South Africa

{{Short description|Country in Southern Africa}} {{About|the country|the geographical area|Southern Africa|other uses}} {{Redirect|Mzansi|other uses}} {{pp-move|small=yes}} {{pp-vandalism|small=yes}} {{Use South African English|date=April 2021}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}} {{Infobox country | conventional_long_name = Republic of South Africa | common_name = South Africa | native_name = {{collapsible list | titlestyle = text-align:center;line-height:normal;font-size:86%; | title = 10 other official languages<ref>{{Cite act |institution=Parliament of the Republic of South Africa |title=Constitution Eighteenth Amendment Act |date=27 July 2023 |volume=697 |number=47665 |language=en, tn}}</ref> | {{Infobox | subbox=yes | bodystyle=font-size:77%;font-weight:normal; | rowclass1 = mergedrow | label1 = Afrikaans: | data1 = {{lang|af|Republiek van Suid-Afrika}} | rowclass2 = mergedrow | label2 = Zulu: | data2 = {{lang|zu|iRiphabhuliki yaseNingizimu Afrika}} | rowclass3 = mergedrow | label3 = Xhosa: | data3 = {{lang|ss|iRiphabhlikhi yoMzantsi Afrika}} | rowclass4 = mergedrow | label5 = Pedi: | data5 = {{lang|nso|Repabliki ya Afrika-Borwa}} | rowclass5 = mergedrow | label6 = Southern Sotho: | data6 = {{lang|st|Rephaboliki ya Afrika Borwa}} | rowclass6 = mergedrow | label7 = Tswana: | data7 = {{lang|tn|Rephaboliki ya Aforika Borwa}} | rowclass7 = mergedrow | label8 = Tsonga: | data8 = {{lang|ts|Riphabliki ya Afrika Dzonga}} | rowclass8 = mergedrow | label9 = Swati: | data9 = {{lang|sw|iRiphabhulikhi yaseNingizimu-Afrika}} | rowclass9 = mergedrow | label10 = Venda: | data10 = {{lang|ve|Riphabuḽiki ya Afurika Tshipembe}} | rowclass10 = mergedrow | label11 = Southern Ndebele: | data11 = {{lang|nr|iRiphabliki yeSewula Afrika}} | rowclass11 = mergedrow | label12 = | data12 = | rowclass12 = mergedrow }} }} | image_flag = Flag of South Africa.svg | alt_flag = | flag2_border = | image_coat = Coat of arms of South Africa (heraldic).svg | coa_size = 75 | alt_coat = | symbol_type = Coat of arms | national_motto = "{{lang|xam|ǃke e: ǀxarra ǁke}}" (ǀXam) "Unity in diversity" | national_anthem = "National Anthem of South Africa" <div style="padding-top:0.5em;" class="centre">File:South Africa National Anthem.ogg</div> | image_map = {{Switcher|frameless|Show globe| frameless|Show map of South Africa|default=1}} | map_caption = | image_map2 = | capital = Pretoria (executive){{efn|Pretoria serves as the executive capital of South Africa, hosting the Union Buildings and the offices of the President and Cabinet.<ref name="three capitals1"/>}}<ref name="South Africa at a glance">{{cite web|title=South Africa at a glance |url=https://www.gov.za/about-sa/south-africa-glance|website=South African Government |access-date=18 June 2020|archive-date=26 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200526163527/https://www.gov.za/about-sa/south-africa-glance|url-status=live }}</ref><hr />Cape Town (legislative){{efn|Cape Town is the legislative capital, home to the Parliament of South Africa, including the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces.<ref name="three capitals1">{{cite web |title=South Africa's Three Capital Cities |url=https://www.gov.za/about-sa/south-africas-three-capital-cities |website=gov.za |publisher=Government of South Africa |access-date=19 July 2025}}</ref>}}<ref name="South Africa at a glance" /><hr />Bloemfontein (judicial){{efn|Bloemfontein serves as the judicial capital, hosting the Supreme Court of Appeal, the highest court for non-constitutional matters in South Africa.<ref name="three capitals1" />}}<ref name="South Africa at a glance" /> | largest_city = {{nowrap|Johannesburg<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.citypopulation.de/World.html|title=Principal Agglomerations of the World|publisher=City Population|access-date=30 October 2011|archive-date=25 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225073559/http://www.citypopulation.de/World.html|url-status=live }}</ref>}} | population_density_km2 = 50.8 | population_density_sq_mi = | population_density_rank = 169th | population_estimate = {{IncreaseNeutral}} 63,015,904<ref name="Census-2022" /> | population_census = {{IncreaseNeutral}} 62,027,503<ref name="Census-2022" /> | population_estimate_year = 2024 | population_estimate_rank = 23rd | population_census_year = 2022 | population_census_rank = 23rd | official_languages = '''12 languages'''<ref name="constitution.1.6">{{cite book|url=https://www.concourt.org.za/images/phocadownload/the_text/english-2013.pdf|title=The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa|publisher=Constitutional Court of South Africa|year=2013|edition=2013 English version|at=ch. 1, s. 6|access-date=17 April 2020|archive-date=23 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180823174423/https://www.concourt.org.za/images/phocadownload/the_text/english-2013.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="parliament.gov.za"/>{{idp| * Afrikaans * English * Ndebele * Sepedi * Sesotho * Setswana * South African Sign Language * Swazi * Tshivenda * Xhosa * Xitsonga * Zulu }} {{collapsible list | titlestyle = text-align:left;padding-left:0.5em;font-size:100%; | liststyle = text-align:left;white-space:nowrap; | title=Languages with special status<ref name="constitution.1.6"/>|Khoe languages| Nama|Khoisan languages|German|Greek|Gujarati|Hindi|Portuguese|Telugu|Tamil|Urdu|Arabic|Hebrew|Sanskrit }} | regional_languages = | languages2_type = | languages2 = | ethnic_groups_year = 2022<ref name="Mitchley">{{Cite web |last=Mitchley |first=Alex |title=SA's population swells to 62 million - 2022 census at a glance |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/sas-population-swells-to-62-million-2022-census-at-a-glance-20231010 |access-date=2023-10-11 |website=News24 |language=en-US |archive-date=11 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231011171333/https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/sas-population-swells-to-62-million-2022-census-at-a-glance-20231010 |url-status=live }}</ref> | ethnic_groups = {{unbulleted list | {{nowrap|81.4% Black}} | 8.2% Coloured | 7.3% White | 2.7% Indian or Asian | 0.4% other }} | religion = {{ublist|item_style=white-space:nowrap; |85.3% Christianity |7.8% Traditional faiths |3.1% No religion |1.6% Islam |1.1% Hinduism |1.1% other}} | religion_year = 2022 | religion_ref = <ref name="Census-2022"/> | demonym = {{hlist|South African}} | government_type = Unitary parliamentary republic with an executive presidency | leader_title1 = President | leader_name1 = Cyril Ramaphosa | leader_title2 = Deputy President | leader_name2 = Paul Mashatile | leader_title3 = Speaker of the National Assembly | leader_name3 = Thoko Didiza | leader_title4 = Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces | leader_name4 = Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane | leader_title5 = Chief Justice | leader_name5 = Mandisa Maya | legislature = Parliament | upper_house = National Council of Provinces | lower_house = National Assembly | sovereignty_type = Independence | sovereignty_note = {{nowrap|from the United Kingdom}} | established_event1 = Union | established_date1 = 31 May 1910 | established_event2 = Statute of Westminster | established_date2 = 11 December 1931 | established_event3 = Republic | established_date3 = 31 May 1961 | established_event4 = Current constitution | established_date4 = 4 February 1997 | area_km2 = 1,221,037 | area_footnote = | area_rank = 24th | area_sq_mi = 471,443 | percent_water = 0.380 | GDP_PPP = {{increase}} $1.071 trillion<ref name="IMFWEO.ZA">{{cite web |url=https://data.imf.org/en/Data-Explorer?datasetUrn=IMF.RES:WEO(9.0.0) |title=World Economic Outlook Database (April 2026 Edition) |publisher=International Monetary Fund |website=www.imf.org |date=14 April 2026 |access-date=19 April 2026}}</ref> | GDP_PPP_year = 2026 | GDP_PPP_rank = 33rd | GDP_PPP_per_capita = {{increase}} $16,740<ref name="IMFWEO.ZA"/> | GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = 107th | GDP_nominal = {{increase}} $479.964 billion<ref name="IMFWEO.ZA"/> | GDP_nominal_year = 2026 | GDP_nominal_rank = 39th | GDP_nominal_per_capita = {{increase}} $7,503<ref name="IMFWEO.ZA"/> | GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank = 107th | Gini = 63.0  | Gini_year = 2023 | Gini_change = decrease | Gini_ref = <ref name="wb-gini">{{cite report|title=Human Development Report 2025: A matter of choice: People and possibilities in the age of AI|author=UNDP (United Nations Development Programme)|url=https://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/2025_HDR/HDR25_Statistical_Annex_I-HDI_Table.pdf |date=6 May 2025|publisher=UNDP|access-date=28 September 2025|archive-date=6 October 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251006062920/https://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/2025_HDR/HDR25_Statistical_Annex_I-HDI_Table.pdf}}</ref> | Gini_rank =  | HDI = 0.741  | HDI_year = 2023 | HDI_change = increase  | HDI_ref = <ref name="UNHDR">{{Cite web |date=6 May 2025 |title=Human Development Report 2025 |url=https://hdr.undp.org/system/files/documents/global-report-document/hdr2025reporten.pdf|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250506051232/https://hdr.undp.org/system/files/documents/global-report-document/hdr2025reporten.pdf |archive-date=6 May 2025 |access-date=6 May 2025 |publisher=United Nations Development Programme |language=en}}</ref> | HDI_rank = 106th | currency = South African rand | currency_code = ZAR | time_zone = SAST | utc_offset = +2 | utc_offset_DST = | DST_note = | time_zone_DST = | antipodes = | date_format = Short formats: * yyyy/mm/dd<ref>{{Cite web|title=Data Source Comparison for en-ZA|url=https://www.localeplanet.com/compare/en-ZA/index.html|access-date=5 May 2021|website=www.localeplanet.com|archive-date=16 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816213516/https://www.localeplanet.com/compare/en-ZA/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> * yyyy-mm-dd<ref>{{Cite web|title=Data Source Comparison for af-ZA|url=https://www.localeplanet.com/compare/af-ZA/index.html|access-date=5 May 2021|website=www.localeplanet.com|archive-date=5 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505092248/https://www.localeplanet.com/compare/af-ZA/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> | calling_code = +27 | iso3166code = ZA | cctld = .za | today = }}

'''South Africa''', officially the '''Republic of South Africa''' ('''RSA'''), is the southernmost country in Africa.{{efn|Cape Agulhas is the geographical southernmost point of the African continent, marking the southern extremity of the Republic of South Africa.<ref name="SANParks">{{cite web |title=Agulhas National Park |url=https://www.sanparks.org/parks/agulhas |website=sanparks.org |publisher=South African National Parks |access-date=19 July 2025}}</ref><ref name="Britannica127">{{cite web |title=Cape Agulhas |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Cape-Agulhas |website=britannica.com |publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica |access-date=19 July 2025}}</ref>}} Its nine provinces are bounded to the south by {{convert|2798|km|mi|abbr=off}} of coastline that stretches along the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.samsa.org.za/|title=South African Maritime Safety Authority|publisher=South African Maritime Safety Authority|access-date=16 June 2008|archive-date=29 December 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081229120804/http://www.samsa.org.za/|url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2060.html|website=The World Factbook|title=Coastline|publisher=CIA|access-date=16 June 2008|archive-date=16 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170716042040/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2060.html|url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=safacts>{{cite web|url=http://www.southafrica.info/about/facts.htm|title=South Africa Fast Facts|publisher=SouthAfrica.info|date=April 2007|access-date=14 June 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080719213531/http://www.southafrica.info/about/facts.htm|archive-date=19 July 2008}}</ref> to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini; and it encloses Lesotho.<ref>{{cite web |author= |title=Lesotho: Year In Review 1996 – Britannica Online Encyclopedia |url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9113829/LESOTHO |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615085933/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/337131/Lesotho-Year-In-Review-1996 |archive-date=15 June 2013 |access-date=30 October 2011 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref> Covering an area of {{convert|1221037|km2|mi2|abbr=off}}, the country has a population of over 63 million people, making it the sixth-most populated country in Africa. Pretoria is the administrative capital, while Cape Town, as the seat of Parliament, is the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein is regarded as the judicial capital.<ref name="Marais Twala 2020 pp. 49–62">{{cite journal | last1=Marais | first1=Lochner | last2=Twala | first2=Chitja | title=Bloemfontein: the rise and fall of South Africa's judicial capital | journal=African Geographical Review | publisher=Informa UK Limited | volume=40 | issue=1 | date=2020-05-07 | issn=1937-6812 | doi=10.1080/19376812.2020.1760901 | pages=49–62| s2cid=218929562 }}</ref> The largest and most populous city is Johannesburg, followed by Cape Town and Durban.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The most expensive province to buy groceries in South Africa |url=https://businesstech.co.za/news/lifestyle/847172/the-most-expensive-province-to-buy-groceries-in-south-africa-2/ |access-date=2026-05-29 |language=en-US}}</ref>

Archaeological findings suggest that various hominid species existed in South Africa about 2.5 million years ago, and modern humans inhabited the region over 100,000 years ago.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The first migrations out of Africa |url=https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/the-first-migrations-out-of-africa/ |access-date=2026-05-29 |website=The Australian Museum |language=en}}</ref> The first known people were the indigenous Khoisan, and Bantu-speaking peoples who migrated, in waves, from west and central Africa to the region 2,000 to 1,000 years ago.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gunnink |first=Hilde |last2=Sands |first2=Bonny |last3=Pakendorf |first3=Brigitte |date=2017 |title=Prehistoric Bantu-Khoisan language contact |url=https://www.academia.edu/32769639/Prehistoric_Bantu_Khoisan_language_contact_A_cross_disciplinary_approach |journal=Language Dynamics and Change |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=1 |doi=10.1163/22105832-00701002 |issn=2210-5824}}</ref> In the north, the Kingdom of Mapungubwe formed in the 13th century, and the Venda Kingdom in the 17th century. In 1652, the Dutch established the first European settlement at Table Bay, Dutch Cape Colony. Its invasion in 1795 and the Battle of Blaauwberg in 1806 led to British occupation. The Mfecane, a period of significant upheaval, led to the formation of various African kingdoms, including the Zulu Kingdom. The region was further colonised, and the Mineral Revolution saw a shift towards industrialisation and urbanisation. Following the Second Boer War, the Union of South Africa was created in 1910 after the amalgamation of the Cape, Natal, Transvaal, and Orange River colonies, becoming a republic after the 1961 referendum. The multi-racial Cape Qualified Franchise in the Cape was gradually eroded, and the vast majority of Black South Africans were not enfranchised until 1994.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gunnink |first=Hilde |last2=Sands |first2=Bonny |last3=Pakendorf |first3=Brigitte |date=2017 |title=Prehistoric Bantu-Khoisan language contact |url=https://www.academia.edu/32769639/Prehistoric_Bantu_Khoisan_language_contact_A_cross_disciplinary_approach |journal=Language Dynamics and Change |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=1 |doi=10.1163/22105832-00701002 |issn=2210-5824}}</ref>

