Background and Overview of The Republic of South Africa:
The Republic of South Africa was named due to its location
at the southern tip of Africa. It is a
large country “slightly less than twice the size of Texas, having 2, 798
kilometres (1, 739 mi) of coastline that stretches along the South Atlantic and
Indian oceans”, and is the 25th-largest by land area and the most populous country
in the world with close to 53 million people” (“South Africa”, 2014). The RSA is
geographically varied and borders six different countries: to the north, lies
the countries “Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe; to the east are Mozambique and
Swaziland; and within it lies Lesotho, an enclave surrounded by South African
territory” (“South Africa”, 2014).
The Republic of South Africa's Racial Categories:
South Africa is a multiethnic society with a wide variety of cultures, languages, and religions. Even though South Africa is a multiethnic and multiracial society, the government only officially recognizes four races: Black South Africans, White, Coloured, and Indian/Asian.
The category of the population labeled "Black" is around 80 percent of the South African population (34,216,164)” (“South Africa”, 2014). However, the population classified as black South African is not culturally or linguistically homogeneous, but comprised of various ethnic groups that consist of four broad groups such as: (1) The Nguni which consists of the Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele, and Swazi people. (2) The Sotho-Tswana, who include the Southern, Northern and Western Sotho (Tswana people). (3) The Tsonga, and (4) The Venda, all of which speak Bantu (South African) languages. The rest of the population is categorized as European (White), Asian (Indian) and multiracial (Coloured) and makes up the rest of the population (“Ethnic Groups in South Africa”, 2014).
The category of the population labeled “White” refers to various groups that are not all homogenous, culturally and linguistically, and are divided into the Afrikaners, who speak Afrikaans, and into English-speaking groups that might also maintain elements of their own language of origin as well, such as Greek or Portuguese (“Ethnic Groups in South Africa”, 2014). The Afrikaners speak Afrikaans and are descendants of Dutch, German and French Huguenots that came from the 17th century onwards. Many English-speaking Whites were descendants of settlers from the British Isles that came from the late 18th century onwards. White immigrants and descendents from the rest of Europe, including Greeks, Portuguese, Eastern European Jews, Hungarians and Germans are also categorized as White.
The category of the population labeled “Coloured” (the label is quite contentious) is a population of people with mixed lineage that come from a combination of ethnic and racial backgrounds including Black, White, Khoi, San (a small population that still lives in South Africa), Griqua, Chinese and Malay. The Khoi or Khoisan is actually a term describing two separate groups that are physically similar in being light skinned and small in stature. It includes indigenous groups of Africans and whites who lived in the Cape. The term “Coloured” also refers to people with a mixed lineage that descended from slaves brought to the country from east and central Africa (“Ethnic Groups in South Africa”, 2014).
Most of the population labeled Asians have origins from India and many of them descended from indentured workers brought to work on the sugar plantations. They are largely English-speaking, although many also retain the languages of their origins. There is also a significant group of Chinese South Africans; approximately 150,000 hail from China and Vietnam. Interestingly, in 2008, “the Pretoria High Court, Pretoria is one of the capitals of South Africa, ruled that Chinese South Africans who arrived before 1994 would be reclassified as “Coloureds”” (Ethnic Groups South Africa, 2014). This relabeling illustrates that race is a politicized and slippery construct in South Africa. It also ultimately allowed “3-5% of the total Chinese population in the country [to] benefit from government BEE policies” (Ethnic Groups South Africa, 2014).
Official Languages of The Republic of South Africa:
Language is tied to types of worldviews and perceptions about the world. Therefore, language is a very important aspect of understanding another culture, and one of the most difficult barriers to overcome in intercultural communications. In South Africa, language is tied up in the culture and cultural heritage. There are 11 official languages that are recognized: isiZulu, isiXhosa, isiNdebele, siSwati, Sesotho sa Leboa, Sesotho, Setswana, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, English, and Afrikaans are spoken. Nine of the official languages derive from a variety of ethnic groups speaking different Bantu languages. “Bantu refers to:
"A group of over 400 closely related languages spoken in central, east-central, and southern Africa, belonging to the South Central subgroup of the Niger-Congo language family and including Swahili, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Zulu, and Xhosa. However, the use of the term Bantu is only acceptable outside South Africa and when talking about this group of languages and their speakers. To refer to African people or peoples, the terms Black and African are acceptable within South Africa” (“Bantu”).
