South Africa has the largest population of people of
European descent in Africa, one of the largest
Indian population outside of
Asia, as well as the largest
Coloured (of mixed European, Asian and African descent) community in Africa, making it one of the most ethnically diverse countries on the continent. Racial and ethnic strife between the black majority and the white minority have played a large part in the country's
history and
politics. The
National Party began introducing the policy of
apartheid after winning the general election of
1948; however, it was the same party under the leadership of
F.W. de Klerk who started to dismantle it in
1990 after a long struggle by the black majority, as well as many white, coloured and Indian South Africans.
The country is one of the few in Africa never to have had a
coup d'état, and regular free and fair elections have been held since
1994, making it a
regional power and among the most stable and
liberal democracies in Africa.
South Africa is ranked as an upper-middle income economy by the
World Bank. It has the second largest economy in Africa after
Nigeria, and the 34th-largest in the world. By
purchasing power parity, South Africa has the
7th highest per capita income in Africa. Although being the second largest economy, South Africa has the most sophisticated economy in the continent, with modern infrastructure common throughout the country. The country is considered to be a
newly industrialized country according to the
World Bank classifications.
Daniel Friedman (born 9 January 1981), known on stage as Deep Fried Man, is a South African musical comedian and writer based in
Johannesburg. He describes what he does as "stand-up comedy with a guitar". He adopted his stage name, a play on his real name, because "it went along with the kind of musical comedy I wanted to do, which was an unhealthy kind of comedy". (Full article...)
Siege of Mafeking currency was issued by the British commander, Colonel
Robert Baden-Powell, during the 217-day siege for the town of Mafeking (now
Mahikeng) in South Africa from 13 October 1899 to 17 May 1900, during the
Second Boer War. To ease the problems caused by the lack of genuine banknotes, Baden-Powell authorised the issue of siege banknotes in late 1899. Made by Mafeking printers Townshend & Son using
woodcut printing, notes were backed by the
Standard Bank of South Africa and issued in denominations of one-, two-, three- and ten-
shilling coupons, as well as one-
pound notes, of which 620 were printed. The intention was that, after the siege was over, these could be exchanged for genuine currency, but in practice few were; most were kept as souvenirs.
This picture shows a ten-shilling note from the Siege of Mafeking, dated March 1900; it is now in the
National Numismatic Collection of the
Smithsonian Institution's
National Museum of American History.
...that there are more than 2,000
shipwrecks, dating back at least 500 years, off the South African coast. More than one of these, including the
Waratah (pictured), simply vanished without a trace.
...that Dr.
Christiaan Barnard, at
Groote Schuur Hospital in
Cape Town, performed the first human heart transplant in the world in 1967. He was also the first to do a "piggyback" transplant in 1971, and he was the first to do a heart-lung transplant.
...that The vast majority of South African coal exports are shipped through the
Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT). With the capacity to export 79.4 mmst annually, RBCT is the world's largest coal export facility
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Good article, an article that meets a core set of high editorial standards.
"Mannenberg" is a
Cape jazz song by South African musician
Abdullah Ibrahim, first recorded in 1974. Driven into exile by the
apartheid government, Ibrahim had been living in Europe and the United States during the 1960s and '70s, making brief visits to South Africa to record music. After a successful 1974 collaboration with producer
Rashid Vally and a band that included
Basil Coetzee and
Robbie Jansen, Ibrahim began to record another album with these three collaborators and a backing band assembled by Coetzee. The song was recorded during a session of improvisation, and includes a saxophone solo by Coetzee, which led to him receiving the sobriquet "Manenberg".
The piece incorporates elements of several other musical styles, including marabi, ticky-draai, and langarm, and became a landmark in the development of the genre of Cape jazz. The song has been described as having a beautiful melody and catchy beat, conveying themes of "freedom and cultural identity." It was released under Ibrahim's former name Dollar Brand on the 1974 vinyl album Mannenberg – Is Where It's Happening. Named after the township of
Manenberg, it was an instant hit, selling tens of thousands of copies within a few months of its release. It later became
identified with the struggle against apartheid, partly due to Jansen and Coetzee playing it at rallies against the government, and was among the movement's most popular songs in the 1980s. The piece has been covered by other musicians, and has been included on several jazz collections. (Full article...)
Johan Anthoniszoon "Jan" van Riebeeck (21 April 1619,
Culemborg,
Gelderland – 18 January 1677) was a
Dutchcolonial administrator and founder of
Cape Town. Van Riebeeck was Commander of the Cape from 1652 to 1662; he was charged with building a fort, with improving the natural anchorage at Table Bay, planting cereals,fruit and vegetables and obtaining livestock from the indigenous
Khoi people. In the
Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in Cape Town there is a
Wild Almond hedge still surviving, that was planted on his orders as a protective barrier around the Dutch settlement. The initial fort, named
Fort de Goede Hoop ('Fort of Good Hope') was made of mud, clay and timber, and had four corners or bastions. This fort was replaced by the
Castle of Good Hope, built between 1666 and 1679 after van Riebeeck had left the Cape.
Ouma (/ˈoʊ.mɑː/ⓘ (commonly referred to as Ouma Rusks) is a
South Africanrusk made from a traditional
buttermilk recipe. It was first produced in the rural town of
Molteno, in the
Eastern Cape, by Elizabeth Ann Greyvenstyn in 1939, in response to an initiative by the town's
pastor to help the entrepreneurial efforts of the women in his congregation. The brand currently dominates the relatively-small local rusk market, and is manufactured in the same town it was first produced. (Full article...)
Image 5The
British Empire is red on the map, at its territorial zenith in the late 1910s and early 1920s. (
India highlighted in purple.) South Africa, bottom centre, lies between both halves of the Empire. (from History of South Africa)
Image 6Map of the black homelands in South Africa at the end of apartheid in 1994 (from History of South Africa)
Image 13Statue of Bartolomeu Dias at the High Commission of South Africa in London. He was the first European navigator to sail around the southernmost tip of Africa. (from History of South Africa)
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