South Africa#Mzansi

{{See also|List of official names of South Africa}}

The name "South Africa" is derived from the country's geographic location at the southern tip of Africa. Upon formation, the country was named the Union of South Africa in English and {{lang|nl|Unie van Zuid-Afrika}} in Dutch, reflecting its origin from the unification of four British colonies. Since 1961, the long formal name in English has been the "Republic of South Africa" and {{lang|af|Republiek van Suid-Afrika}} in Afrikaans. The country has an official name in 12 official languages.{{Cite web|url=https://www.concourt.org.za/index.php/constitution/the-text|title=The text|website=www.concourt.org.za|access-date=25 December 2023|archive-date=25 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231225080137/https://www.concourt.org.za/index.php/constitution/the-text|url-status=live}}South African Sign Language is also an official language

{{anchor|Mzansi}} Mzansi, derived from the Xhosa noun {{lang|xh|uMzantsi}} meaning "south", is a colloquial name for South Africa,{{cite book|editor1-first=Sarah|editor2-first=Achille|last=Livermon|first=Xavier|title=Johannesburg: The Elusive Metropolis|chapter=Sounds in the City|year=2008|publisher=Duke University Press|location=Durham|isbn=978-0-8223-8121-1|page=283|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hNONyzwm420C|quote=Mzansi is another black urban vernacular term popular with the youth and standing for South Africa.|editor-last=Nuttall|editor2-last=Mbembé|access-date=5 January 2016|archive-date=2 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502074447/https://books.google.com/books?id=hNONyzwm420C|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Mzansi DiToloki|url=http://www.deafsa.co.za/mzansi_ditoloki/|publisher=Deaf Federation of South Africa|access-date=15 January 2014|quote=uMzantsi in Xhosa means 'south', Mzansi means this country, South Africa|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116135926/http://www.deafsa.co.za/mzansi_ditoloki/|archive-date=16 January 2014 }} while some Pan-Africanist political parties prefer the term "Azania".{{Cite news|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/south-african-party-says-call-it-azania/1855679.html|title=South African Party Says Call Their Country 'Azania'|last=Taylor|first=Darren|newspaper=VOA|access-date=18 February 2017|language=en|archive-date=24 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624200956/http://www.voanews.com/content/south-african-party-says-call-it-azania/1855679.html|url-status=live}}

{{Main|History of South Africa}}

File:Maropeng_visitor_centre,_Cradle_of_Humankind,_South_Africa.jpg]]

South Africa contains some of the oldest archaeological and human-fossil sites in the world.{{cite book|last= Wymer|first= John|author2= Singer, R|year= 1982|title= The Middle Stone Age at Klasies River Mouth in South Africa|location= Chicago|publisher= University of Chicago Press|isbn= 978-0-226-76103-9}}{{cite web|title= Guide to Klasies River|page= 11|year= 2001|url= http://academic.sun.ac.za/archaeology/KRguide2001.PDF|author= Deacon, HJ|publisher= Stellenbosch University|access-date= 5 September 2009|archive-date= 21 February 2011|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110221195519/http://academic.sun.ac.za/archaeology/KRguide2001.PDF|url-status= live}}{{Cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/915/|title=Fossil Hominid Sites of South Africa|website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre|access-date=26 December 2019|archive-date=4 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191204231517/https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/915|url-status=live}} Archaeologists have recovered extensive fossil remains from a series of caves in Gauteng Province. The area, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has been branded "the Cradle of Humankind". The sites include Sterkfontein, one of the richest sites for hominin fossils in the world, as well as Swartkrans, Gondolin Cave, Kromdraai, Cooper's Cave and Malapa. Raymond Dart identified the first hominin fossil discovered in Africa, the Taung Child (found near Taung) in 1924. Other hominin remains have come from the sites of Makapansgat in Limpopo Province; Cornelia and Florisbad in Free State Province; Border Cave in KwaZulu-Natal Province; Klasies River Caves in Eastern Cape Province; and Pinnacle Point, Elandsfontein and Die Kelders Cave in Western Cape Province.{{cite journal |last1=Marean |first1=Curtis W. |title=Pinnacle Point Cave 13B (Western Cape Province, South Africa) in context: The Cape Floral kingdom, shellfish, and modern human origins |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |date=September 2010 |volume=59 |issue=3–4 |pages=425–443 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.07.011 |pmid=20934095 |bibcode=2010JHumE..59..425M }}

These finds suggest that various hominid species existed in South Africa from about three million years ago, starting with Australopithecus africanus,{{cite web|url= http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1979/6/79.06.02.x.html|title= Hominid Evolution|publisher= Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute|first= Stephen P.|last= Broker|access-date= 19 June 2008|archive-date= 7 April 2008|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080407181350/http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1979/6/79.06.02.x.html|url-status= live}} followed by Australopithecus sediba, Homo ergaster, Homo erectus, Homo rhodesiensis, Homo helmei, Homo naledi and modern humans (Homo sapiens). Modern humans have inhabited Southern Africa for at least 170,000 years. Various researchers have located pebble tools within the Vaal River valley.{{cite book| title = An Encyclopedia of World History| editor-last = Langer| editor-first = William L.| edition = 5th| publisher = Houghton Mifflin Company| location = Boston| year = 1972| isbn = 978-0-395-13592-1| page = [https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaworl00will/page/9 9]| url = https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaworl00will/page/9 }}

{{cite book

| last1 = Leakey

| first1 = Louis Seymour Bazett

| author-link1 = Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey

| chapter = Stone Age cultures of South Africa

| title = Stone age Africa: an outline of prehistory in Africa

| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=FsEiAAAAMAAJ

| edition = reprint

| publisher = Negro Universities Press

| publication-date = 1936

| page = 79

| access-date = 21 February 2018

| quote = In 1929, during a brief visit to the Transvaal, I myself found a number of pebble tools in some of the terrace gravels of the Vaal River, and similar finds have been recorded by Wayland, who visited South Africa, and by van Riet Lowe and other South African prehistorians.

| year = 1936

| isbn = 9780837120225

}}

{{Main|Bantu expansion}}

Settlements of Bantu-speaking peoples, who were iron-using agriculturists and herdsmen, were present south of the Limpopo River (now the northern border with Botswana and Zimbabwe) by the 4th or 5th century AD. The Bantu slowly moved south. The earliest ironworks in modern-day KwaZulu-Natal Province are believed to date from around 1050. The southernmost group was the Xhosa people, whose language incorporates certain linguistic traits from the earlier Khoisan people. The Xhosa reached the Great Fish River, in today's Eastern Cape Province. As they migrated, these larger Iron Age populations displaced or assimilated earlier peoples. In Mpumalanga Province, several stone circles have been found along with a stone arrangement that has been named Adam's Calendar, and the ruins are thought to be created by the Bakone, a Northern Sotho people.{{Cite web|last=Alfred|first=Luke|title=The Bakoni: From prosperity to extinction in a generation|url=https://www.news24.com/citypress/news/the-bakoni-from-prosperity-to-extinction-in-a-generation-20180703|access-date=13 September 2020|website=Citypress|archive-date=20 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020040304/https://www.news24.com/citypress/news/the-bakoni-from-prosperity-to-extinction-in-a-generation-20180703|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|title=Adam's Calendar in Waterval Boven, Mpumalanga|url=https://www.sa-venues.com/things-to-do/mpumalanga/adams-calendar/|access-date=13 September 2020|website=www.sa-venues.com|archive-date=17 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201217065507/https://www.sa-venues.com/things-to-do/mpumalanga/adams-calendar/|url-status=live}}

File:MapungubweHill.jpg, the site of the former capital of the Kingdom of Mapungubwe]]Around 1220, in the Limpopo-Shashe Basin, the elite of K2 moved to settle the flat-topped summit of Mapungubwe Hill, with the population settling below. Rainmaking was crucial to the development of sacral kingship. By 1250, the capital had a population of 5000 and the state covered 30,000 km² (11,500 square miles), growing wealthy through the Indian Ocean trade. The events around Mapungubwe's collapse circa 1300 are unknown, however trade routes shifted north from the Limpopo to the Zambezi, precipitating the rise of Great Zimbabwe. The hill was abandoned and Mapungubwe's population scattered.{{Cite book |last1=Chirikure |first1=Shadreck |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3pa7CgAAQBAJ&dq=kingdom+of+mapungubwe&pg=PT6 |title=Mapungubwe Reconsidered: A Living Legacy: Exploring Beyond the Rise and Decline of the Mapungubwe State |last2=Delius |first2=Peter |last3=Esterhuysen |first3=Amanda |last4=Hall |first4=Simon |last5=Lekgoathi |first5=Sekibakiba |last6=Maulaudzi |first6=Maanda |last7=Neluvhalani |first7=Vele |last8=Ntsoane |first8=Otsile |last9=Pearce |first9=David |date=2015-10-01 |publisher=Real African Publishers Pty Ltd. |isbn=978-1-920655-06-8 |language=en}}

{{see also|Portuguese discoveries}}

File:F. Benda-The planting of cross by Bartholomew Dias in 1488-0681 (cropped).jpg planting the cross at Cape Point after being the first to successfully round the Cape of Good Hope]]

In 1487, the Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias led the first European voyage to land in southern Africa.{{cite book|last=Domville-Fife|first=C.W.|title=The encyclopedia of the British Empire the first encyclopedic record of the greatest empire in the history of the world ed|year=1900|publisher=Rankin|location=London|page=25|url=https://archive.org/stream/encyclopediaofbr01domvuoft#page/24/mode/2up}} On 4 December, he landed at Walfisch Bay (now known as Walvis Bay in present-day Namibia). This was south of the furthest point reached in 1485 by his predecessor, the Portuguese navigator Diogo Cão (Cape Cross, north of the bay). Dias continued down the western coast of southern Africa. After 8 January 1488, prevented by storms from proceeding along the coast, he sailed out of sight of land and passed the southernmost point of Africa without seeing it. He reached as far up the eastern coast of Africa as, what he called, {{lang|pt|Rio do Infante}}, probably the present-day Groot River, in May 1488. On his return he saw the cape, which he named {{lang|pt|Cabo das Tormentas}} ('Cape of Storms'). King John II renamed the point {{lang|pt|Cabo da Boa Esperança}}, or Cape of Good Hope, as it led to the riches of the East Indies.{{cite book|last1=Mackenzie|first1=W. Douglas|last2=Stead|first2=Alfred|title=South Africa: Its History, Heroes, and Wars|publisher=The Co-Operative Publishing Company|location=Chicago|year=1899}} Dias' feat of navigation was immortalised in Luís de Camões' 1572 epic poem Os Lusíadas.

{{Main|Dutch Cape Colony|Boer Republics}}

File:Charles Bell - Jan van Riebeeck se aankoms aan die Kaap.jpg's 19th-century painting of Jan van Riebeeck, who founded the first European settlement in South Africa, arrives in Table Bay in 1652]]

In 1595 the Dutch made their first contact with the coast of Southern Africa. With Portugal's maritime power declining in the early 17th century, English and Dutch merchants competed to dislodge Portugal’s lucrative monopoly on the spice trade.{{cite book| last = Pakeman, SA| title = Nations of the Modern World: Ceylon|edition= 1964|pages= 18–19| publisher = Frederick A Praeger, Publishers}} British East India Company representatives sporadically called at the cape in search of provisions from as early as 1601 but later came to favour Ascension Island and Saint Helena as ports of refuge.{{cite book|first1=Alexander|last1=Wilmot|author2=John Centlivres Chase|name-list-style=amp| title = History of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope: From Its Discovery to the Year 1819|date=February 2010 |edition= 2010|pages= 1–548| publisher = Claremont: David Philip (Pty) Ltd| isbn= 978-1-144-83015-9}} Dutch interest was aroused after 1647, when two employees of the Dutch East India Company were shipwrecked at the cape for several months. The sailors were able to survive by obtaining fresh water and meat from the natives. They also sowed vegetables in the fertile soil.{{cite book|last=Kaplan|first=Irving|title=Area Handbook for the Republic of South Africa|pages=46–771|url=http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED056947.pdf|access-date=30 May 2015|archive-date=28 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150428004403/http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED056947.pdf|url-status=live}} Upon their return to Holland, they reported favourably on the cape's potential as a "warehouse and garden" for provisions to stock passing ships for long voyages.

In 1652, a century and a half after the discovery of the cape sea route, Jan van Riebeeck established a {{Wikt-lang|en|victual|victualling}} station at the Cape of Good Hope, at what would become Cape Town, on behalf of the Dutch East India Company.{{cite web|url=http://courses.wcupa.edu/jones/his311/timeline/t-19saf.htm|title=African History Timeline|publisher=West Chester University of Pennsylvania|access-date=16 June 2008|archive-date=7 January 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090107070748/http://courses.wcupa.edu/jones/his311/timeline/t-19saf.htm|url-status=dead}}{{cite book|last=Hunt|first=John|editor-last=Campbell|editor-first=Heather-Ann|title=Dutch South Africa: Early Settlers at the Cape, 1652–1708|date=2005|pages=13–35|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-1-904744-95-5}} In time, the cape became home to a large population of {{lang|nl|vrijlieden}}, also known as {{lang|nl|vrijburgers}} ({{lit.|free citizens}}), former company employees who stayed in Dutch overseas territories after serving their contracts. Dutch traders also brought thousands of enslaved people to the fledgling colony from present-day Indonesia, Madagascar, and eastern Africa.{{cite book| last = Worden| first = Nigel| title = Slavery in Dutch South Africa|edition= 2010|pages= 40–43| publisher = Cambridge University Press| isbn = 978-0-521-15266-2| date = 5 August 2010}} Some of the earliest mixed race communities in the country were formed between {{lang|nl|vrijburgers}}, enslaved people, and indigenous peoples.{{cite book|last=Nelson|first=Harold|title=Zimbabwe: A Country Study|pages=237–317}} This led to the development of a new ethnic group, the Cape Coloureds, most of whom adopted the Dutch language and Christian faith.

Conflicts over resources between South Africa’s indigenous Khoisan people and Dutch settlers began in the 17th century and continued for centuries.{{Cite book |last=Elphick |first=R |title=Khoikhoi and the Founding of White South Africa |date=1993 |publisher=Ravan Press |edition=1st |location=Johannesburg |publication-date=1993 |pages=240 |language=English}}

Dutch colonists’ eastward expansion caused wars with the southwesterly migrating Xhosa tribe, known as the Xhosa Wars, as both sides competed for the pastureland near the Great Fish River, which the colonists desired for grazing cattle.{{cite book|last=Stapleton|first=Timothy|title=A Military History of South Africa: From the Dutch-Khoi Wars to the End of Apartheid|date=2010|pages=4–6|publisher=Praeger Security International|location=Santa Barbara|isbn=978-0-313-36589-8}} Vrijburgers who became independent farmers on the frontier were known as Boers, with some adopting semi-nomadic lifestyles being denoted as {{lang|nl|trekboers}}. The Boers formed loose militias, which they termed commandos, and forged alliances with Khoisan peoples to repel Xhosa raids. Both sides launched bloody but inconclusive offensives, and sporadic violence, often accompanied by livestock theft, remained common for several decades.

{{Main|Mfecane|Invasion of the Cape Colony|Cape Colony|Great Trek|British Bechuanaland|Colony of Natal}}

Great Britain occupied Cape Town between 1795 and 1803 to prevent it from falling under the control of the French First Republic, which had invaded the Low Countries. After briefly returning to Dutch rule under the Batavian Republic in 1803, the cape was occupied again by the British in 1806.{{cite book| last = Keegan| first = Timothy| title = Colonial South Africa and the Origins of the Racial Order| year = 1996| url = https://archive.org/details/colonialsouthafr0000keeg| url-access = registration|edition= 1996|pages= [https://archive.org/details/colonialsouthafr0000keeg/page/85 85–86]| publisher = David Philip Publishers (Pty) Ltd| isbn = 978-0-8139-1735-1}} Following the end of the Napoleonic Wars, it was formally ceded to Great Britain and became an integral part of the British Empire.{{cite book|last=Lloyd|first=Trevor Owen|title=The British Empire, 1558–1995|date=1997|pages=201–203|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-873133-7}} British emigration to South Africa began around 1818, subsequently culminating in the arrival of the 1820 Settlers. The purpose of inducing new colonists to settle was primarily to increase the size of the European workforce and to bolster frontier regions against Xhosa incursions.

File:Charles Bell - Zoeloe-aanval op 'n Boerelaer - 1838.jpg on a Boer camp in February 1838]]

In the early 1800s, the Mfecane ({{Literal translation|crushing}}) saw a heightened period of conflict, migration, and state formation among native groups, caused by the complex interplay of international trade, environmental instability, and European colonisation.Eldredge, "Sources of Conflict in Southern Africa," 28. Chiefdoms grew wealthier and competed over trade routes and grazing land, leading to the formation of the Ndwandwe and Mthethwa Paramountcies in the east.Wright, "Turbulent Times," 250. Ndwandwe defeated Mthethwa which split into different groups, one of which was led by Shaka of the amaZulu.Wright, "Turbulent Times," 225-226. The 1810s saw the fourth and fifth Xhosa Wars as British colonisation expanded.Wright, "Turbulent Times," 233. Ndwandwe splintered amid costly raids and Shaka's Zulu Kingdom rose to fill the power vacuum. The Gaza kingdom formed. The Zulu totally defeated the Ndwandwe, however were repelled by Gaza.Wright, "Turbulent Times," 227.Wright, "Turbulent Times," 249.

During the early 19th century, many Dutch settlers departed from the Cape Colony, where they had been subjected to British control, in a series of migrant groups who came to be known as {{lang|nl|Voortrekkers}}, meaning "pathfinders" or "pioneers". They migrated to the future Natal, Free State, and Transvaal regions. The Boers founded the Boer republics: the South African Republic, the Natalia Republic, and the Orange Free State.{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle= Orange Free State |volume=20 |last1= Hillier |first1= Alfred Peter |author-link1= Alfred Hillier |last2= Cana |first2= Frank Richardson |author-link2= |pages=151-160 |short=1}} In the interior, the Cape Colony expanded at the expense of the Batswana and Griqua, and Boer expansion caused great instability in the Middle Orange River region.Wright, "Turbulent Times," 215. The Matabele kingdom came to dominate the eastern interior, and raided the Venda kingdom.Wright, "Turbulent Times," 235.

The discovery of diamonds in 1867 and gold in 1884 in the interior started the Mineral Revolution and increased economic growth and immigration. This intensified British subjugation of the indigenous people. The struggle to control these important economic resources was a factor in relations between Europeans and the indigenous population and also between the Boers and the British.{{cite book|author=Williams, Garner F|title=The Diamond Mines of South Africa, Vol II|year=1905|publisher=B. F Buck & Co.|location=New York|pages=Chapter XX|url=http://www.farlang.com/diamonds/williams_diamond_mines_2/page_285|access-date=27 November 2008|archive-date=31 July 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120731083954/http://www.farlang.com/diamonds/williams_diamond_mines_2/page_285|url-status=dead}}

File:Cape Colony map 1876 - Eve of Confederation Wars.jpg

On 16 May 1876, President Thomas François Burgers of the South African Republic declared war against the Pedi people. King Sekhukhune managed to defeat the army on 1 August 1876. Another attack by the Lydenburg Volunteer Corps was also repulsed. On 16 February 1877, the two parties signed a peace treaty at Botshabelo.{{Cite web|title=South African Military History Society – Journal- THE SEKUKUNI WARS|url=http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol025hk.html|access-date=15 August 2020|website=samilitaryhistory.org|archive-date=23 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200723053419/http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol025hk.html|url-status=live}} The Boers' inability to subdue the Pedi led to the departure of Burgers in favour of Paul Kruger and the British annexation of the South African Republic. In 1878 and 1879 three British attacks were successfully repelled until Garnet Wolseley defeated Sekhukhune in November 1879 with an army of 2,000 British soldiers, Boers and 10,000 Swazis.

The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in 1879 between the British and the Zulu Kingdom. Following Lord Carnarvon's successful introduction of federation in Canada, it was thought that similar political effort, coupled with military campaigns, might succeed with the African kingdoms, tribal areas and Boer republics in South Africa. In 1874, Henry Bartle Frere was sent to South Africa as the British High Commissioner to bring such plans into being. Among the obstacles were the presence of the independent states of the Boers, and the Zululand army. The Zulu nation defeated the British at the Battle of Isandlwana. Eventually Zululand lost the war, resulting in the termination of the Zulu nation's independence.{{cite book

| last = Knight

| first = Ian

| title = Zulu Rising: The Epic Story of Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=s2mbl5xPOcUC&q=Zulu+Victory:+The+Epic+of+Isandlwana+and+the+cover-up

| isbn = 9781447202233

| publisher = Pan Macmillan

| date = 6 May 2011

| access-date = 26 December 2023

| archive-date = 28 June 2024

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240628010915/https://books.google.com/books?id=s2mbl5xPOcUC&q=Zulu+Victory:+The+Epic+of+Isandlwana+and+the+cover-up

| url-status = live

}}

{{main|Boer Wars|First Boer War|Second Boer War}}

File:Battle of Majuba Hill.jpg was the last decisive battle during the First Boer War, and saw the British defeated by the Boers after 2 hours of fighting.]]

