South Africa, A Basic View

South Africa is one if the richest countries due tho their diamond fields and gold mines.

South Africa lays on the tip of the continent and has four provinces; The Cape of Good Hope, Natal, the Orange Free State, and the Transvaal. Most of south Africa is a plateau that sits at an altitude of 3,000 to 6,00 feet. A series of mountains, called The Great Escarpment, walls off the Plateau area from the coastal regions. The Great Escarpment can reach altitudes of 10,000 feet. Where mostly smaller mountain ranges separate The Great Escarpment from the coast, along the northeastern coast is extensive lowland plains. Two main rivers, The Orange and The Limpopo (Crocodile River). The Orange flows west while The Limpopo flows north.

Because South Africa lays south of the equator, winter months are in June, July, and August. Weather varies from the different regions of the country, but no matter where, the climates are very mild in both winter and summer.

The most important cities in South Africa are Johannesburg, Cape Tow, Pretoria, Bloemfontein, Durban, Port Elizabeth, East London, and Kimberley. Johannesburg is the largest city, but Capetown is the oldest, is the seat of the Parliament, and was the location of the world's first human heart transplant. Durban is the largest port and the center of the whaling industry. Pretoria is the Administrative capital and Bloemfontein is the nation's Supreme Court Seat.

South Africa has a population of about 19,620,00 comprised of 68% African or "Bantu", 19% White/European (Afrikaners and English), 10% Coloureds (mix of African and other races), and 3% Asians. Mohandas Gandhi arrived in South Africa in 1893 and, appalled by what was going on, started his reform and protests.

Unlike almost any other part of the world, South Africa still segregates races. This is most evident in the school system where children of different races must go to different schools and universities. In South Africa there are nine universities for whites, three for Bantu, one for coloured, and one for Indians.

South Africa's economy is dependent on diamonds, gold, and agriculture. Before the 19th century South Africa was a poor agricultural country. When diamonds and gold was found, people pored in and the economy got a lift. The diamond industry was in an uproar until Cecil Johns organized the trade and founded De Beers who now control the output of South African Diamonds and the sales of all rough-cut diamonds at Kimberley. Three fifths of the worlds gold comes out of Africa and 80% of that comes out of South Africa. Out of the fifty-five gold mines in South Africa, $1,000,000,000 dollars worth of gold is mined yearly. South Africa also has the largest coal deposit on the continent and fuel form that is used in blast furnaces which are used in the production of steal and is also burned to produce electric power. The most important industries besides mining are iron working, steel working, food processing, textiles, chemicals, and machinery.

Because of low precipitation levels and terrain difficulties farming is impossible in some areas. In places that can not be farmed, people run sheep for the wool. Over 40,000,000 sheep roam South Africa. Sheep, to the people, are ok, but they see owning cattle as the greatest sign of wealth. Where crops can be grown, corn and wheat are planted. Because these few patches of productive land do not provide enough food for South Africa, they import a vast amount of these crops form the US and Canada. The wine and grape industry thrives in the Hex River Valley near Cape Town. Other major crops that are grown are citrus fruits, tobacco, sugar cane, and cotton. They are also one of the leading countries in fishing.

South Africa was originally settled by the Dutch in 1652 who established a refreshment station on Table Bay for ships who were sailing to Asia. During the Napoleonic Wars, the English acquired the Cape Colony from the dutch. Tensions were strained and in the end, after a three year war broke out, the Dutch moved North. In 1910 the Orange Free State, Transvaal, Cape of Good Hope, and Natal formed the union of South Africa. And in 1948 the government embarked on a policy of apartheid, or separate development of the races which to this day is being condemned by the rest of independent Africa and the rest of the world. In Oct. 1960 the white minority population voted to remove their country from British control and on May 31, 1961, South Africa was established as a Republic.

The Head of State is the state President who serves a seven year term and is elected by the members of both houses of Parliament, The House of Assembly and the Senate, when they meet together as an electoral college. Te head of government is the Prime Minister who is the leader of the party that holds majority in the House Assembly. The Senate is comprised of fifty-four members, forty-three are elected to represent the four provinces and Namibia* and eleven are appointed by the State President. The House of Assembly has one hundred and sixty-six members who are elected from the constituencies f the Republic and Namibia*. Though their officials are elected, only white South Africans that are eight-teen and older are aloud to vote.


* = South West Africa