BASIC INFORMATION
Full Country Name: Republic of South Africa
Country Profile: South Africa
Area: 1,228,376 sq.km
Population: 42.6 million (est 2005)
Capital City: Pretoria/Tshwane (1.25 million)
People: African/Black, white, coloured, Indian/Asian
Languages: South Africa has eleven officially recognised languages: Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Sepedi, Sesotho, Swati, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa and Zulu.
Religion(s): All principal religions are represented in South Africa, but the majority is Christian (nearly 85% at the 1996 census).
Currency: (ZAR) Rand (100 cents = 1 Rand)
Major political parties: African National Congress (ANC), Democratic Alliance (DA), Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), United Democratic Movement (UDM), Independent Democrats (ID), South African Communist Party (SACP)
Government: ANC Alliance - ANC/SACP/Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU)
Head of State: President Mr Thabo Mbeki
Foreign Minister: Dr Clarice Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma
Membership of international groupings/organisations: United Nations (UN), African Union (AU), Commonwealth, Non Aligned Movement (NAM), Southern African Development Community (SADC).
GEOGRAPHY
South Africa's land area is 1,228,376 sq km (larger than the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy & Germany combined). It borders Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland & Zimbabwe to the north, and entirely surrounds Lesotho (a total land border of 4,750 km.) It has a coastline of 2,954 km, with few natural harbours.
The coastal strip is below 1,500 feet fringed by steep mountain ranges, with a high plateau in the interior ranging up to 6,000 feet above sea level. On the west coast, the cold Atlantic current creates arid scrubland terrain. Higher levels of rainfall on the central plateau produce grassland. . A continuous mountain range runs down the east coast warmed by the Indian Ocean giving a sub-tropical climate. The north of the country has savannah-type vegetation, whilst the southern tip has a Mediterranean-type climate.
HISTORY
The British – already rulers in Cape Colony and Natal - took control of the Boer Republics of Transvaal and the Orange Free State (OFS) in the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902. On 31 May 1910 Transvaal, the OFS, Cape Colony, and Natal joined together as the Union of South Africa and were formally declared a Dominion under the British Crown. In 1913, the Land Act was introduced to prevent blacks buying land outside the Native Reserves; the 1923 Native (Urban Areas) Act established segregation in the cities. The National Party (NP) electoral victory in 1948 heralded an intensification of segregation under their policy of apartheid (‘separateness'). Over the next decade a series of legislative measures sought to restructure South African society to conform to apartheid doctrine.
The South African Native National Congress, later renamed the African National Congress (ANC) was formed in 1912 to protest the impending Land Act. Repressive NP policies in the 1950s led the ANC to turn to mass civil disobedience; also the breakaway Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) formed in 1959. After protests following the police killing of 67 peaceful demonstrators at a PAC gathering at Sharpeville in 1960, the ANC and the PAC were banned. The following year, the ANC formed a military wing - Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK – ‘Spear of the Nation') – which was led by Nelson Mandela and included white members of the South African Communist Party (SACP). In the same year, South Africa was declared a Republic and left the Commonwealth. Mandela was detained in 1962 and sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of sabotage in 1964. The 1960s were also marked by large-scale forcible resettlement of more than 1.5 million South Africans.
Attempts to introduce Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in schools led to widespread protests that erupted into violent unrest after police fired on schoolchildren in Soweto in June 1976. P.W.Botha took over as Prime Minister in 1978; he increased the role of the military in the state. In November 1983 white voters approved his constitutional plan in a referendum for a tricameral parliament comprising separate houses for whites, coloureds and Indians. The United Democratic Front (UDF) was formed to oppose the plan, on the grounds that it excluded the black majority. In 1984 elections were held and P.W.Botha became South Africa's first executive president. The black townships erupted in violence, supported by strikes in the mining industry. On 12 June 1986 the existing State of Emergency was extended to the whole country. As many as 24,000 people, mainly young, were detained without trial and soldiers replaced police in the townships. Such measures brought the unrest under control during 1987.
