South African Business 2018 edition

SPECIAL FEATURE
The Orange and Vaal rivers play important roles in
water schemes and irrigation and the Limpopo River
defines the country’s northern boundary. A number
of rivers run strongly from the Drakensberg to the sea
but South Africa has no navigable rivers.
Maize is produced in large quantities in the interior.
The dry interior mostly supports livestock in the
form of sheep and cattle. South Africa is the world
leader in mohair production. Wines and fruit are specialities
of the Western Cape while KwaZulu-Natal
and the low-lying areas of Mpumalanga are known
for sugar cane and tropical and subtropical fruits.
Limpopo is a major vegetable producer.
History
One of South Africa’s premier museums and tourist
attractions is known as the Cradle of Humankind,
pointing to the fact that what is now South Africa
has been home to the human species for thousands
of years.
Each of the country’s nine provinces presents
its official documents in the relevant regional languages
so the Western Cape, for example, presents
material in Xhosa, Afrikaans and English. The most
widely spoken languages are Zulu and Xhosa. Other
languages, in order of the number of people who
speak the language as a home language, are Pedi,
English, Setswana, Sotho, Tsonga, Swati, Tshivenda
and Ndebele.
Historically, the Nguni-speaking people (Zulu,
Xhosa, Swazi and Ndebele) settled along South
Africa’s east coast (and what is now Swaziland) while
Venda and Tsonga people made their homes south
of the Limpopo River. The Mapungubwe cultural
landscape, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in northern
Limpopo Province illustrates a highly sophisticated
kingdom that flourished between 900 and
1300AD. The central regions of South Africa (and
Lesotho) were populated by Sotho and Tswana.
The Cape was colonised first by the Dutch, by
the Batavian Republic and by the British. Prolonged
British rule began in 1806. By the late 19th century
there were four territories in what is now South Africa:
two British colonies (Cape Colony and Natal) and two
independent Boer republics. The Anglo-Boer War was
fought between 1899 and 1901 and ultimately led
to the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910,
uniting the four territories but ignoring the wishes of
the black population. South Africa became a republic
in 1960 and severed ties with Britain soon afterwards.
After Nelson Mandela was released and a series of
negotiating conferences were held, South Africa held
its first democratic elections in 1994. South Africa reentered
the Commonwealth after 1994.
PROVINCE CAPITAL PREMIER POPULATION AREA GRP BILLION RAND
Eastern Cape Bhisho
Phumulo
Masualle
6 916 200 168 966km 2 R289.9
Free State Bloemfontein
Elias Sekgobelo
"Ace" Magashule
2 817 900 129 825km 2 R189.1
Gauteng Johannesburg David Makhura 13 400 000 18 178km 2 R1 305.6
KwaZulu-
Natal
Pietermaritzburg Willies Mchunu 11 919 100 94 361km 2 R610.1
Limpopo Polokwane
Stanley
Mathabatha
5 800 000 125 754km 2 R271.5
Mpumalanga Mbombela David Mabuza 4 283 900 76 495km 2 R284.2
North West Mahikeng
Supra
Mahumapelo
3 707 000 104 882km 2 R249.5
Northern Cape Kimberley Sylvia Lucas 1 185 600 372 889km 2 R79.9
Western Cape Cape Town Helen Zille 6 200 100 129 462km ² R518.1
Snapshot of South Africa’s provinces
SOURCE: STATSSA, 2016.
SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS 2018
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