File:Boercamp1.jpg during the Second Boer War]]

The Boer republics successfully resisted British encroachments during the First Boer War (1880–1881) using guerrilla warfare tactics, which were well-suited to local conditions. The British returned with greater numbers, more experience, and new strategy in the Second Boer War (1899–1902) and, although suffering heavy casualties due to Boer attrition warfare, they were ultimately successful due in part to scorched earth tactics and concentration camps, in which 27,000 Boer civilians died due to a combination of disease and neglect.{{cite news|title=5 of the worst atrocities carried out by the British Empire|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/worst-atrocities-british-empire-amritsar-boer-war-concentration-camp-mau-mau-a6821756.html|work=The Independent|date=19 January 2016|access-date=22 September 2019|archive-date=27 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190927142647/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/worst-atrocities-british-empire-amritsar-boer-war-concentration-camp-mau-mau-a6821756.html|url-status=live }}

South Africa's urban population grew rapidly from the end of the 19th century onward. After the devastation of the wars, Boer farmers fled into Transvaal and Orange Free State cities and constituted a white urban poor class.{{Cite journal|last=Ogura|first=Mitsuo|date=1996|title=Urbanization and Apartheid in South Africa: Influx Controls and Their Abolition|journal=The Developing Economies|language=en|volume=34|issue=4|pages=402–423|doi=10.1111/j.1746-1049.1996.tb01178.x|pmid=12292280|issn=1746-1049|doi-access=free}}

{{See also|Union of South Africa|Military history of South Africa during World War I|Military history of South Africa during World War II}}

Anti-British policies among white South Africans focused on independence. During the Dutch and British colonial years, racial segregation was mostly informal, though some legislation was enacted to control the settlement and movement of indigenous people, including the Native Location Act of 1879 and the system of pass laws.{{cite book|last=Bond|first=Patrick|title=Cities of gold, townships of coal: essays on South Africa's new urban crisis|publisher=Africa World Press|year=1999|page=140|isbn=978-0-86543-611-4}}{{cite report|year=1906|title=Report of the Select Committee on Location Act|publisher=Cape Times Limited|url=https://archive.org/details/reportoftheselec00capeiala|access-date=30 July 2009}}{{cite report|last1=Godley |first1=Godfrey |first2=Welsh|last2=Archibald|last3=Thomson |first3=William |last4=Hemsworth |first4=H. D.|year=1920|title=Report of the Inter-departmental committee on the native pass laws|url=https://archive.org/stream/reportofinterdep00sout#page/2/mode/1up|publisher=Cape Times Limited|page=2}}{{cite report|institution=Great Britain Colonial Office; Transvaal (Colony). Governor (1901–1905: Milner)|date=January 1902|title=Papers relating to legislation affecting natives in the Transvaal|url=https://archive.org/details/transvaalpapersr00grea}}{{cite book|last=De Villiers|first=John Abraham Jacob|title=The Transvaal |publisher=Chatto & Windus|location=London|year=1896|pages=[https://archive.org/details/transvaal00devi/page/30 30] (n46)|url=https://archive.org/details/transvaal00devi|access-date=30 July 2009}}

Eight years after the end of the Second Boer War and after four years of negotiation, the South Africa Act 1909 granted nominal independence while creating the Union of South Africa on 31 May 1910. The union was a dominion that included the former territories of the Cape, Transvaal and Natal colonies, as well as the Orange Free State republic.{{Cite EB1911|first=Frank Richardson|last=Cana|wstitle=South Africa|volume=25|page=467}} The Natives' Land Act of 1913 severely restricted the ownership of land by blacks; at that stage they controlled only 7% of the country. The amount of land reserved for indigenous peoples was later marginally increased.{{cite web|url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/chronology/thisday/1913-06-19.htm|title=Native Land Act|publisher=South African Institute of Race Relations|date=19 June 1913|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101014095049/http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/chronology/thisday/1913-06-19.htm|archive-date=14 October 2010 }}

In 1931, the union became fully sovereign from the United Kingdom with the passage of the Statute of Westminster, which abolished the last powers of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to legislate in the country. Only three other African countries—Liberia, Ethiopia, and Egypt—had been independent prior to that point. In 1934, the South African Party and National Party merged to form the United Party, seeking reconciliation between Afrikaners and English-speaking whites. In 1939, the party split over the entry of the union into World War II, as an ally of the United Kingdom, a move which National Party followers opposed.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/national-party-np|title=National Party (NP) | South African History Online|website=www.sahistory.org.za|access-date=25 December 2023|archive-date=8 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200508083820/https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/national-party-np|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Apartheid}}

{{Further|Disinvestment from South Africa}}

File:ApartheidSignEnglishAfrikaans.jpg

In 1948, the National Party was elected to power. It strengthened the racial segregation begun under Dutch and British colonial rule. Taking Canada's Indian Act as a framework,Gloria Galloway, [https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/chiefs-reflect-on-apartheid-and-first-nations-as-atleo-visits-mandela-memorial/article15902124/ "Chiefs Reflect on Apartheid"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502050752/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/chiefs-reflect-on-apartheid-and-first-nations-as-atleo-visits-mandela-memorial/article15902124/|date=2 May 2019 }}, The Globe and Mail, 11 December 2013 the nationalist government classified all peoples into three races (Whites, Blacks, Indians and Coloured people (people of mixed race)) and developed rights and limitations for each. The white minority (less than 20%)Beinart, William (2001). Twentieth-century South Africa. Oxford University Press. p. 202. {{ISBN|978-0-19-289318-5}}. controlled the vastly larger black majority. The legally institutionalised segregation became known as apartheid. While whites enjoyed the highest standard of living in all of Africa, comparable to First World Western nations, the black majority remained disadvantaged by almost every standard, including income, education, housing, and life expectancy.{{Cite web|title=apartheid {{!}} South Africa, Definition, Facts, Beginning, & End|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/apartheid|access-date=2022-05-15|website=Britannica|language=en|archive-date=7 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220507192302/https://www.britannica.com/topic/apartheid|url-status=live}} The Freedom Charter, adopted in 1955 by the Congress Alliance, demanded a non-racial society and an end to discrimination.

On 31 May 1961, the country became a republic following a referendum (only open to white voters) which narrowly passed;{{cite web|title=Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd|url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/hendrik-frensch-verwoerd|publisher=South African History Online|quote=On 5 October 1960 a referendum was held in which White voters were asked: "Do you support a republic for the Union?" – 52 percent voted 'Yes'.|access-date=9 March 2013|archive-date=29 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171129002322/http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/hendrik-frensch-verwoerd|url-status=live}} the British-dominated Natal province largely voted against the proposal. Elizabeth II lost the title Queen of South Africa, and the last Governor-General, Charles Robberts Swart, became state president. As a concession to the Westminster system, the appointment of the president remained by parliament and was virtually powerless until P. W. Botha's Constitution Act of 1983, which eliminated the office of prime minister and instated a unique "strong presidency" responsible to parliament. Pressured by other Commonwealth of Nations countries, South Africa withdrew from the organisation in 1961. It would rejoin it in 1994, after the end of apartheid.

Despite opposition to apartheid both within and outside the country, the government legislated for a continuation of apartheid. The security forces cracked down on internal dissent, and violence became widespread, with anti-apartheid organisations such as the African National Congress (ANC), the Azanian People's Organisation, and the Pan-Africanist Congress carrying out guerrilla warfare{{cite book|last1=Gibson|first1=Nigel|last2=Alexander|first2=Amanda|last3=Mngxitama|first3=Andile|title=Biko Lives! Contesting the Legacies of Steve Biko|date=2008|page=138|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|location=Hampshire|isbn=978-0-230-60649-4}} and urban sabotage.{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bUvA7PHnCrUC&q=breytenbach+dakar&pg=PA415| title=South Africa's Resistance Press: Alternative Voices in the Last Generation Under Apartheid. Issue 74 of Research in international studies: Africa series| publisher=Ohio University Press| author=Switzer, Les| year=2000| page=2| isbn=978-0-89680-213-1| access-date=19 October 2020| archive-date=11 December 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201211144708/https://books.google.com/books?id=bUvA7PHnCrUC&q=breytenbach+dakar&pg=PA415| url-status=live }} The three rival resistance movements also engaged in occasional inter-factional clashes as they jockeyed for domestic influence.{{cite book|last1=Mitchell|first1=Thomas|title=Native vs Settler: Ethnic Conflict in Israel/Palestine, Northern Ireland and South Africa|date=2008|pages=194–196|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|location=Westport|isbn=978-0-313-31357-8}} Apartheid became increasingly controversial, and several countries began to boycott business with the South African government because of its racial policies. The boycotts and restrictions were later extended to international sanctions and the divestment of holdings by foreign investors.{{cite book|first=Fred|last=Bridgland|title=The War for Africa: Twelve months that transformed a continent|year=1990|publisher=Ashanti Publishing|location=Gibraltar|page=32|isbn=978-1-874800-12-5}}{{cite book| first = Signe| last = Landgren| title = Embargo Disimplemented: South Africa's Military Industry| edition = 1989| pages = [https://archive.org/details/embargodisimplem0000land/page/6 6–10]| publisher = Oxford University Press| isbn = 978-0-19-829127-5| year = 1989| url = https://archive.org/details/embargodisimplem0000land/page/6}}

{{Further|History of South Africa (1994–present)}}

File:Frederik de Klerk with Nelson Mandela - World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Davos 1992.jpg and Nelson Mandela shake hands in January 1992.]]

The Mahlabatini Declaration of Faith, signed by Mangosuthu Buthelezi and Harry Schwarz in 1974, enshrined the principles of peaceful transition of power and equality for all, the first of such agreements by black and white political leaders in South Africa. Ultimately, F.W. de Klerk opened bilateral discussions with Nelson Mandela in 1993 for a transition of policies and government.

In 1990, the National Party government took the first step towards dismantling discrimination when it lifted the ban on the ANC and other political organisations. It released Nelson Mandela from prison after 27 years of serving a sentence for sabotage. A negotiation process followed. With approval from the white electorate in a 1992 referendum, the government continued negotiations to end apartheid. South Africa held its first universal elections in 1994, which the ANC won by an overwhelming majority. It has been in power ever since. The country rejoined the Commonwealth of Nations and became a member of the Southern African Development Community.{{Cite web |title=South Africa |url=https://www.sadc.int/member-states/south-africa#:~:text=The+Republic+of+South+Africa,first+time+in+August+1994 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231225091856/https://www.sadc.int/member-states/south-africa#:~:text=The+Republic+of+South+Africa,first+time+in+August+1994 |archive-date=25 December 2023 |access-date=25 December 2023 |website=www.sadc.int}}

In post-apartheid ANC-governed South Africa, unemployment skyrocketed to over 30% and income inequality increased.{{cite web |last1=Head |first1=Tom |title="Inequality has increased in South Africa since apartheid" – World Bank |url=https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/inequality-increase-apartheid-south-africa/ |website=The South African |access-date=7 February 2025 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240815083133/https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/inequality-increase-apartheid-south-africa/ |archive-date=15 August 2024 |date=4 April 2018 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |title=South Africa's Unemployment Reaches New Highs |url=https://www.barrons.com/news/south-africa-s-unemployment-reaches-new-highs-b37ea013 |website=Barron's |access-date=7 February 2025 |date=13 August 2024 |agency=Agence France-Presse}} While many black people have risen to middle or upper classes, the overall unemployment rate of black people worsened between 1994 and 2003 by official metrics but declined significantly using expanded definitions.{{cite web|url=http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/nft/2006/soafrica/eng/pasoafr/sach3.pdf|title=Post-Apartheid South Africa: the First Ten Years – Unemployment and the Labor Market|publisher=IMF|access-date=16 February 2013|archive-date=29 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130729103119/http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/nft/2006/soafrica/eng/pasoafr/sach3.pdf|url-status=live}} Poverty among white South Africans, which was previously rare, increased.{{cite web|url=http://www.mg.co.za/article/2008-04-18-zuma-surprised-at-level-of-white-poverty|title=Zuma surprised at level of white poverty|website=Mail & Guardian|date=18 April 2008|access-date=30 May 2010|archive-date=29 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130729140129/http://www.mg.co.za/article/2008-04-18-zuma-surprised-at-level-of-white-poverty|url-status=live }} The government struggled to achieve the monetary and fiscal discipline to ensure both redistribution of wealth and economic growth. The United Nations Human Development Index rose steadily until the mid-1990s,{{cite web|url=http://hdrstats.undp.org/countries/country_fact_sheets/cty_fs_ZAF.html|title=South Africa|year=2006|publisher=United Nations Development Programme|website=Human Development Report|access-date=28 November 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071129203325/http://hdrstats.undp.org/countries/country_fact_sheets/cty_fs_ZAF.html|archive-date=29 November 2007 }} then fell from 1995 to 2005 before recovering its 1995 peak in 2013.{{Cite web|url=http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/2015_human_development_report.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222080742/http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/2015_human_development_report.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 December 2015|title=2015 United Nations Human Development Report|access-date=5 August 2018}} The fall is in large part attributable to the South African HIV/AIDS pandemic which saw South African life expectancy fall from a high point of 62 years in 1992 to a low of 53 in 2005,{{Cite web|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN?locations=ZA|title=South African Life Expectancy at Birth, World Bank|access-date=5 August 2018|archive-date=6 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180806024743/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN?locations=ZA|url-status=live}} and the failure of the government to take steps to address the pandemic in its early years.{{cite web|url=http://www.sairr.org.za/wsc/pstory.htx?storyID=428|title=Ridicule succeeds where leadership failed on AIDS|publisher=South African Institute of Race Relations|date=10 November 2006}}{{dead link|date=May 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

File:Watching South Africa & France match at World Cup 2010-06-22 in Soweto 13.jpg with vuvuzelas in the township of Soweto, a suburb of Johannesburg]]

File:People's March Anti Xenophobia.jpg against xenophobia in South Africa, 23 April 2015]]

In May 2008, riots left over 60 people dead.{{cite journal|url=http://www.slate.com/id/2193949/|title=Broke-on-Broke Violence|journal=Slate |date=20 June 2008 |access-date=6 July 2011|archive-date=8 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110908002524/http://www.slate.com/id/2193949/|url-status=live|last1=Chance |first1=Kerry }} The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions estimated that over 100,000 people were driven from their homes.{{cite web|url=http://www.abahlali.org/node/3612|title=COHRE statement on Xenophobic Attacks|date=2 June 2008 |access-date=6 July 2011|archive-date=18 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118140918/http://www.abahlali.org/node/3612|url-status=live}} The targets were mainly legal and illegal migrants, and refugees seeking asylum, but a third of the victims were South African citizens. In a 2006 survey, the South African Migration Project concluded that South Africans are more opposed to immigration than any other national group.{{cite book|author1=Southern African Migration Project|author2=Institute for Democracy in South Africa|author3=Queen's University|editor=Jonathan Crush|title=The perfect storm: the realities of xenophobia in contemporary South Africa|url=http://www.queensu.ca/samp/sampresources/samppublications/policyseries/Acrobat50.pdf|access-date=26 June 2013|year=2008|publisher=Idasa|isbn=978-1-920118-71-6|page=1|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730044247/http://www.queensu.ca/samp/sampresources/samppublications/policyseries/Acrobat50.pdf|archive-date=30 July 2013 }} The UN High Commissioner for Refugees in 2008 reported that over 200,000 refugees applied for asylum in South Africa, almost four times as many as the year before.{{cite web |author= |title=UNHCR Global Appeal 2011 – South Africa |url=http://www.unhcr.org/4cd96a569.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511000002/http://www.unhcr.org/4cd96a569.html |archive-date=11 May 2013 |access-date=30 October 2011 |publisher=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees}} These people were mainly from Zimbabwe, though many also come from Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia. Competition over jobs, business opportunities, public services and housing has led to tension between refugees and host communities. While xenophobia in South Africa is still a problem, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 2011 reported that recent violence had not been as widespread as initially feared. Nevertheless, as South Africa continues to grapple with racial issues, one of the proposed solutions has been to pass legislation, such as the pending Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill, to uphold South Africa's ban on racism and commitment to equality.{{Cite report |url=https://csvr.org.za/docs/racism/arrangingprejudice.pdf |title=Arranging prejudice: Exploring hate crime in post-apartheid South Africa |last=Harris |first=Bronwyn |date=2004 |publisher=Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation |location=Cape Town |access-date=2024-06-10 |archive-date=28 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240528013833/http://csvr.org.za/docs/racism/arrangingprejudice.pdf |url-status=live }}{{Cite journal |last=Traum |first=Alexander |date=2014 |title=Contextualising the hate speech debate: the United States and South Africa |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24585817 |journal=The Comparative and International Law Journal of Southern Africa |volume=47 |issue=1 |pages=64–88 |jstor=24585817 |issn=0010-4051 |access-date=10 June 2024 |archive-date=10 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240610231627/https://www.jstor.org/stable/24585817 |url-status=live }}

On 14 February 2018, Jacob Zuma resigned the presidency. Since 15 February, ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa has been President of South Africa. On 16 March 2018, just over a month after President Jacob Zuma resigned from the presidency, National Director of Public Prosecutions Shaun Abrahams announced that Zuma would again face prosecution on 16 criminal charges – 12 charges of fraud, two of corruption, and one each of racketeering and money laundering, just as in the 2006 indictment. A warrant was issued for his arrest in February 2020 after he failed to appear in court. In 2021 he was found guilty of contempt of court and sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment. In response, supporters of Zuma engaged in protests which led to riots, looting, vandalism and widespread violence, leaving 354 people dead.{{Cite web |last=Campbell |first=John |date=2021-07-15 |title=South Africa Sees the Best of Times and the Worst of Times |url=https://www.cfr.org/blog/south-africa-sees-best-times-and-worst-times |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=Council on Foreign Relations |language=en |archive-date=4 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240604133942/https://www.cfr.org/blog/south-africa-sees-best-times-and-worst-times |url-status=live }}

South Africa has been undergoing a period political and economic crisis since 2020 with some international institutions, businesses and political figures stating that the country could turn into a failed state due to high unemployment, low business investment, political corruption, and state capture.{{Cite web |last1=Levy |first1=Brian |last2=Hirsch |first2=Alan |last3=Naidoo |first3=Vinothan |last4=Nxele |first4=Musa |date=2021-03-18 |title=South Africa: When Strong Institutions and Massive Inequalities Collide |url=https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2021/03/south-africa-when-strong-institutions-and-massive-inequalities-collide?lang=en |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=Carnegie Endowment for International Peace |archive-date=27 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240627010253/https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2021/03/south-africa-when-strong-institutions-and-massive-inequalities-collide?lang=en |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Poplak |first=Richard |date=2021-07-13 |title=This is what a failed state looks like |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-07-14-this-is-what-a-failed-state-looks-like/ |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=Daily Maverick |language=en |archive-date=4 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240604133951/https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-07-14-this-is-what-a-failed-state-looks-like/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Head |first=Tom |date=2022-03-06 |title=SA heading towards 'failed state' territory - according to our own Treasury |url=https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/breaking-south-africa-failed-state-treasury-warning/ |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=The South African |archive-date=4 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221204055523/https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/breaking-south-africa-failed-state-treasury-warning/ |url-status=live }} The country has been undergoing an energy crisis since 2007, resulting in routine rolling electricity blackouts due to loadshedding.{{Cite news |last=Pawle |first=Lucy |date=2020-10-09 |title=Ferraris and frustration: Two faces of South Africa's corruption battle |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-54480257 |access-date=2024-06-04 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB |archive-date=4 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240604133941/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-54480257 |url-status=live }} According to the International Monetary Fund, South Africa is suffering from "massive corruption" and state capture.{{Cite web |last=Momoniat |first=Ismail |date=2023-04-10 |title=How and Why Did State Capture and Massive Corruption Occur in South Africa ? |url=https://blog-pfm.imf.org/en/pfmblog/2023/04/how-and-why-did-state-capture-and-massive-corruption-occur-in-south-africa |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=International Monetary Fund |language=en |archive-date=4 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240604133951/https://blog-pfm.imf.org/en/pfmblog/2023/04/how-and-why-did-state-capture-and-massive-corruption-occur-in-south-africa |url-status=live }} One of the main causes of instability in South Africa is land distribution, black South Africans own 4% of the land despite making up 80% of the population, while white South Africans control 75% of privately owned land. This is a remnant of the apartheid Bantustan system where black Africans were forced into reservations.{{Cite web|url=https://voxdev.org/topic/education/long-shadow-apartheid-how-forced-relocation-homelands-still-affects-south-africa|title=The long shadow of apartheid: How forced relocation to homelands still affects South Africa|website=VoxDev}}{{Cite web|url=https://retrospectjournal.com/2024/02/19/tracing-the-paths-of-dispossession-the-legacy-of-bantustans-in-post-apartheid-south-africa/|title=Tracing the Paths of Dispossession: The Legacy of Bantustans in Post-Apartheid South Africa|date=19 February 2024}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/stark-divide-that-south-africas-land-act-seeks-bridge-2025-02-09/|title=The stark divide that South Africa's land act seeks to bridge|author=Tim Cocks|website=reuters.com}} Since 1998 the South African government has settled 80,000 land claims from people who had been evicted from land by the previous government. In 90% of the land claim cases people chose money instead of land.{{cite web |last1=Westerdale |first1=Jarryd |title=Land expropriation: Almost 90% of claimants choose money instead of property |url=https://www.citizen.co.za/news/south-africa/almost-90-land-claims-financial-compensation-property/ |website=The Citizen |access-date=4 April 2025 |date=4 December 2024}}

The Zondo Commission, established in 2018 in order to investigate allegations of corruption and state capture released its findings in 2022. It found rampant corruption at every level of government, including Transnet, Eskom, and Denel, as well as law enforcement, intelligence agencies, and the civil service. It documented evidence of systemic corruption, fraud, racketeering, bribery, money laundering, and state capture. It investigated the African National Congress party and Jacob Zuma, whom it concluded were complicit in state capture through their direct assistance to the Gupta family.{{Cite news |last=Maseko |first=Nomsa |date=2022-06-23 |title=South Africa's Zondo commission: Damning report exposes rampant corruption |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-61912737 |access-date=2024-06-04 |work=BBC News |archive-date=4 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240604133951/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-61912737 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=2022-09-05 |title=The Zondo Commission: A bite-sized summary |url=https://pari.org.za/summary-the-state-capture-commission/ |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=Public Affairs Research Institute, University of the Witwatersrand |archive-date=4 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240604133952/https://pari.org.za/summary-the-state-capture-commission/ |url-status=live }} "The Commission estimated the total amount of money spent by the state which was 'tainted' by state capture to be around R57 billion. More than 97% of the R57 billion came from Transnet and Eskom. Out of these funds, the Gupta enterprise received at least R15 billion. The total loss to the state is difficult to quantify, but would far exceed that R15 billion."

