The Land
The Republic of South Africa occupies the southern tip of the African
Continent. Its surface area is 1,219,090 sq km. It has common boundaries
with Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, while Mozambique and Swaziland
lie in the north-east. In the south-east is Lesotho. To the west, south
and east, South Africa borders on the Atlantic and southern Indian
oceans.
The People
According to Cencus 1996, released in October 1998, there were 40.58
million people in South Africa. Of these 76.7 % classified themselves
as African; 10.9 % as Whites; 8.9 % as Colored, and 2.6 % as Indian/Asian.
According to the results, women made up 21 million of the population.
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Zulu people. |
Religion
Almost 80 % of South Africa's population adheres to the Christian
faith. Other major religious groups are Hindus, Muslims and Jews. A
minority of South Africa's population does not belong to any of the
major religions, but regard themselves as traditionalists or of no
specific religious affiliation. Freedom of worship is guaranteed by
the Constitution, and official policy is one of non-interference in
religious practices.
Languages
The SA Constitution, 1996 (Act 108 of 1996), states that everyone
has a right to use the language and to participate in the cultural
life of his or her choice, but no-one may do so in a manner inconsistent
with any provision of the Bill of Rights. Each person has a right to
instruction in the language of his or her own choice where this is
reasonably possible.
To cater for South Africa's diverse people, the Constitution provides
for 11 official languages, namely Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, isiXosa,
isiZulu, Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda and Xitsonga.
The Constitution expects the government to elevate the status and advance
the use of these languages. However, the most commonly used language
is English.
Justice
The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Act 108 of
1996) is the supreme law of the land and binds all legislative, executive
and the judicial organs of the State at all levels of government.
Legislature
Parliament is the legislative authority of South Africa, and
has power to make laws for the country in accordance with the Constitution.
It consists of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces
(NCOP)
