “self-governing” Bantustans, or black homelands. One black African group would predominate in each of the homelands, which were Bophuthatswana, Ciskei, Gazankulu, KaNgwane, KwaNdebele, KwaZulu, Lebowa, Qwaqwa, Transkei, and Venda. Although they were called self-governing, the homelands were in fact entirely dependent on the national government. Also, only 13 per cent of the land was set aside for the homelands, which was incapable of sustaining 75 per cent of the country’s population. Thus, most blacks continued to live in “white areas”.

The vast majority of those who lived on the homelands commuted to the white areas to work. The homelands policy eventually culminated in the granting of “independence” to Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Ciskei, and Venda between 1976 and 1981. The international community, however, denied recognition to these “independent” homelands. The most populous of the other homelands was KwaZulu; its head, Chief Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi, opted to work within the apartheid structure by presiding over a “self-governing” homeland. Through his Inkatha Freedom Party, formed in 1975, he promoted Zulu nationalism.

In 1975 the nearby Portuguese possessions of Angola and Mozambique became independent under revolutionary leaders, and the United States began to put pressure on South Africa to change its policies. Vorster agreed to relax his government’s support of the white-minority regime in Rhodesia, but the apartheid policy was not altered.

Q.

The Soweto Massacre

In June 1976 major clashes with the police occurred when some 10,000 schoolchildren at Soweto, near Johannesburg, protested against the enforced use of Afrikaans, in addition to English, in their schools. Hundreds of children were killed in an incident that shocked international opinion and did much to reinforce the growth of the sanctions movement. Although the requirement was dropped, the protest had unleashed deeper grievances among the black population, and Soweto experienced rioting, arson, and killings that later spread to other areas and to the Coloured population. Continuing in 1977, the unrest prompted more repressive police measures that culminated in September, when Stephen Biko, founder of the Black Consciousness Movement, died after mistreatment while in police custody.

R.

Reform and Resistance

Prime Minister Vorster resigned in 1978. His successor, Pieter Willem Botha, continued the black homelands policy but moved towards constitutional reforms that strengthened the presidency and, for the first time, allowed Coloureds and Asians to sit in parliament. The new constitution, which took effect in 1984, still denied blacks any part in the political process in South Africa (except through the homelands). This exclusion led to increased opposition, urged on by the ANC in exile, in alliance with the United Democratic Front at home, in the black townships.

The government responded by declaring a state of emergency and imposing press controls in July 1985. The state of emergency was initially restricted to 36 districts, but in June 1986 a national state of emergency was declared. Battles between blacks and police in the ensuing years resulted in many hundreds of deaths. More died in warfare between the Inkatha Freedom Party and adherents of the ANC, especially in Natal.

S.

Sanctions

In the mid-1980s the United States and the European Community (now the European Union) imposed sanctions against South Africa. Subsequent diplomatic pressure, in part the result of the international anti-apartheid campaign, forced Botha to begin a slow dismantling of apartheid. Botha was also influenced by increasing opposition from within South Africa, and by the defeat of South African troops in Angola in 1988 by Cuban and Angolan forces. The decision to bring an end to apartheid caused many whites to defect from the National Party to more right-wing parties and groups. In failing health, Botha resigned in 1989. F. W. de Klerk, his successor, continued the policy of eliminating apartheid.

Calling for a negotiated settlement of South Africa’s racial and political problems, in February 1990 de Klerk ended a 30-year ban on the ANC and released its leader, Nelson Mandela, from prison. The negotiation process proved to be long and difficult. De Klerk’s National Party was unwilling at first to completely transfer rule to the country’s black majority, and tried vigorously to institute minority veto power over majority decisions. The ANC then staged general strikes and other non-violent protests to try to force the Nationalists to change their position on this issue.

T.

Inter-Ethnic Violence

At the same time threats were being uttered by far-right white extremists, and by Buthelezi, promising violent destabilization of the country if they did not receive their varying demands—in Buthelezi’s case a semi-independent Zulu state. During this period, inter-ethnic violence reached new heights, and many thousands of people were killed. Eventually, as a result of compromises by both the de Klerk and Mandela sides, an agreement was reached on November 13, 1993, pledging the institution of a non-racial, non-sexist, unified, and democratic South Africa based on the principle of “one person, one vote”.

