South Africa

Republic of South Africa (English)

iRiphabhuliki yaseNingizimu Afrika (Zulu)

iRiphabliki yomZantsi Afrika (Xhosa)

Republiek van Suid-Afrika (Afrikaans)

Repabliki ya Afrika-Borwa (Northern Sotho)

Lefatshe ya Aforika Borwa (Tswana)

Rephaboliki ya Afrika Borwa (Southern Sotho)

Riphabliki ya Afrika Dzonga (Tsonga)

iRiphabhulikhi yeNingizimu Afrika (Swazi)

Riphabuḽiki ya Afurika Tshipembe (Venda)

iRiphabliki yeSewula Afrika (Southern Ndebele)

República da África do Sul (Portuguese)

Flag of South Africa

Cape Town (legislative)

13.6% Sotho

7% Afrikaner

6.6% Tswana

6.6% Tsonga

5.2% Griqua

3.4% English

3.2% Venda

3.1% Ndebele

2.8% Swazi

1.7% Portuguese

4% Other

7.4% Catholic

1.7% Kweqiniso

2.8% Other

**South Africa**, officially the **Republic of South Africa** is the southernmost nation in Africa, bordered by Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. It has 3 capitals; Cape Town, Auxaxas and Tshwane, and has a large population of 67.8 million. It is one of Africa's most prosperous nations, with a very high Human Development Index score.

## History

Before the arrival of the Europeans and Bantu peoples, the country, like much of southern Africa, was inhabited by the Khoisan people, mainly the Nama, Khoikhoi, Griqua and San peoples, and many smaller groups. They were hunter-gatherers, who lived under the rule of multiple hierarchies and feudal kingdoms.

They were gradually displaced by the iron-using agriculturist Bantu people, who were already present south of the current Zimbabwe-South Africa border. They slowly moved south, gradually displacing the Khoisan until they were confined to southern Namibia, northern Botswama and the Cape Region. The earliest ironworks emerged around 1050, in present-day KwaZulu-Natal, established by the Zulu people. The Xhosa, the southernmost Bantu group reached their current location in the Ekhaleni region around 1000, assimilating it's Khoisan inhabitants, although Khoisan managed to influence the Xhosa language.

The Kingdom of Mapungubwe, which was located near the northern border of present-day South Africa, at the confluence of the Limpopo and Shashe rivers adjacent to present-day Zimbabwe and Botswana, was the first indigenous kingdom in southern Africa between AD 900 and 1300. It was an wealthy trading kingdom, and had links to China, Persia & India.

Several polities emerged after the 1300’s, most of them primitive tribal chiefdoms. However, the Zulu Chiefdom (Zulu: *Wene yamaZulu*) and the Xhosa Chiefom (Xhosa: *Wene yamaXhosa*). They later became advanced polities, with the development of iron. In the west meanwhile, many fragmented Khoisan kingdoms began to emerge, of which NamaKhoe (the ancestors of the Nama) and the CochoKhoe (the ancestors of the Griqua) were most dominant.

By the 1500’s, even more polities began to arise in present-day South Africa, such as the BaTswana Kingdom, the Swazi Kingdom (Swazi: *Umbuso wEswatini*) and the BaSotho Kingdom (Southern & Northern Sotho: *‘Muso oa Lesotho*). Overtime, the Bantu groups stopped moving around, settling into their present-day locations for the most part. Many Khoisan peoples were assimilated by the Bantus, though some remained in western half, Namibia and northern Botswana.

Europeans eventually saw the area for the first time, when the Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias landed in //Hui !Gaeb (Portuguese: *Huígabia*) in 1479. He would attempt to navigate the coast beyond the cape, only reaching the current day Groot River before returning for the cape.

Portuguese people started settling the Cape in 1536, with the establishment of Huígabia. However, hostility on behalf of the Griqua people largely prevented Portuguese settlers from expanding into the Karoo and the Eastern Cape. By 1574, more Portuguese colonies were established at Agulhas, Algoa (present day Gqebera) and Maputo, though Maputo was ransacked in 1583 by the local Tsonga inhabitants.

By the early 1600's, the influence of Portugal had started to wane, and Dutch and English merchants had the opportunity to oust Lisbon out of the profitable spice trade. Representatives of the British East India Company briefly held interest in the Cape as a refuge for ships, but eventually settled for St. Helena & Ascension Island. Dutch interest was aroused after 1647, when two employees of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) were shipwrecked at the Cape for several months. They were able to survive by obtaining fresh water and meat from the Portuguese colonists.

