South Africa and Apartheid A country of contrasts

Simonetta GattoIstituto Comprensivo di Casella

(GE)

The Republic of South Africa is in the south of the African continent.

The borders

• Northwest: Namibia• North: Botswana• Northeast:

Zimbabwe and Mozambique

• East: Swaziland.• Southwest: Atlantic

Ocean• Southeast: Indian

Ocean• Enclave: Lesotho

Enclaves

What is an enclave?• It is a country within the territory of

anotherHow many enclaves are there in the

world?• Three: Lesotho, the Vatican and the

Republic of San Marino.

Physical map • South Africa is located at

the southern tip of Africa.• It has a long coastline of

about 2,500 km (1,553 miles) and two oceans: Atlantic and Indian.

• The interior is a vast and flat land.

• The north is dry because of the desert.

• The mountain ranges are the Drakensberg Mountains and the Roggeveld Mountains.

Political map

• Constitutional parliamentary republic

• 9 provinces• Capital cities: Pretoria

(executive), Bloemfontein (judicial), Cape Town (legislative)

• Indipendence: from the UK in 1910

• Population: 49 million people (70% black, 9% coloured, 9% white, 3% Asian)

• Languages: South African English and Africaans

The Head of State

• The President of the Republic is Mr Jacob Zuma.

• He was born in 1942 and was elected by Parliament after the victory of his party in general election in 2009.

• His party is the African national Congress (ANC)

What was Apartheid?

• It was a system of government from 1948 to 1990.

• This Afrikaans word means separation: the whites were separated from the black Africans and other minorities.

• The white minority ruled the country and the black majority did not have any rights.

How did the world react to Apartheid?

• A lot of countries boycotted South Africa during Apartheid: they refused to buy its products.

• Film and pop stars refused to perform in South Africa

The world of sports against Apartheid

• South Africa was absent from international sport events for most of the apartheid era due to sanctions

• A lot of teams and champions refused to compete either in South Africa or against South Africa

The first black president: Nelson Mandela

• He was the most important antiapartheid leader

• He spent 27 years in prison for his ideas

• In 1994 he became the first black president after the first free elections in South Africa: for the first time the black people could vote in their own country.

Economy: one fifth of the African products are from South Africa

The most important products are:• Gold

• Diamonds

• Wine: the eighth producer in the world

• Tourism

Tourists come to South Africa to see the game parks

The big five:• Elephant• Buffalo• Lion• Leopard• Rhyno

National sports

Other popular sports

• Rugby• Running• Netball• Surfing• Boxing