U.

Full Democracy and Majority Rule

The first free elections in South Africa’s history were held from April 26 to 29, 1994. The ANC scored a clear victory, and Mandela was inaugurated as the country’s first black president on May 10, 1994. De Klerk was appointed second deputy president; senior ANC official Thabo Mbeki was first deputy president; and Buthelezi became home affairs minister. In June South Africa rejoined the Commonwealth of Nations.

The new government moved quickly to address the key concerns of the black majority—health, housing, education, and jobs. Details of a Reconstruction and Development Programme were announced in May—but implementation was likely to be a long and slow business. The other priority of President Mandela was national reconciliation—all his speeches stressed the need to maintain national unity. However, black frustration at the slow pace of change led to an increase in the number of strikes.

Buthelezi was initially preoccupied in a power struggle with the Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini, but in early 1995 tensions with the ANC resurfaced, threatening the stability of the government, and leading to a resurgence of inter-ethnic violence in KwaZulu-Natal. In May 1995 Buthelezi left the government.

The first draft of a new national constitution, to be implemented from 1999, was published in November, while Archbishop Desmond Tutu was appointed to head a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate human rights abuses by both sides during the apartheid years. Suspicions of collusion between Inkatha and right-wing elements in the police force were reignited by an Inkatha attack on Shobashobane village on Christmas Day, 1995, in which 19 ANC supporters previously disarmed by the police were killed; further attacks in January 1996 heightened public concern.

Following a Supreme Court ruling in February 1996, black pupils were registered at the overwhelmingly white Potgietersrus Primary School in Northern Province with heavy police protection, after the school had tried to deny them places; most local white families promptly boycotted the school. F. W. de Klerk took his National Party out of Mandela’s government in May 1996, citing differences with Mandela and the need for the National Party to rebuild its electoral appeal. In 1997 South Africa offered to sponsor peace talks between the president of Zaïre (now Democratic Republic of the Congo), Mobutu Sese Seko, and the rebel leader, Laurent Kabila. They were cancelled after Mr Kabila insisted on holding them in international waters. South Africa’s mediation efforts continued until Zaïre’s capital, Kinshasa, fell to the rebels led by Kabila in May 1997. In June 1997 Eugene Terre Blanche, the white supremacist leader, was sentenced to six years in prison for attempted murder of a black African he had previously employed.

In late 1997 Winnie Mandela was brought before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission following allegations of involvement in human rights violations. Former ministers in the National Party government were also accused. The killers of Steve Biko, having been granted an amnesty, gave evidence to the commission, divulging the details of his death. Former prime minister P. W. Botha, subpoenaed a number of times, refused to speak before the commission.

A new party, the United Democratic Movement, was formed in September 1997. Its founding members had previously belonged to the ANC and National Party. At the ANC Conference in December, Mandela stepped down as leader of the party. Thabo Mbeki was subsequently elected.

V.

Change, Memory, and Reconciliation

In February 1998 a successor to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was announced. The Institute for Change, Memory, and Reconciliation will research the final report of the commission and help in the implementation of its recommendations. In September South Africa sent troops into Lesotho in support of the government, which was troubled by protests over corrupt elections and an army mutiny. Heavy fighting devastated the capital Maseru and the rebels retreated to the mountains. Over 60 people were killed in the initial fighting and the South African troops remained in Lesotho until April 1999. In October Desmond Tutu handed the final report of the Truth Commission to President Mandela. The ANC had attempted to block its publication, objecting to references to human rights abuses by its own members. In April 1999 Mandela announced the general election would be held on June 2.

In the June general elections, the ANC strengthened its position in the assembly. The party received 66 per cent of the vote, but was one seat short of holding the two-thirds majority required to rewrite the constitution. The ANC formed a coalition with the Indian-led Minority Front, which held one seat, and so assumed the majority. Thabo Mbeki succeeded Nelson Mandela as president.