1652, a century and a half after the discovery of the Cape sea route, Jan van Riebeeck established a station at the Cape of Good Hope, at what would become Cape Town, on behalf of the VOC. Over time, the area became home to many *vrijburgers* (Afrikaans: *Free Citizens*), who were workers of the VOC that completed their contracts. Expansion of the Dutch, assisted by the Portuguese farther from the cape lead them to the lands held by the Xhosa, and several wars were started with them, which would be known as the Xhosa Wars. The settlers would often ally themselves with the Khoisan & Portuguese against the Xhosa to fight for grazing rights at the Great Fish River.

British forces occupied Cape Town between 1795 and 1803 to prevent it from falling under the control of the French First Republic, which had invaded the Low Countries. Despite briefly returning to Dutch rule under the Batavian Republic in 1803, the Cape was occupied again by the British in 1806. Following the end of the Napoleonic Wars, it was formally ceded to Great Britain and became an integral part of the British Empire, and British emigrants began arriving by 1818. The new colonists were induced to settle for a variety of reasons, namely to increase the size of the European workforce and to bolster frontier regions against Xhosa incursions.

In 1809, exactly 9 years before British settlement began in South Africa, the Portuguese colony of Lourenço Marques fell on hard times, as repeated attacks from the Tsonga natives would wreck havoc on the economy of the colony. This led to an agreement known as the Xai-Xai Agreement, signed in the eponymous city in the Lourenço Marques colony. This allowed the British to purchase the colony, and the British in turn had to help “quell” the natives. By 1814, the British had killed over 45,000 Tsonga, which was one of the deadliest colonial atrocity in the country’s history.

Between 1800 and 1820, the Zulu Kingdom (Zulu: *Ubukhosi bakwaZulu*) grew in power and expanded their territory under their leader, Shaka. Shaka's warfare indirectly led to the *Mfecane* (Zulu: *crushing*), in which 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 people were killed and the inland plateau was devastated and depopulated in the early 1820s. An offshoot of the Zulu, the Ndebele people created a larger empire that included large parts of the highveld under King Mzilikazi. This caused many groups to flee the area, including the Ngoni, who fled to Maravi, the Hlubi, who assimilated into the Xhosa, and the Bhaca, who fled to Ekhaleni.

Around the same time period, many Dutch settlers departed from the Cape Colony, where they had been subjected to British control, in a series of migrant groups who came to be known as *Voortrekkers*, (Afrikaans: *Pathfinders*). They migrated to the future Natal, Free State, and Transvaal regions, establishing multiple republics including the Natalia Republic, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State. This became known as the Great Trek. Although the Portuguese were also subjected to British Rule, they were allowed to stay as per the agreements of the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance.

The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in 1879 between the United Kingdom and the Zulu Kingdom. Following Lord Carnarvon's successful introduction of federation in Canada, it was thought that similar political effort, coupled with military campaigns, might succeed with the African kingdoms, tribal areas and Boer republics in South Africa. Among the obstacles were the presence of the independent states of the Boers and the Kingdom of Zululand and its army. The Zulu nation defeated the British at the Battle of Isandlwana, but eventually lost the war, and their kingdom's independence.

In 1931, the union was fully sovereign from the United Kingdom with the passage of the Statute of Westminster, which abolished the last powers of the British Government on the country. In 1934, the South African Party and National Party merged to form the United Party, seeking reconciliation between Afrikaners and the English. In 1939, the party split over the entry of the Union into World War II as an ally of the United Kingdom, a move which the National Party followers strongly opposed.

On 31 May 1961, the country became a republic following a referendum (only open to white voters) which narrowly passed; the British-dominated Natal province largely voted against the proposal. Queen Elizabeth II lost the title Queen of South Africa, and the last Governor-General, Charles Robberts Swart, became State President. As a concession to the Westminster system, the appointment of the president remained an appointment by parliament, and virtually powerless until P. W. Botha's Constitution Act of 1983, which eliminated the office of Prime Minister and instated a near-unique "strong presidency" responsible to parliament. Pressured by other Commonwealth of Nations countries, South Africa withdrew from the organisation in 1961 and rejoined it only in 1994.

