The land and its people:  written by Emmanuel

Where:

South Africa occupies the southernmost part of the African continent, stretching latitudinally from 22˚ to 35˚ S and longitudinally from 17˚ to 33˚ E. Its surface area is 1 219 090 km² .

The country has common boundaries with Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, while Mozambique and Swaziland lie to the North-east. Completely enclosed by South African territory in the south-east is the mountain kingdom of Lesotho.

To the west, south and east, South Africa borders on the Atlantic and Indian oceans.

Isolated, 1 920 km south-east of Cape Town in the Atlantic, lie the Prince Edward and Marion islands, annexed by South Africa in 1947.

South Africa is surrounded by the ocean on the 3 sides (West, South and East).

Provinces:

In terms of South Africa’s constitution, the country is divided into nine provinces, each with its own legislature, premier and executive councils. The provinces, with their distinctive landscapes, vegetation and climate, are

- The Western Cape (Capital: Cape Town, population: 4 745 500),

- The Eastern Cape (Capital: Bhisho, population: 6 894 300)

- Kwazulu-Natal (Capital: Pietermaritzburg, population; 9 924 000)

- The Northern Cape (Capital: Kimberley, Population: 1 094 500)

- Free State (Capital: Bloemfontein, Population: 2 958 800)

- North West (Capital: Mafikeng, Population: 3 374 200)

- Gauteng (Capital: Johannesburg, Population: 9 526 200)

- Mpumalanga (Capital: Nelspruit, Population: 3 508 000)

- Limpopo (Capital: Polokwane, Population: 5 365 400)

The people

According to statistics South Africa (Stats SA), the mid-2006 population was estimated at 47, 4 million:

Ø Africans: About 37, 7 million, roughly 79, 5% of the total SA population

Ø White population: About 4, 4 million

Ø Coloured population: 4, 2 million

Ø The Indian/Asian population: 1, 2 million.

The South African population consists of the following groups: The Nguni (comprising the Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele and Swazi people); Sotho-Tswana, who include the Southern, Northern and Western Sotho (Tswana people); Tsonga; Venda; Afrikaners; English; coloureds; Indians; and those who have immigrated to South Africa from the rest of Africa, Europe and Asia and who maintain a strong cultural identity. A few remaining members of the Khoi and the San also live in South Africa.

Languages

According to Census 2001, isiZulu is the mother tongue of 23,8 % of the population, followed by isiXhosa (17,6%), Afrikans (13,3%), Sesotho sa Leboa (9,4%), and English and Setswana (8,2% each).

Although English is the mother tongue of only 8,2 % of the population, it is the language most widely understood, and the second language of the majority of South Africans.

Religion

Almost 80% of South Africa’s population follows Christian faith. Other major religious groups are the Hindus, Muslims, Jews and Buddhists. A minority of South Africa’s population do not belong to any of the major religions, but regard themselves as traditionalists of no specific religious affiliation.

Christian church attendance in South Africa is favourable in both rural and urban areas, and churches are well served by a large number of clerics and officials.

On the whole, training for the Christian church ministry is thorough and intensive, and based on a variety of models due to the variety of church denominations.

Apart from the work of the Christian Churches, a number of Christian organizations (para-church organizations) operate in South Africa, doing missionary and evangelical work and providing aid and training.

African Independent Churches (AICs) are the largest grouping of Christian churches. Although these churches originally resulted from a number of breakaways from various mission churches (the so-called ‘Ethiopian’ churches), the AICs have developed their own dynamics and momentum, and continue to flourish. The majority are no longer regarded as Ethiopian Churches, but rather Zionist or Apostolic churches. The Pentecostal movement also has its independent offshoots in this group.

The Zion Christian Church (ZCC) is the largest of these churches in South Africa and the largest church overall. The teaching is a syncretism between Christianity and African Traditional Religion. The 4 000 or more independent churches have a membership of more than 10 million people, making this movement the single most important religious in South Africa.

Number of individuals by religion (Census 2001):

- Christian: 79,8% - African Traditional Religion: 0.3% - Judaism: 0,2% - Hinduism: 1,2%

- Islam: 1,5% - Other: 0,6% - No religion: 15,1% - Undetermined: 1,4%

Total: 100%

Temperatures:

Temperature conditions in South Africa are characterized by three main features. Firstly, temperatures tend to be lower than in other regions at similar latitudes, for example Australia. Secondly, despite a latitudinal span of 13 degrees, average annual temperatures are remarkably uniform throughout the country. The third feature is the striking contrast between temperatures on the east and the west coasts. South Africa is famous for its sunshine.