South Africa is known for its ethnic and cultural diversity. Almost all South Africans speak English to some degree of proficiency, in addition to their native language, with English acting as a lingua franca in commerce, education, and government.[1][2] South Africa has eleven official languages, but other indigenous languages are spoken by smaller groups, chiefly Khoisan languages.[3]
Members of the middle class, who are predominantly white and Indian but whose ranks include growing numbers of other groups, have lifestyles similar in many respects to that of people found in Western Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand.
The Apartheid state legally classified South Africans into one of four race groups, determined where they could live, and enforced segregation in education, work opportunities, public amenities and social relations. Although these laws were abolished by the early 1990s, the apartheid racial categories remain ingrained in South African culture,[4][5][6][7] with South Africans continuing to classify themselves, and each other, as belonging to one of the four defined race groups (blacks, whites, Coloureds and Indians)[7][6] making it difficult to define a single South African culture that doesn't make reference to these racial categories.[7]
The oldest art objects in the world were discovered in a South African cave. Dating from 75,000 years ago, these small drilled snail shells could have no other function than to have been strung on a string as a necklace. South Africa was one of the cradles of the human species. One of the defining characteristics of the human species is the creation of art (from Latin "ars", meaning worked or formed from basic material).
The scattered tribes of Khoisan peoples moving into South Africa from around 10,000 BC had their own fluent art styles seen today in a multitude of cave paintings. They were superseded by Bantu and Nguni peoples with their own vocabularies of art forms. In the 20th century, traditional tribal forms of art were scattered and re-melded by the divisive policies of apartheid.
New great forms of art evolved in the mines and townships: a dynamic art using everything from plastic strips to bicycle spokes. The Dutch-influenced folk art of the AfrikanerTrekboer and the urban white artists earnestly following changing European traditions from the 1850s onwards also contributed to this eclectic mix, which continues to evolve today.
One form of art developed during the period of apartheid. This new characterization was termed "township art" and became common in the 1960s and 1970s. This art style tended to depict scenes from everyday life of poor black individuals in South Africa.[8] Common visual elements in this art style are dilapidated houses, women washing clothes, penny whistlers, and black mother-and-child tableaux.
Oracles of the Pink Universe by Simphiwe Ndzube, 2021
The architecture of South Africa mirrors the vast ethnic and cultural diversity of the country and its historical colonial period. In addition, influences from other distant countries have contributed to the variety of the South African architectural landscape.
Cape Dutch architecture was prominent in the early days (17th century) of the Cape Colony, and the name derives from the fact that the initial settlers of the Cape were primarily Dutch. The style has roots in medieval Holland, Germany, France and Indonesia. Houses in this style have a distinctive and recognizable design, with a prominent feature being the grand, ornately rounded gables, reminiscent of features in townhouses of Amsterdam built in the Dutch style.
The rural landscape of South Africa is populated with traditional and European-influenced African architecture.
There are 11 national languages in South Africa. South Africa's unique social and political history has generated a rich variety of literatures, with themes spanning pre-colonial life, the days of apartheid, and the lives of people in the "new South Africa".
Many of the first black South African print authors were missionary-educated, and many wrote in either English or Afrikaans. One of the first well known novels written by a black author in an African language was Solomon Thekiso Plaatje's Mhudi, written in 1930.
Notable white English-language South African authors include Nadine Gordimer who was, in Seamus Heaney's words, one of "the guerrillas of the imagination", and who became the first South African and the seventh woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1991. Her novel, July's People, was released in 1981, depicting the collapse of white-minority rule.
Alan Paton published the acclaimed novel Cry, the Beloved Country in 1948. He told the tale of a black priest who comes to Johannesburg to find his son, which became an international best-seller. During the 1950s, Drum magazine became a hotbed of political satire, fiction, and essays, giving a voice to urban black culture.
Afrikaans-language writers also began to write controversial material. Breyten Breytenbach was jailed for his involvement with the guerrilla movement against apartheid. Andre Brink was the first Afrikaner writer to be banned by the government after he released the novel A Dry White Season about a white South African who discovers the truth about a black friend who dies in police custody.
South Africa has a rich tradition of oral poetry. Several influential African poets became prominent in the 1970s such as Mongane Wally Serote, whose most famous work, No Baby Must Weep, gave insight into the everyday lives of black South Africans under apartheid. Another famous black novelist, Zakes Mda, transitioned from poetry and plays to becoming a novelist in the same time period. His novel, The Heart of Redness won the 2001 Commonwealth Writers Prize and was made a part of the school curriculum across South Africa.
