South African amateurs range from causal star gazers to remarkably talented and dedicated individuals who contribute thousands of valuable variable star observations per year. There are planetaria in Cape Town and Johannesburg. The Cape Town planetarium, which is part of the South African Museum, has a Minolta 4 star projector and seating for 120 persons. The Johannesburg planetarium, which is on the campus of Witwatersrand University, has a Zeiss projector and seating for 400 persons. Both planetaria offer a variety of public shows and popular astronomy courses.
Attempts are under way to establish a small planetarium in Bloemfontein also.
The national facilities are committing significant resources to improving science awareness at all levels. Both the SAAO and HartRAO have full-time Public Relations and Education officers who liaise with education authorities and the media. The SAAO and HartRAO are both developing Education Resource Centres, in which it is planned to hold workshops for practising science teachers and to receive groups of school children for science enrichment. The Universities of Cape Town and South Africa also offer popular adult education courses in astronomy from time to time. Acknowledgements I thank Mr Patrick Woudt for assistance with the figures.