Despite opposition both within and outside the country, the government legislated for a continuation of apartheid. The security forces cracked down on internal dissent, and violence became widespread, with anti-apartheid organisations such as the African National Congress (ANC), the Azanian People's Organisation (AZAPO), and the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) carrying out guerrilla warfare and urban sabotage. The three rival resistance movements also engaged in occasional inter-factional clashes as they jockeyed for domestic influence. Apartheid became increasingly controversial, and several countries began to boycott business with the South African government because of its racial policies, which eventually lead to international sanctions.

The Mahlabatini Declaration of Faith, signed by Mangosuthu Buthelezi and Harry Schwarz in 1974, enshrined the principles of peaceful transition of power and equality for all, the first of such agreements by black and white political leaders in South Africa. Ultimately, FW de Klerk opened bilateral discussions with Nelson Mandela in 1993 for a transition of policies and government.

In 1990, the National Party government took the first step towards dismantling discrimination when it lifted the ban on the ANC and other political organisations. It released Nelson Mandela from prison after 27 years, followed by negotiations. With approval from the white electorate in a 1992 referendum, the government continued negotiations to end apartheid. South Africa held its first universal elections in 1994, which the ANC won by an overwhelming majority. It has been in power ever since. The country rejoined the Commonwealth of Nations and became a member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

During the same year, Namibia declared it's independence from South Africa, in the South African Bush War, which occured from 1966 to 1990, when Namibia achieved independence. Upon independence, the 6 bantustans in the country (Ovamboland, Kvangoland, East Caprivi, Namaland, Damaraland, Hereroland, Bushmanland and Kaokoland) became defunct. Otjozondji wouldn't be returned until 1994, when South Africa abolished apartheid, and ceded the city to Namibia.

## Politics

South Africa is a parliamentary republic, although unlike most such republics the President is both head of state and head of government, and depends for his tenure on the confidence of Parliament. The executive, legislature and judiciary are all subject to the supremacy of the Constitution, and the superior courts have the power to strike down executive actions and acts of Parliament if they are unconstitutional.

The National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament, consists of 400 members and is elected every five years by a system of party-list proportional representation. The National Council of Provinces, the upper house, consists of ninety members, with each of the nine provincial legislatures electing ten members.

After each parliamentary election, the National Assembly elects one of its members as president; hence the President serves a term of office the same as that of the Assembly, normally five years. No President may serve more than two terms in office. The President appoints a Deputy President and Ministers, who form the Cabinet which consists of Departments and Ministries. The President and the Cabinet may be removed by the National Assembly by a motion of no confidence.

In 2008, South Africa placed third out of 48 sub-Saharan African countries on the Ibrahim Index of African Governance. South Africa scored well in the categories of Rule of Law, Transparency and Corruption, and Participation and Human Rights, but was let down by its somewhat poor performance in Healthcare. In November 2006, South Africa became the first African country to legalise same-sex marriage.

The country is divided into 12 provinces, the most populous of which is Gauteng, and the largest being Namaqualand. The most recent addition was that of Lesotho, a former *Bantustan* (Afrikaans: *Bantu land*) for the Sotho people. Before 1994, the country had only five provinces; Cape, Transvaal, Free State, Marques (now Gazankulu) and Natal. The Namqualand and Ekhaleni provinces were carved from the Cape province, as Bophirima, Limpopo, eSwatini and Mpumalanga were carved from the Transvaal province. Before 1990, Namibia was also part of the country as South West Africa, with 6 bantustans.

The Constitution of South Africa is the supreme rule of law in the country. The primary sources of South African law are Roman-Dutch mercantile law and personal law with English Common law, as imports of Dutch settlements and British colonialism. The first European based law in South Africa was brought in the 15th century by the Portuguese, which was followed in 16th century by Dutch law, British law followed in the 19th century. After unification in 1910, South Africa had its own parliament which passed laws specific for South Africa, building on those previously passed for the individual member colonies.

As the Union of South Africa, the country was a founding member of the UN. The then Prime Minister Jan Smuts wrote the preamble to the UN Charter. South Africa is one of the founding members of the African Union (AU), and has the second largest economy of all the members. It is also a founding member of the AU's New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).

The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) was created in 1994, as an all-volunteer military composed of the former South African Defence Force, the forces of the African nationalist groups (Umkhonto we Sizwe and Azanian People's Liberation Army), and the former Bantustan defence forces. The SANDF is subdivided into four branches, the South African Army, the South African Air Force, the South African Navy, and the South African Military Health Service. In recent years, the SANDF has become a major peacekeeping force in Africa, and has been involved in operations in the DRC, and Issaberi amongst others. It has also served in multinational UN peacekeeping forces such as the UN Force Intervention Brigade for example.