While many foreign films have been produced about South Africa (usually involving race relations), few local productions are known outside South Africa itself. One exception was the film The Gods Must Be Crazy in 1980, set in the Kalahari. This is about how life in a traditional community of San (Bushmen) is changed when a Coke bottle, thrown out of a plane, suddenly lands from the sky. The late Jamie Uys, who wrote and directed The Gods Must Be Crazy, also had success overseas in the 1970s with his films Funny People and Funny People II, similar to the TV series Candid Camera in the US. Leon Schuster's You Must Be Joking! films are in the same genre, and hugely popular among South Africans. Schuster's most successful film internationally is Mr Bones, which was also the best performing film locally at the time of its release, grossing 35m USD.[9] This was surpassed by the sequel, Mr Bones 2: Back from the Past.
The most high-profile film portraying South Africa in recent years was District 9. Directed by Neill Blomkamp, a native South African, and produced by Peter Jackson, the action/science-fiction film depicts a sub-class of alien refugees forced to live in the slums of Johannesburg in what many saw as a creative allegory for apartheid. The film was a critical and commercial success worldwide, and was nominated for Best Picture at the 82nd Academy Awards. Another notable film that was produced in South Africa is Chappie.
There is great diversity in music from South Africa. Many black musicians who sang in Afrikaans or English during apartheid have since begun to sing in traditional African languages, and have developed unique styles called Kwaito and Amapiano. Of note is Brenda Fassie, who launched to fame with her song "Weekend Special", which was sung in English. More famous traditional musicians include Ladysmith Black Mambazo, while the Soweto String Quartet performs classic music with an African flavour. White and Coloured South African singers are historically influenced by European musical styles.
The South African music scene includes Kwaito and Amapiano, new music genres that had developed in the mid-1980s and late 2010s, and have since developed to become a popular socio-economic form of representation among the populace. However, some argue that the political aspects of Kwaito have since diminished after Apartheid, and the relative interest in politics has become a very minor aspect of daily life. Others argue that in a sense, Kwaito is in fact a political force that shows activism in its apolitical actions.
Today, major corporations like Sony, BMG, and EMI have appeared on the South African scene to produce and distribute Kwaito music. Due to its popularity, as well as the general influence of DJs, who are among the top 5 most influential types of people within the country, Kwaito has taken over radio, television, and magazines.[12]
South African rock music is a very popular subculture, especially within the Johannesburg region. The alternative rock and metal band Seether gained international popularity in the early 2000s, with five of their albums achieving Gold or Platinum certification in the United States.[13] Four other rock bands, KONGOS, Civil Twilight, Prime Circle, the Parlotones and have also achieved success abroad in the late 2000s. While metal bands such as Vulvodynia have achieved moderate success in the 2020s.
The cuisine of South Africa is heavily meat-based and has spawned the distinctively South African social gathering known as a braai. A variation of the barbecue, braais often feature boerewors or spicy sausages, and mielies (maize) or Mielie-meal, often as a porridge, or pearl millet, a staple food of black South Africans. Pastries such like koeksisters and desserts like melktert (milk tart) are also universally popular.
Indian food like curry is also popular, especially in Durban with its large Indian population. Another local Indian Durban speciality is the "bunny", or bunny chow, which consists of a hollowed-out loaf of white bread filled with curry.
The Portuguese community has also made its mark, with spicy peri-peri chicken being a favourite. The South African Portuguese-themed restaurant chain Nando's now has restaurants in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Malaysia, Kenya and the United Arab Emirates.
South Africa has developed into a major wine producer, with some of the best vineyards lying in valleys around Stellenbosch, Franschhoek, Paarl and Barrydale. South African wine has a history dating back to 1659, and at one time Constantia was considered one of the greatest wines in the world. Access to international markets has unleashed a burst of new energy and new investment. Production is concentrated around Cape Town, with major vineyard and production centres at Paarl, Stellenbosch and Worcester.
There are about 60 appellations within the Wine of Origin (WO) system, which was implemented in 1973 with a hierarchy of designated production regions, districts and wards. WO wines must be made 100% from grapes from the designated area. "Single vineyard" wines must come from a defined area of less than 5 hectares. An "Estate Wine" can come from adjacent farms, as long as they are farmed together and wine is produced on site. A ward is an area with a distinctive soil type and/or climate, and is roughly equivalent to a European appellation.[14]
Learners have twelve years of formal schooling, from grade 1 to 12. Grade R is a pre-primary foundation year. Primary schools span the first seven years of schooling.[15] High School education spans a further five years. The Senior Certificate examination takes place at the end of grade 12 and is necessary for tertiary studies at a South African university.[16]
Public universities in South Africa are divided into three types: traditional universities, which offer theoretically oriented university degrees; universities of technology (formerly called "Technikons"), which offer vocational oriented diplomas and degrees; and comprehensive universities, which offer both types of qualification. Public institutions are usually English medium, although instruction may take place in Afrikaans as well. There are also a large number of other educational institutions in South Africa – some are local campuses of foreign universities, some conduct classes for students who write their exams at the distance-education University of South Africa and some offer unaccredited or non-accredited diplomas.
