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Former South African presidents F.W. De Klerk and Nelson Mandela cast their vote in South Africa's third democratic elections on Wednesday, April 14, 2004. (AP Photo / Obed Zilwa / Themba Hadebe)
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INDEPTH: SOUTH AFRICA
Profile
CBC News Online | April 14, 2004
Population: (2001Census)
44.8 million total:
35.4 million blacks
4.3 million whites
4.0 million mixed race
1.0 million Asians
Language:
11 official languages:
18.6 million speak Zulu and Xhosa
6 million speak English
3.6 million speak Afrikaans
Other languages include Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana and Venda
Area:
1,219,090 square km
Government:
A republic with Cape Town as the legislative centre and Bloemfontein, the judicial centre. There's a 400-member National Assembly, a 90-member National Council and nine provincial legislatures.
The National Assembly elects the president. The nine provinces are: Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North-West, Northern Cape and Western Cape.
National Assembly members are elected by popular vote under a system of proportional representation to serve five-year terms. The Senate was abolished in 1997 and replaced by the National Council of Provinces (90 seats). Each of the nine provincial legislatures elects 10 members for five-year terms. The council has special powers to protect regional interests, including the safeguarding of cultural and linguistic traditions among ethnic minorities. It has no party affiliations.
Head of Government:
The president is both the chief of state and head of government. The cabinet is appointed by the president
Legal System:
based on Roman-Dutch law and English common law
Religions:
Christian, 68 per cent
Indigenous beliefs, 28.5 per cent
Muslim, 2 per cent
Hindu, 1.5 per cent
Economy:
Manufacturing is the largest sector but mining remains the country's biggest source of foreign exchange. South Africa is the world's largest producer of platinum, gold, and chromium. The country has well-developed financial, legal, communications, energy, and transport sectors. The stock exchange ranks among the 10 largest in the world. The country also suffers from high unemployment, about 30 per cent.
Agriculture:
corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables, beef, poultry, lamb, wool, dairy products
Exports and Imports:
Exports mainly to the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Japan and Italy. Tends to import from Germany, the U.S., the UK, Saudi Arabia, Japan, France and Iran.
Health:
South Africa has the highest number of HIV/AIDS cases. An estimated one in nine in the country are infected.
Historical Quick Facts:
The Boers, descendants of the Dutch, fought the British at the
beginning of the 20th century for control of the region.
After three years of battle, the British regained control but that did
not diminish the will of the Boers. The Boer War
was a watershed for the Dutch settlers. The National Convention of
1909 forged peace between the British and the Boers,
known as Afrikaners. It established the boundaries of the modern
unified South Africa. Cape Town was to be the legislative capital, but
the Executive would be based in Pretoria. The agreement promised
self-government within the British Empire. The British set up the Union
of South Africa in 1910. In 1934, South Africa became a sovereign state
within the Empire. After the Second
World War, the National Party won power in 1948 and set up a policy of
racial segregation between races, known as "apartheid."
In 1961, South Africa becomes a republic, severing its bonds with
Britain. In succeeding years, the white-dominated
government spends its energies fighting anti-apartheid groups and
mounting world pressure to undo apartheid.
In 1989, the government of President F.W. de Klerk began dismantling
apartheid amid international and economic pressure. De Klerk lifts a
30-year ban in 1990 on the African National Congress (ANC), South
Africa's biggest black party. He frees ANC leader, Nelson Mandela,
from jail. Mandela had spent 27 years behind bars.
In the country's first democratic elections in 1994, the ANC captures
63 per cent of the vote and Mandela becomes
South Africa's first black president on May 10, 1994. His government
ratifies a new constitution in 1996, guaranteeing
equal rights.
On Dec. 5, 1995, Mandela's government forms the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission to investigate crimes
committed under apartheid. The commission presents its report in March
2003. It recommends the government
pay US$348 million to more than 21,000 victims of abuses incurred
during the apartheid era.
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