The National Party imposed apartheid in 1948, institutionalising previous racial segregation. After a struggle by the African National Congress and other anti-apartheid activists, both inside and outside the country, the repeal of discriminatory laws began in the mid-1980s. Universal elections took place in 1994, following which all racial groups have held political representation in the country's liberal democracy, which comprises a parliamentary republic and nine provinces. Recognised as a middle power in international affairs, South Africa maintains significant regional influence and is a member of BRICS+, the African Union (hosting the seat of the Pan-African Parliament), SADC, SACU, the Commonwealth of Nations, and the G20.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Cooper|first1=Andrew F|last2=Antkiewicz|first2=Agata|last3=Shaw|first3=Timothy M|title=Lessons from/for BRICSAM about South-North Relations at the Start of the 21st Century: Economic Size Trumps All Else?|journal=International Studies Review|date=10 December 2007|volume=9|issue=4|pages=675, 687|doi=10.1111/j.1468-2486.2007.00730.x|issn = 1468-2486 }}</ref><ref name="Lynch2010">{{cite book|first=David A.|last=Lynch|title=Trade and Globalization: An Introduction to Regional Trade Agreements|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-MH-GEL425AC&pg=PA51|access-date=25 August 2013|year=2010|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|quote=Southern Africa is home to the other of sub-Saharan Africa's regional powers: South Africa. South Africa is more than just a regional power; it is currently the most developed and economically powerful country in Africa, and is able to use that influence in Africa more than during the days of apartheid, when it was ostracised from the rest of the world.|isbn=978-0-7425-6689-7|page=51|archive-date=11 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131011173913/http://books.google.com/books?id=-MH-GEL425AC&pg=PA51|url-status=live}}</ref>

A developing and newly industrialised country, it has the largest economy in Africa by nominal GDP,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://data.worldbank.org/country/south-africa|title=South Africa|publisher=World Bank|access-date=23 July 2021|archive-date=1 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111101050034/http://data.worldbank.org/country/south-africa|url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Waugh2000">{{cite book|first=David|last=Waugh|title=Geography: An Integrated Approach|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7GH0KZZthGoC|access-date=24 August 2013|year=2000|publisher=Nelson Thornes|isbn=978-0-17-444706-1|pages=563, 576–579, 633, 640|chapter=Manufacturing industries (chapter 19), World development (chapter 22)|archive-date=11 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131011173925/http://books.google.com/books?id=7GH0KZZthGoC|url-status=live}}</ref> is tied with Ethiopia for the most UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Africa,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/&order=region | title=World Heritage List | website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre | access-date=16 August 2024}}</ref> and is a biodiversity hotspot with unique biomes, plant, and animal life. South Africa encompasses a variety of cultures, languages, and religions, and has been called the "rainbow nation", especially in the wake of apartheid, to describe its diversity.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7512700.stm|title=Rainbow Nation – dream or reality?|access-date=10 August 2013|work=BBC News|date=18 July 2008|archive-date=8 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130908141212/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7512700.stm|url-status=live }}</ref> Since the end of apartheid, government accountability and quality of life have substantially improved for non-white citizens.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lieberman|first=Evan|url=https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691203003/until-we-have-won-our-liberty|title=Until We Have Won Our Liberty|date=2022|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0-691-20300-3|language=en|access-date=25 November 2021|archive-date=24 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124200625/https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691203003/until-we-have-won-our-liberty|url-status=live}}</ref> However, crime, violence, poverty, and inequality remain widespread, with about 32% of the population unemployed {{as of|2024|lc=y}},<ref>{{cite web|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS?locations=ZA|title=Unemployment, total (% of labor force) (modeled ILO estimate) – South Africa|work=World Bank|access-date=19 September 2022|archive-date=20 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920172607/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS?locations=ZA|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=12 November 2024 |title=Statistics South Africa on official unemployment rate in third quarter of 2024 |url=https://www.gov.za/news/media-statements/statistics-south-africa-official-unemployment-rate-third-quarter-2024-12-nov |website=South African Government |access-date=10 February 2025}}</ref> while some 56% lived below the poverty line in 2014.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.NAHC?locations=ZA|title=Poverty headcount ratio at national poverty lines (% of population) – South Africa|work=World Bank|access-date=19 September 2022|archive-date=31 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731094656/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.NAHC?locations=ZA|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="worldbank-poverty">{{Cite web|url=https://databankfiles.worldbank.org/public/ddpext_download/poverty/33EF03BB-9722-4AE2-ABC7-AA2972D68AFE/Global_POVEQ_ZAF.pdf|title="World Bank": South Africa|accessdate=7 April 2023|archive-date=20 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230420193850/https://databankfiles.worldbank.org/public/ddpext_download/poverty/33EF03BB-9722-4AE2-ABC7-AA2972D68AFE/Global_POVEQ_ZAF.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Having the highest Gini coefficient of 0.67, South Africa is considered one of the most economically unequal countries in the world.<ref>{{Cite web |title=World Bank Open Data |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI?locations=1W-ZA&most_recent_value_desc=true |access-date=2024-04-04 |website=World Bank Open Data |archive-date=4 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240404210056/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI?locations=1W-ZA&most_recent_value_desc=true |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Francis |first1=David |last2=Webster |first2=Edward |date=2019-11-02 |title=Poverty and inequality in South Africa: critical reflections |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0376835X.2019.1666703 |journal=Development Southern Africa |language=en |volume=36 |issue=6 |pages=788–802 |doi=10.1080/0376835X.2019.1666703 |issn=0376-835X |access-date=4 April 2024 |archive-date=4 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240404210056/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0376835X.2019.1666703 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

== Etymology == {{See also|List of official names of South Africa}} The name "South Africa" is derived from the country's geographic location at the southern tip of Africa. Upon formation, the country was named the Union of South Africa in English and {{lang|nl|Unie van Zuid-Afrika}} in Dutch, reflecting its origin from the unification of four British colonies. Since 1961, the long formal name in English has been the "Republic of South Africa" and {{lang|af|Republiek van Suid-Afrika}} in Afrikaans. The country has an official name in 12 official languages.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.concourt.org.za/index.php/constitution/the-text|title=The text|website=www.concourt.org.za|access-date=25 December 2023|archive-date=25 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231225080137/https://www.concourt.org.za/index.php/constitution/the-text|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>South African Sign Language is also an official language</ref>

{{anchor|Mzansi}} '''Mzansi''', derived from the Xhosa noun {{lang|xh|uMzantsi}} meaning "south", is a colloquial name for South Africa,<ref>{{cite book|editor1-first=Sarah|editor2-first=Achille|last=Livermon|first=Xavier|title=Johannesburg: The Elusive Metropolis|chapter=Sounds in the City|year=2008|publisher=Duke University Press|location=Durham|isbn=978-0-8223-8121-1|page=283|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hNONyzwm420C|quote=''Mzansi'' is another black urban vernacular term popular with the youth and standing for South Africa.|editor-last=Nuttall|editor2-last=Mbembé|access-date=5 January 2016|archive-date=2 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502074447/https://books.google.com/books?id=hNONyzwm420C|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Mzansi DiToloki|url=http://www.deafsa.co.za/mzansi_ditoloki/|publisher=Deaf Federation of South Africa|access-date=15 January 2014|quote=uMzantsi in Xhosa means 'south', Mzansi means this country, South Africa|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116135926/http://www.deafsa.co.za/mzansi_ditoloki/|archive-date=16 January 2014 }}</ref> while some Pan-Africanist political parties prefer the term "Azania", which is a word originating from Greek, and not an African language.<ref name="Azania">{{Cite news|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/south-african-party-says-call-it-azania/1855679.html|title=South African Party Says Call Their Country 'Azania'|last=Taylor|first=Darren|newspaper=VOA|access-date=18 February 2017|language=en|archive-date=24 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624200956/http://www.voanews.com/content/south-african-party-says-call-it-azania/1855679.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

==History== {{Main|History of South Africa}}

=== Prehistory === [[File:Maropeng_visitor_centre,_Cradle_of_Humankind,_South_Africa.jpg|thumb|Front of Maropeng at the Cradle of Humankind]] South Africa contains some of the oldest archaeological and human-fossil sites in the world.<ref>{{cite book|last= Wymer|first= John|author2= Singer, R|year= 1982|title= The Middle Stone Age at Klasies River Mouth in South Africa|location= Chicago|publisher= University of Chicago Press|isbn= 978-0-226-76103-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title= Guide to Klasies River|page= 11|year= 2001|url= http://academic.sun.ac.za/archaeology/KRguide2001.PDF|author= Deacon, HJ|publisher= Stellenbosch University|access-date= 5 September 2009|archive-date= 21 February 2011|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110221195519/http://academic.sun.ac.za/archaeology/KRguide2001.PDF|url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/915/|title=Fossil Hominid Sites of South Africa|website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre|access-date=26 December 2019|archive-date=4 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191204231517/https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/915|url-status=live}}</ref> Archaeologists have recovered extensive fossil remains from a series of caves in Gauteng known as the Cradle of Humankind, which has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The sites include Sterkfontein, one of the richest sites for hominin fossils in the world, as well as Swartkrans, Gondolin Cave, Kromdraai, Cooper's Cave and Malapa. The first hominin fossil discovered in Africa, the Taung Child, was found near Taung in 1924. Other hominin remains have come from the sites of Makapansgat in Limpopo; Cornelia and Florisbad in the Free State; Border Cave in KwaZulu-Natal; Klasies River Caves in the Eastern Cape; and Pinnacle Point, Elandsfontein and Die Kelders Cave in the Western Cape.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Marean |first1=Curtis W. |title=Pinnacle Point Cave 13B (Western Cape Province, South Africa) in context: The Cape Floral kingdom, shellfish, and modern human origins |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |date=September 2010 |volume=59 |issue=3–4 |pages=425–443 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.07.011 |pmid=20934095 |bibcode=2010JHumE..59..425M }}</ref>

These finds suggest that various hominid species existed in South Africa from about three million years ago, starting with ''Australopithecus africanus,''<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1979/6/79.06.02.x.html|title= Hominid Evolution|publisher= Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute|first= Stephen P.|last= Broker|access-date= 19 June 2008|archive-date= 7 April 2008|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080407181350/http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1979/6/79.06.02.x.html|url-status= live}}</ref> followed by ''Australopithecus sediba'', ''Homo ergaster'', ''Homo erectus'', ''Homo rhodesiensis'', ''Homo helmei'', ''Homo naledi'' and modern humans (''Homo sapiens''). Modern humans have inhabited Southern Africa for at least 170,000 years. Various researchers have located pebble tools within the Vaal River valley.<ref name=Langer>{{cite book| title = An Encyclopedia of World History| editor-last = Langer| editor-first = William L.| edition = 5th| publisher = Houghton Mifflin Company| location = Boston| year = 1972| isbn = 978-0-395-13592-1| page = [https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaworl00will/page/9 9]| url = https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaworl00will/page/9 }}</ref><ref> {{cite book | last1 = Leakey | first1 = Louis Seymour Bazett | author-link1 = Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey | chapter = Stone Age cultures of South Africa | title = Stone age Africa: an outline of prehistory in Africa | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=FsEiAAAAMAAJ | edition = reprint | publisher = Negro Universities Press | publication-date = 1936 | page = 79 | access-date = 21 February 2018 | quote = In 1929, during a brief visit to the Transvaal, I myself found a number of pebble tools in some of the terrace gravels of the Vaal River, and similar finds have been recorded by Wayland, who visited South Africa, and by van Riet Lowe and other South African prehistorians. | year = 1936 | isbn = 9780837120225 }} </ref>

===Pre-colonial period=== {{Main|Bantu expansion}} The indigenous San and Khoikhoi peoples of Southern Africa were predominantly hunter-gatherers and, in the case of the Khoikhoi, also practised pastoralism.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Khoisan hunter-gatherers have been the largest population throughout most of modern-human demographic history|first1=Hie Lim|last1=Kim|first2=Aakrosh|last2=Ratan|first3=George H.|last3=Perry|first4=Alvaro|last4=Montenegro|first5=Webb|last5=Miller|first6=Stephan C.|last6=Schuster|date=4 December 2014|journal=Nature Communications|volume=5|issue=1|pages=5692|doi=10.1038/ncomms6692|pmid=25471224 |pmc=4268704 |bibcode=2014NatCo...5.5692K |hdl=11449/130054|hdl-access=free}}</ref> Khoisan peoples may be the descendants of an early dispersal of anatomically modern humans to Southern Africa before 150,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/abs/primordialism-and-the-pleistocene-san-of-southern-africa/45D6E61597C34A496AB5A0B6FA1C7632 |last1=Pargeter |first1=Justin |last2=Mackay |first2=Alex |last3=Mitchell |first3=Peter |last4=Shea |first4=John |last5=Stewart |first5=Brian |title=Primordialism and the 'Pleistocene San' of southern Africa |year=2016 |journal=Antiquity |volume=90 |issue=352}}</ref> They were largely displaced or absorbed by the Bantu expansion which took place between 1,500 and 2,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite book |author=Barnard, Alan |year=1992 |title=Hunters and Herders of Southern Africa: A comparative ethnography of the Khoisan peoples |location=New York, NY; Cambridge, UK |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref>

[[File:MapungubweHill.jpg|thumb|Mapungubwe Hill, the site of the former capital of the Kingdom of Mapungubwe]]