P.W.Botha suffered a stroke in early 1989 and later relinquished the NP leadership to F.W.de Klerk. The latter was confirmed as State President at elections in September 1989. In 1990 he released Mandela after 27 years in prison and rescinded the ban on the ANC, PAC, SACP and 33 other organisations, including the UDF. The repeal of all apartheid legislation was announced in February 1991 and completed by mid-year. Multiparty talks resulted in agreement on an interim constitution that was approved by the tricameral parliament in December that year.
POLITICS
The ANC won South Africa's first non-racial general elections in April 1994. Mandela became President and a Government of National Unity was formed; Commonwealth membership was restored and the remaining international sanctions against South Africa lifted. South Africa took up her seat in the UN after a 20-year absence. Parliament approved a new South African Constitution on 8 May 1996. Mandela handed over leadership of the ANC to Thabo Mbeki in December 1997, who succeeded him as State President following the general elections of 1999.
On 14 April 2004 South Africa held her third General Election since the end of Apartheid. President Thabo Mbeki was re-elected as President for a second five-year term. The ANC won 70% of the vote on a 77% turnout. Its nearest rival was the DA with 12%, followed by the IFP with 7%. The NP, renamed the New National Party (NNP) in 1997, voted in 2005 to disband. As the result of a series of “floor-crossings” in Parliament in late 2005, the ANC gained 14 seats, bringing its majority to 293 (out of 400). The DA lost 3 seats (out of 50) while the IFP lost 5 – mainly to the newly-established National Democratic Convention (Nadeco). The ANC now controls outright eight out of nine provinces in South Africa (KwaZulu Natal is the exception).
South African Parliament
BBC Country Profile - South Africa
BBC African News
HUMAN RIGHTS
South Africa has a strong commitment to upholding human rights. It has a Human Rights Commission, set up in 1995. A justiciable Bill of Rights is enshrined in the 1996 Constitution enforceable through South Africa's Constitutional Court. It is a signatory to the principal UN Human Rights Instruments.
South African Human Rights Commission (HRC)
South African Constitutional Court
ECONOMY
Basic economic facts
GDP: US$239.510 billion (2005)
Annual Growth: Growth in 2006 was 5.0%.
Inflation: 4.6% (2006)
Major Industries: mining (world's largest producer of platinum, gold, chromium), automobile assembly, machinery, textile, iron & steel, chemicals, fertiliser, foodstuffs. Financial services; Manufacturing; Wholesale & Retail Trade; Transport, Storage & Communication; Mining; Other
Major trading partners: US, UK, Germany, Japan
Exchange rate: (2006 average) ZAR US$ – 6.76
In part, South Africa has a sophisticated economy based on manufacturing, mining and financial services – in which macro-economic indicators like interest rates and the strength of the Rand are critical. But it also has an economy consisting of the very poor who eke out a living through near-subsistence agriculture or the informal sector, for whom economic statistics mean little. Relatively small improvements in living standards can make a huge difference to their lives. Unemployment levels are officially 26.7% (September 2005) but some commentators quote figures as high as 40%, and the employment rate is at 41.4%.
Government has viewed economic restructuring through privatisation as important for growth and employment generation in the long run, despite short-term transitional costs. There have been political difficulties in pushing privatisation forward. The left-leaning and union elements within the ANC governing alliance are strongly opposed to privatisation which, they argue, involves handing control of state assets to a white and “black elite” dominated business sector. The Government has recently shifted its focus from pursuing wholesale privatisation to developing profit oriented public sector enterprises. Strike action in 2006 demonstrated strong union resistance to restructuring in the state-owned transport parastatal, Transnet, that aimed to sell off non-core operations. Since 1994 the South African Government has followed prudent economic policies which are beginning to reflect in increased rates of growth.
International Monetary Fund
Black Economic Empowerment
Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) is the main thrust of attempts to correct the imbalance in ownership of the economy and distribution of wealth. Its intention is to redress the exclusion of the majority of South Africans from the mainstream economy by supporting and favouring the economic empowerment of previously disadvantaged people in the private sector.