South Africa has maintained a position of neutrality in regards to the Russia invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the ongoing war. On 29 December 2023, South Africa formally submitted its case to the International Court of Justice regarding Israel's conduct in the Gaza Strip as part of the Gaza war, alleging that Israel had committed and was committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. South Africa has repeatedly hosted senior leaders of Hamas, the group responsible for the October 7th massacre in Israel.{{Cite web |last=Imray |first=Gerald |date=2023-12-05 |title=Hamas officials join Nelson Mandela's family at ceremony marking 10th anniversary of his death |url=https://apnews.com/article/hamas-mandela-south-africa-b2c0a01aea33469e05e9910d535a48c7 |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=AP News |language=en |archive-date=4 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240604133951/https://apnews.com/article/hamas-mandela-south-africa-b2c0a01aea33469e05e9910d535a48c7 |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Ahren |first=Raphael |date=2015-10-19 |title=Jerusalem fumes as South Africa hosts Hamas chiefs |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/jerusalem-fumes-as-south-africa-hosts-hamas-chiefs/ |access-date=2024-06-04 |work=The Times of Israel |archive-date=24 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240524160527/https://www.timesofisrael.com/jerusalem-fumes-as-south-africa-hosts-hamas-chiefs/ |url-status=live }}

Following the 2024 general elections, the African National Congress saw its share of the national vote fall below 50% for the first time since the end of Apartheid, though it remained the single largest party in the South African Parliament.{{Cite web |last1=Chothia |first1=Farouk |last2=Byaruhanga |first2=Catherine |date=2024-05-31 |title=South Africa election result: Will ANC share power with MK party or DA? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cyeek2xlgzzo |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB |archive-date=1 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240601124426/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cyeek2xlgzzo |url-status=live }} President Ramaphosa announced a national unity government, the first since the Cabinet of Nelson Mandela, and entered a deal with the Democratic Alliance, the previous main opposition party, and other minor parties.{{Cite web |date=2024-06-14 |title=South Africa's ANC moves closer to forming coalition government |url=https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20240614-south-africa-s-anc-reaches-last-minute-deal-for-coalition-government |access-date=2024-06-15 |website=France 24 |language=en |archive-date=15 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240615221341/https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20240614-south-africa-s-anc-reaches-last-minute-deal-for-coalition-government |url-status=live }} Ramaphosa was reelected for a second term in office by the National Assembly against the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters, Julius Malema.{{Cite web |title=Ramaphosa is re-elected for second term as South African president, heading broad coalition |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/6/14/south-africas-parliament-choosing-president-amidst-uncertainty |access-date=2024-06-15 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en |archive-date=15 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240615064237/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/6/14/south-africas-parliament-choosing-president-amidst-uncertainty |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Geography of South Africa}}

File:South_Africa_sat.jpg of South Africa]]

South Africa is in southernmost Africa, with a coastline that stretches more than {{convert|abbr=on|2500|km|mi|0}} and along two oceans (the South Atlantic and the Indian). At {{convert|abbr=on|1219912|km2|sqmi}},{{Cite web|title=Country Comparison|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2147rank.html?countryName=South%20Africa&countryCode=sf®ionCode=af&rank=32#sf|website=World Factbook|publisher=CIA|access-date=4 September 2009|archive-date=1 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501164719/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2147rank.html?countryName=South%20Africa&countryCode=sf®ionCode=af&rank=32#sf|url-status=dead }} South Africa is the 24th-largest country in the world.{{Cite web|title=Demographic Yearbook – 2015 |date=2016 |url=https://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2015.htm|access-date=12 December 2017|website=United Nations Statistics Division |archive-date=8 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180708191849/https://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2015.htm|url-status=live }} Excluding the Prince Edward Islands, the country lies between latitudes 22° and 35°S, and longitudes 16° and 33°E. The interior of South Africa consists of a large, in most places almost flat plateau with an altitude of between {{convert|abbr=on|1000|m|ft}} and {{convert|abbr=on|2100|m|ft}}, highest in the east and sloping gently downwards towards the west and north, and slightly so to the south and south-west.McCarthy, T. & Rubidge, B. (2005). The story of earth and life. p. 263, 267–268. Struik Publishers, Cape Town. This plateau is surrounded by the Great EscarpmentAtlas of Southern Africa. (1984). p. 13. Reader's Digest Association, Cape Town whose eastern, and highest, stretch is known as the Drakensberg.Encyclopædia Britannica (1975); Micropaedia Vol. III, p. 655. Helen Hemingway Benton Publishers, Chicago. Mafadi in the Drakensberg at {{convert|abbr=on|3450|m|ft}} is the highest peak. The KwaZulu-Natal–Lesotho international border is formed by the highest portion of the Great Escarpment which reaches an altitude of over {{convert|abbr=on|3000|m|ft}}.Atlas of Southern Africa. (1984). p. 151. Reader's Digest Association, Cape Town

The south and south-western parts of the plateau (at approximately 1,100{{ndash}}1,800{{nbsp}}m above sea level) and the adjoining plain below (at approximately 700{{ndash}}800{{nbsp}}m above sea level{{snds}}see map on the right) is known as the Great Karoo, which consists of sparsely populated shrubland. To the north, the Great Karoo fades into the more arid Bushmanland, which eventually becomes the Kalahari Desert in the north-west of the country. The mid-eastern and highest part of the plateau is known as the Highveld. This relatively well-watered area is home to a great proportion of the country's commercial farmlands and contains its largest conurbation (Gauteng). To the north of Highveld, from about the 25°{{nbsp}}30'{{nbsp}}S line of latitude, the plateau slopes downwards into the Bushveld, which ultimately gives way to the Limpopo River lowlands or Lowveld.

The coastal belt, below the Great Escarpment, moving clockwise from the northeast, consists of the Limpopo Lowveld, which merges into the Mpumalanga Lowveld, below the Mpumalanga Drakensberg (the eastern portion of the Great Escarpment).Atlas of Southern Africa. (1984). p. 186. Reader's Digest Association, Cape Town This is hotter, drier and less intensely cultivated than the Highveld above the escarpment. The Kruger National Park, located in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in north-eastern South Africa, occupies a large portion of the Lowveld covering 19,633 square kilometres (7,580 sq mi){{Cite web|title=Kruger National Park|url=http://www.africa.com/south-africa/travel/what-to-do/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141218164142/http://www.africa.com/south-africa/travel/what-to-do/|archive-date=18 December 2014|access-date=16 December 2014|publisher=Africa.com}}

File:South Africa - Drakensberg (16261357780).jpg, the eastern and highest portion of the Great Escarpment which surrounds the east, south and western borders of the central plateau]]

File:Namaqualand, Goegap 0035.jpg]]

The coastal belt below the south and south-western stretches of the Great Escarpment contains several ranges of Cape Fold Mountains which run parallel to the coast, separating the Great Escarpment from the ocean.McCarthy, T. & Rubidge, B. (2005). The story of earth and life. p. 194. Struik Publishers, Cape Town.Geological map of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland (1970). Council for Geoscience, Geological Survey of South Africa. (These parallel ranges of fold mountains are shown on the map, above left. Note the course of the Great Escarpment to the north of these mountain ranges.) The land between the Outeniqua and Langeberg ranges to the south and the Swartberg range to the north is known as the Little Karoo, which consists of semi-desert shrubland similar to that of the Great Karoo, except that its northern strip along the foothills of the Swartberg Mountains has a somewhat higher rainfall and is, therefore, more cultivated than the Great Karoo. The Little Karoo is famous for its ostrich farming around Oudtshoorn. The lowland area to the north of the Swartberg range up to the Great Escarpment is the lowland part of the Great Karoo, which is climatically and botanically almost indistinguishable from the Karoo above the Great Escarpment. The narrow coastal strip between the Outeniqua and Langeberg ranges and the ocean has a moderately high year-round rainfall, which is known as the Garden Route. It is famous for the most extensive areas of forests in South Africa (a generally forest-poor country).

In the south-west corner of the country, the Cape Peninsula forms the southernmost tip of the coastal strip which borders the Atlantic Ocean and ultimately terminates at the country's border with Namibia at the Orange River. The Cape Peninsula has a Mediterranean climate, making it and its immediate surrounds the only portion of Sub-Saharan Africa which receives most of its rainfall in winter.Encyclopædia Britannica (1975); Micropaedia Vol. VI, p. 750. Helen Hemingway Benton Publishers, Chicago.Atlas of Southern Africa. (1984). p. 19. Reader's Digest Association, Cape Town The coastal belt to the north of the Cape Peninsula is bounded on the west by the Atlantic Ocean and the first row of north–south running Cape Fold Mountains to the east. The Cape Fold Mountains peter out at about the 32°{{nbsp}}S line of latitude, after which the Great Escarpment bounds the coastal plain. The most southerly portion of this coastal belt is known as the Swartland and Malmesbury Plain, which is an important wheat growing region, relying on winter rains. The region further north is known as Namaqualand,Atlas of Southern Africa. (1984). p. 113. Reader's Digest Association, Cape Town which becomes more arid near the Orange River. The little rain that falls tends to fall in winter, which results in one of the world's most spectacular displays of flowers carpeting huge stretches of veld in spring (August{{ndash}}September).

South Africa also has one offshore possession, the small sub-Antarctic archipelago of the Prince Edward Islands, consisting of Marion Island ({{convert|abbr=on|290|km2|sqmi|disp=or}}) and Prince Edward Island ({{convert|abbr=on|45|km2|sqmi|disp=or}}).

{{Main|Climate of South Africa}}

File:South Africa Köppen.svg of South Africa]]

South Africa has a generally temperate climate because it is surrounded by the Atlantic and Indian Oceans on three sides, because it is located in the climatically milder Southern Hemisphere, and because its average elevation rises steadily toward the north (toward the equator) and further inland. This varied topography and oceanic influence result in a great variety of climatic zones. The climatic zones range from the extreme desert of the southern Namib in the farthest northwest to the lush subtropical climate in the east along the border with Mozambique and the Indian Ocean. Winters in South Africa occur between June and August. The extreme southwest has a climate similar to that of the Mediterranean with wet winters and hot, dry summers, hosting the famous fynbos biome of shrubland and thicket. This area produces much of the wine in South Africa and is known for its wind, which blows intermittently almost all year. The severity of this wind made passing around the Cape of Good Hope particularly treacherous for sailors, causing many shipwrecks. Further east on the south coast, rainfall is distributed more evenly throughout the year, producing a green landscape. The annual rainfall increases south of the Lowveld, especially near the coast, which is subtropical. The Free State is particularly flat because it lies centrally on the high plateau. North of the Vaal River, the Highveld becomes better watered and does not experience subtropical extremes of heat. Johannesburg, in the centre of the Highveld, is at {{convert|abbr=on|1740|m|ft|0}} above sea level and receives an annual rainfall of {{convert|abbr=on|760|mm|in|1}}. Winters in this region are cold, although snow is rare.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/11/pure-magic-snow-falls-on-johannesburg-for-first-time-in-11-years#:~:text=%E2%80%9CIt%20happens%20once%20every%2010,little%20rain%20in%20winter%20months |title='Pure magic': snow falls on Johannesburg for first time in 11 years |work=The Guardian |last=Sullivan |first=Helen |date=11 July 2023 |access-date=29 December 2023 |archive-date=28 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628011337/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/11/pure-magic-snow-falls-on-johannesburg-for-first-time-in-11-years#:~:text=%E2%80%9CIt%20happens%20once%20every%2010,little%20rain%20in%20winter%20months |url-status=live }}

The coldest place on mainland South Africa is Buffelsfontein in the Eastern Cape, where a temperature of {{convert|abbr=on|-20.1|C|F}} was recorded in 2013.{{Cite web|date=1 July 2018|title=These are the lowest ever temperatures recorded in South Africa|url=https://www.thesouthafrican.com/lifestyle/lowest-temperature-recorded-south-africa/|access-date=11 September 2020|website=The South African|language=en-US|archive-date=11 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200911142956/https://www.thesouthafrican.com/lifestyle/lowest-temperature-recorded-south-africa/|url-status=live }} The Prince Edward Islands have colder average annual temperatures, but Buffelsfontein has colder extremes. The deep interior of mainland South Africa has the hottest temperatures: a temperature of {{convert|abbr=on|51.7|C|F|2}} was recorded in 1948 in the Northern Cape Kalahari near Upington,{{Cite web|title=South Africa's geography|url=http://www.safrica.info/about/geography/geography.htm|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100608121736/http://www.safrica.info/about/geography/geography.htm|archive-date=8 June 2010|access-date=30 October 2011|publisher=Safrica.info}} but this temperature is unofficial and was not recorded with standard equipment; the official highest temperature is {{convert|abbr=on|48.8|C|F|2}} at Vioolsdrif in January 1993.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SMdzAAAAMAAJ|title=South Africa yearbook|publisher=South African Communication Service|year=1997|isbn=9780797035447|page=3|access-date=14 October 2015|archive-date=24 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160124000311/https://books.google.com/books?id=SMdzAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live }}

Climate change in South Africa is leading to increased temperatures and rainfall variability. Extreme weather events are becoming more prominent.Republic of South Africa, [https://www.environment.gov.za/sites/default/files/docs/nationalclimatechange_adaptationstrategy_ue10november2019.pdf National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy (NCCAS)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210612014043/https://www.environment.gov.za/sites/default/files/docs/nationalclimatechange_adaptationstrategy_ue10november2019.pdf|date=12 June 2021 }}, Version UE10, 13 November 2019. This is a critical concern for South Africans as climate change will affect the overall status and wellbeing of the country, for example with regards to water resources. Speedy environmental changes are resulting in clear effects on the community and environmental level in different ways and aspects, starting with air quality, to temperature and weather patterns, reaching out to food security and disease burden.{{Cite web|title=International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health|url=https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph|access-date=26 November 2020|website=www.mdpi.com|language=en|archive-date=10 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210610212414/https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph|url-status=live}} According to computer-generated climate modelling produced by the South African National Biodiversity Institute,{{Cite web|date=30 September 2011|title=South African National Biodiversity Institute|url=http://www.sanbi.org/|access-date=30 October 2011|publisher=Sanbi.org|archive-date=1 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110901083818/http://www.sanbi.org/|url-status=live }} parts of southern Africa will see an increase in temperature by about {{Convert|1|C-change|}} along the coast to more than {{Convert|4|C-change|}} in the already hot hinterland such as the Northern Cape in late spring and summertime by 2050. The Cape Floral Region is predicted to be hit very hard by climate change. Drought, increased intensity and frequency of fire, and climbing temperatures are expected to push many rare species towards extinction. South Africa has published two national climate change reports in 2011 and 2016.{{Cite web|date=November 2017|title=South Africa's Second National Climate Change Report|url=https://www.environment.gov.za/otherdocuments/reports/southafricas_secondnational_climatechange|access-date=17 May 2020|archive-date=14 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614170504/https://www.environment.gov.za/otherdocuments/reports/southafricas_secondnational_climatechange|url-status=live }} South Africa contributes considerable carbon dioxide emissions, being the 14th largest emitter of carbon dioxide,{{Cite web|date=15 October 2018|title=The Carbon Brief Profile: South Africa|url=https://www.carbonbrief.org/the-carbon-brief-profile-south-africa|access-date=3 August 2020|website=Carbon Brief|language=en|archive-date=9 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509123731/https://www.carbonbrief.org/the-carbon-brief-profile-south-africa|url-status=live}} primarily from its heavy reliance on coal and oil for energy production. As part of its international commitments, South Africa has pledged to peak emissions between 2020 and 2025.

{{main|Biodiversity of South Africa}}

{{See also|Wildlife of South Africa|Protected areas of South Africa|Marine biodiversity of South Africa}}

File:South African Giraffes, fighting.jpgs at Kruger National Park]]

File:African Leopard Sabi Sands Fir0002 Oct18.jpg "Thandi" in the Djuma concession of the Sabi Sand Game Reserve]]

South Africa signed the Rio Convention on Biological Diversity on 4 June 1994 and became a party to the convention on 2 November 1995.{{Cite web|title=List of Parties|url=http://www.cbd.int/convention/parties/list/|access-date=8 December 2012|archive-date=24 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110124005746/http://www.cbd.int/convention/parties/list/|url-status=live }} It has subsequently produced a National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, which was received by the convention on 7 June 2006.{{Cite web|title=South Africa's National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan|url=http://www.cbd.int/doc/world/cm/cm-nbsap-01-p1-en.pdf|access-date=10 December 2012|archive-date=2 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130502141819/http://www.cbd.int/doc/world/cm/cm-nbsap-01-p1-en.pdf|url-status=live }} The country is ranked sixth out of the world's seventeen megadiverse countries.{{Cite web|title=Biodiversity of the world by countries|url=http://institutoaqualung.com.br/info_biodiversidade23.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101101120514/http://institutoaqualung.com.br/info_biodiversidade23.html|archive-date=1 November 2010|access-date=30 May 2010|publisher=Institutoaqualung.com.br}} Ecotourism in South Africa has become more prevalent in recent years, as a possible method of maintaining and improving biodiversity.

Numerous mammals are found in the Bushveld including lions, African leopards, South African cheetahs, southern white rhinos, blue wildebeest, kudus, impalas, hyenas, hippopotamuses and South African giraffes. A significant extent of the Bushveld exists in the north-east including Kruger National Park and the Sabi Sand Game Reserve, as well as in the far north in the Waterberg Biosphere. South Africa houses many endemic species, among them the critically endangered riverine rabbit (Bunolagus monticullaris) in the Karoo.

Up to 1945, more than 4,900 species of fungi (including lichen-forming species) had been recorded.{{Cite journal|last1=Rong|first1=I. H.|last2=Baxter|first2=A. P.|year=2006|title=The South African National Collection of Fungi: Celebrating a centenary 1905–2005|journal=Studies in Mycology|volume=55|pages=1–12|doi=10.3114/sim.55.1.1|pmc=2104721|pmid=18490968}} In 2006, the number of fungi in South Africa was estimated at 200,000 species but did not take into account fungi associated with insects.{{Cite journal|last1=Crous|first1=P. W.|last2=Rong|first2=I. H.|last3=Wood|first3=A.|last4=Lee|first4=S.|last5=Glen|first5=H.|last6=Botha|first6=W. l|last7=Slippers|first7=B.|last8=De Beer|first8=W. Z.|last9=Wingfield|first9=M. J.|last10=Hawksworth|first10=D. L.|year=2006|title=How many species of fungi are there at the tip of Africa?|journal=Studies in Mycology|volume=55|pages=13–33|doi=10.3114/sim.55.1.13|pmc=2104731|pmid=18490969}} If correct, then the number of South African fungi dwarfs that of its plants. In at least some major South African ecosystems, an exceptionally high percentage of fungi are highly specific in terms of the plants with which they occur.{{Cite web|last1=Marincowitz |first1=S.|last2=Crous|first2=P.W.|last3=Groenewald|first3=J.Z.|last4=Wingfield|first4=M.J.|year=2008|title=Microfungi occurring on Proteaceae in the fynbos. CBS Biodiversity Series 7|url=http://fabiserv.up.ac.za/webresources/pdf/02cccd42960c651fba2eee15dd3c180b.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130729211209/http://fabiserv.up.ac.za/webresources/pdf/02cccd42960c651fba2eee15dd3c180b.pdf|archive-date=29 July 2013|access-date=26 June 2013|name-list-style=amp}} The country's Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan does not mention fungi (including lichen-forming fungi).