Bantu settlers expanded from West Africa from approximately 3,000 BCE.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Bantu expansion shows that habitat alters the route and pace of human dispersals|first1=Rebecca|last1=Grollemund|first2=Simon|last2=Branford|first3=Koen|last3=Bostoen|first4=Andrew|last4=Meade|first5=Chris|last5=Venditti|first6=Mark|last6=Pagel|date=27 October 2015|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=112|issue=43|pages=13296–13301|doi=10.1073/pnas.1503793112|doi-access=free |pmid=26371302|pmc=4629331 |bibcode=2015PNAS..11213296G }}</ref> Settlements of Bantu-speaking peoples, who were iron-using agriculturists and herdsmen, were present south of the Limpopo River (now the northern border with Botswana and Zimbabwe) by the 4th or 5th century. The earliest ironworks in modern-day KwaZulu-Natal are believed to date from around 1050.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Whitelaw |first1=Gavin |last2=Janse van Rensburg |first2=Sue |date=August 2020 |title=Lake Sibaya and the Beginning of the Iron Age in Kwazulu-Natal |url=https://www.archaeology.org.za/sites/default/files/attachments/publications/2020/09/15/The%20Digging%20Stick%20%20August%202020%20%28Final%20Print%29.pdf |journal=The Digging Stick |volume=37 |issue=2 |issn=1013-7521 |access-date=June 26, 2025}}</ref> The southernmost group was the Xhosa people, whose language incorporates certain linguistic traits from the Khoisan languages, and who eventually reached the Great Fish River in the present-day Eastern Cape. As they migrated, these larger Iron Age populations displaced or assimilated earlier peoples. In Mpumalanga, several stone circles have been found along with a stone arrangement that has been named Adam's Calendar, and the ruins are thought to be created by the Bakone, a Northern Sotho group.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Alfred|first=Luke|title=The Bakoni: From prosperity to extinction in a generation|url=https://www.news24.com/citypress/news/the-bakoni-from-prosperity-to-extinction-in-a-generation-20180703|access-date=13 September 2020|website=Citypress|archive-date=20 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020040304/https://www.news24.com/citypress/news/the-bakoni-from-prosperity-to-extinction-in-a-generation-20180703|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Adam's Calendar in Waterval Boven, Mpumalanga|url=https://www.sa-venues.com/things-to-do/mpumalanga/adams-calendar/|access-date=13 September 2020|website=www.sa-venues.com|archive-date=17 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201217065507/https://www.sa-venues.com/things-to-do/mpumalanga/adams-calendar/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Around 1220, in the Limpopo-Shashe Basin, the elite of K2 moved to settle the flat-topped summit of Mapungubwe Hill, with the population settling below. Rainmaking was crucial to the development of sacral kingship, and several rainmaking sites have been found nearby including Ratho Kroonkop. By 1250, the capital of the Mapungubwe Kingdom had a population of 5,000 and the state covered 30,000 km2 (11,500 square miles), growing wealthy through the Indian Ocean trade. The events around Mapungubwe's collapse circa 1300 are unknown; however, trade routes shifted north from the Limpopo to the Zambezi, precipitating the rise of Great Zimbabwe. The hill was abandoned and Mapungubwe's population scattered.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Chirikure |first1=Shadreck |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3pa7CgAAQBAJ&dq=kingdom+of+mapungubwe&pg=PT6 |title=Mapungubwe Reconsidered: A Living Legacy: Exploring Beyond the Rise and Decline of the Mapungubwe State |last2=Delius |first2=Peter |last3=Esterhuysen |first3=Amanda |last4=Hall |first4=Simon |last5=Lekgoathi |first5=Sekibakiba |last6=Maulaudzi |first6=Maanda |last7=Neluvhalani |first7=Vele |last8=Ntsoane |first8=Otsile |last9=Pearce |first9=David |date=2015-10-01 |publisher=Real African Publishers Pty Ltd. |isbn=978-1-920655-06-8 |language=en}}</ref>

In the Soutpansberg, interactions between early Shona inhabitants (possible from Mapungubwe), late-comer Shona and Sotho-speakers between the 15th and 17th centuries culminated in the formation of the Venda language and identity.<ref name=":13">{{Cite journal |last=Huffman|first=Thomas|date=2022|title=The origins of Tshivenda: an archaeological challenge to historical linguistics|url=https://journals.co.za/doi/full/10.10520/ejc-nmsa_sah_v35_n1_a1|journal=Southern African Humanities|volume=35|issue=1|pages=|doi=}}</ref> In the late-17th century, a splinter group from the dynasty of the Rozvi Empire migrated south; they were the Singo. The Singo settled at Dzata, which became the capital of the Venda Kingdom, and came to subdue all of the Soutpansberg. In the late-18th century, following trade routes moving south, the state collapsed. The most powerful dynasties that remained were the Ramabulana Singo in the western Soutpansberg, and the Tshivhase Singo and Mphaphuli Singo in the eastern Soutpansberg.<ref name=":11">{{Cite encyclopedia |last=Loubser|first=Jannie|title=The Venda-Speaking People|date=2024|encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History|url=https://oxfordre.com/africanhistory/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277734-e-1215|publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref>

=== Portuguese exploration === {{see also|Portuguese discoveries}} [[File:F. Benda-The planting of cross by Bartholomew Dias in 1488-0681 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias planting the cross at Cape Point after being the first to successfully round the Cape of Good Hope]]

In 1487, the Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias led the first European voyage to land in southern Africa.<ref name="domville-25">{{cite book|last=Domville-Fife|first=C.W.|title=The encyclopedia of the British Empire the first encyclopedic record of the greatest empire in the history of the world ed|year=1900|publisher=Rankin|location=London|page=25|url=https://archive.org/stream/encyclopediaofbr01domvuoft#page/24/mode/2up}}</ref> On 4 December, he landed at Walfisch Bay (now known as Walvis Bay in present-day Namibia). This was south of the furthest point reached in 1485 by his predecessor, the Portuguese navigator Diogo Cão, being Cape Cross, north of the bay. Dias continued down the western coast of southern Africa. After 8 January 1488, prevented by storms from proceeding along the coast, he sailed out of sight of land and passed the southernmost point of Africa without seeing it. He reached as far up the eastern coast of Africa as, what he called, {{lang|pt|Rio do Infante}}, probably the present-day Groot River, in May 1488. On his return, he saw the cape, which he named {{lang|pt|Cabo das Tormentas}} ('Cape of Storms'). King John II renamed the point {{lang|pt|Cabo da Boa Esperança}}, or Cape of Good Hope, as it led to the riches of the East Indies.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Mackenzie|first1=W. Douglas|last2=Stead|first2=Alfred|title=South Africa: Its History, Heroes, and Wars|publisher=The Co-Operative Publishing Company|location=Chicago|year=1899}}</ref> Dias' feat of navigation was immortalised in Luís de Camões' 1572 epic poem, ''Os Lusíadas''.<ref>{{Cite news |title=The Lusiads {{!}} Portuguese epic, 16th century, epic poem {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Lusiads |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250910060626/https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Lusiads |archive-date=2025-09-10 |access-date=2026-01-11 |work=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref>

In 1497 Vasco Da Gama set sail from Lisbon and became the first European to reach India in 1498 via the Cape of Good Hope, opening up oceanic trade between Europe and Asia. He reportedly bypassed what became South Africa and landed instead in what is now Mozambique.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vasco da Gama in South Africa |url=https://southafrica.co.za/vasco-da-gama.html |access-date=2026-01-11 |website=South Africa Online |last=Fleminger |first=David }}</ref>

=== Dutch and British colonisation of the Cape === {{Main|Dutch Cape Colony|Slavery in South Africa|Cape Colony}}

The Dutch first made contact with the coast of Southern Africa in 1595. With Portuguese maritime power declining in the early 17th century, English and Dutch merchants competed to dislodge Portugal's lucrative monopoly on the spice trade.<ref name="Pakeman">{{cite book| last = Pakeman, SA| title = Nations of the Modern World: Ceylon|edition= 1964|pages= 18–19| publisher = Frederick A Praeger, Publishers}}</ref> British East India Company representatives sporadically called at the Cape in search of provisions from as early as 1601 but later came to favour Ascension Island and Saint Helena as ports of refuge.<ref name="Kaap">{{cite book|first1=Alexander|last1=Wilmot|author2=John Centlivres Chase|name-list-style=amp| title = History of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope: From Its Discovery to the Year 1819|date=February 2010 |edition= 2010|pages= 1–548| publisher = Claremont: David Philip (Pty) Ltd| isbn= 978-1-144-83015-9}}</ref> Dutch interest was aroused after 1647, when two employees of the Dutch East India Company were shipwrecked at the Cape for several months, and managed to survive by obtaining fresh water and meat from the indigenous peoples,<ref name="Kaap" /> and sowing crops in the fertile soil.<ref name="zastudy">{{cite book|last=Kaplan|first=Irving|title=Area Handbook for the Republic of South Africa|pages=46–771|url=http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED056947.pdf|access-date=30 May 2015|archive-date=28 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150428004403/http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED056947.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Upon their return to Holland, they reported favourably on the Cape's potential as a "warehouse and garden" for provisions to stock passing ships for long voyages.<ref name="Kaap" /> [[File:Charles Bell - Jan van Riebeeck se aankoms aan die Kaap.jpg|thumb|left|Charles Davidson Bell's 19th-century painting of Jan van Riebeeck, who founded the first European settlement in South Africa, arriving in Table Bay in 1652]]

In 1652, a century and a half after the discovery of the Cape Route, Jan van Riebeeck established a {{Wikt-lang|en|victual|victualling}} station at the Cape of Good Hope, at what would become Cape Town, on behalf of the Dutch East India Company.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://courses.wcupa.edu/jones/his311/timeline/t-19saf.htm|title=African History Timeline|publisher=West Chester University of Pennsylvania|access-date=16 June 2008|archive-date=7 January 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090107070748/http://courses.wcupa.edu/jones/his311/timeline/t-19saf.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=Hunt1>{{cite book|last=Hunt|first=John|editor-last=Campbell|editor-first=Heather-Ann|title=Dutch South Africa: Early Settlers at the Cape, 1652–1708|date=2005|pages=13–35|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-1-904744-95-5}}</ref> In time, the Cape became home to a large population of Free Burghers.<ref name=Hunt1 /> Dutch traders also brought thousands of enslaved people to the fledgling colony from present-day Indonesia, Madagascar, and eastern Africa.<ref name="Worden">{{cite book| last = Worden| first = Nigel| title = Slavery in Dutch South Africa|edition= 2010|pages= 40–43| publisher = Cambridge University Press| isbn = 978-0-521-15266-2| date = 5 August 2010}}</ref> Some of the earliest mixed race communities in the country were formed between Free Burghers, enslaved people, and indigenous peoples.<ref name="zimstudy">{{cite book|last=Nelson|first=Harold|title=Zimbabwe: A Country Study|pages=237–317}}</ref> This led to the development of a new ethnic group, the Cape Coloureds, most of whom adopted the Dutch language and Christian faith.<ref name="zimstudy" /> Conflicts over resources between the indigenous Khoisan people and Dutch settlers began in the 17th century and continued for centuries.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Elphick |first=R |title=Khoikhoi and the Founding of White South Africa |date=1993 |publisher=Ravan Press |edition=1st |location=Johannesburg |publication-date=1993 |pages=240 |language=English}}</ref>

Dutch colonists' eastward expansion caused wars with the southwesterly migrating Xhosa nation, as both sides competed for the pastureland near the Great Fish River, which the colonists desired for grazing cattle.<ref name=Stapleton2>{{cite book|last=Stapleton|first=Timothy|title=A Military History of South Africa: From the Dutch-Khoi Wars to the End of Apartheid|date=2010|pages=4–6|publisher=Praeger Security International|location=Santa Barbara|isbn=978-0-313-36589-8}}</ref> Free Burghers who became independent farmers on the frontier were known as ''Boers'', with some (the {{lang|nl|trekboers}}) adopting semi-nomadic lifestyles.<ref name=Stapleton2 /> The Boers formed loose militias, which they termed ''commandos'', and forged alliances with Khoisan peoples to repel Xhosa raids.<ref name=Stapleton2 /> Both sides launched bloody but inconclusive offensives, and sporadic violence, often accompanied by livestock theft, remained common for several decades.<ref name=Stapleton2 />

[[File:Charles Bell - Zoeloe-aanval op 'n Boerelaer - 1838.jpg|thumb|Depiction of a Zulu attack on a Boer camp in February 1838]] Great Britain 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.<ref name=Stapleton2 /> After briefly returning to Dutch rule under the Batavian Republic in 1803, the Cape was occupied again by the British in 1806.<ref name="Keegan">{{cite book| last = Keegan| first = Timothy| title = Colonial South Africa and the Origins of the Racial Order| year = 1996| url = https://archive.org/details/colonialsouthafr0000keeg| url-access = registration|edition= 1996|pages= [https://archive.org/details/colonialsouthafr0000keeg/page/85 85–86]| publisher = David Philip Publishers (Pty) Ltd| isbn = 978-0-8139-1735-1}}</ref> Following the end of the Napoleonic Wars, it was formally ceded to Great Britain and became an integral part of the British Empire.<ref name=Lloyd1>{{cite book|last=Lloyd|first=Trevor Owen|title=The British Empire, 1558–1995|date=1997|pages=201–203|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-873133-7}}</ref> British emigration to South Africa began around 1818, culminating in the arrival of the 1820 Settlers,<ref name=Lloyd1 /> the purpose of which was primarily to increase the size of the European workforce and bolster frontier regions against Xhosa incursions.<ref name=Lloyd1 />

===Mfecane and colonial expansion=== {{Main|Cape Colony|Mfecane|Boer Republics|Great Trek}}

