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.