A Black Economic Empowerment Commission chaired by Cyril Ramaphosa reported to Government in 2001 and in March 2003 the Government released a strategy document entitled: South Africa's Economic Transformation, A Strategy for Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment. It provides a clear definition and guidelines for businesses to follow. In 2004, the Government published the Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment Act and Codes of Good Practice to increase the pace of BEE and to broaden it beyond pure business ownership to include management, employment, skills development and corporate social investment.
South African Department for Trade and Industry
DEVELOPMENT
Through the Department for international Development (DFID), the UK and South Africa have a substantial partnership focussed on poverty elimination, mainly in Eastern Cape and Limpopo Province. Our bilateral programme is now £23m a year and has declined due to South Africa's status as a Middle Income Country. DFID is now looking to develop a partnership with South Africa to reduce poverty in the Southern African region and beyond.
DFID has launched a Regional Plan for Southern Africa. Worth £20m per year, this pilots cross-border issues concerning trade, infectious diseases, water management, climate change, conflict, food security, infrastructure and land reform. The programme will benefit SADC countries as well asSouth Africa . DFID plans to work with the South African government, as well as governments in the region and with regional organisations, in delivering new projects in these areas.
More than 5 million South Africans (around 11% of the population) are estimated to be HIV positive, and South Africa is expected to have more than 2 million orphans by 2010. [no paragraph gap here]DFID Southern Africa (DFIDSA) has long had a health programme that supported HIV prevention but is now developing a larger, multisectoral response which will commit up to 30% of DFIDSA's budget to this developmental challenge. The programme is being drawn up through close collaboration with the relevant South African Government Departments, the private sector, and a variety of non-governmental partners.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
South Africa rapidly reintegrated into the international community after the isolation of the apartheid years. It was readmitted to the Commonwealth in 1994 and hosted the annual Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Durban in November 1999. South Africa was Chair of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) from August 1998 to March 2003. It hosted the inaugural meeting of the African Union (AU) in July 2002 and was the first Chair. It is a key member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). South Africa joined other African and Asian countries in signing the New Africa Asia Strategic Partnership in Jakarta on 24 April 2005. It will host the next Africa Asia Summit in 2009. The Chairmanship of the Group of 77 and China was held by South Africa during 2006. South Africa (along with some other African countries)is a candidate for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. Its position on United Nations Reform is tied to the Common African position – 'The Ezulwini Consensus'.
South Africa's foreign policy is focussed on conflict resolution in Africa, and developing partnerships with other like-minded nations to present the South's case in multinational fora. It has backed its political activities by providing troops for peace support operations in Burundi, Darfur and the Democratic Republic of Congo. President Mbeki was asked by the AU to mediate in the conflict in Cote d'Ivoire. The outcome was a peace agreement signed in Pretoria on 6 April 2005; South Africa remains involved in international efforts to resolve the situation. South Africa has faced domestic and international criticism for pursuing a policy of 'quiet diplomacy' towards Zimbabwe, so far without success. The crisis there will continue to be a major issue in South African foreign policy.
Southern African Development Community (SADC)
African Union
Global Terrorism: South Africa responded quickly to the attacks on 11 September 2001. The Government condemned terrorism without equivocation, offering the US humanitarian support and the full co-operation of its security agencies. It opened a Financial Intelligence Centre in November 2003, which considerably strengthened its anti-money laundering capacity. In 2003, South Africa joined the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an inter-governmental body that sets the global standards in combating money laundering and terrorist financing. South Africa is also a member of the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG), the only FATF-style regional body in Africa.
New Partnership for Africa's Development (NePAD)
See the key theme area on this website: NePAD: New Partnership for Africa's Development.
Also view the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NePAD) website.