In the early 1800s, the Mfecane ({{literal translation|crushing}}) saw a heightened period of conflict, migration, and state formation among native groups, caused by the complex interplay of international trade, environmental instability, and European colonisation.<ref>Eldredge, "Sources of Conflict in Southern Africa," 28.</ref> Chiefdoms grew wealthier and competed over trade routes and grazing land, leading to the formation of the Ndwandwe and Mthethwa Paramountcies in the east of the country.<ref>Wright, "Turbulent Times," 250.</ref> Ndwandwe defeated Mthethwa, which in turn split into several groups, one of which was led by Shaka of the amaZulu.<ref name="T5">Wright, "Turbulent Times," 225–226.</ref> The 1810s saw the fourth and fifth Xhosa Wars as British colonisation expanded.<ref>Wright, "Turbulent Times," 233.</ref> The Ndwandwe Paramountcy splintered amid costly raids, and Shaka's Zulu Kingdom rose to fill the power vacuum.<ref name="T5" /> The Gaza Empire concurrently formed, and while the Zulu managed to totally defeat the Ndwandwe, they were repelled by Gaza.<ref>Wright, "Turbulent Times," 227.</ref><ref>Wright, "Turbulent Times," 249.</ref>

thumb|1876 map of South Africa During the early 19th century, 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 {{lang|nl|Voortrekkers}} ({{literal translation|pathfinders|pioneers}}). They migrated to the future Natal, Free State, and Transvaal regions, and following their victory over the Zulu Kingdom at the Battle of Blood River on 16 December 1838, founded the Boer republics: the Natalia Republic, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State.<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle= Orange Free State |volume=20 |last1= Hillier |first1= Alfred Peter |author-link1= Alfred Hillier |last2= Cana |first2= Frank Richardson |author-link2= |pages=151-160 |short=1}}</ref> In the interior, the Cape Colony expanded at the expense of the Batswana and Griqua, and Boer expansion destabilised the middle Orange River region.<ref>Wright, "Turbulent Times," 215.</ref> The Matabele kingdom came to dominate the eastern interior, and raided the Venda kingdom.<ref>Wright, "Turbulent Times," 235.</ref>

The discovery of diamonds in 1867 and gold in 1884 in the interior initiated the Mineral Revolution, which increased economic growth and immigration and intensified British subjugation of the indigenous peoples. The struggle to control these important economic resources shaped relations between Europeans and the indigenous population, as well as between the Boers and the British.<ref>{{cite book|author=Williams, Garner F|title=The Diamond Mines of South Africa, Vol II|year=1905|publisher=B. F Buck & Co.|location=New York|pages=Chapter XX|url=http://www.farlang.com/diamonds/williams_diamond_mines_2/page_285|access-date=27 November 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>

On 16 May 1876, President Thomas François Burgers of the South African Republic declared war against the Pedi people. King Sekhukhune defeated the army on 1 August 1876, with another attack by the Lydenburg Volunteer Corps being similarly repulsed. On 16 February 1877, the two parties signed a peace treaty at Botshabelo.<ref>{{Cite web|title=South African Military History Society – Journal- THE SEKUKUNI WARS|url=http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol025hk.html|access-date=15 August 2020|website=samilitaryhistory.org|archive-date=23 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200723053419/http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol025hk.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The Boers' inability to subdue the Pedi led to the departure of Burgers in favour of Paul Kruger and the British annexation of the South African Republic. In 1878 and 1879, three British attacks were successfully repelled until Garnet Wolseley defeated Sekhukhune in November 1879 with an army of 2,000 British soldiers, Boers and 10,000 Swazis.

The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in 1879 between the British 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. In 1874, Henry Bartle Frere was sent to South Africa as the British High Commissioner to bring such plans into being. Among the obstacles were the presence of the independent states of the Boers, and the Zulu army. The Zulu nation defeated the British at the Battle of Isandlwana but ultimately lost the war, resulting in the termination of its independence.<ref>{{cite book | last = Knight | first = Ian | title = Zulu Rising: The Epic Story of Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=s2mbl5xPOcUC&q=Zulu+Victory:+The+Epic+of+Isandlwana+and+the+cover-up | isbn = 9781447202233 | publisher = Pan Macmillan | date = 6 May 2011 | access-date = 26 December 2023 | archive-date = 28 June 2024 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240628010915/https://books.google.com/books?id=s2mbl5xPOcUC&q=Zulu+Victory:+The+Epic+of+Isandlwana+and+the+cover-up | url-status = live }}</ref>

===Boer Wars and independence=== {{main|Boer Wars|Union of South Africa}}

[[File:Battle of Majuba Hill.jpg|thumb| The Battle of Majuba Hill was the last decisive battle during the First Boer War.]] The Boer republics successfully resisted British encroachments during the First Boer War (1880–1881) using guerrilla warfare tactics, which were well-suited to local conditions. The British returned with greater numbers, more experience, and new strategy in the Second Boer War (1899–1902) and, although suffering heavy casualties due to Boer attrition warfare, were ultimately successful due in part to scorched earth tactics and concentration camps, in which 27,000 Boer civilians died due to a combination of disease and neglect.<ref>{{cite news|title=5 of the worst atrocities carried out by the British Empire|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/worst-atrocities-british-empire-amritsar-boer-war-concentration-camp-mau-mau-a6821756.html|work=The Independent|date=19 January 2016|access-date=22 September 2019|archive-date=27 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190927142647/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/worst-atrocities-british-empire-amritsar-boer-war-concentration-camp-mau-mau-a6821756.html|url-status=live }}</ref> South Africa's urban population grew rapidly from the end of the 19th century onward. After the devastation of the wars, Boer farmers fled into Transvaal and Orange Free State cities, many of whom would come to constitute an urban class of "poor whites".<ref name="Ogura 1996">{{Cite journal|last=Ogura|first=Mitsuo|date=1996|title=Urbanization and Apartheid in South Africa: Influx Controls and Their Abolition|journal=The Developing Economies|language=en|volume=34|issue=4|pages=402–423|doi=10.1111/j.1746-1049.1996.tb01178.x|pmid=12292280|issn=1746-1049|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Anti-British policies among white South Africans focused on independence. During the Dutch and British colonial years, racial segregation was mostly informal, though some legislation was enacted to control the settlement and movement of indigenous people, including the Native Location Act of 1879 and the system of pass laws.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bond|first=Patrick|title=Cities of gold, townships of coal: essays on South Africa's new urban crisis|publisher=Africa World Press|year=1999|page=140|isbn=978-0-86543-611-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite report|year=1906|title=Report of the Select Committee on Location Act|publisher=Cape Times Limited|url=https://archive.org/details/reportoftheselec00capeiala|access-date=30 July 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite report|last1=Godley |first1=Godfrey |first2=Welsh|last2=Archibald|last3=Thomson |first3=William |last4=Hemsworth |first4=H. D.|year=1920|title=Report of the Inter-departmental committee on the native pass laws|url=https://archive.org/stream/reportofinterdep00sout#page/2/mode/1up|publisher=Cape Times Limited|page=2}}</ref><ref>{{cite report|institution=Great Britain Colonial Office; Transvaal (Colony). Governor (1901–1905: Milner)|date=January 1902|title=Papers relating to legislation affecting natives in the Transvaal|url=https://archive.org/details/transvaalpapersr00grea}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=De Villiers|first=John Abraham Jacob|title=The Transvaal |publisher=Chatto & Windus|location=London|year=1896|pages=[https://archive.org/details/transvaal00devi/page/30 30] (n46)|url=https://archive.org/details/transvaal00devi|access-date=30 July 2009}}</ref>

Eight years after the end of the Second Boer War, and after four years of negotiation, the South Africa Act 1909 created the Union of South Africa on 31 May 1910, granting the country nominal independence. The union was a dominion that included the former territories of the Cape, Transvaal and Natal colonies, as well as the Orange Free State republic.<ref>{{Cite EB1911|first=Frank Richardson|last=Cana|wstitle=South Africa|volume=25|page=467}}</ref> The Natives Land Act of 1913, which was passed by the British ruling the Parliament of the newly formed Union of South Africa, severely restricted the ownership of land by black South Africans, who at that stage controlled only 7% of the country. The amount of land reserved for indigenous peoples was later marginally increased.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/chronology/thisday/1913-06-19.htm|title=Native Land Act|publisher=South African Institute of Race Relations|date=19 June 1913|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101014095049/http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/chronology/thisday/1913-06-19.htm|archive-date=14 October 2010 }}</ref>

In 1931, the union became fully sovereign from the United Kingdom with the passage of the Statute of Westminster, which abolished the last powers of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to legislate in the country. In 1934, the South African Party and National Party merged to form the United Party, seeking reconciliation between Afrikaners and English-speaking whites. 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 National Party followers opposed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/national-party-np|title=National Party (NP) | South African History Online|website=www.sahistory.org.za|access-date=25 December 2023|archive-date=8 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200508083820/https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/national-party-np|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Apartheid era === {{Main|History of South Africa (1948–1994)|Apartheid}}

[[File:DFMalanPortret.jpg|thumb|262x262px|D. F. Malan, the first apartheid-era prime minister (1948–1954)]] In 1948, the National Party was elected to power. It strengthened the racial segregation begun under Dutch and British colonial rule. Taking Canada's Indian Act as a framework,<ref>Gloria Galloway, [https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/chiefs-reflect-on-apartheid-and-first-nations-as-atleo-visits-mandela-memorial/article15902124/ "Chiefs Reflect on Apartheid"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502050752/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/chiefs-reflect-on-apartheid-and-first-nations-as-atleo-visits-mandela-memorial/article15902124/|date=2 May 2019 }}, ''The Globe and Mail'', 11 December 2013</ref> the nationalist government classified all peoples into three races (being "Whites", "Blacks", and "Indians and Coloured people") and developed rights and limitations for each. The white-led minoritarian government<ref>Beinart, William (2001). ''Twentieth-century South Africa.'' Oxford University Press. p. 202. {{ISBN|978-0-19-289318-5}}.</ref> instituted a policy of legally institutionalised segregation which came to be known as ''apartheid''. While whites enjoyed a higher standard of living comparable to First World Western nations, the black majority remained disadvantaged by almost every standard, including income, education, housing, and life expectancy.<ref>{{Cite web|title=apartheid {{!}} South Africa, Definition, Facts, Beginning, & End|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/apartheid|access-date=2022-05-15|website=Britannica|language=en|archive-date=7 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220507192302/https://www.britannica.com/topic/apartheid|url-status=live}}</ref> The Freedom Charter, adopted in 1955 by the Congress Alliance, which was multi-racial in makeup, demanded a non-racial society and an end to discrimination.

On 31 May 1961, the country became a republic following a referendum (only open to white voters) which narrowly passed;<ref>{{cite web|title=Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd|url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/hendrik-frensch-verwoerd|publisher=South African History Online|quote=On 5 October 1960 a referendum was held in which White voters were asked: "Do you support a republic for the Union?" – 52 percent voted 'Yes'.|access-date=9 March 2013|archive-date=29 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171129002322/http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/hendrik-frensch-verwoerd|url-status=live}}</ref> the British-dominated Natal province largely voted against the proposal. 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 by parliament, and the position was virtually powerless until P. W. Botha's Constitution Act of 1983, which eliminated the office of prime minister and instated a unique "strong presidency" responsible to parliament. Pressured by other Commonwealth of Nations countries, South Africa withdrew from the organisation in 1961.

Despite opposition to apartheid both within and outside the country from all racial backgrounds, 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, and the Pan-Africanist Congress carrying out guerrilla warfare, urban sabotage and, according to Oxford Academic, acts of terrorism.<ref name="Switzer">{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bUvA7PHnCrUC&q=breytenbach+dakar&pg=PA415| title=South Africa's Resistance Press: Alternative Voices in the Last Generation Under Apartheid. Issue 74 of Research in international studies: Africa series| publisher=Ohio University Press| author=Switzer, Les| year=2000| page=2| isbn=978-0-89680-213-1| access-date=19 October 2020| archive-date=11 December 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201211144708/https://books.google.com/books?id=bUvA7PHnCrUC&q=breytenbach+dakar&pg=PA415| url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=SAPA - 26 Oct 98 - TRC IMPLICATES LIBERATION MOVEMENT IN HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES |url=https://www.justice.gov.za/trc/media/1998/9810/s981026e.htm |access-date=2026-03-10 |website=www.justice.gov.za}}</ref><ref>Simon Stevens, The Turn to Sabotage by The Congress Movement in South Africa, ''Past & Present'', Volume 245, Issue 1, November 2019, Pages 221–255, <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.1093/pastj/gtz030</nowiki></ref> The three rival resistance movements also engaged in occasional inter-factional clashes as they jockeyed for domestic influence.<ref name="Mitchell">{{cite book|last1=Mitchell|first1=Thomas|title=Native vs Settler: Ethnic Conflict in Israel/Palestine, Northern Ireland and South Africa|date=2008|pages=194–196|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|location=Westport|isbn=978-0-313-31357-8}}</ref> Apartheid became increasingly controversial, and several countries began to boycott business with the South African government because of its racial policies. The boycotts and restrictions were later extended to international sanctions and the divestment of holdings by foreign investors.<ref name="Bridgland">{{cite book|first=Fred|last=Bridgland|title=The War for Africa: Twelve months that transformed a continent|year=1990|publisher=Ashanti Publishing|location=Gibraltar|page=32|isbn=978-1-874800-12-5}}</ref><ref name="Landgren">{{cite book| first = Signe| last = Landgren| title = Embargo Disimplemented: South Africa's Military Industry| edition = 1989| pages = [https://archive.org/details/embargodisimplem0000land/page/6 6–10]| publisher = Oxford University Press| isbn = 978-0-19-829127-5| year = 1989| url = https://archive.org/details/embargodisimplem0000land/page/6}}</ref>

=== Post-apartheid === {{Further|History of South Africa (1994–present)}} [[File:Frederik de Klerk with Nelson Mandela - World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Davos 1992.jpg|thumb|F.W. de Klerk and Nelson Mandela shake hands in January 1992.]] 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, F.W. 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 apartheid when it lifted the ban on the ANC and other political organisations. It released Nelson Mandela from prison after 27 years of serving a sentence for sabotage and treason. A negotiation process followed. 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. The country rejoined the Commonwealth of Nations and became a member of the Southern African Development Community.<ref>{{Cite web |title=South Africa |url=https://www.sadc.int/member-states/south-africa#:~:text=The+Republic+of+South+Africa,first+time+in+August+1994 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231225091856/https://www.sadc.int/member-states/south-africa#:~:text=The+Republic+of+South+Africa,first+time+in+August+1994 |archive-date=25 December 2023 |access-date=25 December 2023 |website=www.sadc.int}}</ref>

