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Portal:South Africa

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Unity in Diversity
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Introduction

Flag of South Africa
Flag of South Africa
Map of the South Africa within Africa.

The Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of the African continent. It borders the countries of Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Eswatini, and entirely surrounds Lesotho.

South Africa has the largest population of people of European descent in Africa, one of the largest Indian population outside of Asia, as well as the largest Coloured (of mixed European, Asian and African descent) community in Africa, making it one of the most ethnically diverse countries on the continent. Racial and ethnic strife between the black majority and the white minority have played a large part in the country's history and politics. The National Party began introducing the policy of apartheid after winning the general election of 1948; however, it was the same party under the leadership of F.W. de Klerk who started to dismantle it in 1990 after a long struggle by the black majority, as well as many white, coloured and Indian South Africans.

The country is one of the few in Africa never to have had a coup d'état, and regular free and fair elections have been held since 1994, making it a regional power and among the most stable and liberal democracies in Africa.

South Africa is ranked as an upper-middle income economy by the World Bank. It has the second largest economy in Africa after Nigeria, and the 34th-largest in the world. By purchasing power parity, South Africa has the 7th highest per capita income in Africa. Although being the second largest economy, South Africa has the most sophisticated economy in the continent, with modern infrastructure common throughout the country. The country is considered to be a newly industrialized country according to the World Bank classifications.

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The University of Pretoria (Afrikaans: Universiteit van Pretoria, Northern Sotho: Yunibesithi ya Pretoria) is a multi-campus public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was established in 1908 as the Pretoria campus of the Johannesburg-based Transvaal University College and is the fourth South African institution in continuous operation to be awarded university status. The university has grown from the original 32 students in a single late Victorian house to approximately 53,000 in 2019. The university was built on seven suburban campuses on 1,190 hectares (2,900 acres).

The university is organised into nine faculties and a business school. Established in 1920, the University of Pretoria Faculty of Veterinary Science is the second oldest veterinary school in Africa and the only veterinary school in South Africa. In 1949, the university launched the first MBA programme outside North America, and the university's Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) has consistently been ranked the top business school in Africa for executive education, as well as being placed in the top 50 in the world. In 2012, the Financial Times ranked the GIBS Executive MBA 1st in Africa and 60th in the world. (Full article...)

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Noordhoek, Cape Town
Noordhoek, Cape Town
Photograph credit: Diego Delso
Noordhoek is a coastal town in the Western Cape, South Africa, located below Chapman's Peak on the west coast of the Cape Peninsula and is approximately 35 km (22 mi) to the south of Cape Town. The beach is a six-kilometre (3.7 mi) stretch of fine white sand used by walkers and horse-riders; winds are often strong and the sea is cold and wild. The neighbouring suburb of Kommetjie can be seen in the distance.
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Human Skull

  • ...that the oldest remains of modern humans were found in the Klasies River Caves in the Eastern Cape. They are well over 100,000 years old.
  • ...that Pietermaritzburg 's city hall is the largest red brick building in the Southern Hemisphere.
  • ...that in eastern South Africa, scientists have found traces of blue-green algae dating back 3,500 million years. This is some of the earliest evidence of life on Earth.
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This is a Good article, an article that meets a core set of high editorial standards.
South African singer Miriam Makeba popularised a number of songs that protested apartheid.

The apartheid regime in South Africa began in 1948 and lasted until 1994. It involved a system of institutionalized racial segregation and white supremacy, and placed all political power in the hands of a white minority. Opposition to apartheid manifested in a variety of ways, including boycotts, non-violent protests, and armed resistance. Music played a large role in the movement against apartheid within South Africa, as well as in international opposition to apartheid. The impacts of songs opposing apartheid included raising awareness, generating support for the movement against apartheid, building unity within this movement, and "presenting an alternative vision of culture in a future democratic South Africa."

The lyrical content and tone of this music reflected the atmosphere that it was composed in. The protest music of the 1950s, soon after apartheid had begun, explicitly addressed peoples' grievances over pass laws and forced relocation. Following the Sharpeville massacre in 1960 and the arrest or exile of a number of leaders, songs became more downbeat, while increasing censorship forced them to use subtle and hidden meanings. Songs and performance also allowed people to circumvent the more stringent restrictions on other forms of expression. At the same time, songs played a role in the more militant resistance that began in the 1960s. The Soweto uprising in 1976 led to a renaissance, with songs such as "Soweto Blues" encouraging a more direct challenge to the apartheid government. This trend intensified in the 1980s, with racially mixed fusion bands testing the laws of apartheid, before these were dismantled with the release of Nelson Mandela in 1990 and the eventual restoration of majority rule in 1994. Through its history, anti-apartheid music within South Africa faced significant censorship from the government, both directly and via the South African Broadcasting Corporation; additionally, musicians opposing the government faced threats, harassment, and arrests. (Full article...)

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Sir Cornelius Hermanus Wessels (26 April 1851 Rietfontein, Winburg, Orange River Sovereignty – 1 March 1924 Bloemfontein, Orange Free State, Union of South Africa) was a South African statesman.

Wessels stemmed from an important Orange Free State family clan, dedicated to farming and the Boer way of life. Mainly self-educated, he turned to politics in his early thirties. As a member of the Volksraad he developed his skills as a diplomat and mediator, and was involved in many of the important political decisions the Orange Free State had to make in the 1880s and 1890s. In 1897 he was appointed president of the Volksraad. (Full article...)

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Plain Ouma Rusks

Ouma (/ˈoʊ.mɑː/ ⓘ (commonly referred to as Ouma Rusks)) is a South African rusk made from a traditional buttermilk recipe. It was first produced in the rural town of Molteno, in the Eastern Cape, by Elizabeth Ann Greyvenstyn in 1939, in response to an initiative by the town's pastor to help the entrepreneurial efforts of the women in his congregation. The brand currently dominates the relatively-small local rusk market, and is manufactured in the same town it was first produced. (Full article...)

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A panorama of the Johannesburg CBD at sunrise looking east across the M1 highway.
A panorama of the Johannesburg CBD at sunrise looking east across the M1 highway.
Johannesburg CBD at sunrise.

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The following are images from various South Africa-related articles on Wikipedia.
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