The foreign relations of South Africa have spanned from the country's time as Dominion of the British Empire to its isolationist policies under Apartheid to its position as a responsible international actor taking a key role in Africa, particularly Southern Africa. South Africa is a member of the United Nations, the African Union and the Commonwealth of Nations. Considered a possible permanent addition to the United Nations Security Council, South Africa was elected in 2006 and again in 2010 by the UN General Assembly to serve on the Security Council, which it did until 31 December 2012. Since, South Africa has also been elected as member of the UNSC for the 2019–2020 period. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was the chair of the African Union from 2020 to 2021, the second time South Africa has chaired the organisation since its formation in 2003.
The 2030s is the next decade that will begin on 1 January 2030, and will end on 31 December 2039.
South Africa is divided into nine provinces. On the eve of the 1994 general election, South Africa's former homelands, also known as Bantustans, were reintegrated, and the four existing provinces were divided into nine. The twelfth, thirteenth and sixteenth amendments to the Constitution of South Africa changed the borders of seven of the provinces.
Agenda 21 is a non-binding action plan of the United Nations with regard to sustainable development. It is a product of the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992. It is an action agenda for the UN, other multilateral organizations, and individual governments around the world that can be executed at local, national, and global levels. One major objective of the Agenda 21 initiative is that every local government should draw its own local Agenda 21. Its aim initially was to achieve global sustainable development by 2000, with the "21" in Agenda 21 referring to the original target of the 21st century.
Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is situated in Lebowakgomo.
A list of current public holidays in South Africa:
At least thirty-five languages indigenous to South Africa are spoken in the Republic, eleven of which are official languages of South Africa: Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, Swati, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu, Afrikaans, and English, which is the primary language used in parliamentary and state discourse, though all official languages are equal in legal status. Unofficial languages are protected under the Constitution of South Africa, though few are mentioned by any name. South African Sign Language has legal recognition but is not an official language, despite a campaign and parliamentary recommendation for it to be declared one.
In South Africa, a metropolitan municipality or Category A municipality is a municipality which executes all the functions of local government for a city or conurbation. This is by contrast to areas which are primarily rural, where the local government is divided into district municipalities and local municipalities.
Ebrahim Patel is a South African cabinet minister, who holds the position of Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition. He previously served as Minister of Economic Development from 2009 to 2019.
South Africa has a large energy sector, being the third-largest economy in Africa. The country consumed 227 TWh of electricity in 2018. The vast majority of South Africa's electricity was produced from coal, with the fuel responsible for 88% of production in 2017. South Africa is the 7th largest coal producer in the world. As of July 2018, South Africa had a coal power generation capacity of 39 gigawatts (GW). South Africa is the world's 14th largest emitter of greenhouse gases. South Africa is planning to shift away from coal in the electricity sector and the country produces the most solar and wind energy by terawatt-hours in Africa. The country aims to decommission 34 GW of coal-fired power capacity by 2050. It also aims to build at least 20 GW of renewable power generation capacity by 2030. South Africa aims to generate 77,834 megawatts (MW) of electricity by 2030, with new capacity coming significantly from renewable sources to meet emission reduction targets. Through its goals stated in the Integrated Resource Plan, it announced the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme, which aims to increase renewable power generation through private sector investment.
Solar power in South Africa includes photovoltaics (PV) as well as concentrated solar power (CSP). In 2016, South Africa had 1,329 MW of installed solar power capacity. Installed capacity is expected to reach 8,400 MW by 2030.
Chris Hunsinger is a South African politician, a Member of the South African Parliament since 2014, Caucus Whip and Treasurer with the Democratic Alliance. He was appointed by the then Leader of the Opposition Mmusi Maimane on 5 June 2019 and retained by the current Leader of the Opposition John Steenhuisen in October 2019 and again in December 2020, as The Shadow Minister of Transport. Hunsinger was re-elected to Parliament on 6 June 2019. He speaks and writes about issues related to consumer and commodity needs in transport, including safety, planning, finance and management with South African road, rail, maritime, and aviation service providers.
Renewable energy in South Africa is energy generated in South Africa from renewable resources, those that naturally replenish themselves—such as sunlight, wind, tides, waves, rain, biomass, and geothermal heat. Renewable energy focuses on four core areas: electricity generation, air and water heating/cooling, transportation, and rural energy services. The energy sector in South Africa is an important component of global energy regimes due to the country's innovation and advances in renewable energy. South Africa's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is ranked as moderate and its per capita emission rate is higher than the global average. Energy demand within the country is expected to rise steadily and double by 2025.
In South Africa the Department of Public Enterprises is the shareholder representative of the South African Government with oversight responsibility for state-owned enterprises in key sectors. Some companies are not directly controlled by the Department of Public Enterprises, but by various other departments. Further, not all state owned entities are registered as companies.
Kwati Candith Mashego-Dlamini is the current Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation in South Africa, along with Mr Alvin Botes and has served as MEC for various Departments of The Mpumalanga Provincial Government under the Administrations of Thabang Makwetla and David Mabuza. She was moved to National Government after the 2014 General election.
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) is the national public health institute of South Africa, providing reference to microbiology, virology, epidemiology, surveillance and public health research to support the government's response to communicable disease threats.
The Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport is a department of the Government of Gauteng. It is responsible for the development of the transport system in the Gauteng province of South Africa, and for constructing and maintaining buildings and other structures for the other departments of the provincial government.
National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA), is the regulatory authority for the electricity supply industry in South Africa.
Sidumo (Sdumo) Mbongeni Dlamini is a South African politician who has been a Member of Parliament (MP) for the African National Congress.
The Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) is a plan aimed at estimating South Africa's electricity demand. It takes into account how the demand of electricity will be met and the expense of such a demand. The plan refers to electricity generation and expansion programmes. In formulating the National Development Plan, the Department of Energy gazetted the Integrated Resource Plan 2010-2030 in March 2011; this forecasted the energy demand for the 20-year period. In October 2019, IRP 2019 was gazetted; this updates the energy forecast from 2019 to the year 2030.