With more than 22,000 different vascular plants, or about 9% of all the known species of plants on Earth,{{Cite book|last=Lambertini|first=Marco|title=A Anturalist's Guide to the Tropics|date=15 May 2000|publisher=University Of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-46828-0|edition=Revised edition (15 May 2000)|page=46|language=en|chapter=The Flora / The Richest Botany in the World}} South Africa is particularly rich in plant diversity. The most prevalent biome is the grassland, particularly on the Highveld, where the plant cover is dominated by different grasses, low shrubs, and acacia, mainly camel-thorn (Vachellia erioloba). Vegetation is sparse towards the north-west because of low rainfall. There are numerous species of water-storing succulents, like aloes and euphorbias, in the very hot and dry Namaqualand area. And according to the World Wildlife Fund, South Africa is home to around a third of all succulent species.{{Cite news|last=Trenchard|first=Tommy|date=2021-07-31|title=In South Africa, Poachers Now Traffic in Tiny Succulent Plants|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/31/world/africa/south-africa-poachers-tiny-succulent-plants.html|access-date=2022-06-27|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=10 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510122122/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/31/world/africa/south-africa-poachers-tiny-succulent-plants.html|url-status=live}} The grass and thorn savanna turns slowly into a bush savanna towards the north-east of the country, with denser growth. There are significant numbers of baobab trees in this area, near the northern end of Kruger National Park.{{Cite web|title=Plants and Vegetation in South Africa|url=http://www.southafrica-travel.net/pages/e_plants.htm|access-date=30 October 2011|publisher=Southafrica-travel.net|archive-date=28 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111028175454/http://www.southafrica-travel.net/pages/e_plants.htm|url-status=live }}

The fynbos biome, which makes up the majority of the area and plant life in the Cape Floristic Region, is located in a small region of the Western Cape and contains more than 9,000 of those species, or three times more plant species than found in the Amazon rainforest,{{Cite web |last=Lewton |first=Robin Cherry & Thomas |title=South Africa's flammable floral kingdom |url=https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20190304-south-africas-flammable-floral-kingdom |access-date=2022-07-16 |website=www.bbc.com |date=5 March 2019 |language=en |archive-date=16 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220716121830/https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20190304-south-africas-flammable-floral-kingdom |url-status=live }} making it among the richest regions on earth in terms of plant diversity. Most of the plants are evergreen hard-leaf plants with fine, needle-like leaves, such as the sclerophyllous plants. Another uniquely South African flowering plant group is the genus Protea, with around 130 different species. While South Africa has a great wealth of flowering plants, only 1% of the land is forest, almost exclusively in the humid coastal plain of KwaZulu-Natal, where there are also areas of Southern Africa mangroves in river mouths. Even smaller reserves of forests are out of the reach of fire, known as montane forests. Plantations of imported tree species are predominant, particularly the non-native eucalyptus and pine.

File:Flora at Cape Peninsula.JPG]]

South Africa has lost a large area of natural habitat in the last four decades, primarily because of overpopulation, sprawling development patterns, and deforestation during the 19th century. The country had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 4.94/10, ranking it 112th globally out of 172 countries.{{Cite journal|last1=Grantham|first1=H. S.|last2=Duncan|first2=A.|last3=Evans|first3=T. D.|last4=Jones|first4=K. R.|last5=Beyer|first5=H. L.|last6=Schuster|first6=R.|last7=Walston|first7=J.|last8=Ray|first8=J. C.|last9=Robinson|first9=J. G.|last10=Callow|first10=M.|last11=Clements|first11=T.|display-authors=1|year=2020|title=Anthropogenic modification of forests means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity – Supplementary Material|journal=Nature Communications|volume=11|issue=1|page=5978|doi=10.1038/s41467-020-19493-3|issn=2041-1723|pmc=7723057|pmid=33293507|doi-access=free|last12=Costa|first12=H. M.|last13=DeGemmis|first13=A.|last14=Elsen|first14=P. R.|last15=Ervin|first15=J.|last16=Franco|first16=P.|last17=Goldman|first17=E.|last18=Goetz|first18=S.|last19=Hansen|first19=A.|last20=Hofsvang|first20=E.|last21=Jantz|first21=P.|last22=Jupiter|first22=S.|last23=Kang|first23=A.|last24=Langhammer|first24=P.|last25=Laurance|first25=W. F.|last26=Lieberman|first26=S.|last27=Linkie|first27=M.|last28=Malhi|first28=Y.|last29=Maxwell|first29=S.|last30=Mendez|first30=M.|last31=Mittermeier|first31=R.|last32=Murray|first32=N. J.|last33=Possingham|first33=H.|last34=Radachowsky|first34=J.|last35=Saatchi|first35=S.|last36=Samper|first36=C.|last37=Silverman|first37=J.|last38=Shapiro|first38=A.|last39=Strassburg|first39=B.|last40=Stevens|first40=T.|last41=Stokes|first41=E.|last42=Taylor|first42=R.|last43=Tear|first43=T.|last44=Tizard|first44=R.|last45=Venter|first45=O.|last46=Visconti|first46=P.|last47=Wang|first47=S.|last48=Watson|first48=J. E. M.|bibcode=2020NatCo..11.5978G }} South Africa is one of the worst affected countries in the world when it comes to invasion by alien species with many (e.g., black wattle, Port Jackson willow, Hakea, Lantana and Jacaranda) posing a significant threat to the native biodiversity and the already scarce water resources. Also woody plant encroachment of native plants in grasslands poses a threat to biodiversity and related ecosystem services, affecting over 7 million hectares.[https://www.dffe.gov.za/sites/default/files/reports/indigenousbushencroachment.pdf Towards a policy on indigenous bush encroachment in South Africa (2019)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240419024357/https://www.dffe.gov.za/sites/default/files/reports/indigenousbushencroachment.pdf |date=19 April 2024 }}, Department of Environmental Affairs, Pretoria, South Africa The original temperate forest found by the first European settlers was exploited until only small patches remained. Currently, South African hardwood trees like real yellowwood (Podocarpus latifolius), stinkwood (Ocotea bullata), and South African black ironwood (Olea capensis) are under strict government protection. Statistics from the Department of Environmental Affairs show a record 1,215 rhinos were killed in 2014.{{Cite news|date=22 January 2015|title=Progress in the war against poaching|work=Environmental Affairs|location=South Africa|url=https://www.environment.gov.za/mediarelease/molewa_waragainstpoaching2015|url-status=dead|access-date=22 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150123231507/https://www.environment.gov.za/mediarelease/molewa_waragainstpoaching2015|archive-date=23 January 2015}} Since South Africa is home to a third of all succulent species (many endemic to the Karoo), it makes it a hotspot for plant poaching, leading to many species to be threatened with extinction.

{{Main|Demographics of South Africa}}

[[File:South Africa 2011 population density map (hex cells).svg|thumb|Map of population density in South Africa{{Clear}}

{{legend-col

|{{legend|#ffffcc|<1 /km²}}

|{{legend|#ffeda0|1–3 /km²}}

|{{legend|#fed976|3–10 /km²}}

|{{legend|#feb24c|10–30 /km²}}

|{{legend|#fd8d3c|30–100 /km²}}

|{{legend|#fc4e2a|100–300 /km²}}

|{{legend|#e31a1c|300–1000 /km²}}

|{{legend|#bc0026|1000–3000 /km²}}

|{{legend|#800026|>3000 /km²}}}}

]]

South Africa is a nation of about 62 million (as of 2022) people of diverse origins, cultures, languages, and religions.{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/P03014_Census_2022_Statistical_Release.pdf|title=2022 Census Statistical Release|date=15 October 2023|website=Statistics South Africa|access-date=15 October 2023|archive-date=15 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231015192129/https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/P03014_Census_2022_Statistical_Release.pdf}} The last census was held in 2022, with estimates produced on an annual basis. According to the United Nations' World Population Prospects, South Africa's total population was 55.3 million in 2015, compared to only 13.6 million in 1950.{{Cite web|title=World Population Prospects – Population Division – United Nations|url=https://population.un.org/wpp/|website=population.un.org

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200617000901/https://population.un.org/wpp/ |archive-date=17 June 2020

}} South Africa is home to an estimated five million illegal immigrants, including some three million Zimbabweans.{{cite web|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/23/africa/23saf.php|title=Anti-immigrant violence spreads in South Africa, with attacks reported in Cape Town – The New York Times|website=International Herald Tribune|date=23 May 2008|access-date=30 October 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090221002431/http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/23/africa/23saf.php|archive-date=21 February 2009 }}{{cite web|url=http://news.sky.com/story/573086/escape-from-mugabe-zimbabwes-exodus|title=Escape From Mugabe: Zimbabwe's Exodus|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160124000311/http://news.sky.com/story/573086/escape-from-mugabe-zimbabwes-exodus|archive-date=24 January 2016 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.fin24.com/articles/default/display_article.aspx?ArticleId=1518-25_2035097|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090214052122/http://www.fin24.com/articles/default/display_article.aspx?ArticleId=1518-25_2035097|archive-date=14 February 2009|title=More illegals set to flood SA|publisher=Fin24|access-date=30 October 2011|url-status=dead }} A series of anti-immigrant riots occurred beginning in May 2008.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7396868.stm|title=South African mob kills migrants|publisher=BBC|access-date=19 May 2008|date=12 May 2008|archive-date=13 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313001302/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7396868.stm|url-status=live}}{{cite news|first=Barry|last=Bearak|title=Immigrants Fleeing Fury of South African Mobs|date=23 May 2008|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/23/world/africa/23safrica.html?_r=1&ref=africa&oref=slogin|access-date=5 August 2008|archive-date=1 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501055725/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/23/world/africa/23safrica.html?_r=1&ref=africa&oref=slogin|url-status=live}}

Statistics South Africa asks people to describe themselves in the census in terms of five racial population groups.{{cite news|last=Lehohla |first=Pali |title=Debate over race and censuses not peculiar to SA|url=http://www.statssa.gov.za/news_archive/05may2005_1.asp|date=5 May 2005|newspaper=Business Report|access-date=25 August 2013|quote=Others pointed out that the repeal of the Population Registration Act in 1991 removed any legal basis for specifying 'race'. The Identification Act of 1997 makes no mention of race. On the other hand, the Employment Equity Act speaks of 'designated groups' being 'black people, women and people with disabilities'. The Act defines 'black' as referring to 'Africans, coloureds and Indians'. Apartheid and the racial identification which underpinned it explicitly linked race with differential access to resources and power. If the post-apartheid order was committed to remedying this, race would have to be included in surveys and censuses, so that progress in eradicating the consequences of apartheid could be measured and monitored. This was the reasoning that led to a 'self-identifying' question about 'race' or 'population group' in both the 1996 and 2001 population censuses, and in Statistics SA's household survey programme.|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070814143522/http://www.statssa.gov.za/news_archive/05may2005_1.asp|archive-date=14 August 2007 }} The 2022 census figures for these groups were: Black African at 81%, Coloured at 8.2%, White at 7.3%, Indian or Asian at 2.7%, and Other/Unspecified at 0.5%.{{Cite web |url=https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/P03014_Census_2022_Statistical_Release.pdf |title=Census 2022 Statistical Release |publisher=Statistics South Africa |access-date=15 October 2023 |archive-date=15 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231015192129/https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/P03014_Census_2022_Statistical_Release.pdf |url-status=live }} The first census in 1911 showed that whites made up 22% of the population; this had declined to 16% by 1980.{{Cite book| author = ((Study Commission on U.S. Policy toward Southern Africa (U.S.)))| title = South Africa: time running out: the report of the Study Commission on U.S. Policy Toward Southern Africa| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=sq43lnbklEUC&pg=PA42| publisher = University of California Press| year = 1981| page = 42| isbn = 978-0-520-04547-7| access-date = 14 October 2015| archive-date = 24 January 2016| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160124000311/https://books.google.com/books?id=sq43lnbklEUC&pg=PA42| url-status = live }}

South Africa hosts a sizeable refugee and asylum seeker population. According to the World Refugee Survey 2008, published by the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, this population numbered approximately 144,700 in 2007. Groups of refugees and asylum seekers numbering over 10,000 included people from Zimbabwe (48,400), the DRC (24,800), and Somalia (12,900). These populations mainly lived in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town, and Port Elizabeth.{{cite news|title=World Refugee Survey 2008|publisher=U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants|date=19 June 2008|url=http://www.refugees.org/resources/refugee-warehousing/archived-world-refugee-surveys/2008-world-refugee-survey.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019224639/http://www.refugees.org/resources/refugee-warehousing/archived-world-refugee-surveys/2008-world-refugee-survey.html|archive-date=19 October 2014 }}

{{Main|Languages of South Africa}}

[[File:South Africa 2011 dominant language map (hex cells).svg|right|thumb|{{Collapsible list

| title = Map showing the dominant South African languages by area|{{legend|#80b1d3|Zulu (24.4%)}}|{{legend|#fb8072|Xhosa (16.0%)}}|{{legend|#8dd3c7|⁠Afrikaans (13.5%)}}|{{legend|#ffffb3|English (9.6%)}}|{{legend|#fdb462|Pedi (9.1%)}}|{{legend|#fccde5|Tswana (8.0%)}}|{{legend|#b3de69|Southern Sotho (7.6%)}}|{{legend|#ffed6f|Tsonga (4.5%)}}|{{legend|#bc80bd|Swazi (2.5%)}}|{{legend|#ccebc5|Venda (2.4%)}}|{{legend|#bebada|Southern Ndebele (2.1%)}}|{{legend|#d0d0d0|None dominant}}|{{legend|#ffffff|Areas of little or no population}}

}}]]

South Africa has 12 official languages: Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, English, Pedi,{{Cite web|title=Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 – Chapter 1: Founding Provisions {{!}} South African Government|url=https://www.gov.za/documents/constitution/chapter-1-founding-provisions#5|access-date=26 July 2020|website=www.gov.za|archive-date=18 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190518042037/https://www.gov.za/documents/constitution/chapter-1-founding-provisions#5|url-status=live}} Tswana, Southern Sotho, Tsonga, Swazi, Venda, and Southern Ndebele (in order of first language speakers), as well as South African Sign Language which was recognised as an official language in 2023. In this regard it is fourth only to Bolivia, India, and Zimbabwe in number. While all the languages are formally equal, some languages are spoken more than others. According to the 2022 census, the three most spoken first languages are Zulu (24.4%), Xhosa (16.6%), and Afrikaans (10.6%). Although English is recognised as the language of commerce and science, it is only the fifth most common home language, that of only 8.7% of South Africans in 2022; nevertheless, it has become the de facto lingua franca of the nation. Estimates based on the 1991 census suggest just under half of South Africans could speak English.{{Cite web|url=https://www.brandsouthafrica.com/south-africa-fast-facts/geography-facts/languages|title=South Africa's languages|date=6 November 2007|access-date=21 February 2020|archive-date=26 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626173847/https://www.brandsouthafrica.com/south-africa-fast-facts/geography-facts/languages|url-status=live}} It is the second most commonly spoken language outside of the household, after Zulu.{{Cite web|url=https://businesstech.co.za/news/business/319760/these-are-the-most-spoken-languages-in-south-africa-in-2019/|title=These are the most-spoken languages in South Africa in 2019|author=Staff Writer|website=businesstech.co.za|access-date=21 February 2020|archive-date=21 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200221184630/https://businesstech.co.za/news/business/319760/these-are-the-most-spoken-languages-in-south-africa-in-2019/|url-status=live}}

Other languages are spoken, or were widely used previously, including Fanagalo, Khoe, Lobedu, Nama, Northern Ndebele, and Phuthi.{{cite web|url=http://www.southafrica.info/about/people/language.htm|title=The languages of South Africa|publisher=SouthAfrica.info|date=4 February 1997|access-date=7 November 2010|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110304001836/http://www.southafrica.info/about/people/language.htm|archive-date=4 March 2011}} Many of the unofficial languages of the San and Khoekhoe peoples contain regional dialects stretching northwards into Namibia and Botswana, and elsewhere. These people, who are a physically distinct population from the Bantu people who make up most of the Black Africans in South Africa, have their own cultural identity based on their hunter-gatherer societies. They have been marginalised, and the remainder of their languages are in danger of becoming extinct.

White South Africans may also speak European languages, including Italian, Portuguese (also spoken by black Angolans and Mozambicans), Dutch, German, and Greek, while some Indian South Africans and more recent migrants from South Asia speak Indian languages, such as Gujarati, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu. French is spoken by migrants from Francophone Africa.

{{Main|Religion in South Africa}}

{{bar box

|title=Religion in South Africa (2010){{cite web|url=http://www.globalreligiousfutures.org/countries/south-africa#/?affiliations_religion_id=11&affiliations_year=2010®ion_name=All+Countries&restrictions_year=2015|title=Religions in South Africa – PEW-GRF|website=www.globalreligiousfutures.org|access-date=9 December 2017|archive-date=10 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180710102511/http://globalreligiousfutures.org/countries/south-africa#/?affiliations_religion_id=11&affiliations_year=2010®ion_name=All+Countries&restrictions_year=2015|url-status=live}}

|titlebar= #Fcd116

|left1=religion

|right1=percent

|float=right

|bars=

{{bar percent|Protestantism|#B57EDC|73.2}}

{{bar percent|No religion|black|14.9}}

{{bar percent|Catholicism|darkblue|7.4}}

{{bar percent|Islam|green|1.7}}

{{bar percent|Hinduism|darkorange|1.1}}

{{bar percent|Other faith|silver|1.7}}

}}

According to the 2001 census, Christians accounted for 79.8% of the population, with a majority of them being members of various Protestant denominations (broadly defined to include syncretic African-initiated churches) and a minority of Roman Catholics and other Christians. The Christian category includes Zion Christian (11.1%), Pentecostal (Charismatic) (8.2%), Roman Catholic (7.1%), Methodist (6.8%), Dutch Reformed (6.7%), and Anglican (3.8%). Members of the remaining Christian churches accounted for another 36% of the population. Muslims accounted for 1.5% of the population, Hindus 1.2%, traditional African religions 0.3% and Judaism 0.2%. 15.1% had no religious affiliation, 0.6% were "other" and 1.4% were "unspecified."{{cite web|url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2005/51496.htm|title=South Africa – Section I. Religious Demography|publisher=U.S. Department of State|access-date=15 July 2006|archive-date=14 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614133513/https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2005/51496.htm|url-status=live}}{{Cite web |title=South Africa |url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom/south-africa/ |access-date=2023-12-07 |website=United States Department of State |language=en-US |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207180945/https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom/south-africa/ |url-status=live }}{{cite book|first1=Wessel|last1=Bentley|author2=Dion Angus Forster|title=Methodism in Southern Africa: A Celebration of Wesleyan Mission|year=2008|publisher=AcadSA|isbn=978-1-920212-29-2|pages=97–98|chapter=God's mission in our context, healing and transforming responses}}

African-initiated churches formed the largest of the Christian groups. It was believed that many of the persons who claimed no affiliation with any organised religion adhered to a traditional African religion. There are an estimated 200,000 traditional healers, and up to 60% of South Africans consult these healers,{{cite book|author=van Wyk, Ben-Erik|author2=van Oudtshoorn, Gericke N|year=1999|title=Medicinal Plants of South Africa|location=Pretoria|publisher=Briza Publications|isbn=978-1-875093-37-3|page=10}} generally called {{lang|bnt|sangoma}} ('diviner') or {{lang|bnt|inyanga}} ('herbalist'). These healers use a combination of ancestral spiritual beliefs and a belief in the spiritual and medicinal properties of local fauna, flora, and funga commonly known as Traditional African medicine ('medicine'), to facilitate healing in clients. Many peoples have syncretic religious practices combining Christian and indigenous influences.{{cite web|url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2006/71325.htm|title=South Africa|publisher=State.gov|date=15 September 2006|access-date=30 October 2011|archive-date=14 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614154706/https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2006/71325.htm|url-status=live }}

South African Muslims comprise mainly Coloureds and Indians. They have been joined by black or white South African converts as well as those from other parts of Africa. South African Muslims describe their faith as the fastest-growing religion of conversion in the country, with the number of black Muslims growing sixfold, from 12,000 in 1991 to 74,700 in 2004.{{cite journal|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0110/p13s1-woaf.html|title=In South Africa, many blacks convert to Islam / The Christian Science Monitor|journal=The Christian Science Monitor|date=10 January 2002 |access-date=30 October 2011|archive-date=30 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730173053/http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0110/p13s1-woaf.html|url-status=live }}{{cite web|url=http://www.religionnewsblog.com/9398/muslims-say-their-faith-growing-fast-in-africa|title=Muslims say their faith growing fast in Africa|date=15 November 2004 |publisher=Religionnewsblog.com|access-date=7 November 2010|archive-date=1 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101001060330/http://www.religionnewsblog.com/9398/muslims-say-their-faith-growing-fast-in-africa|url-status=live }}

There is a substantial Jewish population, descended from European Jews who arrived as a minority amongst other European settlers. This population peaked in the 1970s at 118,000, though only around 75,000 remain today, the rest having emigrated, mostly to Israel.[https://www.sajbd.org/index.php?p=pages/sa-jewish-history SA Jewish history] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231218014839/https://www.sajbd.org/index.php?p=pages/sa-jewish-history |date=18 December 2023 }} South African Jewish Board of Deputies Even so, these numbers make the Jewish community in South Africa the twelfth largest in the world.

