South Africa is located at the southern tip of Africa. It has a population of 45 million people and a diverse landscape ranging from urban to rural areas. The government is a constitutional democracy with an executive branch led by a president and a bicameral parliament. South Africa's major industries include mining, with the country being a top producer of gold and platinum. The nation has a complex history involving Dutch and British colonization and the apartheid system, which ended in the 1990s.

1. South Africa
By the Year 9/10 History Elective Class

2. Political Information
“Traffic in Joburg is the democratic process.
Every time you think it’s going to get moving
and take you somewhere, you hit another jam.”
South Africa is a nation based in the Southern
end of Africa and it homes to forty-five million
people living in both 1st world and 3rd world
lifestyle situations. The government is a
constitutional democracy with a bicameral
parliament run by a president. In this report you
will learn and understand how the South African
government runs today and the history of
African voting rights.

3. Political Information
The South African government is divided into 3
parts.
1. The Executive (The Cabinet) is responsible
for ruling the countries through different
departments. Each is responsible for a different
issue e.g. healthcare, education, sport

4. Political Information
2. The Legislature (Parliament): This is where the
elected representatives discuss matter and decide on
new laws. There are two groups to this. The National
assembly is made up of all the members of parliament
that got seats in the election. It is their job to represent
the public and make sure that the democratic laws are
kept. The head of this National assembly is called the
Speaker. The second party is called the National
Council of Provinces that is made up of nine provinces
who each have ten representatives in the council.
When a province has a suggestion the council is
asked to put it before parliament. Here Parliament can
vote and decide on the situation.

5. Political Information
3. Jusiciary (The courts): This is the part of government
where those who don’t follow the laws are punished.
There are different levels in the courts. The higher
court and a lower court. The members on the higher
court can overall the decision of the lower court. The
Constitution court is one of the most important courts
as if Parliament wants to make a new law, it check to
see that it does not go against the human rights
constitution.

6. Economic Information
Industries
South Africa has only started to export large
amounts of goods of late due to their rise in
economy. Now with the countries small amount
of land used for agriculture they rely on trading
to receive their resources. Some major
industries in South Africa are Mining,
automobile assembly, metalworking and
machinery.

7. Economic Information
South Africa’s largest Industry is mining due to it
being the world’s largest producer of platinum,
gold and chromium. Not to mention the
enormous amounts of diamonds found within
the countries landscape.

8. Historical Information
The first European explorers started to arrive in
South Africa in the 1480’s, although they did
not settle, but instead used the country to
gather supplies. In 1652, a Dutch company
called the ‘Dutch East India Company’ created
a supply depot in Cape Town and it became a
permanent settlement called ‘The Cape
Colony’. In 1806, the British defeated the Dutch
in the Battle of Bloubergstrand, leading the
British to take the Cape Colony from the Dutch.

9. Historical Information

The British and Dutch still fought even after the
Dutch were defeated in the Battle of
Bloubergstrand. The Boer Wars was a war in
South Africa between the British and the
descendants of the Dutch settlers called the
Boers. The Boers were unhappy that the British
had control over the Cape and moved north in
search of new land. When the British moved
north to Transvaal where the Boers had settled
and the Boers rebelled and soon after the First
Boer War began. The war only last 3 months
December 1880 - March 1881 and was won by

10. Historical Information
The war only last 3 months December 1880 -
March 1881 and was won by the Boers which
was a humiliating to the British. They reached
an agreement where the Boers had
independence, but were still governed by the
British Crown. Gold was discovered in the in
the late 1880’s (by an Aussie!) which saw an
influx of people from all over the world. The
population increased rapidly causing the Boers
to rebel once more. The Second Boer War
broke out in 1899 and ended in 1902.

11. Historical Information
It ended ultimately with a British victory with them
taking over all of previously Boer territory
forming what we know now as South Africa.
South Africa was an is to this day a part of the
British Commonwealth, in they supported
Britain and fought alongside them in both WWI
and WWII.

12. Geographical Information
A majority of the named
mountains in South Africa
are contained within the
mountain range known as
the Drakensburg
(Afrikaans: Dragon
Mountains, Zulu: Barrier of
Spears). The highest point
along the Drakensburg
ranges is Thabana
Ntlenyana, sitting at 3482
metres. The lowest named
mountain on the
Drakensburg is Isandlwana,
resting at 1284 metres.

13. Geographical Information

The Drakensburg range also constitutes the
Tugela Falls, the second highest waterfall in the
world at a drop height of 947 metres, and a
large variety of grasslands and wooded forests.
The Drakensburg also includes 299 species of
non-marine avian species. Other notable peaks
in South Africa include Table Mountain, a
mountain named for its ostensibly large plateau
of rock shaped somewhat like a table, formed
of mostly Ordovician quartzitic sandstone (also
known as Table Mountain sandstone).

14. Geographical Information
South Africa experiences a wide variety of
climatological compared to other African areas that
are south of the Saharan desert. However, it is still
part of the Southern Hemisphere’s subtropical
zone. The western part of the country experiences
a Mediterranean style climate with warm to hot
summer weather and mild, rainy conditions in
winter. This while eastern South Africa experiences
sub-tropical and subtropical highland climate which
is quite similar to the weather in the west. Both
climate types have similar characteristics where
they have hot, dry summers and mild, rainy
conditions in winter.

15. Social Information
As of 2012, South Africa is rank 107 out of 194
countries for literacy rate, which isn’t too bad, if
you don’t look at the countries ahead of South
Africa. South Africa’s school and university
standards are generally too low, with a few
exceptions. Also, the fees are too high for the
majority, so only one in six students get into
university and a third of those drop out within a
year. 86.4% of people aged 15 and over are
able to read and write, which in comparison to
Australia is fairly low; as in Australia 99% of
people aged 15 and over are able to read and
write.