The other two languages, English and Afrikaans, have European and colonists’ ancestry originating from the early Dutch and British that colonized South Africa. Illustrating how language and culture are tied, Afrikaans is not just a language, but refers to a group of South Africans (Afrikaaners), whose ancestors originated from the Dutch colonists, and serves as the first language of most White and (multi-racial or “Coloured”) South Africans. In this, Afrikaans signifies not just language but a racial, cultural, and nationalized identity. English is the fourth most-spoken language used in educational institutions, and public and commercial life. The government also tries to promote the use of Khoi, Nama, and San languages and Sign Language (“South Africa”, 2014).
Brief Political History of the Republic of South Africa:
But perhaps the most well-known cultural aspect of South Africa is its checkered racial past, which carries over to its present, affecting South Africans today. From 1948 until the National Democratic election in 1994, South Africa functioned under a system of racial segregation known as Apartheid. Although the early Dutch and British colonists had practiced forms of segregation, Apartheid (see tab Remnants of Apartheid and Social Class for more information) differed because it was an enforced and protected, official policy of the government under which the rights, associations, and movements of the majority black inhabitants were curtailed and the white Afrikaner minority rule was maintained. In this case, the political laws wrote upon the bodies of the black population. And, like any country with a history of systematic oppression, the remnants of the system still effect many South Africans today (covered more fully in Remnants of Apartheid and Social Class). Yet, the National Democratic Election in 1994 did signal a change in which the (Afrikaaner) all white government was dismantled and all ethnic and linguistic groups were given political representation in South Africa’s constitutional democracy that consists of a parliamentary republic, as well as a change from four provinces into nine different provinces: Western Cape, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Northern Cape, Free State, North West, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, and Limpopo (“South Africa”, 2014). Today South Africa is often referred to as the “Rainbow Nation, which was coined by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and refers to South Africa’s “multicultural diversity in the wake of segregationist apartheid ideology” (“South Africa”, 2014).
There is no doubt that ending Apartheid was a significant and necessary moment in South African history, and I would suggest, global history. However, the end of Apartheid was not an end to the inequality and oppression that characterized South Africa for nearly half a decade prior to its end. Apartheid, not only affects various groups in South Africa, and various social and political institutions, but also immigration policies as well, which will be covered more fully in Remnants of Apartheid and Social Class.
The Republic of South Africa's Racial Categories:
South Africa is a multiethnic society with a wide variety of cultures, languages, and religions. Even though South Africa is a multiethnic and multiracial society, the government only officially recognizes four races: Black South Africans, White, Coloured, and Indian/Asian.
The category of the population labeled "Black" is around 80 percent of the South African population (34,216,164)” (“South Africa”, 2014). However, the population classified as black South African is not culturally or linguistically homogeneous, but comprised of various ethnic groups that consist of four broad groups such as: (1) The Nguni which consists of the Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele, and Swazi people. (2) The Sotho-Tswana, who include the Southern, Northern and Western Sotho (Tswana people). (3) The Tsonga, and (4) The Venda, all of which speak Bantu (South African) languages. The rest of the population is categorized as European (White), Asian (Indian) and multiracial (Coloured) and makes up the rest of the population (“Ethnic Groups in South Africa”, 2014).
The category of the population labeled “White” refers to various groups that are not all homogenous, culturally and linguistically, and are divided into the Afrikaners, who speak Afrikaans, and into English-speaking groups that might also maintain elements of their own language of origin as well, such as Greek or Portuguese (“Ethnic Groups in South Africa”, 2014). The Afrikaners speak Afrikaans and are descendants of Dutch, German and French Huguenots that came from the 17th century onwards. Many English-speaking Whites were descendants of settlers from the British Isles that came from the late 18th century onwards. White immigrants and descendents from the rest of Europe, including Greeks, Portuguese, Eastern European Jews, Hungarians and Germans are also categorized as White.