The post-apartheid period, whilst plagued by high unemployment and increasing income inequality,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Head |first1=Tom |title="Inequality has increased in South Africa since apartheid" – World Bank|url=https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/inequality-increase-apartheid-south-africa/ |website=The South African |access-date=7 February 2025 |date=4 April 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=South Africa's Unemployment Reaches New Highs |url=https://www.barrons.com/news/south-africa-s-unemployment-reaches-new-highs-b37ea013 |website=Barron's |access-date=7 February 2025 |date=13 August 2024 |agency=Agence France-Presse}}</ref><ref name="sach3">{{cite web|url=http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/nft/2006/soafrica/eng/pasoafr/sach3.pdf|title=Post-Apartheid South Africa: the First Ten Years – Unemployment and the Labor Market|publisher=IMF|access-date=16 February 2013|archive-date=29 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130729103119/http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/nft/2006/soafrica/eng/pasoafr/sach3.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> has been characterised by relative political stability. The country has, however, seen periodic outbreaks of violence, most notably the 2008 xenophobic riots — during which over 60 people were killed,<ref name="Broke-on-Broke Violence">{{cite journal|url=http://www.slate.com/id/2193949/|title=Broke-on-Broke Violence|journal=Slate |date=20 June 2008 |access-date=6 July 2011|archive-date=8 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110908002524/http://www.slate.com/id/2193949/|url-status=live|last1=Chance |first1=Kerry }}</ref> and an estimated 100,000 people were driven from their homes<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abahlali.org/node/3612|title=COHRE statement on Xenophobic Attacks|date=2 June 2008 |access-date=6 July 2011|archive-date=18 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118140918/http://www.abahlali.org/node/3612|url-status=live}}</ref> — and the Marikana massacre, which constituted the most lethal use of force by South African security forces against civilians since the Soweto uprising.<ref name="WashPo">{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/south-african-police-open-fire-on-striking-mine-workers-several-injured/2012/08/16/c9c99e3c-e7ad-11e1-9739-eef99c5fb285_story.html|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120817062827/http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/south-african-police-open-fire-on-striking-mine-workers-several-injured/2012/08/16/c9c99e3c-e7ad-11e1-9739-eef99c5fb285_story.html|archive-date=17 August 2012|title=South African police open fire as striking miners charge, killing and wounding workers|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=16 August 2012|access-date=16 August 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Widespread political corruption and state capture took place under the presidency of Jacob Zuma,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ryan |first1=Ciaran |title=The deindustrialisation of SA |url=https://www.moneyweb.co.za/news/south-africa/the-deindustrialisation-of-sa/ |website=Moneyweb |access-date=6 September 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ntiyisoconsulting.co.za/high-rate-of-de-industrialization-and-the-impact-on-south-africas-economic-resilience-emeka-umeche/|title=High rate of de-industrialization and the impact on South Africa's economic - resilience - Emeka Umeche|date=27 October 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Momoniat |first=Ismail |date=2023-04-10 |title=How and Why Did State Capture and Massive Corruption Occur in South Africa ? |url=https://blog-pfm.imf.org/en/pfmblog/2023/04/how-and-why-did-state-capture-and-massive-corruption-occur-in-south-africa |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=International Monetary Fund |language=en |archive-date=4 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240604133951/https://blog-pfm.imf.org/en/pfmblog/2023/04/how-and-why-did-state-capture-and-massive-corruption-occur-in-south-africa |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Maseko |first=Nomsa |date=2022-06-23 |title=South Africa's Zondo commission: Damning report exposes rampant corruption |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-61912737 |access-date=2024-06-04 |work=BBC News |archive-date=4 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240604133951/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-61912737 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="PARI-Zondo-2022">{{Cite web |date=2022-09-05 |title=The Zondo Commission: A bite-sized summary |url=https://pari.org.za/summary-the-state-capture-commission/ |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=Public Affairs Research Institute, University of the Witwatersrand |archive-date=4 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240604133952/https://pari.org.za/summary-the-state-capture-commission/ |url-status=live }}</ref> whose brief imprisonment for contempt of court during the course of his trial for corruption in 2021 led to widespread unrest which left 354 people dead.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Campbell |first=John |date=2021-07-15 |title=South Africa Sees the Best of Times and the Worst of Times |url=https://www.cfr.org/blog/south-africa-sees-best-times-and-worst-times |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=Council on Foreign Relations |language=en |archive-date=4 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240604133942/https://www.cfr.org/blog/south-africa-sees-best-times-and-worst-times |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Watching South Africa & France match at World Cup 2010-06-22 in Soweto 13.jpg|thumb|Supporters watching the 2010 FIFA World Cup with vuvuzelas in the township of Soweto, a suburb of Johannesburg]] [[File:People's March Anti Xenophobia.jpg|thumb|March in Johannesburg against xenophobia in South Africa, 23 April 2015]]

The electoral dominance of the ANC has gradually declined since the early 2000s, with the party failing to secure a parliamentary majority for the first time in the 2024 general election.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Chothia |first1=Farouk |last2=Byaruhanga |first2=Catherine |date=2024-05-31 |title=South Africa election result: Will ANC share power with MK party or DA? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cyeek2xlgzzo |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB |archive-date=1 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240601124426/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cyeek2xlgzzo |url-status=live }}</ref> President Cyril Ramaphosa subsequently formed the Government of National Unity with, amongst others, the Democratic Alliance.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-06-14 |title=South Africa's ANC moves closer to forming coalition government |url=https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20240614-south-africa-s-anc-reaches-last-minute-deal-for-coalition-government |access-date=2024-06-15 |website=France 24 |language=en |archive-date=15 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240615221341/https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20240614-south-africa-s-anc-reaches-last-minute-deal-for-coalition-government |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Geography == {{Main|Geography of South Africa}}

[[File:South_Africa_sat.jpg|thumb|Satellite image of South Africa]] South Africa is in southern Africa, with a coastline that stretches more than {{convert|abbr=on|2500|km|mi|0}} and along two oceans — the South Atlantic and the Indian Ocean. At {{convert|abbr=on|1219912|km2|sqmi}} in area,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Country Comparison|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2147rank.html?countryName=South%20Africa&countryCode=sf&regionCode=af&rank=32#sf|website=World Factbook|publisher=CIA|access-date=4 September 2009|archive-date=1 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501164719/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2147rank.html?countryName=South%20Africa&countryCode=sf&regionCode=af&rank=32#sf|url-status=dead }}</ref> South Africa is the 24th-largest country in the world.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Demographic Yearbook – 2015 |date=2016 |url=https://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2015.htm|access-date=12 December 2017|website=United Nations Statistics Division |archive-date=8 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180708191849/https://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2015.htm|url-status=live }}</ref> Excluding the Prince Edward Islands, the country lies between latitudes 22° and 35°S, and longitudes 16° and 33°E. The interior of South Africa consists of a large, and in most places almost flat, plateau with an altitude of between {{convert|abbr=on|1000|m|ft}} and {{convert|abbr=on|2100|m|ft}}. It is highest in the east and slopes gently downwards towards the west and north, and slightly to the south and south-west.<ref>McCarthy, T. & Rubidge, B. (2005). ''The story of earth and life''. p. 263, 267–268. Struik Publishers, Cape Town.</ref> This plateau is surrounded by the Great Escarpment<ref name="Altas">Atlas of Southern Africa. (1984). p. 13. Reader's Digest Association, Cape Town</ref> whose eastern, and highest, stretch is known as the Drakensberg.<ref>Encyclopædia Britannica (1975); Micropaedia Vol. III, p. 655. Helen Hemingway Benton Publishers, Chicago.</ref> Mafadi in the Drakensberg is the highest peak in the country at {{convert|abbr=on|3450|m|ft}} above sea level. The KwaZulu-Natal–Lesotho international border is formed by the highest portion of the Great Escarpment which reaches an altitude of over {{convert|abbr=on|3000|m|ft}}.<ref>Atlas of Southern Africa. (1984). p. 151. Reader's Digest Association, Cape Town</ref>

The south and south-western parts of the plateau (at approximately 1,100{{ndash}}1,800{{nbsp}}m above sea level) and the adjoining plain below (at approximately 700{{ndash}}800{{nbsp}}m above sea level{{snds}}see map on the right) are together known as the Great Karoo, which consists of sparsely populated shrubland. To the north, the Great Karoo fades into the more arid Bushmanland, which eventually becomes the Kalahari Desert in the 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. To the north of the Highveld, from about the 25°{{nbsp}}30'{{nbsp}}S line of latitude, the plateau slopes downwards into the Bushveld, which ultimately gives way to the Limpopo River lowlands, the Lowveld.<ref name="Altas" />

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).<ref>Atlas of Southern Africa. (1984). p. 186. Reader's Digest Association, Cape Town</ref> This is hotter, drier and less intensely cultivated than the Highveld above the escarpment.<ref name="Altas" /> The Kruger National Park, located in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in north-eastern South Africa, occupies a large portion of the Lowveld, covering 19,633 square kilometres (7,580 sq mi)<ref name="Kruger National Park">{{Cite web|title=Kruger National Park|url=http://www.africa.com/south-africa/travel/what-to-do/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141218164142/http://www.africa.com/south-africa/travel/what-to-do/|archive-date=18 December 2014|access-date=16 December 2014|publisher=Africa.com}}</ref>

[[File:South Africa - Drakensberg (16261357780).jpg|thumb|left|alt=Image depicting the Drakensberg|Drakensberg, the eastern and highest portion of the Great Escarpment which surrounds the east, south and western borders of the central plateau]] The coastal belt below the south and south-western stretches of the Great Escarpment contains several ranges of Cape Fold Mountains which run parallel to the coast, separating the Great Escarpment from the ocean.<ref>McCarthy, T. & Rubidge, B. (2005). ''The story of earth and life''. p. 194. Struik Publishers, Cape Town.</ref><ref name="geological map">Geological map of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland (1970). Council for Geoscience, Geological Survey of South Africa.</ref>. The land between the Outeniqua and Langeberg ranges to the south and the Swartberg range to the north is known as the Little Karoo,<ref name="Altas" /> which consists of semi-desert shrubland similar to that of the Great Karoo, except that its northern strip along the foothills of the Swartberg Mountains has a somewhat higher rainfall and is, therefore, more cultivated than the Great Karoo.

The Little Karoo is famous for its ostrich farming around Oudtshoorn. The lowland area to the north of the Swartberg range up to the Great Escarpment is the lowland part of the Great Karoo, which is climatically and botanically almost indistinguishable from the Karoo above the Great Escarpment. The narrow coastal strip between the Outeniqua and Langeberg ranges and the ocean, known as the Garden Route, has a moderately high year-round rainfall, and hosts the most extensive area of forest in the country.

In the south-west corner of the country, 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, making it and its immediate surrounds the only portion of Sub-Saharan Africa which receives most of its rainfall in winter.<ref>Encyclopædia Britannica (1975); Micropaedia Vol. VI, p. 750. Helen Hemingway Benton Publishers, Chicago.</ref><ref name="Altas1">Atlas of Southern Africa. (1984). p. 19. Reader's Digest Association, Cape Town</ref>

The coastal belt to the north of the Cape Peninsula is bounded on the west by the Atlantic Ocean and the first row of north–south running Cape Fold Mountains to the east. The Cape Fold Mountains peter out at about the 32°{{nbsp}}S line of latitude,<ref name="geological map" /> after which the Great Escarpment bounds the coastal plain. The most southerly portion of this coastal belt is known as the Swartland and Malmesbury Plain, which is an important wheat-growing region, relying on winter rains. The region further north is known as Namaqualand,<ref>Atlas of Southern Africa. (1984). p. 113. Reader's Digest Association, Cape Town</ref> which becomes more arid near the Orange River. The little rain that falls tends to fall in winter,<ref name="Altas1" /> which results in one of the world's most spectacular displays of flowers carpeting huge stretches of veld in spring (August{{ndash}}September).

South Africa also has one offshore possession, the small sub-Antarctic archipelago of the Prince Edward Islands, consisting of Marion Island ({{convert|abbr=on|290|km2|sqmi|disp=or}}) and Prince Edward Island ({{convert|abbr=on|45|km2|sqmi|disp=or}}).

=== Climate === {{Main|Climate of South Africa}}

[[File:South Africa Köppen.svg|thumb|Köppen climate types of South Africa]] 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 Mozambique and the Indian Ocean. Winters in South Africa occur between June and August. The extreme southwest has a climate similar to that of the Mediterranean with wet winters and hot, dry summers, hosting the famous fynbos biome of shrubland and thicket. This area produces much of the wine in South Africa and is known for its wind, which blows intermittently almost all year. The severity of this wind made passing around the Cape of Good Hope particularly treacherous for sailors, causing many shipwrecks. Further east on the south coast, rainfall is distributed more evenly throughout the year, producing a green landscape. The annual rainfall increases south of the Lowveld, especially near the coast, which is subtropical. The Free State is particularly flat because it lies centrally on the high plateau. North of the Vaal River, the Highveld becomes better watered and does not experience subtropical extremes of heat. Johannesburg, in the centre of the Highveld, is at {{convert|abbr=on|1740|m|ft|0}} above sea level and receives an annual rainfall of {{convert|abbr=on|760|mm|in|1}}. Winters in this region are cold, although snow is rare.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/11/pure-magic-snow-falls-on-johannesburg-for-first-time-in-11-years#:~:text=%E2%80%9CIt%20happens%20once%20every%2010,little%20rain%20in%20winter%20months |title='Pure magic': snow falls on Johannesburg for first time in 11 years |work=The Guardian |last=Sullivan |first=Helen |date=11 July 2023 |access-date=29 December 2023 |archive-date=28 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628011337/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/11/pure-magic-snow-falls-on-johannesburg-for-first-time-in-11-years#:~:text=%E2%80%9CIt%20happens%20once%20every%2010,little%20rain%20in%20winter%20months |url-status=live }}</ref>

The coldest place on mainland South Africa is Buffelsfontein in the Eastern Cape, where a temperature of {{convert|abbr=on|-20.1|C|F}} was recorded in 2013.<ref>{{Cite web|date=1 July 2018|title=These are the lowest ever temperatures recorded in South Africa|url=https://www.thesouthafrican.com/lifestyle/lowest-temperature-recorded-south-africa/|access-date=11 September 2020|website=The South African|language=en-US|archive-date=11 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200911142956/https://www.thesouthafrican.com/lifestyle/lowest-temperature-recorded-south-africa/|url-status=live }}</ref> The Prince Edward Islands have colder average annual temperatures, but Buffelsfontein has colder extremes. The deep interior of mainland South Africa has the hottest temperatures: a temperature of {{convert|abbr=on|51.7|C|F|2}} was recorded in 1948 in the Northern Cape Kalahari near Upington,<ref>{{Cite web|title=South Africa's geography|url=http://www.safrica.info/about/geography/geography.htm|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100608121736/http://www.safrica.info/about/geography/geography.htm|archive-date=8 June 2010|access-date=30 October 2011|publisher=Safrica.info}}</ref> but this temperature is unofficial and was not recorded with standard equipment; the official highest temperature is {{convert|abbr=on|48.8|C|F|2}} at Vioolsdrif in January 1993.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SMdzAAAAMAAJ|title=South Africa yearbook|publisher=South African Communication Service|year=1997|isbn=9780797035447|page=3|access-date=14 October 2015|archive-date=24 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160124000311/https://books.google.com/books?id=SMdzAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live }}</ref>

