Portal:South Africa

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South Africa

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Introduction

Flag of South 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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British troops making their way through a wire entanglement during the battle.

The Battle of Magersfontein (/ˈmɑːxərsfɒnteɪn/ MAH-khərss-fon-tayn) was fought on 11 December 1899, at Magersfontein, near Kimberley, South Africa, on the borders of the Cape Colony and the independent republic of the Orange Free State (now in Sol Plaatje Local Municipality, Northern Cape). British forces under Lieutenant General Lord Methuen were advancing north along the railway line from the Cape to relieve the siege of Kimberley, but their path was blocked at Magersfontein by a Boer force that was entrenched in the surrounding hills. The British had already fought a series of battles with the Boers, most recently at Modder River, where the advance was temporarily halted.

Lord Methuen failed to perform adequate reconnaissance in preparation for the impending battle and was unaware that Boer Vecht-generaal (Combat General) De la Rey had entrenched his forces at the foot of the hills, rather than the forward slopes, as was the accepted practice. That allowed the Boers to survive the initial British artillery bombardment, and when the British troops failed to deploy from a compact formation during their advance, the defenders inflicted heavy casualties. The Highland Brigade suffered the worst casualties, and on the Boer side, the Scandinavian Corps was destroyed. The Boers attained a tactical victory and succeeded in holding the British in their advance on Kimberley. The battle was the second of three battles during what became known as the Black Week of the Second Boer War: Stormberg on Sunday 10 December, Magersfontein on Monday 11 December and Colenso on Friday 15 December 1899. (Full article...)

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Credit: NJR ZA

On the grounds of the South African National Museum of Military History is the large Anglo-Boer War Memorial designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.

Originally called the Rand Regiments Memorial and dedicated to British soldiers that lost their lives during the Second Boer War, it was rededicated on 10 October 1999 to all people who died during the Second Boer War and renamed the Boer War Memorial.

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...that the sign language interpreter for the state memorial service of Nelson Mandela (mourners pictured) made meaningless hand gestures that did not reflect established signs?
...that, as in Brazil, families of crime victims in South Africa have successfully campaigned for the establishment of a national forensic DNA database?
...that traditional shweshwe fabric made in South Africa was previously imported from Europe and popularised by 19th century German settlers and a Sotho king?

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WikiProjects

WikiProject South Africa

WikiProject South Africa discussions • South Africa Wikipedians' Notice Board • South African Wikipedians • Wikipedians in South Africa • Wikimedia ZA • Subscribe to the Wikimedia ZA mailing list

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This is a Good article, an article that meets a core set of high editorial standards.

SAS President Pretorius was the last of three President-class Type 12 frigates built in the UK for the South African Navy (SAN) during the 1960s. The ship spent most of her career training and visited foreign ports in Africa and Australia. She had a lengthy modernisation during the 1970s and manpower shortages limited her activities after that was completed in 1977. President Pretorius was paid off in 1985 and was sold for scrap in 1992. (Full article...)

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(Left to right) Roy Campbell, Mary Campbell, Jacob Kramer, and Dolores, 1920s

Ignatius Royston Dunnachie Campbell, better known as Roy Campbell (2 October 1901 – 23 April 1957), was a South African poet, literary critic, literary translator, war poet and satirist. Most of his adult life was spent in Europe.

Born into a white South African family of Scottish descent in Durban, Colony of Natal, Campbell was sent to England to attend Oxford University. Instead, he failed the entrance exam and drifted into London's literary bohemia. Following his marriage to the bohemian Englishwoman Mary Garman, he wrote the well-received poem The Flaming Terrapin which brought the Campbells into the highest circles of British literature. (Full article...)

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Amarula cream liqueur being poured into glasses

Amarula is a cream liqueur from South Africa. It is made with sugar, cream and the fruit of the African marula tree (Sclerocarya birrea) which is also locally called the elephant tree or the marriage tree. It has an alcohol content of 17% by volume (34 proof). It has had some success at international spirit ratings competitions, winning a gold medal at the 2009 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. It has the taste of slightly fruity caramel. (Full article...)

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Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

— Nelson Mandela

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Blyde River Canyon. The Three Rondavels are seen to the right of the center of this view.

Credit: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen

Blyde River Canyon in Mpumalanga.