{{Main|Education in South Africa}}

File:UCT Upper Campus landscape view.jpg]]

The adult literacy rate in 2007 was 89%.{{cite web|title=National adult literacy rates (15+), youth literacy rates (15–24) and elderly literacy rates (65+)|url=http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/TableViewer/tableView.aspx?ReportId=210|publisher=UNESCO Institute for Statistics|access-date=3 May 2013|archive-date=29 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029183908/http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/TableViewer/tableView.aspx?ReportId=210|url-status=dead}} South Africa has a three-tier system of education starting with primary school, followed by high school, and tertiary education in the form of (academic) universities and universities of technology. Learners have twelve years of formal schooling, from grade 1 to 12. Grade R, or grade 0, is a pre-primary foundation year.{{cite web|url=http://www.southafrica.info/services/education/edufacts.htm|title=A parent's guide to schooling|access-date=31 August 2010|archive-date=22 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100722160229/http://www.southafrica.info/services/education/edufacts.htm|url-status=dead}} Primary schools span the first seven years of schooling.{{cite web|url=http://www.southafrica.info/about/education/education.htm|title=Education in South Africa|publisher=SouthAfrica.info|access-date=20 June 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100617125606/http://www.southafrica.info/about/education/education.htm|archive-date=17 June 2010 }} High school education spans a further five years. The National Senior Certificate examination takes place at the end of grade 12 and is necessary for tertiary studies at a South African university. Public universities are divided into three types: traditional universities, which offer theoretically oriented university degrees; universities of technology (formerly called technikons), which offer vocationally-oriented diplomas and degrees; and comprehensive universities, which offer both types of qualification. There are 23 public universities in South Africa: 11 traditional universities, 6 universities of technology, and 6 comprehensive universities. There are also a large amount of FET (Further Education and Training) and TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) colleges in South Africa.{{Cite web |title=TVET Colleges of South Africa |url=https://nationalgovernment.co.za/units/type/9/tvet-college |access-date=2025-01-09 |website=nationalgovernment.co.za}}{{Cite web |title=FET Colleges |url=https://www.education.gov.za/FurtherStudies/FETColleges.aspx |access-date=2025-01-09 |website=www.education.gov.za}}{{Cite web |author=Staff Reporter |date=2019-02-01 |title=Exploring FETs and TVETs as viable alternatives |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2019-02-01-00-exploring-fets-and-tvets-as-viable-alternatives/ |access-date=2025-01-09 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}

Under apartheid, schools for black people were subject to discrimination through inadequate funding and a separate syllabus called Bantu Education which only taught skills sufficient to work as labourers.{{cite web|url=http://overcomingapartheid.msu.edu/sidebar.php?id=3|title=Bantu Education|publisher=Overcoming Apartheid|access-date=20 June 2010|archive-date=15 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200815013451/https://overcomingapartheid.msu.edu/sidebar.php?id=3|url-status=live }}

In 2004, South Africa started reforming its tertiary education system, merging and incorporating small universities into larger institutions, and renaming all tertiary education institutions "university". By 2015, 1.4 million students in higher education have been aided by a financial aid scheme which was promulgated in 1999.{{cite news|last1=Cele|first1=S'thembile|last2= Masondo|first2=Sipho|title=Shocking cost of SA's universities|url=http://www.fin24.com/Economy/Shocking-cost-of-SAs-universities-20150118|access-date=19 January 2015|agency=City Press|publisher=fin24.com|date=18 January 2015|archive-date=19 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150119205443/http://www.fin24.com/Economy/Shocking-cost-of-SAs-universities-20150118|url-status=live }}

{{Main|Health in South Africa|Healthcare in South Africa}}

File:Tygerberg from air.jpg in Parow, Cape Town]]

According to the South African Institute of Race Relations, the life expectancy in 2009 was 71 years for a white South African and 48 years for a black South African.{{Cite web|url=http://www.hsrc.ac.za/News-document-1426.phtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120516165837/http://www.hsrc.ac.za/News-document-1426.phtml|url-status=dead|title=Peoples Budget Coalition Comments on the 2011/12 Budget|archive-date=16 May 2012}} The healthcare spending in the country is about 9% of GDP.{{cite web|title='Clinic-in-a-Box' seeks to improve South African healthcare|url=http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/global-observer/-8216clinic-in-a-box-seeks-to-improve-south-african-healthcare/12844|publisher=SmartPlanet|access-date=25 August 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730011508/http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/global-observer/-8216clinic-in-a-box-seeks-to-improve-south-african-healthcare/12844|archive-date=30 July 2013 }} About 84% of the population depends on the public healthcare system, which is beset with chronic human resource shortages and limited resources.{{cite web|title=South Africa|url=http://icap.columbia.edu/where-we-work/south-africa|publisher=ICAP at Columbia University|access-date=25 August 2013|archive-date=13 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130713041358/http://icap.columbia.edu/where-we-work/south-africa|url-status=live}} About 20% of the population use private healthcare. Only 16% of the population are covered by medical aid schemes;{{cite web|title=What does the demand for healthcare look like in SA?|url=http://www.mediclinic.co.za/about/Documents/ECONEX%20NHInote%203.pdf|publisher=Mediclinic Southern Africa|access-date=25 August 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002145453/http://www.mediclinic.co.za/about/Documents/ECONEX%20NHInote%203.pdf|archive-date=2 October 2013 }} the rest pay for private care out-of-pocket or through in-hospital-only plans.{{cite web|title=Motsoaledi to reform private health care|url=http://www.fm.co.za/fm/CoverStory/2013/07/04/motsoaledi-to-reform-private-health-care|publisher=Financial Mail|access-date=25 August 2013|archive-date=7 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130707152200/http://www.fm.co.za/fm/CoverStory/2013/07/04/motsoaledi-to-reform-private-health-care|url-status=live}} The three dominant hospital groups, Mediclinic, Life Healthcare and Netcare, together control 75% of the private hospital market.

{{Main|HIV/AIDS in South Africa}}

File:Life expectancy in select African countries, 1950–2019.jpg has caused a fall in life expectancy.]]

According to the 2015 UNAIDS medical report, South Africa has an estimated seven million people who are living with HIV – more than any other country in the world.{{cite web|url=http://www.unaids.org/en/regionscountries/countries/southafrica|title=HIV and AIDS estimates (2015)|access-date=21 December 2014|archive-date=12 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150212190759/http://www.unaids.org/en/regionscountries/countries/southafrica|url-status=live}} In 2018, HIV prevalence—the percentage of people living with HIV—among adults (15–49 years) was 20.4%, and in the same year 71,000 people died from an AIDS-related illness.{{Cite web|url=https://www.unaids.org/en/regionscountries/countries/southafrica|title=South Africa|website=www.unaids.org|language=en|access-date=9 November 2019|archive-date=28 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190828020358/https://www.unaids.org/en/regionscountries/countries/southafrica|url-status=live}}

A 2008 study revealed that HIV/AIDS infection is distinctly divided along racial lines: 13.6% of blacks are HIV-positive, whereas only 0.3% of whites have the virus.{{cite web|title=South Africa HIV & AIDS Statistics|url=http://www.avert.org/south-africa-hiv-aids-statistics.htm|publisher=AVERT.org|access-date=6 May 2013|archive-date=16 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016190720/http://www.avert.org/south-africa-hiv-aids-statistics.htm|url-status=live}} Most deaths are experienced by economically active individuals, resulting in many AIDS orphans who in many cases depend on the state for care and financial support.{{cite web|url=http://www.avert.org/aidsorphans.htm|title=AIDS orphans|publisher=Avert|access-date=8 October 2006|archive-date=7 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100707054438/http://www.avert.org/aidsorphans.htm|url-status=live}} It is estimated that there are 1,200,000 orphans in South Africa.

The link between HIV, a virus spread primarily by sexual contact, and AIDS was long denied by President Thabo Mbeki and his health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, who insisted that the many deaths in the country are caused by malnutrition, and hence poverty, and not HIV.{{cite web|url=http://www.afrol.com/articles/21094|title=Sack SA Health Minister – world's AIDS experts|publisher=afrol News|access-date=8 October 2006|archive-date=18 October 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061018120544/http://www.afrol.com/articles/21094|url-status=live}} In 2007, in response to international pressure, the government made efforts to fight AIDS.{{cite web|url=http://www.info.gov.za/otherdocs/2007/aidsplan2007/situation_analysis.pdf|title=Situation Analysis. HIV & AIDS and STI Strategic Plan 2007–2011|publisher=info.gov.za|access-date=26 June 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130530221742/http://www.info.gov.za/otherdocs/2007/aidsplan2007/situation_analysis.pdf|archive-date=30 May 2013 }} After the 2009 general elections, President Jacob Zuma appointed Aaron Motsoaledi as the health minister and committed his government to increasing funding for and widening the scope of HIV treatment,{{cite web|url=http://www.unpan.org/Regions/Africa/PublicAdministrationNews/tabid/113/mctl/ArticleView/ModuleId/1460/articleId/21146/Zuma-Announces-NHI-AIDS-Reforms.aspx|title=Zuma announces AIDS reforms|publisher=UNPAN|access-date=9 March 2010|archive-date=27 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151227121601/http://www.unpan.org/Regions/Africa/PublicAdministrationNews/tabid/113/mctl/ArticleView/ModuleId/1460/articleId/21146/Zuma-Announces-NHI-AIDS-Reforms.aspx|url-status=dead}} and by 2015, South Africa had made significant progress, with the widespread availability of antiretroviral drugs resulted in an increase in life expectancy from 52.1 years to 62.5 years.{{cite web|url=https://theconversation.com/south-africa-has-excelled-in-treating-hiv-prevention-remains-a-disaster-51501|title=South Africa has excelled in treating HIV – prevention remains a disaster|first=Saiqa|last=Mullick|date=December 2015 |access-date=12 July 2018|archive-date=12 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712052403/https://theconversation.com/south-africa-has-excelled-in-treating-hiv-prevention-remains-a-disaster-51501|url-status=live}}

One online database{{Cite web|title=South African Cities And Provinces – A Complete List|url=https://dirkstrauss.com/south-african-cities/|website=dirkstrauss.com|date=27 December 2018 |access-date=26 April 2021|archive-date=7 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507050602/https://dirkstrauss.com/south-african-cities/|url-status=live}} lists South Africa having more than 12,600 cities and towns. The following are the largest cities and towns in South Africa.

{{Largest cities of South Africa}}

{{Main|Government of South Africa|Politics of South Africa|Law of South Africa}}

{{See also|LGBT rights in South Africa|Human rights in South Africa}}{{Multiple image

| direction = vertical

| image1 = Uniegebou.jpg

| caption1 = Union Buildings in Pretoria, seat of the executive

| image2 = Parliament in company gardens.jpg

| caption2 = Houses of Parliament in Cape Town, seat of the legislature

| image3 = Constitutional Court of South Africa.jpg

| caption3 = Constitutional Court in Johannesburg

| width = 220

}}

South Africa is a parliamentary republic, but unlike most such republics, the president is both head of state and head of government and depends for their tenure on the confidence of Parliament. The executive, legislature, and judiciary are all subject to the supremacy of the Constitution of South Africa, and the superior courts have the power to strike down executive actions and acts of Parliament if they are unconstitutional. The National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament, consists of 400 members and is elected every five years by a system of party-list proportional representation. The National Council of Provinces, the upper house, consists of ninety members, with each of the nine provincial legislatures electing ten members.

After each parliamentary election, the National Assembly elects one of its members as president; hence the president serves a term of office the same as that of the Assembly, normally five years. No president may serve more than two terms in office.{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/node/6772433|title=Term Limits in Africa|newspaper=The Economist|date=6 April 2006|access-date=26 June 2013|archive-date=19 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019194644/http://www.economist.com/node/6772433|url-status=live }} The president appoints a deputy president and ministers (each representing a department) who form the cabinet. The National Assembly may remove the president and the cabinet by a motion of no confidence. In the most recent election, held on 29 May 2024, the ANC lost its majority for the first time since the end of Apartheid,{{Cite news |last=Akinwotu |first=Emmanuel |date=1 June 2024 |title=In a historic election, South Africa's ANC loses majority for the first time |url=https://www.npr.org/2024/06/01/nx-s1-4987616/south-africa-election-results |access-date=26 August 2024 |work=NPR}} winning only 40% of the vote and 159 seats, while the main opposition, the Democratic Alliance (DA), won 22% of the vote and 87 seats. uMkhonto weSizwe, a new party founded by former President and ANC leader Jacob Zuma, won 14.6% of the vote and 58 seats, while the Economic Freedom Fighters, founded by Julius Malema, former president of the ANC Youth League who was later expelled from the ANC, won 9.5% of the vote and 39 seats. After the election, the ANC formed a Government of National Unity with the DA and several smaller parties.{{Cite news |last=Usher |first=Barbara Plett |date=14 June 2024 |title=A landmark moment in South Africa for a humbled ANC |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cw55w4z3gqeo |access-date=26 August 2024 |work=BBC}}

{{Anchor|Capital}}South Africa has no legally defined capital city. The fourth chapter of the constitution states "The seat of Parliament is Cape Town, but an Act of Parliament enacted in accordance with section 76(1) and (5) may determine that the seat of Parliament is elsewhere."{{cite news|url=http://www.info.gov.za/documents/constitution/1996/96cons4.htm#42|title=Chapter 4 – Parliament|date=19 August 2009|access-date=3 August 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130530232314/http://www.info.gov.za/documents/constitution/1996/96cons4.htm|archive-date=30 May 2013 }} The country's three branches of government are split over different cities. Cape Town, as the seat of Parliament, is the legislative capital; Pretoria, as the seat of the president and cabinet, is the administrative capital; and Bloemfontein is the seat of the Supreme Court of Appeal, and has traditionally been regarded as the judicial capital; although the highest court, the Constitutional Court of South Africa has been based in Johannesburg since 1994. Most foreign embassies are located in Pretoria.

Since 2004, South Africa has had many thousands of popular protests,{{cite news |last1=Alexander |first1=Peter |title=Protests and Police Statistics: Some Commentary |url=https://www.amandla.org.za/protests-and-police-statistics-some-commentary-by-prof-peter-alexander/ |work=Amandla |date=27 March 2012 |access-date=8 April 2024 |archive-date=28 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231128234908/https://www.amandla.org.za/protests-and-police-statistics-some-commentary-by-prof-peter-alexander/ |url-status=live }} some violent, making it, according to one academic, the "most protest-rich country in the world".{{cite web|first=Imraan|last=Buccus|url=http://abahlali.org/node/1898|title=Mercury: Rethinking the crisis of local democracy|date=27 August 2007 |publisher=Abahlali.org|access-date=30 October 2011|archive-date=19 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111019160241/http://abahlali.org/node/1898|url-status=live }} There have been numerous incidents of political repression as well as threats of future repression in violation of the constitution, leading some analysts and civil society organisations to conclude that there is or could be a new climate of political repression.{{cite web|author=J. Duncan|url=http://www.sacsis.org.za/site/article/489.1|title=The Return of State Repression|publisher=South African Civil Society Information Services|date=31 May 2010|access-date=26 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130630181604/http://www.sacsis.org.za/site/article/489.1|archive-date=30 June 2013|url-status=dead }}{{cite web|url=http://www.fxi.org.za/content/view/47/51/|title=Increasing police repression highlighted by recent case|publisher=Freedom of Expression Institute|year=2006|access-date=26 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120181236/http://www.fxi.org.za/content/view/47/51/|archive-date=20 January 2013}}

In 2022, South Africa was placed sixth out of 48 sub-Saharan African countries on the Ibrahim Index of African Governance. South Africa scored well in the categories of Rule of Law, Transparency, Corruption, Participation and Human Rights, but scored low in Safety and Security.{{cite web|title=South Africa's recent performance in the Ibrahim Index of African Governance|url=http://www.moibrahimfoundation.org/south-africa/|publisher=Mo Ibrahim Foundation|access-date=16 February 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130218132708/http://www.moibrahimfoundation.org/south-africa/|archive-date=18 February 2013 }} In 2006, South Africa became one of the first jurisdictions in the world to legalise same-sex marriage.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/6159991.stm|title=SA marriage law signed|work=BBC News|date=30 November 2006|access-date=26 June 2013|archive-date=20 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211120235651/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/6159991.stm|url-status=live }}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/02/world/africa/samesex-unions-to-become-legal-in-south-africa.html|title=Same-Sex Unions to Become Legal in South Africa|work=The New York Times|date=2 December 2005|access-date=February 5, 2018|last1=Wines|first1=Michael|archive-date=10 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010183929/https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/02/world/africa/samesex-unions-to-become-legal-in-south-africa.html|url-status=live}}

The Constitution of South Africa is the supreme rule of law in the country. The primary sources of South African law are Roman-Dutch mercantile law and personal law and English Common law, as imports of Dutch settlements and British colonialism.{{cite web|url=http://www.llrx.com/features/southafrica.htm|title=Researching South African Law|access-date=23 June 2008|first1=Pamela|last1=Snyman|first2=Amanda|last2=Barratt|name-list-style=amp|date=2 October 2002|publisher=w/ Library Resource Xchange|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080617154356/http://www.llrx.com/features/southafrica.htm|archive-date=17 June 2008 }} The first European-based law in South Africa was brought by the Dutch East India Company and is called Roman-Dutch law. It was imported before the codification of European law into the Napoleonic Code and is comparable in many ways to Scots law. This was followed in the 19th century by English law, both common and statutory. After unification in 1910, South Africa had its own parliament which passed laws specific for South Africa, building on those previously passed for the individual member colonies. The judicial system consists of the magistrates' courts, which hear lesser criminal cases and smaller civil cases; the High Court, which has divisions that serve as the courts of general jurisdiction for specific areas; the Supreme Court of Appeal; and the Constitutional Court, which is the highest court.

{{Main|Foreign relations of South Africa}}

File:PM in a family photograph during the BRICS Leaders Retreat Meeting, at Johannesburg, in South Africa on August 23, 2023 (1).jpg leaders during the 15th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, August 2023.]]

As the Union of South Africa, the country was a founding member of the United Nations (UN), with Prime Minister Jan Smuts writing the preamble to the UN Charter.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/alumni/Magazine/Summer2001/Gildersleeve.html|title=Virginia Gildersleeve: Opening the Gates (Living Legacies)|first=Rosalind|last=Rosenberg|date=Summer 2001|magazine=Columbia Magazine|access-date=14 December 2009|archive-date=2 January 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040102153832/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/alumni/Magazine/Summer2001/Gildersleeve.html|url-status=live }}{{cite book|author=Schlesinger, Stephen E.|title=Act of Creation: The Founding of the United Nations: A Story of Superpowers, Secret Agents, Wartime Allies and Enemies, and Their Quest for a Peaceful World|publisher=Westview, Perseus Books Group|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|year=2004|pages=236–7|isbn=978-0-8133-3275-8 }} South Africa is one of the founding members of the African Union (AU) and has the largest economy of all the members. It is a founding member of the AU's New Partnership for Africa's Development. After apartheid ended, South Africa was readmitted to the Commonwealth of Nations. The country is a member of the Group of 77 and chaired the organisation in 2006. South Africa is also a member of the Southern African Development Community, South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone, Southern African Customs Union, Antarctic Treaty System, World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund, G20, G8+5, and the Port Management Association of Eastern and Southern Africa.

South Africa has played a key role as a mediator in African conflicts over the last decade, such as in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Comoros, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

President Jacob Zuma and Chinese President Hu Jintao upgraded bilateral ties between the two countries in 2010 when they signed the Beijing Agreement which elevated South Africa's earlier "strategic partnership" with China to the higher level of "comprehensive strategic partnership" in both economic and political affairs, including the strengthening of exchanges between their respective ruling parties and legislatures.{{cite web|url=http://capetown.china-consulate.org/eng/gdxw/t726883.htm|title=China, South Africa upgrade relations to "comprehensive strategic partnership"|publisher=Capetown.china-consulate.org|date=25 August 2010|access-date=26 June 2013|archive-date=31 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130731050004/http://capetown.china-consulate.org/eng/gdxw/t726883.htm|url-status=live }}{{cite web|url=http://www.southafrica.info/global/brics/brics-080411.htm|title=New era as South Africa joins BRICS|publisher=Southafrica.info|date=11 April 2011|access-date=26 June 2013|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110418004139/http://www.southafrica.info/global/brics/brics-080411.htm|archive-date=18 April 2011}} In 2011, South Africa joined the Brazil-Russia-India-China (BRICS) grouping of countries, identified by Zuma as the country's largest trading partners and also the largest trading partners with Africa as a whole. Zuma asserted that BRICS member countries would also work with each other through the UN, G20, and the India, Brazil South Africa (IBSA) forum.{{cite web|url=http://www.southafrica.info/global/brics/brics-140411.htm|title=SA brings 'unique attributes' to BRICS|publisher=Southafrica.info|date=14 April 2011|access-date=26 June 2013|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709031314/http://www.southafrica.info/global/brics/brics-140411.htm|archive-date=9 July 2011}}

{{Main|South African National Defence Force}}

{{Multiple image

| image1 = SAAF-Gripen-001 (cropped).jpg

| alt1 =

| caption1 = South African Air Force Saab Gripen

| image2 = Rooivalk in flight (cropped).jpg

| caption2 = South African-made Rooivalk attack helicopter

| image3 = SAS Spioenkop during Exercise IBSAMAR V (cropped).JPG

| caption3 = SAS Spioenkop (F147), one of the four Valour-class stealth guided-missile frigates of the South African Navy

| total_width =

| perrow = 2

| caption4 = The Denel Rooivalk attack helicopter

| direction = vertical

| width = 220

}}

The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) was created in 1994{{cite web|url=http://www.info.gov.za/documents/constitution/93cons.htm#SECTION224|title=Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act 200 of 1993 (Section 224)|access-date=23 June 2008|year=1993|publisher=South African Government|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080612100516/http://www.info.gov.za/documents/constitution/93cons.htm|archive-date=12 June 2008 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.issafrica.org/Pubs/ASR/6No2/VanStade.html|title=Rationalisation in the SANDF: The Next Challenge|access-date=23 June 2008|year=1997|author=L. B. van Stade|publisher=Institute for Security Studies|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160316204323/https://issafrica.org/pubs/asr/6no2/vanstade.html|archive-date=16 March 2016 }} as a volunteer military composed of the former South African Defence Force, the forces of the African nationalist groups ({{lang|xh|uMkhonto we Sizwe|italics=no}} and Azanian People's Liberation Army), and the former Bantustan defence forces. The SANDF is subdivided into four branches, the South African Army, the South African Air Force, the South African Navy, and the South African Military Health Service.{{cite web|url=http://www.info.gov.za/gazette/acts/2002/a42-02.pdf|title=Defence Act 42 of 2002|access-date=23 June 2008|date=12 February 2003|publisher=South African Government|page=18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080624211758/http://www.info.gov.za/gazette/acts/2002/a42-02.pdf|archive-date=24 June 2008|url-status=dead }} The SANDF consists of around 75,000 professional soldiers as of 2019.{{Cite web |title=Career Descriptions – S. A. National Defence Force |url=https://www.bmdnet.co.za/S/S_%20A_%20National%20Defence%20Force.htm |access-date=2023-04-12 |website=www.bmdnet.co.za |archive-date=14 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414225121/https://www.bmdnet.co.za/S/S_%20A_%20National%20Defence%20Force.htm |url-status=live }} In recent years, the SANDF has become a major peacekeeping force in Africa,{{cite web|url=http://www.dod.mil.za/media/media2005/sep/media_statements5sep2005.htm|title=Address by the Minister of Defence at a media breakfast at Defence Headquarters, Pretoria|access-date=23 June 2008|first=Mosiuoa|last=Lekota|date=5 September 2005|publisher=Department of Defence|archive-date=14 December 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071214012305/http://www.dod.mil.za/media/media2005/sep/media_statements5sep2005.htm|url-status=dead}} and has been involved in operations in Lesotho, the DRC, and Burundi, amongst others. It has also served in multinational UN Peacekeeping forces such as the UN Force Intervention Brigade. In 2022 the nation spent US$3.069 billion on its armed forces which is about 0.86% of the nation's entire GDP. Over the years, defence expenditure has been cut as the nation currently faces no external military threats.{{Cite web |last=Martin |first=Guy |date=2021-05-05 |title=SA defence budget falling to only .86% of GDP |url=https://www.defenceweb.co.za/featured/sa-defence-budget-falling-to-only-86-of-gdp/ |access-date=2023-04-12 |website=defenceWeb |language=en-ZA |archive-date=28 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230228091204/https://www.defenceweb.co.za/featured/sa-defence-budget-falling-to-only-86-of-gdp/ |url-status=live }}

The South African Army is the largest branch of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), focusing on land warfare. Established in 1912, it is one of the oldest armies in Africa and has a long history of involvement in peacekeeping missions, counter-insurgency operations, and regional defence.