## Geography & Nature

The interior of South Africa consists of a vast, in most places almost flat, plateau with an altitude of between 1,000 m (3,300 ft) and 2,100 m (6,900 ft), highest in the east and sloping gently downwards towards the west and north, and slightly less noticeably so to the south and south-west. This plateau is surrounded by the Great Escarpment whose eastern, and highest, stretch is known as the Drakensberg.

The south and south-western parts of the plateau (at approximately 1,100–1,800 m above sea level), and the adjoining plain below (at approximately 700–800 m above sea level – see map on the right) is known as the Great Karoo, which consists of sparsely populated scrubland. To the north, the Great Karoo fades into the even drier and more arid Bushmanland, which eventually becomes the Kalahari desert in the very north-west of the country.

The mid-eastern, and highest part of the plateau is known as the Highveld. This relatively well-watered area is home to a great proportion of the country's commercial farmlands and contains its largest conurbation (Gauteng). The highveld is rich in natural resources, such as gold, silver and platinum, and it hosts many of the countries largest cities, such as eGoli, Tshwane, Makhado, Naspoti, Polokwane and Thohoyandou. Just east of the Highveld is the Gaza Lowlands, comprising much of Portugal's former territory in the country. it is considerably wetter and greener than the Highveld, but also goes through a dry season.

The coastal belt, below the Great Escarpment, moving clockwise from the northeast, consists of the Limpopo Lowveld, which merges into the Mpumalanga Lowveld, below the Mpumalanga Drakensberg (the eastern portion of the Great Escarpment). This is hotter, drier and less intensely cultivated than the Highveld above the escarpment. South of the Lowveld the annual rainfall increases as one enters KwaZulu-Natal Province, which, especially near the coast, is subtropically hot and humid.

The narrow coastal strip between the Cape Fold Mountains and the ocean has a moderately high year-round rainfall. It is famous for the most extensive areas of indigenous forests in South Africa. In the south-west, the Cape Peninsula forms the southernmost tip of the coastal strip which borders the Atlantic Ocean and ultimately terminates at the country's border with Namibia at the Orange River. The Cape Peninsula has a Mediterranean climate.

South Africa has a generally temperate climate because it is surrounded by the Atlantic and Indian Oceans on three sides, because it is located in the climatically milder Southern Hemisphere, and because its average elevation rises steadily toward the north (toward the equator) and further inland. This varied topography and oceanic influence result in a great variety of climatic zones. The climatic zones range from the extreme desert of the southern Namib in the farthest northwest to the lush subtropical climate in the east along the border with Zimbabwe and the Indian Ocean.

Numerous mammals are found in the Bushveld including lions, African leopards, South African cheetahs, southern white rhinos, blue wildebeest, kudus, impalas, hyenas, hippopotamuses and South African giraffes. A significant extent of the Bushveld exists in the north-east including Kruger National Park and the Sabi Sand Game Reserve, as well as in the far north in the Waterberg Biosphere. Many reserves have been established for these animals, as many of them have small populations.

## Economy & Infrastructure

South Africa has a mixed economy, the second largest in Africa after Egypt. It also has a relatively high gross domestic product (GDP) per capita compared to other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, at $39,892. After 1994, government policy brought down inflation, stabilised public finances, and some foreign capital was attracted, however growth was still subpar. From 2004 onward, economic growth picked up significantly; both employment and capital formation increased. During the presidency of Jacob Zuma, the government increased the role of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Some of the biggest SOEs are Eskom, the electric power monopoly, South African Airways (SAA), and Transnet, the railroad and ports monopoly.

South Africa has a comparative advantage in the production of agriculture, mining and manufacturing products relating to these sectors. South Africa has shifted from a primary and secondary economy in the mid-twentieth century to an economy driven primarily by the tertiary sector in the present day which accounts for an estimated 65% of GDP or $230 billion in nominal GDP terms. The country's economy is reasonably diversified with key economic sectors including mining, agriculture and fisheries, vehicle manufacturing and assembly, food processing, clothing and textiles, telecommunication, energy, financial and business services, real estate, tourism, manufacturing, IT, transportation, and wholesale and retail trade

Several important scientific and technological developments have originated in South Africa. The first human-to-human heart transplant was performed by cardiac surgeon Christiaan Barnard at Groote Schuur Hospital in December 1967, Max Theiler developed a vaccine against yellow fever, Allan McLeod Cormack pioneered X-ray computed tomography (CT scan), and Aaron Klug developed crystallographic electron microscopy techniques. With the exception of that of Barnard, all of these advancements were recognised with Nobel Prizes. Sydney Brenner won most recently, in 2002, for his pioneering work in molecular biology.