UK-SOUTH AFRICA BILATERAL RELATIONS
Bilateral relations and links between the UK and South Africa are strong, covering fields as diverse as defence, trade liberalisation, development, and HIV/AIDS. This is underlined by the number of high-level visits in both directions. Visits to South Africa have included:
HM The Queen (State Visits in 1995 & 1999); The Princess Royal (July 2003); The Prime Minister, Tony Blair (January & November 1999; February 2006); The Chancellor, Gordon Brown (16-18 January 2005). Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott attended President Mbeki's presidential inauguration (April 2004). HRH The Earl of Wessex (October 2006).
The Prime Minister and President Mbeki met twice in 2003, at a Progressive Government Summit in Hungary October 2004, at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2005, and during the Progressive Governance Summit in South Africa in 2006. Mr Mbeki visited the UK in May 2006 at the end of the UK-South Africa Bilateral Forum. There are regular ministerial visits in both directions.
Diplomatic Representation<
UK representation in South Africa: High Commissioner Mr Paul Boateng
South African Representation in the UK: High Commissioner Dr Lindiwe Mabuza
UK representation in South Africa
South African representation in the UK
Trade and Investment with the UK
The UK is South Africa's largest trade and investment partner with over £7 billion in two-way trade in goods and services and £24 billion of UK investment in South Africa. The strong commercial ties are an important element of the overall bilateral relationship. The UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) operation is headquartered in Johannesburg, with additional commercial colleagues in Cape Town and Durban. Collectively advice is given to over 500 UK business people, and some 15-20 trade missions and 4-5 exhibition groups a year visit South Africa and are assisted by the UKTI teams. The teams have an increasing responsibility for helping South African companies that are interested in investing in the UK.
There has been strong emphasis in UKTI activities on the opportunities likely to arise from the privatisation programme and the promotion of PPP's (Public Private Partnerships) in South Africa. These include opportunities in the water, airports, ports, healthcare, telecommunications and railway sectors. Other priority sectors include education & training, IT, tourism and the automotive industry.
Most of the provisions of the EU/South Africa Trade, Co-operation and Development Agreement came into force on 1 January 2000. The UK is the second largest European trader with South Africa (after Germany). The Agreement has boosted South Africa's trading prospects with Europe, and liberalisation towards a free trade area over the 12-year transition period will strengthen the UK's commercial position in South Africa.
ADVANCE FEE/419 FRAUD
Many people and companies in the UK (and elsewhere) receive letters, faxes and e-mails, purporting to come from Nigerian, and increasingly often South African, individuals or government departments, offering them large sums of money in exchange for allowing use of their bank accounts. These are frauds, and the money does not exist. Four One Nine fraud takes its name from the relevant section of the Nigerian Criminal Code.
Four One Nine fraudsters are increasingly using the internet as e-mails are more difficult for Law Enforcement Agencies to intercept. To give the fraud an air of credibility, the e-mails are often linked to current events or high profile individuals. The fraudsters also hack into authentic websites of banks and companies and copy details of their executives. Receipt of a 419 e-mail should be reported to the abuse team of your Internet Service Provider (ISP), for example abuse@yahoo.com. If you are in the UK and have actually lost money you should inform the Fraud Desk at the Metropolitan Police - Email: fraud.alert@met.police.uk
FROZEN PENSIONS
State pensions to UK residents in South Africa are not increased annually in line with inflation. Instead, they are frozen, either from the date the person first became entitled to a state pension, or from the date that they left the UK, depending on which is the later. Some pensioners living overseas do receive increases that keep their pensions in line with inflation, but only in those countries where the UK has reciprocal social security agreements. This is not the case in South Africa.
The issue of index-linking state pensions was the subject of a landmark Court of Appeal decision in the Annette Carson (UK resident in South Africa) case. This confirmed that the Government has no duty to up-rate state pensions to those living abroad where there is no legal requirement to do so, or where there is no reciprocal arrangement in place. An appeal lodged by Ms Carson was rejected by the House of Lords in May 2005.
TRAVEL<
Link to Travel Advice: South Africa
Health requirements - Fit For Travel
Last Reviewed: 21 May 2007