Public expenditure on education was at 6.1% of the 2016 GDP.[17]
Under apartheid, schools for blacks were subject to discrimination through inadequate funding and a separate syllabus called Bantu Education which was only designed to give them sufficient skills to work as labourers.[18] Redressing these imbalances has been a focus of recent education policy; see Education in South Africa: Restructuring.
South Africa has also had a large influence in the Scouting movement, with many Scouting traditions and ceremonies coming from the experiences of Robert Baden-Powell (the founder of Scouting) during his time in South Africa as a military officer in the 1890s-1900s. Scouts South Africa (then known as Boy Scouts of South Africa) was one of the first youth organisations to open its doors to youth and adults of all races in South Africa. This happened on 2 July 1977 at a conference known as Quo Vadis.[19]
South Africa enacted same-sex marriage laws in 2006 allowing full marriage and adoption rights to same-sex couples. Although the Constitutional and legal system in South Africa theoretically ensures equality, social acceptance is generally lacking, especially outside of urban areas. Lesbian women from smaller towns (especially the townships) are often victims of beating or rape. This has been posited, in part, to be because of the perceived threat they pose to traditional male authority.[20] Although evidence of hatred may influence rulings on a case-by-case basis, South Africa has no specific hate crime legislation; human rights organisations have criticised the South African police for failing to address the matter of bias-motivated crimes.[21]
For example, the NGO ActionAid has condemned the continued impunity and accused governments of turning a blind eye to reported murders of lesbians in homophobic attacks in South Africa; as well as to so-called "corrective" rapes, including cases among pupils, in which cases the male rapists purport to raping the lesbian victim with the intent of thereby "curing" her of her sexual orientation.[22][23]
Several important scientific and technological developments have originated in South Africa. The first human-to-human heart transplant was performed by cardiac surgeon Christiaan Barnard at Groote Schuur Hospital in December 1967. Max Theiler developed a vaccine against Yellow Fever, Allan McLeod Cormack pioneered x-ray Computed tomography, and Aaron Klug developed crystallographic electron microscopy techniques. These advancements were all (with the exception of that of Barnard) recognised with Nobel Prizes. Sydney Brenner won most recently, in 2002, for his pioneering work in molecular biology.
Mark Shuttleworth founded an early Internet security company Thawte, that was subsequently bought out by world-leader VeriSign. Elon Musk was born in South Africa.
South Africa has cultivated a burgeoning astronomy community. It hosts the Southern African Large Telescope, the largest optical telescope in the southern hemisphere. South Africa is currently building the Karoo Array Telescope as a pathfinder for the $20billion Square Kilometer Array project to be built in South Africa and Australia.
In 2004, the swimming team of Roland Schoeman, Lyndon Ferns, Darian Townsend and Ryk Neethling won the gold medal at the Olympic Games in Athens, simultaneously breaking the world record in the 4x100 freestyle relay. Penny Heyns won Olympic Gold in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. Swimmer Tatjana Smith (née Schoenmaker) won gold and silver medals at both the Olympic Games and the Commonwealth Games.
Soweto is a township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for South Western Townships. Formerly a separate municipality, it is now incorporated in the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality and is one of the suburbs of Johannesburg.
The national anthem of South Africa was adopted in 1997 and is a hybrid song combining extracts of the 19th century Xhosa hymn "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" and the Afrikaans song that was used as the South African national anthem during the apartheid era, "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika", with new English lyrics.
The music of South Africa exhibits a culturally varied musical heritage in conjunction with the multi-ethnic populace. Genres with the greatest international recognition being mbube, isicathamiya, mbaqanga, afrofusion, kwaito, South African pop music, afro house, South African hip hop, Shangaan electro, bacardi house, bolo house, gqom and amapiano.
Die Stem van Suid-Afrika, also known as "The Call of South Africa" or simply "Die Stem", was the national anthem of South Africa during the apartheid era. There are two versions of the song, one in English and the other in Afrikaans, which were in use early on in the Union of South Africa alongside God Save the Queen and as the sole anthem after South Africa became a republic. It was the sole national anthem from 1957 to 1994, and shared co-national anthem status with "God Save the King/Queen" from 1938 to 1957. After the end of apartheid, it was retained as a co-national anthem along with "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" until 1997, when a new hybrid song incorporating elements of both songs was adopted as the country's new national anthem, which is still in use.