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

Image 1Simon's Town harbour and naval base in South Africa were used by the Allies during World War II. (from History of South Africa)
Image 2Members of 44 Parachute Brigade on patrol during the South African Border War. (from History of South Africa)
Image 3Olive Schreiner, the author of The Story of an African Farm (1883) (from Culture of South Africa)
Image 4The statue of Jan van Riebeeck, the founder of Cape Town, in Heerengracht Street. (from History of South Africa)
Image 5Statue of Bartolomeu Dias at the High Commission of South Africa in London. He was the first European navigator to sail around the southernmost tip of Africa. (from History of South Africa)
Image 6Zulus in Natal (from Culture of South Africa)
Image 7Flag of the Republic of the Orange Free State (from History of South Africa)
Image 8Indian indentured labourers arriving in Durban (from History of South Africa)
Image 9Tents in the British concentration camp of Barberton, c.1901 (from History of South Africa)
Image 10An array of traditional South African cuisine (from Culture of South Africa)
Image 11The British Empire is red on the map, at its territorial zenith in the late 1910s and early 1920s. (India highlighted in purple.) South Africa, bottom centre, lies between both halves of the Empire. (from History of South Africa)
Image 12Gateway to the Castle of Good Hope, the oldest building in South Africa (from Culture of South Africa)
Image 13Map of the black homelands in South Africa at the end of apartheid in 1994 (from History of South Africa)
Image 14Children of different ethnic groups ride a bus in Cape Town, 1994 (from History of South Africa)
Image 15King Moshoeshoe with his advisors (from History of South Africa)
Image 16Shaka Zulu in traditional Zulu military garb (from History of South Africa)
Image 17Groot Constantia, the oldest wine estate in South Africa, was founded in 1685 by Simon van der Stel. The South African wine industry (New World wine) is among the lasting legacy of the VOC era. The recorded economic history of South Africa began with the VOC period. (from History of South Africa)
Image 18Nicolaas Waterboer, Griqualand ruler, 1852–1896 (from History of South Africa)
Image 19View of Table Bay with ships of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), c. 1683. (from History of South Africa)
Image 20Harry Smith (from History of South Africa)
Image 21Enoch Sontonga (from Culture of South Africa)
Image 22An account of the first trekboers (from History of South Africa)
Image 23Generals Smuts (right) and Botha were members of the British Imperial War Cabinet during World War I. (from History of South Africa)
Image 24Oracles of the Pink Universe by Simphiwe Ndzube, 2021 (from Culture of South Africa)
Image 25Replica of an East Indiaman of the Dutch East India Company/United East Indies Company (VOC). The Dutch East India Company was a major force behind the (c. 1590s–1720s) and Netherlandish cartography (c. 1570s–1670s). (from History of South Africa)
Image 26Cecil John Rhodes, co-founder of De Beers Consolidated Mines at Kimberley (from History of South Africa)
Image 27The rise of the Zulu Empire under Shaka forced other chiefdoms and clans to flee across a wide area of southern Africa. Clans fleeing the Zulu war zone included the Soshangane, Zwangendaba, Ndebele, Hlubi, Ngwane, and the Mfengu. Some clans were caught between the Zulu Empire and advancing Voortrekkers and British Empire such as the Xhosa . (from History of South Africa)
Image 28Frederik W. de Klerk and Nelson Mandela, two of the driving forces in ending apartheid (from History of South Africa)
Image 29Jan van Riebeeck, first Commander of the Dutch East India Company colony (from History of South Africa)
Image 30Meat on a traditional South African braai (from Culture of South Africa)
Image 31Flag of the South African Republic, often referred to as the Vierkleur (meaning four-coloured) (from History of South Africa)
Image 32Painting of the Sharpeville massacre of March 1960 (from History of South Africa)
Image 33Emily Hobhouse campaigned against the appalling conditions of the British concentration camps in South Africa, thus influencing British public opinion against the war. (from History of South Africa)
Image 34Church on Greenmarket Square in Cape Town, South Africa with a banner memorialising the Marikana massacre (from History of South Africa)
Image 35Looking out over the floodplains of the Luvuvhu River (right) and the Limpopo River (far distance and left) (from History of South Africa)
Image 36The Rhodes Colossus—Cecil Rhodes spanning "Cape to Cairo" (from History of South Africa)
Image 37Johannesburg before gold mining transformed it into a bustling modern city (from History of South Africa)
Image 38The Boer method of punishing natives, by Frank Patterson, 1900 (from History of South Africa)
Image 39King Cetshwayo (ca. 1875) (from History of South Africa)
Image 40Old Dutch church in Ladismith (from Culture of South Africa)
Image 41The Castle of Good Hope (Kasteel de Goede Hoop in Dutch), Cape Town. Founded officially in 1652, Kaapstad/Cape Town is the oldest urban area in South Africa. (from History of South Africa)
Image 42Daniel François Malan, National Party leader from 1934 to 1953 (from History of South Africa)
Image 43Boer Voortrekkers depicted in an early artist's rendition (from History of South Africa)
Image 44Union Buildings, government administrative centre, Pretoria, c. 1925 (from History of South Africa)
Image 45Regional geography during the period of the Anglo–Boer wars:
South African Republic/Transvaal
Orange Free State
British Cape Colony
Natal Colony (from History of South Africa)

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Topics

South Africa articles

History

Timeline Years Early history Kingdom of Mapungubwe Venda Kingdom Kaditshwene Dutch Cape Colony Mthethwa Paramountcy Ndwandwe Cape Colony Zulu Kingdom Orange Free State Transvaal Republic First Boer War Second Boer War Great Depression World War II Apartheid Border War Democratic South Africa
By topic	Economy Military

Cannabis Crime Disability Education Feminism Health Healthcare Immigration Intersex Land invasion Languages LGBT Life expectancy Poverty Racism Religion Sexual violence Slum clearance Smoking Social issues Social movements Women Xenophobia
Culture	Architecture Art Cinema Cuisine (wine) HIV/AIDS Homelessness Internet censorship Flag Literature Media Music National symbols Public holidays Sports World Heritage Sites heritage sites
Demographics	South African Bantu-speaking peoples Ndebele Pedi Sotho Swazi Tsonga Tswana Venda Xhosa Zulu Khoisan Khoekhoe San people Whites Afrikaners British Coloureds Cape Coloureds Cape Malays Griquas Indians Chinese

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