16. Social Information
The literacy rate in South Africa has had little
improvement from 1980 to now; in 1980, 85.9%
of youth (people aged 15-24) could read and
write and by 2012, the percentage had gone up
to 86.4%.

17. Social Information
The life expectancy in South Africa is considerably
low compared to the life expectancy in Australia, in
Australia the life expectancy is about 82 years for
the entire population, while in south Africa it is
about 52 years. In South Africa the life expectancy
at birth for a female is 52.78, while in 1960 it was
at its lowest, 50.83. In 1990 it was at its highest,
65.35. The life expectancy at birth for males is
51.42, it was at its lowest in 1960, when it was
47.33, the highest it has been was in 1990, when it
was 57.93. The infant mortality rate in South Africa
is 44.42, ranking it 165th in the world.

18. Social Information
Languages:
Afrikaans- derived approximately 90-95% from Dutch, is spoken by 13.5% of South Africa
English- Variants of proper english are spoken by Zimbabweans, Zambians and Namibians, spoken as home language by approx.
8.2% of South Africa
Ndebele- spoken by approx. 2.1% of the population, it originated through the Ndebele people
Zulu- spoken by approx. 24% of the total population, it originated through the Zulu tribe
Xhosa- spoken by approx. 16% of the population, it is like most bantu languages, with few distinctions
Northern Sotho- spoken by approx. 9.1% of the population, it originated through the Limpopo people
Sotho- spoken by approx. 7.6% of the population, originated as a primary Bantu languages*.
spoken by approx. 9% of the total population, originated as a primary of the Bantu Languages*
Tsonga- spoken by approx. 4.5% of the total population, originated through Limpopo and Mpumalanga tribes.
Swazi- Spoken by approx. 2.5% of the population, originated as a primary of the bantu languages*
Venda- spoken by approx. 2.28% of the population, originated through the Venda people.
*Bantu is a collection of South African languages, each language varies, but slightly.

19. Values/Beliefs
There are many religions in South Africa dating
back thousands of years, although the majority
of the religions are imported. The san is a
group of native bushmen in South Africa who
believed in one powerful god and prayed to him
either by themselves or through a shaman or
healer.
The main imported religions are Buddhism,
Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism

20. Values/Beliefs
Buddhism originated almost 2500 years ago in
India. A man named Siddhartha Gautama was
a prince in India but was told he would become
a monk. His father was scared and kept him
from the world, but one day Siddhartha
escaped and choose to become a monk who
travelled the world giving peace and joy. He
then decided one day after meditating under a
tree that he found the answers to the problems
of life and became buddha.

21. Values/Beliefs
Christianity is the belief in one powerful God who died on a cross
around 2000 years ago and rose again three days later. He was
known as Jesus and is what all Christians believe in.
Hinduism originated in India and is one of the oldest religions
known about, having been created over 4000 years ago.Hindu’s
believe in Brahma and many gods and goddesses who show
different parts of Brahma.
Islam started just over 1400 years ago with the teacher of prophet
Muhammad. When he was 40 an angel appeared to him and
told him the king of the Jews and Christians was one god Allah.

22. Values/Beliefs
Judaism is the belief that all of the Jews descended from
Abraham and that they were promised the land Canaan which
is now part of Israel. They have an item called the Torah or holy
scripts which teaches them how to live based of the ten
commandments.
In South Africa there is freedom of religion. All citizens are treated
equally, regardless of their religion.
The majority of South Africans, whether they are white or coloured
are Christians.
South Africa has two indigenous religions: The religion of the SAN
people and African Traditional Religion.

23. Values/Beliefs
The San believe there is one God who is
powerful and good. They pray to him by
themselves or through a healer called a
shaman. One of the most important religious
rituals is the Trance Dance. During this dance,
the women sit in a circle, around a fire and clap
to spiritual songs while the men dance. As they
do this, the spirit enters the shamans and they
go into a trance where it is believed they get
special healing powers.

24. Values/Beliefs
African Traditional Religion believes in ancestor
worship, treating others kindly and working for
the good of the community. It focuses on family
and special events in their lives such as birth,
initiation, weddings and death. They sacrifice
animals for special events and to honour the
spirits of the ancestors.

25. Aesthetic
Art has varied a lot over the ages in South Africa.
The extremes of this are the rock art of the
ancestors of the current Bushmen or San and the
modernistic art of today. During the colonial era,
the artists in South Africa concentrated on showing
this “new world” in as much accurate detail as they
could. Towards the end of the 19th century, artist
began to establish a locally rooted art. These
artworks were the first glimpse of artistic vision
engaging with life as it’s lived in South Africa for its
own sake, rather than as a report to the colonial
master.

26. Aesthetic
During the apartheid years, black artist were
largely ignored and it was left to the white
artists to build South African art. Despite this,
the time saw a large diversity in art, from
landscapes to abstract art. “Sometimes South
African are seemed to float above the political
issues of the day; at other times it tackled them
with vigour and insight.”

27. Examples of Art

28. Architecture
The traditional Zulu homes were made from mud,
grass, tree branches and bricks (made from
mud). In Zulu culture it is the man’s
responsibility to build the houses, to do this
they used both their hands and feet. Although it
was a man’s duty to build these homes it is
known that some women made them as their
husbands were working far away.

29. Architecture
The floors were made of cow dung and ant-heap
soil to harden the floor. The roofs are thatched
that are sewn to wooden poles with rope made
from grass.