The category of the population labeled “Coloured” (the label is quite contentious) is a population of people with mixed lineage that come from a combination of ethnic and racial backgrounds including Black, White, Khoi, San (a small population that still lives in South Africa), Griqua, Chinese and Malay. The Khoi or Khoisan is actually a term describing two separate groups that are physically similar in being light skinned and small in stature. It includes indigenous groups of Africans and whites who lived in the Cape. The term “Coloured” also refers to people with a mixed lineage that descended from slaves brought to the country from east and central Africa (“Ethnic Groups in South Africa”, 2014).
Most of the population labeled Asians have origins from India and many of them descended from indentured workers brought to work on the sugar plantations. They are largely English-speaking, although many also retain the languages of their origins. There is also a significant group of Chinese South Africans; approximately 150,000 hail from China and Vietnam. Interestingly, in 2008, “the Pretoria High Court, Pretoria is one of the capitals of South Africa, ruled that Chinese South Africans who arrived before 1994 would be reclassified as “Coloureds”” (Ethnic Groups South Africa, 2014). This relabeling illustrates that race is a politicized and slippery construct in South Africa. It also ultimately allowed “3-5% of the total Chinese population in the country [to] benefit from government BEE policies” (Ethnic Groups South Africa, 2014).
Official Languages of The Republic of South Africa:
Language is tied to types of worldviews and perceptions about the world. Therefore, language is a very important aspect of understanding another culture, and one of the most difficult barriers to overcome in intercultural communications. In South Africa, language is tied up in the culture and cultural heritage. There are 11 official languages that are recognized: isiZulu, isiXhosa, isiNdebele, siSwati, Sesotho sa Leboa, Sesotho, Setswana, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, English, and Afrikaans are spoken. Nine of the official languages derive from a variety of ethnic groups speaking different Bantu languages. “Bantu refers to:
"A group of over 400 closely related languages spoken in central, east-central, and southern Africa, belonging to the South Central subgroup of the Niger-Congo language family and including Swahili, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Zulu, and Xhosa. However, the use of the term Bantu is only acceptable outside South Africa and when talking about this group of languages and their speakers. To refer to African people or peoples, the terms Black and African are acceptable within South Africa” (“Bantu”).
The other two languages, English and Afrikaans, have European and colonists’ ancestry originating from the early Dutch and British that colonized South Africa. Illustrating how language and culture are tied, Afrikaans is not just a language, but refers to a group of South Africans (Afrikaaners), whose ancestors originated from the Dutch colonists, and serves as the first language of most White and (multi-racial or “Coloured”) South Africans. In this, Afrikaans signifies not just language but a racial, cultural, and nationalized identity. English is the fourth most-spoken language used in educational institutions, and public and commercial life. The government also tries to promote the use of Khoi, Nama, and San languages and Sign Language (“South Africa”, 2014).
Brief Political History of the Republic of South Africa:
But perhaps the most well-known cultural aspect of South Africa is its checkered racial past, which carries over to its present, affecting South Africans today. From 1948 until the National Democratic election in 1994, South Africa functioned under a system of racial segregation known as Apartheid. Although the early Dutch and British colonists had practiced forms of segregation, Apartheid (see tab Remnants of Apartheid and Social Class for more information) differed because it was an enforced and protected, official policy of the government under which the rights, associations, and movements of the majority black inhabitants were curtailed and the white Afrikaner minority rule was maintained. In this case, the political laws wrote upon the bodies of the black population. And, like any country with a history of systematic oppression, the remnants of the system still effect many South Africans today (covered more fully in Remnants of Apartheid and Social Class). Yet, the National Democratic Election in 1994 did signal a change in which the (Afrikaaner) all white government was dismantled and all ethnic and linguistic groups were given political representation in South Africa’s constitutional democracy that consists of a parliamentary republic, as well as a change from four provinces into nine different provinces: Western Cape, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Northern Cape, Free State, North West, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, and Limpopo (“South Africa”, 2014). Today South Africa is often referred to as the “Rainbow Nation, which was coined by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and refers to South Africa’s “multicultural diversity in the wake of segregationist apartheid ideology” (“South Africa”, 2014).
There is no doubt that ending Apartheid was a significant and necessary moment in South African history, and I would suggest, global history. However, the end of Apartheid was not an end to the inequality and oppression that characterized South Africa for nearly half a decade prior to its end. Apartheid, not only affects various groups in South Africa, and various social and political institutions, but also immigration policies as well, which will be covered more fully in Remnants of Apartheid and Social Class.