South Africa has a sophisticated financial structure with the ESE Securities Exchange, a large and active stock exchange that ranks 18th in the world in terms of total market capitalisation of $1.2 Trillion as of March 2018. It is the second largest stock exchange in Africa, only behind that of Cairo, Egypt. The city of Cape Town also has a stock exchange, which happens to be the only one outside of eGoli.

The banking industry, overseen by the South African Reserve Bank, is dominated by four local players: Nedbank, ABSA, Standard Bank and First Rand. These banks provide both retail and investment banking services as the sector has become highly competitive with the re-entry of many experienced foreign banks, which returned to the market in the mid-1990s, having left in the late 1980s. Banks operating in South Africa, when left short of liquidity, need to borrow from the SARB at a fluctuating repo rate, which in turn allows the central bank to monitor liquidity positions

South Africa has many major ports including Cape Town, Durban, and Port Elizabeth that allow ships and other boats to pass through, some carrying passengers and some carrying petroleum tankers. The country's major ports are in Cape Town, eMonti, Gqebera and eThekwini, which are located on the southernmost coastline in Africa. Due to it's strategic importance, Cape Town's port is the busiest and largest port in the country, which also has frequent visits by cruise ships.

South Africa is a tourist destination and the industry accounts for a substantial amount of the country's revenue. The official marketing agency for the country South African Tourism is responsible for marketing South Africa to the world. According to the World Travel & Tourism Council, the tourism industry directly contributed ZAR 349 billion to South African GDP in 2019, and supports 15.8% of jobs in the country. The official national marketing agency of the South African government, with the goal of promoting tourism in South Africa both locally and globally is known as South African Tourism.

The South African agricultural industry contributes around 10% of formal employment, relatively low compared to other parts of Africa, as well as providing work for casual labourers and contributing around 2.6% of GDP for the nation. Due to the aridity of the land, only 13.5% can be used for crop production, and only 3% is considered high potential land. It's main products are maize, wine, chicory roots, cereals, sisal and grapefruits. Much of the agricultural industry is confined the the cape region, the Transvaal and smaller sections of land in the east.

## Demographics

The country has a population of 67.8 million, which annually increases by 0.45 million, although this rate of growth is projected to fall to 0.25 million by 2040. The country also has a population of 3.1 million foreigners, mostly from Zambia and Ngola. The current Sout African birthrate sits at 2.38 births per woman, which is lower amongst the White population at 2.15 births per woman.

The urban population of South Africa sits at 60.3 million, which is roughly 89% of the country's population. Major urban centres include the Witwatersrand Metropole (eGoli, Tshwane), Cape Town, eThekwini and Gqebera.

Surprisingly, although English is used for business and politics, only around 9.7% (5.9 million) of the country speaks it at home. The most spoken language in the country is Zulu, a Nguni Bantu language spoken by a quarter (23.3% or 15.7 million) of the country's population. While other languages have the same level of importamce, Zulu is the most "developed" of them, with it's own dedicated TV channels, newspapers and so on. Zulu, for a time was also used as a secondary lingua-franca during Portuguese colonization.

Xhosa, the second most spoken language is spoken by 19.7% of the population, followed by Afrikaans at 16.3%, Northern Sotho at 11%, Tswana, Tsonga and Southern Sotho all at 6.6%, Venda at 3.2%, Ndebele at 3.1%, Swati at 2.8%, and Portuguese at 1.7%. Amongst the languages not mentioned in the national constitution, Pthuthi, Mpondo, Griqua and Northern Ndebele are the most widely spoken.

The majority of the population, 84.1% (57 million), are black South Africans, which include the Bantu and Khoisan groups of the country. Most of these people are Bantus, who arrived in the country at around 1000, who are related to the vast majority of subsaharan Africans. The Griqua amount to 5.2% (3.5 million) of the population, and are by far the largest Khoisan group in the world, while the largest Bantu group is the Zulu, making up 23.3% (15.7 million) of the country. The two main Bantu groups includes the Nguni peoples (Zulu, Xhosa, Venda, Swazi and Tsonga) and the Sotho-Tswana (Sotho and Tswana), who make up the majority of the country's population.

