Geographical Context

The Republic of South Africa has common boundaries with Namibia, the Republics of Botswana and Zimbabwe, while the Republic of Mozambique and the Kingdom of Swaziland lie to its north-east. The Kingdom of Lesotho is completely enclosed by South African territory. To the west, south and east, South Africa borders on the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans respectively.

Overview

South Africa is fondly known as the Rainbow Nation because of its diversity of people, cultures and natural scenery. The South African nation comprises people of San (or Bushman), Nguni, Sotho-Tswana, Tsonga, Venda, Indian, Afrikaner and mixed origin, as well as immigrant communities from all corners of the world. The favourable exchange rate, good weather and magnificent scenery and tourism options make a compelling argument to visit the country.

Geography

Situated at the southern tip of Africa, South Africa has a landmass of 1 233 404 km˛ edged on 3 sides by 3000km of coastline washed by the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic. It is bordered in the north by Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, and also wraps itself around two independent countries, Lesotho and Swaziland. There are nine provinces in South Africa.

Capital

South Africa has 3 capitals: Cape Town (Legislative), Pretoria (Administrative) and Bloemfontein (Judicial).

Political system

A well-known fact about South Africa is that since 1994 we have enjoyed democratic government, the apartheid policies of the past overthrown. Our constitution is regarded as an example to the world, and enshrines a wide scope of human rights protected by an independent judiciary. The country is headed by a State President, Jacob Zuma, of the African National Congress (ANC).

Economy

A lesser-known fact about South Africa is that it has achieved steady economic growth in gross domestic product (GDP) since the late 90s. The country, regarded as an emerging market, has a well developed financial sector and active stock exchange. Financial policies have focused on building solid macroeconomic structures. The country’s central bank is the Reserve Bank.

Tourism

Since the demise of apartheid, international tourist arrivals have surged, making tourism one of the fastest growing sectors. The tourism industry is well-established with an exciting sector of emerging entrepreneurs. The country is strong on adventure, sport and wildlife travel.

Population

The South African population of 47m people thereabouts is extremely diverse, as our 11 official languages will attest to. Black groups constitute the largest portion of the population at just under 80%. Whites and Coloureds (mixed race) account for roughly 9% each. Asians, of which Indians are in the majority, constitute approximately 2.5%.

Language

English and Afrikaans are the most commonly used languages in official circles and the business world. According to the national census of October 1996, the five most commonly-spoken home languages are IsiZulu (22,9%), IsiXhosa (17,9%), Afrikaans (14,4%), Sepedi (9,2%) and English (8,6%). The Constitution recognises 11 languages as official languages at national level, namely the 5 above, as well as IsiNdebele, Sesotho, SiSwati, Xitsonga, Tshivenda en Setswana.

Religion

More than 75% of the South African population belong to Christian churches. Other major religious groups are the Hindus, Muslims and Jews.

Currency

The South African Rand offers favourable rates of exchange against the world's hard currencies, your South African holiday budget, even if modest, will go surprisingly far. Travellers cheques can be exchanged in banks, bureaux de change and some hotels and money can also be withdrawn at ATMs of which there are thousands countrywide. The ‘Big 4' banks: Absa Bank, First National Bank, Nedbank and Standard Bank.

Banking hours are 09h00-15h30 on weekdays and 08h30 - 11h00 on Saturdays.

All major credit cards are accepted in the country, particularly MasterCard, Visa, American Express and Diners Club. Be aware, however, that you can't purchase fuel on a credit card.