The South African Air Force (SAAF) is the aerial warfare branch and is responsible for protecting the country's airspace, supporting ground forces, and conducting humanitarian and peacekeeping operations. It operates around 230 aircraft including helicopters, fighter jets, combat drones and training jets, notable aircraft of the SAAF include the advanced JAS-39 Gripen multi-role fighter jet and the South African-made Denel Rooivalk attack helicopter. Established in 1920, the SAAF is one of the oldest air forces in the world.{{Cite web |title=The South African Air Force |url=https://www.saairforce.co.za/the-airforce/history/saaf/south-africa-aviation-corps |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=www.saairforce.co.za}}

The South African Navy is the naval warfare branch and is responsible for protecting the country’s vast coastline, securing maritime trade routes, and conducting peacekeeping and anti-piracy operations. The South African Navy operates a modern and well-equipped fleet of vessels, some of the key naval assets include the Valour-class stealth guided-missile frigates and the Heroine-class attack submarines making the South African Navy one of the most capable navies in the African Region.{{Cite web |last=Martin |first=Guy |date=2023-10-02 |title=South Africa has one of the strongest navies in Africa: its strengths and weaknesses |url=https://www.defenceweb.co.za/sa-defence/sa-defence-sa-defence/south-africa-has-one-of-the-strongest-navies-in-africa-its-strengths-and-weaknesses/ |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=defenceWeb |language=en-ZA}} The South African Navy is headquartered at Simon's Town Naval Base, the largest naval facility in Africa, located near Cape Town.

The South African Military Industry is the most advanced on the African continent and one of the most advanced in the world.{{Cite web |title=South Africa: An Overview of the Defence Industry |url=https://ciaotest.cc.columbia.edu/olj/sa/sa_july01ber01.html |access-date=2023-04-14 |website=ciaotest.cc.columbia.edu |archive-date=6 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406194422/https://ciaotest.cc.columbia.edu/olj/sa/sa_july01ber01.html |url-status=live }} As of 2020 South Africa is the world's 24th largest arms exporter, the only nation in Africa.{{Cite web |title=Arms exports by country, around the world |url=https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/rankings/arms_exports/ |access-date=2023-04-14 |website=TheGlobalEconomy.com |language=en |archive-date=19 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230419004055/https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/rankings/arms_exports/ |url-status=live }} The Military industry is made up of several key companies that specialize in various aspects of military manufacturing, ranging from aerospace and shipbuilding to armored vehicles and weapon systems as well as missile and radar systems.{{Cite web |last=Lionel |first=Ekene |date=2017-11-28 |title=Here are some of South African Made weapons |url=https://www.military.africa/2017/11/here-are-some-of-south-african-made-weapons/ |access-date=2023-03-09 |website=Military Africa |language=en-US |archive-date=8 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230108090640/https://www.military.africa/2017/11/here-are-some-of-south-african-made-weapons/ |url-status=live }} Some of the main companies in South African military innovation include, Armscor, Denel, Paramount Group, Milkor, Sandock-Austral and BAE Systems South Africa.

South Africa is the only African country to have successfully developed nuclear weapons. It became the first country (followed by Ukraine) with nuclear capability to voluntarily renounce and dismantle its programme and in the process signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1991. South Africa undertook a nuclear weapons programme in the 1970s.{{cite web|url=https://fas.org/nuke/guide/rsa/nuke/ocp27.htm|title=Out of (South) Africa: Pretoria's Nuclear Weapons Experience|access-date=23 June 2008|author=Roy E. Horton III|date=October 1999|publisher=USAF Institute for National Security Studies|archive-date=6 May 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080506144626/http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/rsa/nuke/ocp27.htm|url-status=live}} South Africa is alleged to have conducted a nuclear test over the Atlantic in 1979,{{cite web|url=http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB190/01.pdf|title=South Atlantic Nuclear Event (National Security Council, Memorandum)|access-date=23 June 2008|first=Christine|last=Dodson|date=22 October 1979|publisher=George Washington University under Freedom of Information Act Request|archive-date=29 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629172818/http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB190/01.pdf|url-status=live}} although this is officially denied; de Klerk maintained that South Africa had "never conducted a clandestine nuclear test."{{cite book|author=Educational Foundation for Nuclear Science, Inc.|title=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qQwAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA3|access-date=26 June 2013|date=May 1993|publisher=Educational Foundation for Nuclear Science, Inc.|pages=3–4|chapter=South Africa comes clean|series=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: Science and Public Affairs|issn=0096-3402|archive-date=11 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131011173919/http://books.google.com/books?id=qQwAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA3|url-status=live}} Six nuclear devices were completed between 1980 and 1990 but all were dismantled by 1991. In 2017, South Africa signed the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.{{Cite web|url=https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XXVI-9&chapter=26&clang=_en|title=Chapter XXVI: Disarmament – No. 9 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons|publisher=United Nations Treaty Collection|date=7 July 2017|access-date=10 August 2019|archive-date=13 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813020027/https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XXVI-9&chapter=26&clang=_en|url-status=live }}

{{Main|Law enforcement in South Africa|Crime in South Africa}}

File:South african police may 2010.jpg with Vektor R5 rifles on parade in Johannesburg, 2010]]

Law enforcement in South Africa is primarily the responsibility of the South African Police Service (SAPS), South Africa's national police force. SAPS is responsible for investigating crime and security throughout the country. The South African Police Service has over 1,154 police stations across the country and over 150,950 officers.{{Cite web |title=South Africa Yearbook 2019/20 {{!}} Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) |url=https://www.gcis.gov.za/content/resourcecentre/sa-info/south-africa-yearbook-201920 |access-date=2023-03-02 |website=www.gcis.gov.za |archive-date=2 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230302215528/https://www.gcis.gov.za/content/resourcecentre/sa-info/south-africa-yearbook-201920 |url-status=live }} In 2023 the Special Task Force (SAPS) placed 9th at the international SWAT competition out of 55 law enforcement teams from across the world making it the best in Africa.{{Cite web |last=Mitchley |first=Alex |title=Best in Africa: SAPS' Special Task Force Unit places ninth at international SWAT competition |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/best-in-africa-saps-special-task-force-unit-places-ninth-at-international-swat-competition-20230226 |access-date=2023-03-02 |website=News24 |language=en-US |archive-date=2 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230302215527/https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/best-in-africa-saps-special-task-force-unit-places-ninth-at-international-swat-competition-20230226 |url-status=live }}

South Africa has the world's largest private security industry,{{Cite web |last=Martin |first=Guy |date=2012-10-30 |title=South Africa has world's largest private security industry; needs regulation – Mthethwa |url=https://www.defenceweb.co.za/industry/industry-industry/south-africa-has-worlds-largest-private-security-industry-needs-regulation-mthethwa/ |access-date=2023-04-09 |website=defenceWeb |language=en-ZA |archive-date=9 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409230533/https://www.defenceweb.co.za/industry/industry-industry/south-africa-has-worlds-largest-private-security-industry-needs-regulation-mthethwa/ |url-status=live }} with over 10,380 private security companies and 2.5 million private security personnel of which over 556,000 are active,{{Cite web |date=13 May 2021 |title=Security guards vs police officers in South Africa |url=https://businesstech.co.za/news/business/489295/security-guards-vs-police-officers-in-south-africa/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409232039/https://businesstech.co.za/news/business/489295/security-guards-vs-police-officers-in-south-africa/ |archive-date=9 April 2023 |access-date= |website=BusinessTech }} making it bigger than the South African Police Force and Military combined.{{Cite web |last=Eastwood |first=Victoria |date=2013-02-08 |title=Bigger than the army: South Africa's private security forces {{!}} CNN Business |url=https://www.cnn.com/2013/02/08/business/south-africa-private-security/index.html |access-date=2023-04-09 |website=CNN |language=en |archive-date=9 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409230533/https://www.cnn.com/2013/02/08/business/south-africa-private-security/index.html |url-status=live }} Private security mainly provide assistance to the South African Police Service (SAPS) to combat crime throughout the country. Over the years there has been tremendous growth in the private security industry.{{Cite web |title=Recent Growth In The Private Security Industry |url=https://www.buildingsecurity.com/blog/recent-private-security-growth/ |access-date=2023-04-09 |website=Building Security Services |language=en |archive-date=28 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628011407/https://www.buildingsecurity.com/blog/recent-private-security-growth/ |url-status=live }}

As of February 2023, South Africa has the sixth highest crime rate in the world.{{Cite web |date=3 February 2023 |title=The safest and most dangerous countries in the world – and where South Africa ranks |url=https://businesstech.co.za/news/lifestyle/661833/the-safest-and-most-dangerous-countries-in-the-world-and-where-south-africa-ranks/#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20platform's%20ranking,by%20gunshot%20per%20100%2C000%20people. |website=BusinessTech |access-date=9 April 2023 |archive-date=9 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409232040/https://businesstech.co.za/news/lifestyle/661833/the-safest-and-most-dangerous-countries-in-the-world-and-where-south-africa-ranks/#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20platform's%20ranking,by%20gunshot%20per%20100%2C000%20people. |url-status=live }} From April 2017 to March 2018, on average 57 murders were committed each day in South Africa.{{Cite web|url=https://businesstech.co.za/news/lifestyle/271997/heres-how-south-africas-crime-rate-compares-to-actual-warzones/|title=Here's how South Africa's crime rate compares to actual warzones|author=Staff Writer|website=businesstech.co.za|language=en-US|access-date=19 July 2019|archive-date=19 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190719182304/https://businesstech.co.za/news/lifestyle/271997/heres-how-south-africas-crime-rate-compares-to-actual-warzones/|url-status=live }} In the year ended March 2017, there were 20,336 murders and the murder rate was 35.9 per 100,000 – over five times higher than the global average of 6.2 per 100,000.{{Cite web|url=https://dataunodc.un.org/GSH_app|title=Global Study on Homicide – Statistics and Data|website=dataunodc.un.org|access-date=19 July 2019|archive-date=15 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190715203654/https://dataunodc.un.org/GSH_app|url-status=dead }} More than 526,000 South Africans were murdered from 1994 to 2019.{{cite news|last1=Gibson|first1=Douglas|title=SA's murder rate is worse than the coronavirus mortality rate|url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/opinion/sas-murder-rate-is-worse-than-the-coronavirus-mortality-rate-43987823|agency=IOL|publisher=iol.co.za|date=3 March 2020|access-date=4 August 2021|archive-date=4 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210804174704/https://www.iol.co.za/news/opinion/sas-murder-rate-is-worse-than-the-coronavirus-mortality-rate-43987823|url-status=live }}

File:Smash and Grab Hot Spot, Retreat (South Africa).jpg]]

South Africa has a high rape rate, with 43,195 rapes reported in 2014/15, and an unknown number of sexual assaults going unreported.{{cite web|url=https://africacheck.org/factsheets/guide-rape-statistics-in-south-africa/|title=GUIDE: Rape statistics in South Africa – Africa Check|access-date=11 July 2018|archive-date=25 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190325164521/https://africacheck.org/factsheets/guide-rape-statistics-in-south-africa/|url-status=live}} A 2009 survey of 1,738 men in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape by the Medical Research Council found one in four men admitted to raping someone,{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8107039.stm| work=BBC News| title=South African rape survey shock| date=18 June 2009| access-date=23 May 2010| archive-date=17 August 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817141650/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8107039.stm| url-status=live }} and another survey of 4,000 women in Johannesburg by CIET Africa found one in three said they had been raped in the past year.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/258446.stm|title=South Africa's rape shock|work=BBC News|date=19 January 1999|access-date=30 May 2010|archive-date=2 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402230527/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/258446.stm|url-status=live }} Rape occurs most commonly within relationships, but many men and women say that rape cannot occur in relationships; however, one in four women reported having been abused by an intimate partner.{{cite web|url=http://www.arsrc.org/downloads/sia/sep04/sep04.pdf|title=Sexual Violence Against Women in South Africa.|publisher=Sexuality in Africa 1.3|year=2004|access-date=29 February 2012|archive-date=18 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111018202051/http://www.arsrc.org/downloads/sia/sep04/sep04.pdf|url-status=live}} Rapes are also perpetrated by children (some as young as ten).{{cite web|url=http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/444213|title=Child rape in South Africa|work=Medscape |access-date=31 December 2010|archive-date=29 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101229174131/http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/444213|url-status=live }} The incidence of child and infant rape is among the highest in the world, largely as a result of the virgin cleansing myth, and a number of high-profile cases (sometimes as young as eight months) have outraged the nation.{{cite magazine|last=Perry|first=Alex|url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1680715,00.html?xid=feed-yahoo-full-world|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090818063455/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1680715,00.html?xid=feed-yahoo-full-world|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 August 2009|title=Oprah scandal rocks South Africa|magazine=Time|date=5 November 2007|access-date=15 May 2011}}

Between 1994 and 2018, there were more than 500 xenophobic attacks against foreigners in South Africa.{{cite news|title=After a Week of Xenophobic Attacks, South Africa Grapples for Answers|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/africa_after-week-xenophobic-attacks-south-africa-grapples-answers/6175309.html|work=VOA News|date=6 September 2019|access-date=22 September 2019|archive-date=22 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190922075016/https://www.voanews.com/africa/after-week-xenophobic-attacks-south-africa-grapples-answers|url-status=live }} The 2019 Johannesburg riots were similar in nature and origin to the 2008 xenophobic riots that also occurred in Johannesburg.{{Cite web|url=https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/gauteng-xenophobia-attacks-akin-to-2008-crisis-institute-of-race-relations-20190905|title=Gauteng xenophobia attacks akin to 2008 crisis – Institute of Race Relations|date=5 September 2019|website=News24|language=en|access-date=22 September 2019|archive-date=15 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190915032441/https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/gauteng-xenophobia-attacks-akin-to-2008-crisis-institute-of-race-relations-20190905|url-status=dead}}

{{Main|Administrative divisions of South Africa|Provinces of South Africa}}

File:Map of South Africa with English labels.svg]]

Each of the nine provinces is governed by a unicameral legislature, which is elected every five years by party-list proportional representation. The legislature elects a premier as head of government, and the premier appoints an Executive Council as a provincial cabinet. The powers of provincial governments are limited to topics listed in the constitution; these topics include such fields as health, education, public housing and transport.

The provinces are in turn divided into 52 districts: 8 metropolitan and 44 district municipalities. The district municipalities are further subdivided into 205 local municipalities. The metropolitan municipalities, which govern the largest urban agglomerations, perform the functions of both district and local municipalities.

{{Main|Economy of South Africa}}

File:Johannesburg Stock Exchange.jpg (JSE) is the largest stock exchange on the African continent and the 17th largest in the world with a market capitalization of $1.36 trillion.{{Cite web |title=JSE Trading Hours & Market Holidays [2023] |url=https://www.tradinghours.com/markets/jse |access-date=2023-03-26 |website=www.tradinghours.com |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326195115/https://www.tradinghours.com/markets/jse |url-status=live }}]]

South Africa has a mixed economy. Its economy is Africa's largest, most technologically advanced and industrialised. It also has a relatively high gross domestic product (GDP) per capita compared to other countries in sub-Saharan Africa US$16,080 at purchasing power parity as of 2023 ranked 95th. However, South Africa is still burdened by a relatively high rate of poverty and unemployment and is ranked in the top ten countries in the world for income inequality,{{cite web|url=http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/indicators/161.html|title=Inequality in income or expenditure / Gini index, Human Development Report 2007/08|publisher=Hdrstats.undp.org|date=4 November 2010|access-date=26 June 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116234423/http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/indicators/161.html|archive-date=16 January 2013 }}{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2172.html|title=Distribution of family income – Gini index|publisher=Cia.gov|access-date=26 June 2013|archive-date=13 June 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070613005439/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2172.html|url-status=dead }}{{cite web|url=http://www.iol.co.za/business/business-news/south-africa-has-widest-gap-between-rich-and-poor-1.707558|title=South Africa has highest gap between rich and poor|publisher=Business Report|date=28 September 2009|access-date=7 November 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111023162404/http://www.iol.co.za/business/business-news/south-africa-has-widest-gap-between-rich-and-poor-1.707558|archive-date=23 October 2011 }} measured by the Gini coefficient.

South Africa is ranked 40th by total wealth, making it the second wealthiest country in Africa, in terms of private wealth South Africa has a private wealth of $651 billion making South Africa's population the richest in Africa followed by Egypt with $307 billion and Nigeria with $228 billion.{{Cite web |date=2022-09-15 |title=South Africa, Egypt, and Nigeria account for 56% of Africa's wealth |url=https://qz.com/three-countries-account-for-56-of-africa-s-wealth-1849538625 |access-date=2023-02-04 |website=Quartz |language=en |archive-date=4 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204150042/https://qz.com/three-countries-account-for-56-of-africa-s-wealth-1849538625 |url-status=live }}

Approximately 55.5% (30.3 million people) of the population is living in poverty at the national upper poverty line while a total of 13.8 million people (25% of the population) are experiencing food poverty.

In 2015, 71% of net wealth are held by 10% of the population, whereas 60% of the population held only 7% of the net wealth, and the Gini coefficient was 0.63, whereas in 1996 it was 0.61.{{cite web|url=https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/southafrica/overview|title=The World Bank In South Africa|access-date=17 May 2020|archive-date=28 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200528020105/https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/southafrica/overview|url-status=live }}

Unlike most of the world's poor countries, South Africa does not have a thriving informal economy. Only 15% of South African jobs are in the informal sector, compared with around half in Brazil and India and nearly three-quarters in Indonesia. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) attributes this difference to South Africa's widespread welfare system.{{cite news|title=South Africa's economy: How it could do even better.|url=https://www.economist.com/node/16647365|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=17 October 2011|date=22 July 2010|archive-date=12 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120312021959/http://www.economist.com/node/16647365|url-status=live}} World Bank research shows that South Africa has one of the widest gaps between per capita GDP versus its Human Development Index ranking, with only Botswana showing a larger gap.{{cite web|title=DEPWeb: Beyond Economic Growth|url=http://www.worldbank.org/depweb/english/beyond/global/chapter15.html|publisher=The World Bank Group|access-date=17 October 2011|archive-date=6 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111106020301/http://www.worldbank.org/depweb/english/beyond/global/chapter15.html|url-status=live}}

File:Johannesburg Skyline.jpg, the financial capital of South Africa and the African continent{{Cite web |last=Oluwole |first=Victor |date=2022-04-14 |title=Top 10 wealthiest cities in Africa |url=https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/lifestyle/top-10-wealthiest-cities-in-africa/2l5l5t4 |access-date=2023-04-23 |website=Business Insider Africa |language=en |archive-date=28 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528061646/https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/lifestyle/top-10-wealthiest-cities-in-africa/2l5l5t4 |url-status=live }}]]

After 1994, government policy brought down inflation, stabilised public finances, and some foreign capital was attracted; however, growth was still below expectations.{{cite web|url=http://www.oecd.org/document/63/0,3343,en_2649_34577_40981951_1_1_1_1,00.html|title=Economic Assessment of South Africa 2008: Achieving Accelerated and Shared Growth for South Africa|publisher=OECD|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090809083550/http://www.oecd.org//document//63//0%2C3343%2Cen_2649_34577_40981951_1_1_1_1%2C00.html|archive-date= 9 August 2009 }} From 2004 onward, economic growth picked up significantly; both employment and capital formation increased. During the presidency of Jacob Zuma, the government increased the role of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Some of the biggest SOEs are Eskom, the electric power monopoly, South African Airways (SAA), and Transnet, the railroad and ports monopoly. Some of these SOEs have not been profitable, such as SAA, which has required bailouts totaling R30 billion (${{To USD|30|ZAF}} billion) over the 20 years preceding 2015."Commanding Plights." The Economist 29 August 2015: 37–38. Print.