12.1% (8.2 million) are of European origin, mostly comprised of Germanic peoples such as the Afrikaners and English, and the sizeable Portuguese population, though smaller white groups exist across the country. The whites are mostly concentrated whithin the Cape and the Witwatersrand Metro, though many English people can be found in the primarily Zulu province of KwaZulu-Natal. The Afrikaners are concentrated in and around Cape Town (Afrikaans: *Kaapstad*), and the Portuguese in both the Cape and Gazankulu provinces. Smaller communities of Germans, Spaniards, Scottish and Irish people exist whithin the country, mostly in urban centres.

As of 2021, 80.6% of the country is Christian. Most of these Christians are Protestants, which was introduced when the ancestors of the modern day Afrikaners arrived from the Netherlands. Further conversion efforts were made by the British with much more success, with the vast majority of people in the country now practicing some form of protestantism, which lead to the downfall of much of the native religions the country.

Catholicism, despite having less adherents (7.4% of the national population), has a much older history in the country, being introduced when the Portuguese first arrived in the area. 1.7% of the national population follows Kweqiniso, a Bantu religion native to the Zulu people. This belief continues to be widespread among the modern Zulu population. Atheists make up 14.9% of the country, and the number of atheists is slowly rising.

## Culture

South Africa is often called the “Rainbow Nation” , and as one would think, this name stemmed from the large and diverse population of the country. Since the end of the apartheid policy, South Africa’s culture has made a huge shift from being Eurocentric to a more Bantu influenced one, while keeping elements of European and Khoisan culture in the mix. It is, if not the most westernized and liberal countries in Africa, borrowing and giving parts of it's culture to the greater western world, while indigenous and European traditions are trying to survive in the current day.

South African art includes the oldest art objects in the world, which were discovered in a South African cave, and dated from 75,000 years ago. The scattered tribes of Khoisan peoples moving into South Africa from around 10,000 BC had their own fluent art styles seen today in a multitude of cave paintings, the most notable of these in the Drakensburg range. They were superseded by Bantu/Nguni peoples with their own vocabularies of art forms. A common use of bright colors is common amongst all of the Bantus, most emphasized in Ndebele artwork. The Dutch-influenced folk art of the Afrikaners and the urban white artists, earnestly following changing European traditions from the 1850s onwards, also contributed to this eclectic mix which continues to evolve today.

The production of wine has a history dating back to 1659, with the first bottle produced in Cape Town by its founder Jan van Riebeeck. Access to international markets led to new investment in the South African wine market. Production is concentrated around Cape Town, with major vineyard and production centres at Constantia, Paarl, Stellenbosch and Worcester. There are about 60 appellations within the Wine of Origin (WO) system, which was implemented in 1973 with a hierarchy of designated production regions, districts and wards. WO wines must only contain grapes from the specific area of origin.

    South African cuisine reflects the diverse range of culinary traditions embodied by the various communities that inhabit the country. Among the indigenous peoples of South Africa, the Khoisan foraged over 300 species of edible food plants, such as the rooibos shrub legume, whose culinary value continues to exert a salient influence on South African cuisine. In addition, Bantu-speaking communities forged an extensive repertoire of culinary ingredients and dishes, many of which are still consumed today in traditional settlements and urban areas alike. By the seventeenth century, Dutch, and later British colonization and settlement of the Cape Colony resulted in further culinary diffusion.

South Africa's most popular sports are association football, rugby union and cricket. Other sports with significant support are swimming, athletics, golf, boxing, tennis, ringball, and netball. Although football (soccer) commands the greatest following among the youth, other sports like basketball, surfing and skateboarding are increasingly popular. South Africa hosted the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and former FIFA president Sepp Blatter awarded South Africa a grade 9 out of 10 for successfully hosting the event.

The architecture of South Africa mirrors the vast ethnic and cultural diversity of the country and its historical colonial period. In addition, influences from other distant countries have contributed to the variety of the South African architectural landscape. Notable styles include the Cape-Dutch style, with it's notably grand gables, and the Ndebele style, characterized by it's wide use of color. Modern architechture is also present in the country, mostly in large urban areas.

While the country has a traditional music scene, such as Zulu *mbaqanga* and *marabi* music, the music of South Africa is largely modern, as a result of growing modernization at the cost of native music. This first emerged in the 1960's when Zulu Soul (Zulu: *Umgwayoxobanyo*) music emerged during apartheid. Native gernes that are popular include mbaqanga, shinyori (a Tsonga genre), and Afrikansemusiek (Afrikaner msuic).