Climate change in South Africa is leading to increased temperatures and rainfall variability. Extreme weather events are becoming more prominent.<ref>Republic of South Africa, ''[https://www.environment.gov.za/sites/default/files/docs/nationalclimatechange_adaptationstrategy_ue10november2019.pdf National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy (NCCAS)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210612014043/https://www.environment.gov.za/sites/default/files/docs/nationalclimatechange_adaptationstrategy_ue10november2019.pdf|date=12 June 2021 }},'' Version UE10, 13 November 2019.</ref> This is a critical concern for South Africans as climate change will affect the overall status and wellbeing of the country, for example with regards to water resources. Speedy environmental changes are resulting in clear effects on the community and environmental level in different ways and aspects, starting with air quality, to temperature and weather patterns, reaching out to food security and disease burden.<ref>{{Cite web|title=International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health|url=https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph|access-date=26 November 2020|website=www.mdpi.com|language=en|archive-date=10 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210610212414/https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph|url-status=live}}</ref> According to computer-generated climate modelling produced by the South African National Biodiversity Institute,<ref name="SANBI">{{Cite web|date=30 September 2011|title=South African National Biodiversity Institute|url=http://www.sanbi.org/|access-date=30 October 2011|publisher=Sanbi.org|archive-date=1 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110901083818/http://www.sanbi.org/|url-status=live }}</ref> parts of southern Africa will see an increase in temperature by about {{Convert|1|C-change}} along the coast to more than {{Convert|4|C-change}} in the already hot hinterland such as the Northern Cape in late spring and summertime by 2050. The Cape Floral Region is predicted to be hit very hard by climate change. Drought, increased intensity and frequency of fire, and climbing temperatures are expected to push many rare species towards extinction. South Africa has published two national climate change reports in 2011 and 2016.<ref>{{Cite web|date=November 2017|title=South Africa's Second National Climate Change Report|url=https://www.environment.gov.za/otherdocuments/reports/southafricas_secondnational_climatechange|access-date=17 May 2020|archive-date=14 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614170504/https://www.environment.gov.za/otherdocuments/reports/southafricas_secondnational_climatechange|url-status=live }}</ref> South Africa contributes considerable carbon dioxide emissions, being the 14th largest emitter of carbon dioxide,<ref name="Carbon Brief-2018">{{Cite web|date=15 October 2018|title=The Carbon Brief Profile: South Africa|url=https://www.carbonbrief.org/the-carbon-brief-profile-south-africa|access-date=3 August 2020|website=Carbon Brief|language=en|archive-date=9 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509123731/https://www.carbonbrief.org/the-carbon-brief-profile-south-africa|url-status=live}}</ref> primarily from its heavy reliance on coal and oil for energy production.<ref name="Carbon Brief-2018"/> As part of its international commitments, South Africa has pledged to peak emissions between 2020 and 2025.<ref name="Carbon Brief-2018"/>

=== Biodiversity === {{main|Biodiversity of South Africa}}

{{See also|Wildlife of South Africa|Protected areas of South Africa|Marine biodiversity of South Africa}} [[File:Antidorcas marsupialis, male (Etosha, 2012).jpg|thumb|The national animal of South Africa is the Springbok]]

South Africa signed the Rio Convention on Biological Diversity on 4 June 1994 and became a party to the convention on 2 November 1995.<ref>{{Cite web|title=List of Parties|url=http://www.cbd.int/convention/parties/list/|access-date=8 December 2012|archive-date=24 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110124005746/http://www.cbd.int/convention/parties/list/|url-status=live }}</ref> It has subsequently produced a National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, which was received by the convention on 7 June 2006.<ref name="cbd.int">{{Cite web|title=South Africa's National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan|url=http://www.cbd.int/doc/world/cm/cm-nbsap-01-p1-en.pdf|access-date=10 December 2012|archive-date=2 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130502141819/http://www.cbd.int/doc/world/cm/cm-nbsap-01-p1-en.pdf|url-status=live }}</ref> The country is ranked sixth out of the world's seventeen megadiverse countries.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Biodiversity of the world by countries|url=http://institutoaqualung.com.br/info_biodiversidade23.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101101120514/http://institutoaqualung.com.br/info_biodiversidade23.html|archive-date=1 November 2010|access-date=30 May 2010|publisher=Institutoaqualung.com.br}}</ref> Ecotourism in South Africa has become more prevalent in recent years, as a possible method of maintaining and improving biodiversity.

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. South Africa houses many endemic species, among them the critically endangered riverine rabbit (''Bunolagus monticullaris'') in the Karoo.

Up to 1945, more than 4,900 species of fungi (including lichen-forming species) had been recorded.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Rong|first1=I. H.|last2=Baxter|first2=A. P.|year=2006|title=The South African National Collection of Fungi: Celebrating a centenary 1905–2005|journal=Studies in Mycology|volume=55|pages=1–12|doi=10.3114/sim.55.1.1|pmc=2104721|pmid=18490968}}</ref> In 2006, the number of fungi in South Africa was estimated at 200,000 species but did not take into account fungi associated with insects.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Crous|first1=P. W.|last2=Rong|first2=I. H.|last3=Wood|first3=A.|last4=Lee|first4=S.|last5=Glen|first5=H.|last6=Botha|first6=W. l|last7=Slippers|first7=B.|last8=De Beer|first8=W. Z.|last9=Wingfield|first9=M. J.|last10=Hawksworth|first10=D. L.|year=2006|title=How many species of fungi are there at the tip of Africa?|journal=Studies in Mycology|volume=55|pages=13–33|doi=10.3114/sim.55.1.13|pmc=2104731|pmid=18490969}}</ref> If correct, then the number of South African fungi dwarfs that of its plants. In at least some major South African ecosystems, an exceptionally high percentage of fungi are highly specific in terms of the plants with which they occur.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Marincowitz |first1=S.|last2=Crous|first2=P.W.|last3=Groenewald|first3=J.Z.|last4=Wingfield|first4=M.J.|year=2008|title=Microfungi occurring on Proteaceae in the fynbos. CBS Biodiversity Series 7|url=http://fabiserv.up.ac.za/webresources/pdf/02cccd42960c651fba2eee15dd3c180b.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130729211209/http://fabiserv.up.ac.za/webresources/pdf/02cccd42960c651fba2eee15dd3c180b.pdf|archive-date=29 July 2013|access-date=26 June 2013|name-list-style=amp}}</ref> The country's Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan does not mention fungi (including lichen-forming fungi).<ref name="cbd.int" />

With more than 22,000 different vascular plants, or about 9% of all the known species of plants on Earth,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lambertini|first=Marco|title=A Naturalist's Guide to the Tropics|date=15 May 2000|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-46828-0|edition=Revised edition (15 May 2000)|page=46 |chapter=The Flora / The Richest Botany in the World}}</ref> South Africa is particularly rich in plant diversity. The most prevalent biome is the grassland, particularly on the Highveld, where the plant cover is dominated by different grasses, low shrubs, and acacia, mainly camel-thorn (''Vachellia erioloba''). Vegetation is sparse towards the north-west because of low rainfall. There are numerous species of water-storing succulents, like aloes and euphorbias, in the very hot and dry Namaqualand area. And according to the World Wildlife Fund, South Africa is home to around a third of all succulent species.<ref name="Trenchard-2021">{{Cite news|last=Trenchard|first=Tommy|date=2021-07-31|title=In South Africa, Poachers Now Traffic in Tiny Succulent Plants|language=en-US|work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/31/world/africa/south-africa-poachers-tiny-succulent-plants.html|access-date=2022-06-27|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=10 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510122122/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/31/world/africa/south-africa-poachers-tiny-succulent-plants.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The grass and thorn savanna turns slowly into a bush savanna towards the north-east of the country, with denser growth. There are significant numbers of baobab trees in this area, near the northern end of Kruger National Park.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Plants and Vegetation in South Africa |url=http://www.southafrica-travel.net/pages/e_plants.htm|access-date=30 October 2011|publisher=Southafrica-travel.net |archive-date=28 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111028175454/http://www.southafrica-travel.net/pages/e_plants.htm|url-status=live }}</ref>

The fynbos biome, which makes up the majority of the area and plant life in the Cape Floristic Region, is located in a small region of the Western Cape and contains more than 9,000 of those species, or three times more plant species than found in the Amazon rainforest,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lewton |first=Robin Cherry & Thomas |title=South Africa's flammable floral kingdom |url=https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20190304-south-africas-flammable-floral-kingdom |access-date=2022-07-16 |website=www.bbc.com |date=5 March 2019 |language=en |archive-date=16 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220716121830/https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20190304-south-africas-flammable-floral-kingdom |url-status=live }}</ref> making it among the richest regions on Earth in terms of plant diversity. Most of the plants are evergreen hard-leaf plants with fine, needle-like leaves, such as the sclerophyllous plants. Another uniquely South African flowering plant group is the genus ''Protea'', with around 130 different species. While South Africa has a great wealth of flowering plants, only 1% of the land is forest, almost exclusively in the humid coastal plain of KwaZulu-Natal, where there are also areas of Southern Africa mangroves in river mouths. Even smaller reserves of forests are out of the reach of fire, known as montane forests. Plantations of imported tree species are predominant, particularly the non-native eucalyptus and pine.

South Africa has lost a large area of natural habitat in the last four decades, primarily because of overpopulation, sprawling development patterns, and deforestation during the 19th century. The country had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 4.94/10, ranking it 112th globally out of 172 countries.<ref name="FLII-Supplementary">{{Cite journal|last1=Grantham|first1=H. S.|last2=Duncan|first2=A.|last3=Evans|first3=T. D.|last4=Jones|first4=K. R.|last5=Beyer|first5=H. L.|last6=Schuster|first6=R.|last7=Walston|first7=J.|last8=Ray|first8=J. C.|last9=Robinson|first9=J. G.|last10=Callow|first10=M.|last11=Clements|first11=T.|display-authors=1|year=2020|title=Anthropogenic modification of forests means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity – Supplementary Material|journal=Nature Communications|volume=11|issue=1|page=5978|doi=10.1038/s41467-020-19493-3|issn=2041-1723|pmc=7723057|pmid=33293507|doi-access=free|last12=Costa|first12=H. M.|last13=DeGemmis|first13=A.|last14=Elsen|first14=P. R.|last15=Ervin|first15=J.|last16=Franco|first16=P.|last17=Goldman|first17=E.|last18=Goetz|first18=S.|last19=Hansen|first19=A.|last20=Hofsvang|first20=E.|last21=Jantz|first21=P.|last22=Jupiter|first22=S.|last23=Kang|first23=A.|last24=Langhammer|first24=P.|last25=Laurance|first25=W. F.|last26=Lieberman|first26=S.|last27=Linkie|first27=M.|last28=Malhi|first28=Y.|last29=Maxwell|first29=S.|last30=Mendez|first30=M.|last31=Mittermeier|first31=R.|last32=Murray|first32=N. J.|last33=Possingham|first33=H.|last34=Radachowsky|first34=J.|last35=Saatchi|first35=S.|last36=Samper|first36=C.|last37=Silverman|first37=J.|last38=Shapiro|first38=A.|last39=Strassburg|first39=B.|last40=Stevens|first40=T.|last41=Stokes|first41=E.|last42=Taylor|first42=R.|last43=Tear|first43=T.|last44=Tizard|first44=R.|last45=Venter|first45=O.|last46=Visconti|first46=P.|last47=Wang|first47=S.|last48=Watson|first48=J. E. M.|bibcode=2020NatCo..11.5978G }}</ref> South Africa is one of the worst affected countries in the world when it comes to invasion by alien species with many (e.g., black wattle, Port Jackson willow, ''Hakea'', ''Lantana'' and ''Jacaranda'') posing a significant threat to the native biodiversity and the already scarce water resources. Also, woody plant encroachment of native plants in grasslands poses a threat to biodiversity and related ecosystem services, affecting over 7 million hectares.<ref>[https://www.dffe.gov.za/sites/default/files/reports/indigenousbushencroachment.pdf Towards a policy on indigenous bush encroachment in South Africa (2019)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240419024357/https://www.dffe.gov.za/sites/default/files/reports/indigenousbushencroachment.pdf |date=19 April 2024 }}, Department of Environmental Affairs, Pretoria, South Africa</ref> The original temperate forest found by the first European settlers was exploited until only small patches remained. Currently, South African hardwood trees like real yellowwood (''Podocarpus latifolius''), stinkwood (''Ocotea bullata''), and South African black ironwood (''Olea capensis'') are under strict government protection. Statistics from the Department of Environmental Affairs show a record 1,215 rhinos were killed in 2014.<ref>{{Cite news|date=22 January 2015|title=Progress in the war against poaching|work=Environmental Affairs|location=South Africa|url=https://www.environment.gov.za/mediarelease/molewa_waragainstpoaching2015|url-status=dead|access-date=22 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150123231507/https://www.environment.gov.za/mediarelease/molewa_waragainstpoaching2015|archive-date=23 January 2015}}</ref> Since South Africa is home to a third of all succulent species (many endemic to the Karoo), it makes it a hotspot for plant poaching, leading to many species to be threatened with extinction.<ref name="Trenchard-2021" />