In September a tourist coach crashed in Mpumalanga, north-eastern South Africa, killing 26 tourists. South Africa has a high road death toll, with an estimated 15,000 people killed every year in road accidents. A bomb exploded in a Cape Town restaurant in November, killing 40 people. Leaders of an Islamic vigilante group were later arrested in connection with the restaurant bombing and over 80 other bomb attacks.

In 2000 and 2001 President Mbeki began a number of visits to world leaders including Bill Clinton in Washington, D.C. and Fidel Castro in Cuba. He also received Chinese leader Jiang Zemin in 2000 and Yoshiri Mori, Japanese prime minister, in 2001. In April 2001, South Africa’s worst sporting disaster took place at the Ellis Park stadium in Johannesburg when overcrowding at a football match resulted in 43 deaths. In 2003 the country co-hosted the 2003 Cricket World Cup.

W.

AIDS Crisis

South Africa has one of the highest numbers of AIDS and HIV sufferers in the world—officially estimated at 4.7 million and it continues to be an ongoing crisis. In April 2001, in a milestone decision, a group of 39 multi-national pharmaceutical companies withdrew their legal battle to stop South Africa importing generic AIDS drugs. It now means that some of the world’s poorest countries have access to such drugs. In December 2001, the High Court ruled that pregnant women should be given AIDS drugs to prevent them passing on the virus to their children. Nkosi Johnson, the 12-year-old boy who spoke passionately at the World Aids Conference in Durban in 2000 and who awakened the continent to the suffering of its AIDS victims, died in June 2001 from the disease.

In July 2002 the constitutional court ordered the government to make a drug important to the treatment of AIDS available to all public hospitals. The drug assists the prevention of the transmission of HIV/AIDS from mother to child. The government has come under mounting criticism for dragging its feet over the universal provision of anti-retroviral drugs. Specifically, Thabo Mbeki’s handling of the AIDS crisis has been severely criticized. In November 2003 the government announced plans to distribute free AIDS drugs to more than 5 million sufferers.

X.

Deaths of Donald Woods and Govan Mbeki

August 2001 saw the deaths of two of the most respected figures in 20th-century South African history in Donald Woods and Govan Mbeki. Woods, the former editor of the Daily Dispatch of East London and an anti-apartheid campaigner for over 30 years, was responsible for bringing to world attention the murder of the Black Consciousness Movement leader Steve Biko in 1977. Woods went into exile in Britain in the late 1970s. Govan Mbeki was the father of the current president Thabo Mbeki and was one of the original anti-apartheid campaigners. Mbeki was sentenced to life imprisonment alongside Nelson Mandela at the Rivonia trial in 1964. He was released in 1987.

Y.

Johannesburg Summit on Sustainable Development

Johannesburg hosted the latest world summit on sustainable development in August/September 2002. Many felt it a failure because of the number of compromises that had to be made and although action was proposed on increasing renewable resources, cutting greenhouse gas emissions, and reducing the loss of animal species, no specific targets were set. Deals were made and targets were set, however, on sanitation and clean drinking water.

Z.

ANC Consolidates Power

In October 2002 a number of bomb attacks were carried out in Soweto and in the vicinity of Pretoria by right-wing white extremists. Twenty-two men thought to be members of “Boeremag”, an underground racist group, were put on trial for treason in June 2003.

The final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission headed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu was presented to parliament in March 2003. In April 2003 President Mbeki announced that those identified by the Commission as the victims of apartheid would receive a reparation payment.

In May 2003 Walter Sisulu, the veteran anti-apartheid leader, died at the age of 91. Sisulu was imprisoned for 26 years alongside Nelson Mandela and other key leaders of the anti-apartheid struggle.

In March 2003 the ANC tightened its hold on power with the defection of nine opposition members to its ranks, following a change in the law allowing defection during a two-week period, without having to seek a fresh electoral mandate. The defections increased the ANC’s representation in parliament to 275 out of 400 members.

In the run-up to parliamentary elections in April 2004, President Mbeki launched the ANC’s campaign by pointing to the government’s achievements throughout a decade of progress. Opposition parties criticized the level of media coverage given to the launch of the ANC’s campaign. On April 14, the ANC won a landslide victory with nearly 70 per cent of the popular vote, taking 279 of the 400 seats in parliament. President Mbeki was sworn in for his second and final term of office on April 27.