Kwaito is a music genre that emerged in Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa, between the late 1980s and 1990s. It is a variant of house music that features the use of African sounds and samples. Kwaito songs occur at a slower tempo range than other styles of house music and often contain catchy melodic and percussive loop samples, deep bass lines and vocals.
SABC 1 is a South African public television network operated by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) which carries programming in English and Nguni.
SABC 2 is a South African free-to-air television channel owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).
"Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" is a Christian hymn originally composed in 1897 by Enoch Sontonga, a Xhosa clergyman at a Methodist mission school near Johannesburg.
Stellenbosch University (SU) (Afrikaans: Universiteit Stellenbosch, Xhosa: iYunivesithi yaseStellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant university in Sub-Saharan Africa, which received full university status in 1918. Stellenbosch University designed and manufactured Africa's first microsatellite, SUNSAT, launched in 1999.
Kaffir, also spelled Cafri, is an exonym and an ethnic slur – the use of it in reference to black people being particularly common in South Africa. In Arabic, the word kāfir ("unbeliever") was originally applied to non-Muslims before becoming predominantly focused on pagan zanj who were increasingly used as slaves. During the Age of Exploration in early modern Europe, variants of the Latin term cafer were adopted in reference to non-Muslim Bantu peoples even when they were monotheistic. It was eventually used, particularly in Afrikaans, for any black person during the Apartheid and Post-Apartheid eras, closely associated with South African racism. While originally not pejorative, it became a pejorative by the mid-20th century and is now considered extremely offensive hate speech. Punishing continuing use of the term was one of the concerns of the Promotion of Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act enacted by the South African parliament in the year 2000 and it is now euphemistically addressed as the K-word in South African English.
The British diaspora in Africa is a population group broadly defined as English-speaking people of mainly British descent who live in or were born in Sub-Saharan Africa. The majority live in South Africa and other Southern African countries in which English is a primary language, including Zimbabwe, Namibia, Kenya, Botswana and Zambia. Their first language is usually English.
Mduduzi ThembinkosiEdmund Tshabalala, also known as Mandoza, was a South African singer-songwriter and kwaito recording artist. He was known for his contributions to the kwaito genre and his numerous hit singles, including "Nkalakatha", "Uzoyithola Kanjani, Tornado", "Sgelekeqe", "Ngalabesi", "Godoba", "Tsotsi Yase Zola" and "Indoda", which topped the charts in South Africa and all over the African continent. His second album Nkalakatha, released in 2000, became the biggest selling album of his career, selling 350,000 units..
The Covenant is a historical novel by American author James A. Michener, published in 1980.
The Soweto uprising, also known as the Soweto riots, was a series of demonstrations and protests led by black school children in South Africa during apartheid that began on the morning of 16 June 1976.
The University of the Free State is a multi-campus public university in Bloemfontein, the capital of the Free State and the judicial capital of South Africa. It was first established as an institution of higher learning in 1904 as a tertiary section of Grey College. It was declared an independent Afrikaans-language university in 1950 and the name was changed to the University of the Orange Free State. The university has two satellite campuses. Initially a whites-only precinct, the university was fully de-segregated in 1996. The first black university vice-chancellor was appointed in 2010.
Tsotsitaal is a South African vernacular dialect derived from a variety of mixed languages mainly spoken in the townships of Gauteng province, but also in other agglomerations all over South Africa. Tsotsi is a Sesotho, Pedi or Tswana slang word for a "thug" or "robber" or "criminal", possibly from the verb "ho lotsa" "to sharpen", whose meaning has been modified in modern times to include "to con"; or from the tsetse fly, as the language was first known as Flytaal, although flaai also means "cool" or "street smart". The word taal in Afrikaans means "language".
South African literature is the literature of South Africa, which has 11 national languages: Afrikaans, English, Zulu, Xhosa, Sotho, Pedi, Tswana, Venda, Swazi, Tsonga and Ndebele.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to South Africa:
Brasse Vannie Kaap (BVK) was a hip-hop group from the Cape Flats in Cape Town, South Africa. They rapped predominantly in the Cape Flats dialect of Afrikaans. The original line-up included Deon Daniels (Boeta-D), Roger Heunis (Hamma), Ashley Titus and Enver Pietersen. Bboys Cheeze, Baby-L and Levi joined the group soon after they started to perform live.
Tofo Tofo Dance Group is made up of three Mozambican men who integrated kwaito music and pantsula dance, which originates from South Africa, to create their own unique type of dance that has become internationally celebrated. This new form of movement has brought local African dance onto a global stage.
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