== Government and politics == {{Main|Government of South Africa|Politics of South Africa|Elections in South Africa|Law of South Africa}} {{See also|Human rights in South Africa|LGBT rights in South Africa}} {{Multiple image | direction = horizontal | align = right | caption_align = center | total_width = 320 | image1 = President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa (3x4 cropped).jpg | image2 = David Lammy with Paul Mashatile (cropped).jpg | caption1 = Cyril Ramaphosa President | caption2 = Paul Mashatile Deputy President | alt1 = | alt2 = }} [[File:Uniegebou.jpg|thumb|Union Buildings in Pretoria, seat of the executive]] [[File:Parliament in company gardens (cropped).jpg|thumb|Houses of Parliament in Cape Town, seat of the legislature]] [[File:Constitutional Court of South Africa.jpg|thumb|Constitutional Court in Johannesburg]] South Africa is a parliamentary republic, but unlike most such republics, the president is both head of state and head of government and depends for their tenure on the confidence of Parliament. The executive, legislature, and judiciary are all subject to the supremacy of the Constitution of South Africa, 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.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/leaders/2006/04/06/when-enough-is-enough|title=Term Limits in Africa|newspaper=The Economist|date=6 April 2006|access-date=26 June 2013|archive-date=19 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019194644/http://www.economist.com/node/6772433|url-status=live }}</ref> The president appoints a deputy president and ministers (each representing a department) who form the cabinet. The National Assembly may remove the president and the cabinet by a motion of no confidence. In the most recent election, held on 29 May 2024, the ANC lost its majority for the first time since the end of Apartheid,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Akinwotu |first=Emmanuel |date=1 June 2024 |title=In a historic election, South Africa's ANC loses majority for the first time |url=https://www.npr.org/2024/06/01/nx-s1-4987616/south-africa-election-results |access-date=26 August 2024 |work=NPR}}</ref> winning only 40% of the vote and 159 seats, while the main opposition, the Democratic Alliance (DA), won 22% of the vote and 87 seats. uMkhonto weSizwe, a new party founded by former President and ANC leader Jacob Zuma, won 14.6% of the vote and 58 seats, while the Economic Freedom Fighters, founded by Julius Malema, former president of the ANC Youth League who was later expelled from the ANC, won 9.5% of the vote and 39 seats. After the election, the ANC formed a Government of National Unity with the DA and several smaller parties.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Usher |first=Barbara Plett |date=14 June 2024 |title=A landmark moment in South Africa for a humbled ANC |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cw55w4z3gqeo |access-date=26 August 2024 |work=BBC}}</ref>

{{Anchor|Capital}}South Africa has no legally defined capital city. The fourth chapter of the constitution states "The seat of Parliament is Cape Town, but an Act of Parliament enacted in accordance with section 76(1) and (5) may determine that the seat of Parliament is elsewhere."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.info.gov.za/documents/constitution/1996/96cons4.htm#42|title=Chapter 4 – Parliament|date=19 August 2009|access-date=3 August 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130530232314/http://www.info.gov.za/documents/constitution/1996/96cons4.htm|archive-date=30 May 2013 }}</ref> The country's three branches of government are split over different cities. Cape Town, as the seat of Parliament, is the legislative capital; Pretoria, as the seat of the president and cabinet, is the administrative capital; and Bloemfontein is the seat of the Supreme Court of Appeal, and is regarded as the judicial capital;<ref name="Marais Twala 2020 pp. 49–62"/> although the highest court, the Constitutional Court of South Africa has been based in Johannesburg since 1994. Most foreign embassies are located in Pretoria.

Since 2004, South Africa has had many thousands of popular protests,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Alexander |first1=Peter |title=Protests and Police Statistics: Some Commentary |url=https://www.amandla.org.za/protests-and-police-statistics-some-commentary-by-prof-peter-alexander/ |work=Amandla |date=27 March 2012 |access-date=8 April 2024 |archive-date=28 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231128234908/https://www.amandla.org.za/protests-and-police-statistics-some-commentary-by-prof-peter-alexander/ |url-status=live }}</ref> some violent, making it, according to one academic, the "most protest-rich country in the world".<ref>{{cite web|first=Imraan|last=Buccus|url=http://abahlali.org/node/1898|title=Mercury: Rethinking the crisis of local democracy|date=27 August 2007 |publisher=Abahlali.org|access-date=30 October 2011|archive-date=19 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111019160241/http://abahlali.org/node/1898|url-status=live }}</ref> There have been numerous incidents of political repression as well as threats of future repression in violation of the constitution, leading some analysts and civil society organisations to conclude that there is or could be a new climate of political repression.<ref>{{cite web|author=J. Duncan|url=http://www.sacsis.org.za/site/article/489.1|title=The Return of State Repression|publisher=South African Civil Society Information Services|date=31 May 2010|access-date=26 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130630181604/http://www.sacsis.org.za/site/article/489.1|archive-date=30 June 2013|url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fxi.org.za/content/view/47/51/|title=Increasing police repression highlighted by recent case|publisher=Freedom of Expression Institute|year=2006|access-date=26 June 2013|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120181236/http://www.fxi.org.za/content/view/47/51/|archive-date=20 January 2013}}</ref>

In 2022, South Africa was placed sixth 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, Corruption, Participation and Human Rights, but scored low in Safety and Security.<ref>{{cite web|title=South Africa's recent performance in the Ibrahim Index of African Governance|url=http://www.moibrahimfoundation.org/south-africa/|publisher=Mo Ibrahim Foundation|access-date=16 February 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130218132708/http://www.moibrahimfoundation.org/south-africa/|archive-date=18 February 2013 }}</ref> In 2006, South Africa became one of the first jurisdictions in the world to legalise same-sex marriage.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/6159991.stm|title=SA marriage law signed|work=BBC News|date=30 November 2006|access-date=26 June 2013|archive-date=20 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211120235651/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/6159991.stm|url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="NYTimes">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/02/world/africa/samesex-unions-to-become-legal-in-south-africa.html|title=Same-Sex Unions to Become Legal in South Africa|work=The New York Times|date=2 December 2005|access-date=February 5, 2018|last1=Wines|first1=Michael|archive-date=10 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010183929/https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/02/world/africa/samesex-unions-to-become-legal-in-south-africa.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

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 and English Common law, as imports of Dutch settlements and British colonialism.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.llrx.com/features/southafrica.htm|title=Researching South African Law|access-date=23 June 2008|first1=Pamela|last1=Snyman|first2=Amanda|last2=Barratt|name-list-style=amp|date=2 October 2002|publisher=w/ Library Resource Xchange|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080617154356/http://www.llrx.com/features/southafrica.htm|archive-date=17 June 2008 }}</ref> The first European-based law in South Africa was brought by the Dutch East India Company and is called Roman-Dutch law. It was imported before the codification of European law into the Napoleonic Code and is comparable in many ways to Scots law. This was followed in the 19th century by English law, both common and statutory. 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. The judicial system consists of the magistrates' courts, which hear lesser criminal cases and smaller civil cases; the High Court, which has divisions that serve as the courts of general jurisdiction for specific areas; the Supreme Court of Appeal; and the Constitutional Court, which is the highest court.

=== Administrative divisions === {{Main|Administrative divisions of South Africa|Provinces of South Africa}}

[[File:Map of South Africa with English labels.svg|thumb|right|upright=1.6|Provinces of South Africa]] Each of the nine provinces is governed by a unicameral legislature, which is elected every five years by party-list proportional representation. The legislature elects a premier as head of government, and the premier appoints an Executive Council as a provincial cabinet. The powers of provincial governments are limited to topics listed in the constitution; these topics include such fields as health, education, public housing and transport.

The provinces are in turn divided into 52 districts: 8 metropolitan and 44 district municipalities. The district municipalities are further subdivided into 205 local municipalities. The metropolitan municipalities, which govern the largest urban agglomerations, perform the functions of both district and local municipalities.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 85%; text-align: right" |- ! Province ! Provincial capital ! Largest city ! Area (km2)<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/StatsInBrief/StatsInBrief2010.pdf |title=Stats in Brief, 2010 |publisher=Statistics South Africa |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-621-39563-1 |location=Pretoria |page=3 |access-date=14 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180820132652/http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/StatsInBrief/StatsInBrief2010.pdf |archive-date=20 August 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> ! Population (2022)<ref name="Census-2022" /> |- | align="left" | Eastern Cape|| align="left" |Bhisho|| align="left" |Port Elizabeth|| 168,966|| 7,230,204 |- | align="left" |Free State|| align="left" |Bloemfontein|| align="left" |Bloemfontein|| 129,825|| 2,964,412 |- | align="left" |Gauteng|| align="left" |Johannesburg|| align="left" |Johannesburg|| 18,178|| 15,099,422 |- | align="left" |KwaZulu-Natal|| align="left" |Pietermaritzburg|| align="left" |Durban|| 94,361|| 12,423,907 |- | align="left" |Limpopo|| align="left" |Pietersburg|| align="left" |Pietersburg|| 125,754|| 6,572,720 |- | align="left" |Mpumalanga|| align="left" |Nelspruit|| align="left" |Nelspruit|| 76,495|| 5,143,324 |- | align="left" |North West|| align="left" |Mahikeng|| align="left" |Klerksdorp|| 104,882|| 3,804,548 |- | align="left" |Northern Cape|| align="left" |Kimberley|| align="left" |Kimberley|| 372,889|| 1,355,946 |- | align="left" |Western Cape|| align="left" |Cape Town|| align="left" |Cape Town|| 129,462|| 7,433,019 |}

=== Foreign relations === {{Main|Foreign relations of South Africa}}

[[File:PM in a family photograph during the BRICS Leaders Retreat Meeting, at Johannesburg, in South Africa on August 23, 2023 (1).jpg|thumb|Ramaphosa and other BRICS leaders during the 15th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, August 2023|left]]

As the Union of South Africa, the country is a founding member of the United Nations (UN), with Prime Minister Jan Smuts writing the preamble to the UN Charter.<ref name="gildersleeve">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/alumni/Magazine/Summer2001/Gildersleeve.html|title=Virginia Gildersleeve: Opening the Gates (Living Legacies)|first=Rosalind|last=Rosenberg|date=Summer 2001|magazine=Columbia Magazine|access-date=14 December 2009|archive-date=2 January 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040102153832/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/alumni/Magazine/Summer2001/Gildersleeve.html|url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Schlesinger">{{cite book|author=Schlesinger, Stephen E.|title=Act of Creation: The Founding of the United Nations: A Story of Superpowers, Secret Agents, Wartime Allies and Enemies, and Their Quest for a Peaceful World|publisher=Westview, Perseus Books Group|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|year=2004|pages=236–7|isbn=978-0-8133-3275-8 }}</ref> South Africa is one of the founding members of the African Union (AU) and has the largest economy of all the members. It is a founding member of the AU's New Partnership for Africa's Development. After apartheid ended, South Africa was readmitted to the Commonwealth of Nations. The country is a member of the Group of 77 and chaired the organisation in 2006. South Africa is also a member of the Southern African Development Community, South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone, Southern African Customs Union, Antarctic Treaty System, World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund, G20, G8+5, and the Port Management Association of Eastern and Southern Africa.

South Africa has played a key role as a mediator in African conflicts over the last decade, such as in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Comoros, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

President Jacob Zuma and Chinese President Hu Jintao upgraded bilateral ties between the two countries in 2010 when they signed the Beijing Agreement which elevated South Africa's earlier "strategic partnership" with China to the higher level of "comprehensive strategic partnership" in both economic and political affairs, including the strengthening of exchanges between their respective ruling parties and legislatures.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://capetown.china-consulate.org/eng/gdxw/t726883.htm|title=China, South Africa upgrade relations to "comprehensive strategic partnership"|publisher=Capetown.china-consulate.org|date=25 August 2010|access-date=26 June 2013|archive-date=31 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130731050004/http://capetown.china-consulate.org/eng/gdxw/t726883.htm|url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.southafrica.info/global/brics/brics-080411.htm|title=New era as South Africa joins BRICS|publisher=Southafrica.info|date=11 April 2011|access-date=26 June 2013|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110418004139/http://www.southafrica.info/global/brics/brics-080411.htm|archive-date=18 April 2011}}</ref> In 2011, South Africa joined the Brazil-Russia-India-China (BRICS) grouping of countries, identified by Zuma as the country's largest trading partners and also the largest trading partners with Africa as a whole. Zuma asserted that BRICS member countries would also work with each other through the UN, G20, and the India, Brazil South Africa (IBSA) forum.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.southafrica.info/global/brics/brics-140411.htm|title=SA brings 'unique attributes' to BRICS|publisher=Southafrica.info|date=14 April 2011|access-date=26 June 2013|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709031314/http://www.southafrica.info/global/brics/brics-140411.htm|archive-date=9 July 2011}}</ref>

=== Military === {{Main|South African National Defence Force}}

{{Further|Defence industry of South Africa|South Africa and weapons of mass destruction}} [[File:Swartkops Airshow-152.jpg|thumb|South African Army soldiers on manoeuvre with a locally developed Denel Rooivalk attack helicopter operated by the South African Air Force]] The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) serves as the unified armed forces of South Africa. Established in 1994,<ref name="constitution-1993-224">{{cite web |year=1993 |title=Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act 200 of 1993 (Section 224) |url=http://www.info.gov.za/documents/constitution/93cons.htm#SECTION224 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080612100516/http://www.info.gov.za/documents/constitution/93cons.htm |archive-date=12 June 2008 |access-date=23 June 2008 |publisher=South African Government}}</ref><ref name="constitution-1993-2242">{{cite web |year=1993 |title=Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act 200 of 1993 (Section 224) |url=http://www.info.gov.za/documents/constitution/93cons.htm#SECTION224 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080612100516/http://www.info.gov.za/documents/constitution/93cons.htm |archive-date=12 June 2008 |access-date=23 June 2008 |publisher=South African Government}}</ref> it was formed as a voluntary military through the integration of the former South African Defence Force (SADF) and several liberation movement forces.<ref name="constitution-1993-2243">{{cite web |year=1993 |title=Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act 200 of 1993 (Section 224) |url=http://www.info.gov.za/documents/constitution/93cons.htm#SECTION224 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080612100516/http://www.info.gov.za/documents/constitution/93cons.htm |archive-date=12 June 2008 |access-date=23 June 2008 |publisher=South African Government}}</ref> The SANDF is organised into four branches: the South African Army, the South African Air Force, the South African Navy, and the South African Military Health Service. As of 2025, the force comprises nearly 100,000 personnel, of whom around 75,000 are active professional soldiers, and operates under the authority of the President of South Africa, who serves as Commander-in-Chief.<ref name="act-42-2002">{{cite web |date=12 February 2003 |title=Defence Act 42 of 2002 |url=http://www.info.gov.za/gazette/acts/2002/a42-02.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080624211758/http://www.info.gov.za/gazette/acts/2002/a42-02.pdf |archive-date=24 June 2008 |access-date=23 June 2008 |publisher=South African Government |page=18}}</ref><ref name="act-42-20022">{{cite web |date=12 February 2003 |title=Defence Act 42 of 2002 |url=http://www.info.gov.za/gazette/acts/2002/a42-02.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080624211758/http://www.info.gov.za/gazette/acts/2002/a42-02.pdf |archive-date=24 June 2008 |access-date=23 June 2008 |publisher=South African Government |page=18}}</ref> In recent years, the SANDF has become a prominent peacekeeping force in Africa, participating in operations in Lesotho, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Mozambique, among others. It has also contributed to multinational United Nations peacekeeping missions, including the UN Force Intervention Brigade.<ref name="dod-sep2005">{{cite web |last=Lekota |first=Mosiuoa |date=5 September 2005 |title=Address by the Minister of Defence at a media breakfast at Defence Headquarters, Pretoria |url=http://www.dod.mil.za/media/media2005/sep/media_statements5sep2005.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071214012305/http://www.dod.mil.za/media/media2005/sep/media_statements5sep2005.htm |archive-date=14 December 2007 |access-date=23 June 2008 |publisher=Department of Defence}}</ref>

