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South African Culture: South Africa in Brief

A-Z of South Africa

A - Apartheid - The Apartheid Government in South Africa was overthrown in 1994 when the African National Congress won the country’s first ever multi-racial elections. South Africa had an Apartheid government for a total of 46 years.

B - Bungee Jump - Bloukrans Bridge, 40km east of Plettenberg Bay, South Africa, is home to the world’s highest bungee jump (216 metres).

C - Cape Town - Cape Town is the legislative capital of South Africa, the provincial capital of the Western Cape and is the second largest city in the country (population 3.5million).

D - Desmond Tutu - Tutu is a renowned cleric and activist, who rose to prominence in the 1980’s as an opponent of the apartheid government in South Africa. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 and the Gandhi Peace Prize in 2005.

E - Economy - South Africa is the largest economy in the African continent and in 2008, the International Monetary Fund list revealed the country has the 25th largest global GPD.

F - FW De Klerk - De Klerk was the last State President of apartheid-era South Africa serving from 1989 to May 1994. He supported the transformation of South Africa into a multi-racial democracy and helped the country's black majority have equal voting and other rights.

G - Gold - Since 1886, South Africa has dominated the global gold scene. Today the country’s gold mines supply about 25 percent of the world's yearly production.

H - HIV - The HIV infection rate amongst adults in South Africa is estimated at 20%. In 2005, 31% of pregnant women were found to be carrying the HIV virus.

I - Indian Ocean - The South African coast stretches 2,798 kilometres and borders both the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. The Indian Ocean is the third largest in the world, covering about 20 per cent of the water on the Earth's surface.

J - Johannesburg - Johannesburg is the largest city in South Africa (population 3.88 million). Despite its size, it isn't one of the country's three capital cities. It is served by O.R Tambo International Airport, the largest and busiest airport in Africa.

K - Kgalema Motlanthe - The President of South Africa and Deputy President of the ruling African National Congress. He was appointed on September 25th 2008.

L - Languages - There are 11 official languages in South Africa which are Afrikaans, English, Southern Ndebele, Northern Sotho, South Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa and Zulu.

M - Murder - According to United Nations figures, South Africa has the second largest murder rate, and the worst rape and assault rates per capita in the world.

N - Nelson Mandela - A former President of South Africa. Held office between 1994 and 1999, and was the first to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist and spent 27 years in prison on charges of sabotage while he led the movement against apartheid. He received the Nobel Peace prize in 1993.

O - Olympics - South Africa was banned from competing in the Olympics until 1992, due its apartheid regime. It was also excluded from competing in international rugby and cricket until this date.

P - Pretoria - The executive capital city of South Africa ( population 2.34 million). The city of Pretoria has a mild climate and snow is extremely rare, occurring once or twice in a century.

Q - Queen Modjadji - Modjadji literally means 'ruler of the day'. The queen lives in Limpopo and rules the Balobedu people. She lives in complete seclusion and practices the ancient secretive art of rainmaking. The last rain queen died in 2005.

R - Rand - The Rand is the currency of South Africa. It is divided into 100 cents and is available in denominations of five notes and seven coins.

S - Springboks - The South Africa national rugby union team. They are the current holders of the rugby World Cup and are ranked number two in the IRB World Rankings.

T - Table Mountain - Table Mountain is a flat-topped mountain overlooking the city of Cape Town. It is a significant tourist attraction with many people hiking to the top or using the cable-car. It is 1,086 metres above sea level.

U - Ubuntu - An African philosophy which encompasses the idea of "human-ness".

V - Vuvuzela - Unique to South Africa, the vuvuzela is a plastic trumpet used by football fans to cheer on their team. They make a distinctive noise like an elephant blowing their trunk.

W - World Cup - 2010 marks the first time a football World Cup has been held in the continent of Africa.

X - Xenophobia - Since 1994 and democratization in South Africa, the incidence of xenophobia has increased. Between 2000 and 2008, at least 67 people died in what was identified as xenophobic attacks.

Y - Yellow Fever - South African Max Theiler developed a vaccine against Yellow Fever in 1937, for which he won a Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1951.

Z - Zulu - The largest South African ethnic group of around 10-11 million people, who live predominately in the KwaZulu-Natal Province.

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