Principal international trading partners of South Africa—besides other African countries—include Germany, the United States, China, Japan, the United Kingdom and Spain.{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/south-africa/|title=South Africa|website=The World Factbook|publisher=CIA|access-date=23 January 2021|archive-date=10 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110042951/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/south-africa|url-status=live}} The 2020 Financial Secrecy Index ranked South Africa as the 58th safest tax haven in the world.{{Cite web|title=Financial Secrecy Index 2020: Narrative Report on South Africa|url=https://fsi.taxjustice.net/PDF/SouthAfrica.pdf|access-date=28 February 2021|website=Financial Secrecy Index|archive-date=17 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417064406/https://fsi.taxjustice.net/PDF/SouthAfrica.pdf|url-status=live}}

The South African agricultural industry contributes around 10% of formal employment, relatively low compared to other parts of Africa, as well as providing work for casual labourers and contributing around 2.6% of GDP for the nation.{{cite book|title=Unequal protection the state response to violent crime on South African farms|year=2001|publisher=Human Rights Watch|isbn=978-1-56432-263-0|url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/safrica2/|access-date=4 December 2016|archive-date=1 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170201151617/https://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/safrica2/|url-status=live}} Due to the aridity of the land, only 13.5% can be used for crop production, and only 3% is considered high potential land.{{cite book|last=Mohamed|first=Najma|editor=Ben Cousins|title=At the Crossroads: Land and Agrarian Reform in South Africa Into the 21st Century|year=2000|publisher=Programme for Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS)|isbn=978-1-86808-467-8|chapter=Greening Land and Agrarian Reform: A Case for Sustainable Agriculture}}

In August 2013, South Africa was ranked as the top African Country of the Future by fDi Intelligence based on the country's economic potential, labour environment, cost-effectiveness, infrastructure, business friendliness, and foreign direct investment strategy.{{cite web|url=http://www.fdiintelligence.com/Locations/Middle-East-Africa/African-Countries-of-the-Future-2013-14|title=African Countries of the Future 2013/14|date=9 August 2013 |publisher=fDiIntelligence.com|access-date=4 December 2013|archive-date=11 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211072835/http://www.fdiintelligence.com/Locations/Middle-East-Africa/African-Countries-of-the-Future-2013-14|url-status=live}}

{{main|Mining in South Africa}}

File:Platinum Mining.jpg in Steelpoort, Limpopo, owned by both African Rainbow Minerals and Impala Platinum Holdings Limited]]

Mining has been a major component of South Africa's economy throughout its history. Until 2006 South Africa had been the world's largest gold producer for almost a century, by the end of 2009 gold mining in South Africa had declined rapidly, having produced 205 metric tons (mt) of gold in 2008 compared to 1,000 metric tons produced in 1970 (almost 80% of the world's mine supply at the time).{{Cite web |title=The Decline of South African Gold Mining {{!}} E & MJ |url=https://www.e-mj.com/features/the-decline-of-south-african-gold-mining/ |access-date=2023-03-11 |website=www.e-mj.com |archive-date=11 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230311085751/https://www.e-mj.com/features/the-decline-of-south-african-gold-mining/ |url-status=live }} Despite this, the country still has 6,000 tonnes of gold reserves{{Cite web |title=South African production: important but no longer globally significant |url=https://www.gold.org/goldhub/gold-focus/2019/06/south-african-production-important-no-longer-globally-significant |access-date=2023-03-11 |website=World Gold Council |date=18 June 2019 |language=en |archive-date=28 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200328151941/https://www.gold.org/goldhub/gold-focus/2019/06/south-african-production-important-no-longer-globally-significant |url-status=live }} and is still number 5 in gold production whilst remaining a supplier of a wide range of important mineral resources.{{Cite web |title=Gold Statistics and Information {{!}} U.S. Geological Survey |url=https://www.usgs.gov/centers/national-minerals-information-center/gold-statistics-and-information |access-date=2023-03-11 |website=www.usgs.gov |archive-date=14 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314173105/https://www.usgs.gov/centers/national-minerals-information-center/gold-statistics-and-information |url-status=live }} South Africa is home to the world's deepest gold mine, Mponeng Gold Mine, reaching nearly 4000m depth.{{Cite web |url=https://www.harmony.co.za/operations/south-africa/underground/mponeng/ |title=Mponeng mine |access-date=2024-03-10 |website=www.harmony.co.za |archive-date=12 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240312223745/https://www.harmony.co.za/operations/south-africa/underground/mponeng/ |url-status=live }} In 2015, South Africa's gold production was 145 metric tonnes.{{Cite web|url=https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/gold-production?tab=table|title=Gold production - Our World in Data}} It is the world's largest producer{{cite web|url=http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/mcs/|title=USGS Minerals Information: Mineral Commodity Summaries|website=minerals.USGS.gov|access-date=4 January 2018|archive-date=7 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171207190225/https://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/mcs/|url-status=live}} of chrome, manganese, platinum, vanadium and vermiculite. It is the second largest producer of ilmenite, palladium, rutile and zirconium. It is the world's third largest coal exporter.{{cite web|url=http://www.platts.com/Coal/highlights/2006/coalp_ee_091106.xml|title=South Africa's coal future looks bright|website=Platts.com|access-date=4 January 2018|archive-date=29 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130329012315/http://www.platts.com/Coal/highlights/2006/coalp_ee_091106.xml|url-status=live}} It is a major producer of iron ore; in 2012, it overtook India to become the world's third-biggest iron ore supplier to China, the world's largest consumers of iron ore.{{Citation

| url = http://www.miningweekly.com/article/sa-replaces-india-as-chinas-no-3-iron-ore-supplier-2013-01-21

| title = SA replaces India as China's No 3 iron-ore supplier

| year = 2013

| publisher = Mining Weekly

| publication-place = International

| access-date = 31 May 2021

| archive-date = 13 December 2020

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201213113139/https://www.miningweekly.com/article/sa-replaces-india-as-chinas-no-3-iron-ore-supplier-2013-01-21

| url-status = live

}}

{{Excerpt|Tourism in South Africa}}

File:Mandela Bridge, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa.jpg in Johannesburg]]

South Africa has a total road network of 750,000 kilometres, the largest of any African country and the 12th largest in the world. According to SANRAL, the road network is valued at more than R2.1 trillion. SANRAL manages national roads and has a network of 22,197 kilometres of paved roads. Provinces are responsible for 222,951 kilometres while, according to the DoT, the municipal network is estimated at 275,661 kilometres of the proclaimed network. The rest are unproclaimed gravel roads (mainly serving rural communities) and are therefore not owned or maintained by any road authority. The country has more than 12 million motor vehicles with an average density of 16 motor vehicles per kilometre. The provincial road network is about 222,951 kilometres in length, consisting of 170,837 kilometres of unpaved and 52,114 kilometres of paved roads.{{Cite web|url=https://www.treasury.gov.za/default.aspx|title=National Treasury|website=www.treasury.gov.za|accessdate=7 April 2023|archive-date=7 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407070341/https://www.treasury.gov.za/default.aspx|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Rail transport in South Africa}}

File:Gautrain..., O R Tambo Intl Airport South Africa.jpg higher-speed commuter rail]]

Rail transport in South Africa is an important element of the country's transport infrastructure. All major cities are connected by rail. Transnet Freight Rail mainly operates freight services while PRASA operates commuter services. State-owned utility Transnet Freight Rail is the largest freight rail transport operator on the African continent, the company maintains a rail network of approximately 31,000 kilometres but only 20,900 kilometres of this are in use.{{Cite web |title=South Africa Transnet Freight Rail |url=https://www.trade.gov/market-intelligence/south-africa-transnet-freight-rail |access-date=2023-03-07 |website=www.trade.gov |date=5 April 2022 |language=en |archive-date=7 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307183325/https://www.trade.gov/market-intelligence/south-africa-transnet-freight-rail |url-status=live }}

South Africa's railway system is the most developed and largest in Africa as well as the 13th largest in the world; however, vandalism, theft, and underinvestment has left the overall condition of the majority of networks in a poor state.{{cite web | url=https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/69554 | hdl=2263/69554 | title=A review on the current condition of rail infrastructure in South Africa | date=2 June 2024 | last1=George | first1=T. B. | last2=Mokoena | first2=R. | last3=Rust | first3=Frederik Christoffel }} Freight, passenger and port capacity shortages remain a severe constraint in domestic and regional trade.{{Cite web |title=South Africa – Rail Infrastructure |url=https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/south-africa-rail-infrastructure |access-date=2023-03-06 |website=www.trade.gov |language=en |archive-date=7 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307183325/https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/south-africa-rail-infrastructure |url-status=live }} Coal and iron ore are mainly transported on these lines. The country's rail network carried nearly 230 million tons of freight in 2017; however, this has declined to 179 million tons in 2021,{{Cite web |last=Daniel |first=Compiled by Luke |title=SA's railways have lost a quarter of its freight in five years – making already bad roads worse |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/bi-archive/more-trucks-on-south-african-roads-because-of-rail-collapse-2022-7 |access-date=2023-03-07 |website=News24 |language=en-US |archive-date=7 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307183330/https://www.news24.com/news24/bi-archive/more-trucks-on-south-african-roads-because-of-rail-collapse-2022-7 |url-status=live }} and it is likely that efforts will be made to revitalize these transport sectors through private sector partnerships.{{cite thesis | url=https://scholar.sun.ac.za/items/ed789b7c-c3f6-49c2-88e1-ac433f3fe894 | title=Revitalising rail : The case of public-private partnerships | date=April 2022 | last1=Kriel | first1=Rudi | access-date=20 May 2024 | archive-date=20 May 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240520062358/https://scholar.sun.ac.za/items/ed789b7c-c3f6-49c2-88e1-ac433f3fe894 | url-status=live }}

{{Main|List of airports in South Africa}}

File:South African Airways Airbus A340-313 ZS-SXE MUC 2015 01.jpg Airbus A340 at Munich Airport]]

South Africa has international airports in six cities: Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Kimberley and Nelspruit.{{Cite web |last=Yadav |first=Lalit |date=2021-12-02 |title=These 7 Awesome Airports In South Africa Are Making Travel Easy |url=https://traveltriangle.com/blog/airports-in-south-africa/ |access-date=2023-04-02 |language=en-US |archive-date=2 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230402230218/https://traveltriangle.com/blog/airports-in-south-africa/ |url-status=live }}

As of 2021, South Africa had 407 airports, making it the leading country in Africa in terms of airport ownership and the country ranked 20th globally.{{Cite web |title=Airports – The World Factbook |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/airports/country-comparison |access-date=2023-04-02 |website=www.cia.gov |archive-date=3 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220403171702/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/airports/country-comparison/ |url-status=live }}

The four major airports in South Africa are: O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, Cape Town International Airport, King Shaka International Airport in Durban and Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport in Port Elizabeth.

O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg is Africa's largest and busiest airport, receiving over 21 million passengers a year.{{Cite web |date=2019-07-08 |title=Top 10 largest airports in Africa |url=https://theafricalogistics.com/2019/07/08/top-10-largest-airports-in-africa/ |access-date=2023-04-02 |website=The Africa Logistics |language=en-US |archive-date=2 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230402230217/https://theafricalogistics.com/2019/07/08/top-10-largest-airports-in-africa/ |url-status=live }} During the 2022 Skytrax World Airport Awards, Cape Town International Airport was voted the best airport on the African continent for the seventh consecutive year, Durban's King Shaka International Airport was voted the second best in Africa and Johannesburg's O.R. Tambo International Airport came third place.{{Cite web |last=Daniel |first=Luke |title=Cape Town voted best airport in Africa – for 7th year in a row – but its global rank slides |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/bi-archive/cape-town-airport-still-best-in-africa-but-drops-globally-2022-6 |access-date=2023-04-02 |website=News24 |language=en-US |archive-date=2 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230402230217/https://www.news24.com/news24/bi-archive/cape-town-airport-still-best-in-africa-but-drops-globally-2022-6 |url-status=live }}

{{main|Energy in South Africa}}

{{See also|Eskom|List of power stations in South Africa}}

File:Koebergnps.jpg in Cape Town, it is the only nuclear power plant in Africa]]

South Africa has a very large energy sector and is currently the only country on the African continent that possesses a nuclear power plant.{{Cite web |title=Koeberg Nuclear Power Station Refurbishment – NS Energy |url=https://www.nsenergybusiness.com/projects/koeberg-nuclear-power-station-refurbishment/ |access-date=2022-08-05 |language=en-US |archive-date=5 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220805165100/https://www.nsenergybusiness.com/projects/koeberg-nuclear-power-station-refurbishment/ |url-status=live }} The country is the largest producer of electricity on the African continent and it ranks 21st globally.{{Cite web |title=Electricity – production – Country Comparison – TOP 100 |url=https://www.indexmundi.com/g/r.aspx?v=79&t=100 |access-date=2022-08-05 |website=www.indexmundi.com |language=en |archive-date=27 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220727094747/https://www.indexmundi.com/g/r.aspx?v=79&t=100 |url-status=live }} South Africa is the 7th largest coal producer in the world and produces in excess of 248 million tonnes of coal and consumes almost three-quarters of that domestically. Around 77% of South Africa's energy needs are directly derived from coal and 92% of coal consumed on the African continent is mined in South Africa. South Africa is also the world's 14th largest emitter of greenhouse gases.{{Cite web |last=Prater |first=Tom |date=2018-10-15 |title=The Carbon Brief Profile: South Africa |url=https://www.carbonbrief.org/the-carbon-brief-profile-south-africa/ |access-date=2023-02-14 |website=Carbon Brief |language=en |archive-date=14 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230214140210/https://www.carbonbrief.org/the-carbon-brief-profile-south-africa/ |url-status=live }}

The country's primary electricity generator is Eskom, the utility is the largest producer of electricity in Africa, and is among the top seven utilities in the world in terms of generation capacity and among the top nine in terms of sales.{{Cite web |first1=Antony |last1=Sguazzin |first2=Prinesha |last2=Naidoo |first3=Paul |last3=Burkhardt |title=Eskom turns 100 next year – here's how it went from world best to SA's biggest economic risk |url=https://www.news24.com/fin24/economy/eskom-turns-100-next-year-heres-how-it-went-from-world-best-to-sas-biggest-economic-risk-20220927 |access-date=2023-04-22 |website=Business |language=en-US |archive-date=23 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423120444/https://www.news24.com/fin24/economy/eskom-turns-100-next-year-heres-how-it-went-from-world-best-to-sas-biggest-economic-risk-20220927 |url-status=live }} It is the largest of South Africa's state owned enterprises. Eskom generates approximately 95% of electricity in South Africa and operates a number of notable power stations, including the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station in Cape Town, the only nuclear power plant in Africa, Kendal Power Station, the largest dry-cooled power station in the world,{{Cite web |date=2022-11-11 |title=100 Years – Eskom Heritage |url=https://www.eskom.co.za/heritage/ |access-date=2023-04-22 |website=www.eskom.co.za |language=en-US |archive-date=23 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423120446/https://www.eskom.co.za/heritage/ |url-status=live }} as well as Duvha Power Station which became the first power station in the world to be retrofitted with pulse jet fabric filter plants.{{Cite web |date=2021-02-16 |title=Coal fired power stations – Eskom |url=https://www.eskom.co.za/eskom-divisions/gx/coal-fired-power-stations/ |access-date=2023-04-23 |website=www.eskom.co.za |language=en-US |archive-date=27 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230127183424/https://www.eskom.co.za/eskom-divisions/gx/coal-fired-power-stations/ |url-status=live }} In 2001 Eskom was named the best electricity utility in the entire world.

{{Main|South African energy crisis}}

File:Kusilekragsentrale, Mpumalanga, 2019, a.jpg was built as a response to the energy crisis. When fully operational it will be the 4th largest coal-fired power station in the world.{{Cite web |title=Engineering News – Kusile power plant project, South Africa – update |url=https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/print-version/kusilepower-plant-project-south-africa-update-2023-02-24#:~:text=The%20Kusile%20power%20station%20project,power%20station%20in%20the%20world. |access-date=2023-03-02 |website=Engineering News |language=en |archive-date=2 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230302215527/https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/print-version/kusilepower-plant-project-south-africa-update-2023-02-24#:~:text=The%20Kusile%20power%20station%20project,power%20station%20in%20the%20world. |url-status=live }}]]Due to severe mismanagement and corruption at Eskom, the company is R392bn ($22bn) in debt and is unable to meet the demands of the South African power grid.{{Cite web |title=Problems at Eskom Identified as a Main Cause of SA's Energy Crisis |url=https://caes.ukzn.ac.za/news/problems-at-eskom-identified-as-a-main-cause-of-sas-energy-crisis/ |access-date=2023-04-02 |website=College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science |language=en-ZA |archive-date=7 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407151643/https://caes.ukzn.ac.za/news/problems-at-eskom-identified-as-a-main-cause-of-sas-energy-crisis/ |url-status=live }} Due to this, Eskom implemented loadshedding for the first time in 2007, which is periodically switching off electricity to specific power grids in specific time frames. This was done to prevent a failure of the entire system when the demand for electricity strains the capacity of Eskom's power generating system. Load shedding is characterized by periods of widespread national-level rolling blackouts.{{Cite web |title=How Eskom & The Government Can Put An End To Loadshedding in South Africa |url=https://www.greenpeace.org/africa/en/blogs/53187/how-the-government-eskom-can-put-an-end-to-load-shedding/ |access-date=2023-04-02 |website=Greenpeace Africa |language=en |archive-date=31 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331095328/https://www.greenpeace.org/africa/en/blogs/53187/how-the-government-eskom-can-put-an-end-to-load-shedding/ |url-status=live }} Crime such as theft, and sabotage at Eskom power stations had also been a significant issue contributing to South Africa's energy crisis.{{Cite web |last=Diemen |first=Ethan van |date=2023-03-04 |title=Eskom sabotage: how cartels plunge South Africa into darkness |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-03-04-eskom-sabotage-cartels-power-cuts/ |access-date=2024-10-06 |website=Daily Maverick |language=en}}

The government and Eskom have made significant strides toward resolving the issues that have plagued the power system for years. Key to this progress has been a focus on improving maintenance of its coal-fired power plants, reducing frequent breakdowns that caused widespread load shedding. In addition, there has been a noticeable increase in the contribution of renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind, from independent power producers (IPPs), which has helped diversify South Africa's energy mix and reduce reliance on coal.{{Cite web |title=South Africa load-shedding: How Eskom has kept the lights on |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4ng1ygxzddo |access-date=2024-10-06 |website=www.bbc.com |date=6 August 2024 |language=en-GB}}

In addition, energy supply has stabilized, with no (planned power cuts) since late March 2024. Prior to this, electricity supply shortages had constrained South Africa’s growth for several years. The cumulated duration of the outages due to rotational load shedding, each of which lasted 2 to 4 hours, was equivalent to 289 days in 2023, up from 157 in 2022 and 48 in 2021. This severe electricity shortfall disrupted economic activity and increased operating costs for businesses, many of which rely on costly diesel generators. However, there are subsequent improvements in electricity supply which have been attributed to improvements in the management of the national power utility Eskom, and high-level political support from the President and the Minister of Electricity.

{{Main|Science and technology in South Africa}}

File:Mark Shuttleworth NASA.jpg in space]]

Several important scientific and technological developments have originated in South Africa. South Africa was ranked 69th in the Global Innovation Index in 2024.{{Cite book |author=World Intellectual Property Organization |year=2024 |title=Global Innovation Index 2024: Unlocking the Promise of Social Entrepreneurship |url=https://www.wipo.int/web-publications/global-innovation-index-2024/en/ |access-date=2024-10-06 |page=18 |publisher=World Intellectual Property Organization |language=en |doi=10.34667/tind.50062 |isbn=978-92-805-3681-2}} The first human-to-human heart transplant was performed by cardiac surgeon Christiaan Barnard at Groote Schuur Hospital in December 1967; Max Theiler developed a vaccine against yellow fever, Allan MacLeod Cormack pioneered X-ray computed tomography (CT scan); and Aaron Klug developed crystallographic electron microscopy techniques. Cormack and Klug received Nobel Prizes for their work. Sydney Brenner won in 2002, for his pioneering work in molecular biology. Mark Shuttleworth founded an early Internet security company Thawte.{{Cite web |title=About Thawte - SSL and Code Signing Certificates from Thawte, Inc. |url=https://www.thawte.com/about/ |access-date=2024-05-11 |website=www.thawte.com}}

South Africa has cultivated a burgeoning astronomy community. It hosts the Southern African Large Telescope, the largest optical telescope in the Southern Hemisphere. South Africa is currently building the Karoo Array Telescope as a pathfinder for the €1.5 billion Square Kilometre Array project.{{cite web|url=http://www.skatelescope.org/news/2nd-april-news/|title=SKA announces Founding Board and selects Jodrell Bank Observatory to host Project Office|publisher=SKA 2011|date=2 April 2011|access-date=14 April 2011|archive-date=29 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121029041532/http://www.skatelescope.org/news/2nd-april-news/|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Transport in South Africa}}

File:MyCiti Bus system Civic Centre station 2.JPG Bus in Cape Town]]

Modes of transport include roads, railways, airports, water, and pipelines for petroleum oil. The majority of people in South Africa use informal minibus taxis as their main mode of transport. Bus rapid transit has been implemented in some cities in an attempt to provide more formalised and safer public transport services. South Africa has many major ports including Cape Town, Durban, and Port Elizabeth that allow ships and other boats to pass through, some carrying passengers and some carrying petroleum tankers.

{{Main|Water supply and sanitation in South Africa}}

Two distinctive features of the South African water sector are the policy of free basic water and the existence of water boards, which are bulk water supply agencies that operate pipelines and sell water from reservoirs to municipalities. These features have led to significant problems concerning the financial sustainability of service providers, leading to a lack of attention to maintenance. Following the end of apartheid, the country had made improvements in the levels of access to water as those with access increased from 66% to 79% from 1990 to 2010.WHO/UNICEF:Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation:[http://www.wssinfo.org/data-estimates/table/ Data table South Africa] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209002836/http://www.wssinfo.org/data-estimates/table/|date= 9 February 2014 }}, 2010. Retrieved 3 November 2012 Sanitation access increased from 71% to 79% during the same period. However, water supply and sanitation has come under increasing pressure in recent years despite a commitment made by the government to improve service standards and provide investment subsidies to the water industry.{{Cite web|url=http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/688965/?sc=c59|title=Professor Says Cape Town Crisis Should Serve as a 'Wakeup Call to All Major U.S. Cities'|website=www.newswise.com|access-date=14 June 2018|archive-date=14 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614121654/http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/688965/?sc=c59|url-status=live}}

The eastern parts of South Africa suffer from periodic droughts linked to the El Niño weather phenomenon.{{cite web|url=https://theconversation.com/why-cape-towns-drought-was-so-hard-to-forecast-84735|title=Why Cape Town's drought was so hard to forecast|first=Bruce|last=Hewitson|date=19 October 2017 |access-date=11 July 2018|archive-date=11 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180711112014/https://theconversation.com/why-cape-towns-drought-was-so-hard-to-forecast-84735|url-status=live}} In early 2018, Cape Town, which has different weather patterns to the rest of the country, faced a water crisis as the city's water supply was predicted to run dry before the end of June. Water-saving measures were in effect that required each citizen to use less than {{Convert|50|l|gal}} per day.[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-42982959 "The 11 cities most likely to run out of drinking water – like Cape Town"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180213225140/https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/world-42982959|date=13 February 2018 }} 11 February 2018. BBC News. Cape Town rejected an offer from Israel to help it build desalination plants.[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saundersonmeyer-drought-commentary/commentary-in-drought-hit-south-africa-the-politics-of-water-idUSKBN1FP226 In drought-hit South Africa, the politics of water] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122202625/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saundersonmeyer-drought-commentary/commentary-in-drought-hit-south-africa-the-politics-of-water-idUSKBN1FP226|date=22 November 2018 }}, Reuters, 25 January 2018[https://www.wsj.com/articles/cape-town-may-dry-up-because-of-an-aversion-to-israel-1519254816 Cape Town May Dry Up Because of an Aversion to Israel] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211214053920/https://www.wsj.com/articles/cape-town-may-dry-up-because-of-an-aversion-to-israel-1519254816|date=14 December 2021 }}, Wall St. Journal, 21 February 2018[https://www.aish.com/jw/me/The-Cape-Town-Water-Crisis-and-Hating-Israel.html The Cape Town Water Crisis and Hating Israel] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211214053921/https://www.aish.com/jw/me/The-Cape-Town-Water-Crisis-and-Hating-Israel.html|date=14 December 2021 }}, aish, 11 February 2018[https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/South-African-stupidity-540605 South African stupidity] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211214053918/https://www.jpost.com/opinion/south-african-stupidity-540605|date=14 December 2021 }}, Jerusalem Post, 3 February 2018

{{Main|Culture of South Africa}}

The South African black majority still has a substantial number of rural inhabitants who lead largely impoverished lives. It is among these people that cultural traditions survive most strongly; as black people have become increasingly urbanised and Westernised, aspects of traditional culture have declined. Members of the middle class, who have historically been predominantly white but whose ranks include growing numbers of black, Coloured and Indian people,{{cite news|url=http://www.fin24.co.za/articles/default/display_article.aspx?Nav=ns&ArticleID=1518-25_2117122|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070822120841/http://www.fin24.co.za/articles/default/display_article.aspx?Nav=ns&ArticleID=1518-25_2117122|archive-date=22 August 2007|title=Black middle class explodes|date=22 May 2007|publisher=FIN24|url-status=dead }}{{Cite web |date=2023-05-04 |title=South Africa Black Middle-Class Demographic Study 2023 |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/south-africa-black-middle-class-131300018.html |access-date=2023-11-05 |website=Yahoo Finance |language=en-US}} have lifestyles similar in many respects to that of people found in Western Europe, North America and Australasia.

File:San Rock Art - Cederberg.jpg by the San people, Cederberg]]

South African art includes the oldest art objects in the world, which were discovered in a South African cave and dated from roughly 75,000 years ago.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/apr/16/artsandhumanities.arts|title=World's Oldest Jewellery Found in Cave|work=The Guardian|access-date=16 April 2011|location=London|first=Tim|last=Radford|date=16 April 2004|archive-date=12 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210212095737/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/apr/16/artsandhumanities.arts|url-status=live }} The scattered tribes of the Khoisan peoples moving into South Africa from around 10,000 BC had their own fluent art styles seen today in a multitude of cave paintings. They were superseded by the Bantu/Nguni peoples with their own vocabularies of art forms. Forms of art evolved in the mines and townships: a dynamic art using everything from plastic strips to bicycle spokes. The Dutch-influenced folk art of the Afrikaner Trekboer and the urban white artists, earnestly following changing European traditions from the 1850s onwards, also contributed to this eclectic mix which continues to evolve to this day.

{{Further information|Music of South Africa}}

The South African media sector is large, and South Africa is one of Africa's major media centres. While the many broadcasters and publications reflect the diversity of the population as a whole, the most commonly used language is English. However, all ten other official languages are represented to some extent or another.

There is great diversity in South African music. Black musicians have developed unique styles called Kwaito and Amapiano, that is said to have taken over radio, television, and magazines.{{cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2822/is_3_28/ai_n15648564/pg_5|title=South African music after Apartheid: kwaito, the "party politic," and the appropriation of gold as a sign of success|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130613074154/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2822/is_3_28/ai_n15648564/pg_5|archive-date=13 June 2013 }} Of note is Brenda Fassie, who launched to fame with her song "Weekend Special", which was sung in English. More famous traditional musicians include Ladysmith Black Mambazo, while the Soweto String Quartet performs classical music with an African flavour. South Africa has produced world-famous jazz musicians, notably Hugh Masekela, Jonas Gwangwa, Abdullah Ibrahim, Miriam Makeba, Jonathan Butler, Chris McGregor, and Sathima Bea Benjamin. Afrikaans music covers multiple genres, such as the contemporary Steve Hofmeyr, the punk rock band Fokofpolisiekar, and the singer-songwriter Jeremy Loops. South African popular musicians that have found international success include Manfred Mann, Johnny Clegg, rap-rave duo Die Antwoord, Tyla, and rock band Seether. Rappers such as AKA, Nasty C and Cassper Nyovest gained notoriety in other avenues like the BET Awards for best African acts.

File:2014-11-26 traditional Zulu performance 02 anagoria.JPG perform a traditional dance.]]

Although few South African film productions are known outside South Africa, many foreign films have been produced about South Africa. Arguably, the most high-profile film portraying South Africa in recent years was District 9, as well as Chappie. Other notable exceptions are the film {{lang|fly|Tsotsi}}, which won the Academy Award for Foreign Language Film at the 78th Academy Awards in 2006, as well as {{lang|xh|U-Carmen e-Khayelitsha}}, which won the Golden Bear at the 2005 Berlin International Film Festival. In 2015, the Oliver Hermanus film The Endless River became the first South African film selected for the Venice Film Festival.

{{Main|South African literature}}

{{Multiple image

| direction = horizontal

| total_width = 210

| image1 = Sol Plaatje 002.jpg

| caption1 = Sol Plaatje

| image2 = Alan Paton.jpg

| caption2 = Alan Paton

| image3 = Archibald Campbell Mzolisa Jordan .jpg

| caption3 = Archibald Campbell Jordan

| image4 = Breyten Breytenbach, Bestanddeelnr 932-4729.jpg

| caption4 = Breyten Breytenbach

| perrow = 2

| caption_align = center

}}

South African literature emerged from a unique social and political history. One of the first well-known novels written by a black author in an African language was Solomon Thekiso Plaatje's Mhudi, written in 1930. During the 1950s, Drum magazine became a hotbed of political satire, fiction, and essays, giving a voice to the urban black culture.

Notable white South African authors include anti-apartheid activist Alan Paton, who published the novel Cry, the Beloved Country in 1948. Nadine Gordimer became the first South African to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1991. J.M. Coetzee won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2003. When awarding the prize, the Swedish Academy stated that Coetzee "in innumerable guises portrays the surprising involvement of the outsider."{{cite news|url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2003/press.html|title=The Nobel Prize in Literature: John Maxwell Coetzee|date=2 October 2003|publisher=Swedish Academy|access-date=2 August 2009|archive-date=7 March 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090307025506/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2003/press.html|url-status=live}}

The plays of Athol Fugard have been regularly premiered in fringe theatres in South Africa, London (Royal Court Theatre) and New York. Olive Schreiner's The Story of an African Farm (1883) was a revelation in Victorian literature: it is heralded by many as introducing feminism into the novel form.

Breyten Breytenbach was jailed for his involvement with the guerrilla movement against apartheid.{{cite book |author1=André Brink |url=https://archive.org/details/seasoninparadise0000brey |title=A Season in Paradise |publisher=Faber and Faber |year=1985 |isbn=0-571-13491-2 |location=London |page=11 |chapter=Introduction |url-access=registration}} André Brink was the first Afrikaner writer to be banned by the government after he released the novel A Dry White Season.{{Cite news

| url = http://www.csmonitor.com/1980/0310/031052.html

| title = Novel for foreigners who want to understand the Afrikaner; A Dry White Season, by Andre Brink. New York: William Morrow & Co. $10.95.

| last = Goodwin

| first = June

| newspaper = Christian Science Monitor

| issn = 0882-7729

| access-date = 2016-02-27

}}

{{Main|South African cuisine}}

{{See also|South African wine}}{{Multiple image

| direction = horizontal

| total_width = 230

| image1 = Bobotie, South African dish.jpg

| caption1 = Bobotie

| image2 = Melktert.jpg

| caption2 = Melktert

| image3 = The Potjie is ready.JPG

| caption3 = Potjiekos

| image4 = Koesisters Cape Malay South Africa.jpg

| caption4 = Koe'sister

| perrow = 2

| caption_align = center

}}

The cuisine of South Africa is diverse, and foods from many different cultures and backgrounds are enjoyed by all communities, and especially marketed to tourists who wish to sample the large variety available. The cuisine is mostly meat-based and has spawned the distinctively South African social gathering known as the {{lang|af|braai}}, a variation of the barbecue. South Africa has also developed into a major wine producer, with some of the best vineyards lying in valleys around Stellenbosch, Franschhoek, Paarl and Barrydale.{{cite web|url=http://www.thewinedoctor.com/regionalguides/southafrica.shtml|title=South African Wine Guide: Stellenbosch, Constantia, Walker Bay and more|publisher=Thewinedoctor.com|access-date=30 October 2011|archive-date=18 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130118223726/http://www.thewinedoctor.com/regionalguides/southafrica.shtml|url-status=live }}

{{Main|Sport in South Africa}}

File:South Africa - Cape Town Drieankerbaai from Lion's head.jpg is the 5th-largest stadium in South Africa, with a capacity of 55,000.]]

South Africa's most popular sports are association football, rugby union and cricket.{{cite web|url=http://www.southafrica.info/about/sport/sportsa.htm|title=Sport in South Africa|publisher=SouthAfrica.info|access-date=28 June 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100629152527/http://www.southafrica.info/about/sport/sportsa.htm|archive-date=29 June 2010}} Other sports with significant support are swimming, athletics, golf, boxing, tennis, ringball, field hockey, surfing and netball. Although football (soccer) commands the greatest following among the youth, other sports like basketball, judo, softball and skateboarding are becoming increasingly popular amongst the populace.[https://www.topendsports.com/world/countries/south-africa.htm Sport in South Africa] topendsports.com, accessed 3 December 2020.

Association football is the most popular sport in South Africa.{{Cite web|url=https://businesstech.co.za/news/lifestyle/103113/blacks-like-soccer-whites-like-rugby-in-sa/|title=Blacks like soccer, whites like rugby in SA|access-date=27 May 2021|archive-date=25 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210525104157/https://businesstech.co.za/news/lifestyle/103113/blacks-like-soccer-whites-like-rugby-in-sa/|url-status=live }}{{Cite web|url=https://www.enca.com/south-africa/sa-sport-not-unifier-it-once-was-survey|title=SA sport not the unifier it once was: survey|work=eNCA |access-date=27 May 2021|archive-date=25 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210525101120/https://www.enca.com/south-africa/sa-sport-not-unifier-it-once-was-survey|url-status=live }}{{Cite web|url=https://punditarena.com/football/thepateam/cant-south-africa-produce-better-football-team/|title=Analysis: Bafana Bafana Struggling To Make Needed Improvements|date=11 June 2016|access-date=27 May 2021|archive-date=25 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210525101142/https://punditarena.com/football/thepateam/cant-south-africa-produce-better-football-team/|url-status=live }} Footballers who have played for major foreign clubs include Steven Pienaar, Lucas Radebe, Philemon Masinga, Benni McCarthy, Aaron Mokoena, and Delron Buckley. South Africa hosted the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and FIFA president Sepp Blatter awarded South Africa a grade 9 out of 10 for successfully hosting the event.{{cite web|last=Cooper|first=Billy|title=South Africa gets 9/10 for World Cup|url=http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-07-12-sa-gest-910-for-world-cup|website=Mail & Guardian|date=12 July 2010|access-date=9 September 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100715063001/http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-07-12-sa-gest-910-for-world-cup|archive-date=15 July 2010 }} Player Benni McCarthy is also a first-team coach for the English football club Manchester United.{{cite news |title=Benni McCarthy appointed as first-team coach|url=https://www.manutd.com/en/news/detail/benni-mccarthy-joins-manchester-united-as-coach|website=ManUtd.com |publisher=Manchester United |first=Adam |last=Marshall|date=30 July 2022 |access-date=30 July 2022 }} It hosted the 1996 African Cup of Nations, with the national team Bafana Bafana going on to win the tournament. In 2022, the women's team also won the Women's Africa Cup of Nations, beating Morocco 2–1 in the final. The women's team went on to reach the last 16 at the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, beating Italy and tying with Argentina in the group stage.

Famous combat sport personalities include Baby Jake Jacob Matlala, Vuyani Bungu, Welcome Ncita, Dingaan Thobela, Corrie Sanders, Gerrie Coetzee, Brian Mitchell, Garreth McLellan and Dricus du Plessis. Durban surfer Jordy Smith won the 2010 Billabong J-Bay Open making him the highest ranked surfer in the world. South Africa produced Formula One motor racing's 1979 world champion Jody Scheckter. Famous active Grand Prix motorcycle racing personalities include Brad Binder and his younger brother Darryn Binder. Well-known active cricket players include Kagiso Rabada, David Miller, Keshav Maharaj, Quinton de Kock, Lungi Ngidi, Marco Jansen, Aiden Markram and Faf du Plessis; some also participate in the Indian Premier League.

File:Bokke Webb Ellis-beker toer JHB 20191107 145608.jpg on their tour of the country after winning the 2019 Rugby World Cup]]

South Africa has produced numerous world class rugby players, including Francois Pienaar, Joost van der Westhuizen, John Smit, Os du Randt, Jean de Villiers, Chester Williams, Frans Steyn, Victor Matfield, Bryan Habana, Tendai Mtawarira, Eben Etzebeth, Cheslin Kolbe and Siya Kolisi. South Africa has won the Rugby World Cup four times, the most wins of any country. South Africa first won the 1995 Rugby World Cup, which it hosted. They went on to win the tournament again in 2007, 2019 and 2023.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-union/67252413|title=New Zealand 11-12 South Africa: Springboks win record fourth Rugby World Cup in dramatic final|date=28 October 2023|work=BBC Sport|accessdate=1 November 2023}}

Cricket is one of the most played sports in South Africa. It has hosted the 2003 Cricket World Cup, the 2007 World Twenty20 Championship. South Africa's national cricket team, the Proteas, have also won the inaugural edition of the 1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy by defeating West Indies in the final. The 2023 ICC Women's T20 World Cup was hosted in South Africa and the women's team won silver. The men's team won silver at the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup. South Africa's national blind cricket team also went on to win the inaugural edition of the Blind Cricket World Cup in 1998.{{Cite web|url=http://www.blindcricketsa.co.za/|title=Blind Cricket South Africa|website=www.blindcricketsa.co.za}} South Africa is ranked 2nd in the ICC Men's Test Rankings,{{Cite web |last=icc |title=ICC Men's & Women's Cricket Rankings Overview |url=https://www.icc-cricket.com/rankings |access-date=2025-03-07 |website=icc |language=en}} and ranked 4th in the ICC Women's ODI Rankings with a rating of 103.{{Cite web |last=icc |title=ICC Women's ODI Team Rankings |url=https://www.icc-cricket.com/rankings/team-rankings/womens/odi |access-date=2025-03-09 |website=icc |language=en}}

In 2004, the swimming team of Roland Schoeman, Lyndon Ferns, Darian Townsend and Ryk Neethling won the gold medal at the Olympic Games in Athens, simultaneously breaking the world record in the 4×100 Freestyle Relay. Penny Heyns won Olympic Gold in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, and more recently, swimmers Tatjana Smith (née Schoenmaker), Lara van Niekerk, Akani Simbine and Wayde van Niekerk have all broken records and won medals at both the Olympic and Commonwealth Games, with Wayde van Niekerk being the world record holder in 400 metres since 2016. In 2012, Oscar Pistorius became the first double amputee sprinter to compete at the Olympic Games in London. Gary Player is regarded as one of the greatest golfers of all time, having won the Career Grand Slam, one of five to have done so.{{Cite web|url=https://www.golfmonthly.com/features/players-won-golf-grand-slam-154520|title=Which Players Have Won A Golf Grand Slam?|author1=Mike Hall|date=18 May 2022|website=Golf Monthly Magazine}}

{{Portal|South Africa}}

• Timeline of South Africa
• Outline of South Africa

{{Reflist}}

{{refbegin|30em}}

• A History of South Africa, Third Edition. Leonard Thompson. Yale University Press. 2001. 384 pages. {{ISBN|0-300-08776-4}}.
• Economic Analysis and Policy Formulation for Post-Apartheid South Africa: Mission Report, Aug. 1991. International Development Research Centre. IDRC Canada, 1991. vi, 46 p. Without ISBN.
• Emerging Johannesburg: Perspectives on the Postapartheid City. Richard Tomlinson, et al. 2003. 336 pages. {{ISBN|0-415-93559-8}}
• Making of Modern South Africa: Conquest, Segregation and Apartheid. Nigel Worden. 2000. 194 pages. {{ISBN|0-631-21661-8}}.
• South Africa: A Narrative History. Frank Welsh. Kodansha America. 1999. 606 pages. {{ISBN|1-56836-258-7}}
• South Africa in Contemporary Times. Godfrey Mwakikagile. New Africa Press. 2008. 260 pages. {{ISBN|978-0-9802587-3-8}}.
• The Atlas of Changing South Africa. A. J. Christopher. 2000. 216 pages. {{ISBN|0-415-21178-6}}.
• The Politics of the New South Africa. Heather Deegan. 2000. 256 pages. {{ISBN|0-582-38227-0}}.
• Twentieth-Century South Africa. William Beinart Oxford University Press 2001, 414 pages, {{ISBN|0-19-289318-1}}.

{{refend}}

{{Sister project links|South Africa|voy=South Africa|species=South Africa|d=Q258}}

{{Scholia|country}}

• [http://www.gov.za/ Government of South Africa]
• [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/south-africa/ South Africa]. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20081026035604/http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/for/southafrica.htm South Africa] from UCB Libraries GovPubs
• [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14094760 South Africa] from the BBC News
• {{wikiatlas|South Africa}}
• {{osmrelation-inline|87565}}

{{South Africa topics}}

{{Navboxes

|list=

{{Countries of Africa}}

{{G8 nations}}

{{G20}}

{{BRICS}}

{{World Trade Organization}}

{{Southern African Development Community}}

{{African Union}}

{{Countries and territories bordering the Indian Ocean}}

{{Peri-Antarctic countries and overseas territories}}

{{The Commonwealth}}

{{English official language clickable map}}

}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Coord|-30|25|display=title|type:country}}

Category:BRICS nations

Category:Countries in Africa

Category:Countries and territories where English is an official language

Category:G20 members

Category:Member states of the African Union

Category:Member states of the Commonwealth of Nations

Category:Member states of the United Nations

Category:Newly industrializing countries

Category:Republics in the Commonwealth of Nations

Category:Southern African countries

Category:States and territories established in 1910