Supporting these armed forces is a domestic defence industry that is the most advanced in Africa and among the most sophisticated in the world.<ref>{{Cite web |title=SOUTH AFRICA ARMAMENTS |url=https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/SOUTH%20AFRICA%20%20ARMAMENTS%20I%5B15792688%5D.pdf |website=www.cia.gov}}</ref> Coordinated by the state-owned Armaments Corporation of South Africa (Armscor), it includes major companies such as Denel, Paramount Group, and Milkor. The industry produces a wide range of advanced systems, including armoured vehicles, military aircraft, naval vessels, and missiles, with about 80% of SANDF equipment made in South Africa.<ref name="southafricanmadeweapons2">{{Cite web |last=Lionel |first=Ekene |date=2017-11-28 |title=Here are some of South African Made weapons |url=https://www.military.africa/2017/11/here-are-some-of-south-african-made-weapons/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230108090640/https://www.military.africa/2017/11/here-are-some-of-south-african-made-weapons/ |archive-date=8 January 2023 |access-date=2023-03-09 |website=Military Africa |language=en-US}}</ref> The country also remains a significant arms exporter and maintains self-sufficiency in most conventional military technologies.<ref>{{Cite web |title=South Africa: An Overview of the Defence Industry |url=https://ciaotest.cc.columbia.edu/olj/sa/sa_july01ber01.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406194422/https://ciaotest.cc.columbia.edu/olj/sa/sa_july01ber01.html |archive-date=6 April 2023 |access-date=2023-04-14 |website=ciaotest.cc.columbia.edu}}</ref>

South Africa is the only African nation to have successfully developed nuclear weapons.<ref name="fas-ocp2722">{{cite web |author=Roy E. Horton III |date=October 1999 |title=Out of (South) Africa: Pretoria's Nuclear Weapons Experience |url=https://fas.org/nuke/guide/rsa/nuke/ocp27.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080506144626/http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/rsa/nuke/ocp27.htm |archive-date=6 May 2008 |access-date=23 June 2008 |publisher=USAF Institute for National Security Studies}}</ref> Between 1980 and 1990, six operational nuclear devices were covertly assembled before the arsenal was voluntarily dismantled in 1991, making South Africa the first country to relinquish its nuclear capability.<ref name="fas-ocp2722"/> The country is also alleged to have conducted a nuclear test over the Atlantic in 1979, known as the "Vela incident", although this is officially denied; then-President F.W. de Klerk later asserted that South Africa had "never conducted a clandestine nuclear test".<ref>{{cite web |last=Dodson |first=Christine |date=22 October 1979 |title=South Atlantic Nuclear Event (National Security Council, Memorandum) |url=http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB190/01.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629172818/http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB190/01.pdf |archive-date=29 June 2011 |access-date=23 June 2008 |publisher=George Washington University under Freedom of Information Act Request}}</ref><ref name="South Africa comes clean2">{{cite book |title=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists |date=May 1993 |publisher=Educational Foundation for Nuclear Science, Inc. |series=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: Science and Public Affairs |pages=3–4 |chapter=South Africa comes clean |issn=0096-3402 |access-date=26 June 2013 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qQwAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131011173919/http://books.google.com/books?id=qQwAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA3 |archive-date=11 October 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> Despite dismantling its arsenal, South Africa still has the technical capability to restart its weapons of mass destruction programme if it ever chose to do so, as its Pelindaba Nuclear Research Centre still stores enriched uranium from the former programme.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bloomberg |title=South Africa still owns highly enriched uranium, report says |url=https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/south-africa-still-owns-highly-enriched-uranium-report-says-2024-08-02 |access-date=2025-07-06 |website=Engineering News}}</ref> However, this material is now used primarily for civilian nuclear research and medical isotope production, reflecting South Africa's commitment to the peaceful use of nuclear energy.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Poplak |first=Richard |date=2015-03-16 |title=Things That Goes Boom: Is South African uranium the biggest threat to world peace? |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2015-03-17-things-that-goes-boom-is-south-african-uranium-the-biggest-threat-to-world-peace/ |access-date=2025-07-06 |website=Daily Maverick |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=TerraPower plans to invest in South African HALEU laser enrichment technology |url=https://www.ans.org/news/article-6526/terrapower-plans-to-invest-in-south-african-haleu-laser-enrichment-technology/ |access-date=2025-07-06 |website=www.ans.org |language=en}}</ref> South Africa remains a strong advocate of nuclear disarmament, having ratified the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |date=7 July 2017 |title=Chapter XXVI: Disarmament – No. 9 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons |url=https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XXVI-9&chapter=26&clang=_en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813020027/https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XXVI-9&chapter=26&clang=_en |archive-date=13 August 2021 |access-date=10 August 2019 |publisher=United Nations Treaty Collection}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=UNODA Treaties |url=https://treaties.unoda.org/t/tpnw |website=treaties.unoda.org}}</ref>

=== Law enforcement and crime === {{Main|Law enforcement in South Africa|Crime in South Africa}}

[[File:South african police may 2010.png|left|thumb|Officers of the South African Police Service with Vektor R5 rifles on parade in Johannesburg, 2010]] Law enforcement in South Africa is primarily the responsibility of the South African Police Service (SAPS), the national police force operating more than 1,150 police stations and employing around 150,950 officers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=South Africa Yearbook 2019/20 {{!}} Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) |url=https://www.gcis.gov.za/content/resourcecentre/sa-info/south-africa-yearbook-201920 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230302215528/https://www.gcis.gov.za/content/resourcecentre/sa-info/south-africa-yearbook-201920 |archive-date=2 March 2023 |access-date=2023-03-02 |website=www.gcis.gov.za}}</ref> The SAPS is tasked with crime prevention, investigation, and national security. It also maintains an elite tactical unit, the Special Task Force (STF), which specialises in counter-terrorism, counter-insurgency, and hostage rescue operations. In the 2023 International SWAT Competition, the STF ranked 9th out of 55 international law enforcement teams, making it the highest-ranked African police unit and one of the world's best.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mitchley |first=Alex |title=Best in Africa: SAPS' Special Task Force Unit places ninth at international SWAT competition |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/best-in-africa-saps-special-task-force-unit-places-ninth-at-international-swat-competition-20230226 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230302215527/https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/best-in-africa-saps-special-task-force-unit-places-ninth-at-international-swat-competition-20230226 |archive-date=2 March 2023 |access-date=2023-03-02 |website=News24 |language=en-US}}</ref> Alongside formal policing, South Africa has the world's largest private security industry,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Martin |first=Guy |date=2012-10-30 |title=South Africa has world's largest private security industry; needs regulation – Mthethwa |url=https://www.defenceweb.co.za/industry/industry-industry/south-africa-has-worlds-largest-private-security-industry-needs-regulation-mthethwa/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409230533/https://www.defenceweb.co.za/industry/industry-industry/south-africa-has-worlds-largest-private-security-industry-needs-regulation-mthethwa/ |archive-date=9 April 2023 |access-date=2023-04-09 |website=defenceWeb |language=en-ZA}}</ref> comprising over 10,000 companies and more than 2.5 million registered personnel,<ref>{{Cite web |date=13 May 2021 |title=Security guards vs police officers in South Africa |url=https://businesstech.co.za/news/business/489295/security-guards-vs-police-officers-in-south-africa/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409232039/https://businesstech.co.za/news/business/489295/security-guards-vs-police-officers-in-south-africa/ |archive-date=9 April 2023 |access-date= |website=BusinessTech}}</ref> exceeding the combined size of both the police and the military.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Eastwood |first=Victoria |date=2013-02-08 |title=Bigger than the army: South Africa's private security forces {{!}} CNN Business |url=https://www.cnn.com/2013/02/08/business/south-africa-private-security/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409230533/https://www.cnn.com/2013/02/08/business/south-africa-private-security/index.html |archive-date=9 April 2023 |access-date=2023-04-09 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Recent Growth In The Private Security Industry |url=https://www.buildingsecurity.com/blog/recent-private-security-growth/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628011407/https://www.buildingsecurity.com/blog/recent-private-security-growth/ |archive-date=28 June 2024 |access-date=2023-04-09 |website=Building Security Services |language=en}}</ref>

South Africa continues to experience high levels of violent crime, among the highest in the world and it leads Africa in this regard.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Africa: countries with highest crime index 2024 |url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/1356732/countries-with-highest-crime-index-in-africa/ |access-date=2025-08-13 |website=Statista |language=en}}</ref> From April 2017 to March 2018, an average of 57 murders per day were recorded, with a homicide rate more than five times the global average.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Staff Writer |title=Here's how South Africa's crime rate compares to actual warzones |url=https://businesstech.co.za/news/lifestyle/271997/heres-how-south-africas-crime-rate-compares-to-actual-warzones/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190719182304/https://businesstech.co.za/news/lifestyle/271997/heres-how-south-africas-crime-rate-compares-to-actual-warzones/ |archive-date=19 July 2019 |access-date=19 July 2019 |website=businesstech.co.za |language=en-US}}</ref> Serious crimes such as armed robbery, hijackings, cash-in-transit heists, gang-related killings, and sexual violence are common.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Govender |first=Indiran |date=2023-03-31 |title=Gender-based violence - An increasing epidemic in South Africa |journal=South African Family Practice |volume=65 |issue=1 |pages=e1–e2 |doi=10.4102/safp.v65i1.5729 |issn=2078-6204 |pmc=10091185 |pmid=37042525}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Global Study on Homicide – Statistics and Data |url=https://dataunodc.un.org/GSH_app |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190715203654/https://dataunodc.un.org/GSH_app |archive-date=15 July 2019 |access-date=19 July 2019 |website=dataunodc.un.org}}</ref> South Africa also records one of the world's highest reported rates of rape,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-10-13 |title=Countries with the highest rape incidents |url=https://www.tbsnews.net/world/countries-highest-rape-incidents-144499 |access-date=2025-07-24 |website=The Business Standard |language=en}}</ref> with tens of thousands of cases each year, though many go unreported.<ref name="africaCheckRapeStats2">{{cite web |title=GUIDE: Rape statistics in South Africa – Africa Check |url=https://africacheck.org/factsheets/guide-rape-statistics-in-south-africa/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190325164521/https://africacheck.org/factsheets/guide-rape-statistics-in-south-africa/ |archive-date=25 March 2019 |access-date=11 July 2018}}</ref> Between 1994 and 2019, more than 526,000 murders were reported nationwide.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gibson |first1=Douglas |date=3 March 2020 |title=SA's murder rate is worse than the coronavirus mortality rate |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/opinion/sas-murder-rate-is-worse-than-the-coronavirus-mortality-rate-43987823 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210804174704/https://www.iol.co.za/news/opinion/sas-murder-rate-is-worse-than-the-coronavirus-mortality-rate-43987823 |archive-date=4 August 2021 |access-date=4 August 2021 |publisher=iol.co.za |agency=IOL}}</ref> Gang violence remains a major driver of the homicide rate, particularly in the Cape Flats region of Cape Town, where rival groups compete over territory, drug trafficking routes, and extortion.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rising Cape Town Gang Violence Is Yet Another Legacy of Apartheid |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-24/rising-cape-town-gang-violence-is-yet-another-legacy-of-apartheid |website=Bloomberg.com}}</ref> These conflicts often result in civilian casualties, with bystanders and children frequently caught in the crossfire.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dziewanski |first=Dariusz |date=2020-07-15 |title=It's hard to leave a Cape Town gang. But these men's stories show that it's possible |url=http://theconversation.com/its-hard-to-leave-a-cape-town-gang-but-these-mens-stories-show-that-its-possible-141208 |access-date=2025-07-23 |website=The Conversation |language=en-US}}</ref>

Despite ongoing reforms, South Africa's criminal justice system faces persistent challenges, including corruption, inefficiency, incompetency, and underreporting, which have undermined public confidence in law enforcement. The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development oversees the court system, while the Department of Correctional Services manages the country's prisons.<ref>{{Cite web |last=ThemeGrill |title=Department of Correctional Services |url=https://www.dcs.gov.za/ |access-date=2025-11-05 |language=en-US}}</ref> South Africa has the highest prison population in Africa,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Agbetiloye |first=Adekunle |date=2024-09-30 |title=Top 10 African countries with the highest prison populations |url=https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/lifestyle/top-10-african-countries-with-the-highest-prison-populations/9hp800p |access-date=2025-11-05 |website=Business Insider Africa |language=en}}</ref> with chronic overcrowding and human rights concerns frequently reported.<ref>{{Cite web |title=DA calls for a full Correctional Services spending review, as more Pollsmoor inmates die |url=https://www.da.org.za/2025/10/da-calls-for-a-full-correctional-services-spending-review-as-more-pollsmoor-inmates-die |access-date=2025-11-05 |website=Democratic Alliance |language=en}}</ref> Critics argue that systemic weaknesses and uneven access to justice have fostered a culture of impunity, sustaining high crime rates and public mistrust. These issues continue to shape national debates on security, governance, and human rights.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Review of the Criminal Justice System {{!}} South African Government |url=https://www.gov.za/about-government/review-criminal-justice-system |access-date=2025-08-13 |website=www.gov.za}}</ref>

== Economy == {{Main|Economy of South Africa}}

{{See also|Poverty in South Africa}}[[File:Johannesburg Stock Exchange.jpg|thumb|The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) is the largest stock exchange on the African continent and the 17th-largest in the world with a market capitalization of $1.36 trillion.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=JSE Trading Hours & Market Holidays [2023] |url=https://www.tradinghours.com/markets/jse |access-date=2023-03-26 |website=www.tradinghours.com |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326195115/https://www.tradinghours.com/markets/jse |url-status=live }}</ref>|334x334px]] South Africa has a mixed economy and is recognised as the most industrialised, technologically advanced, and diversified on the African continent.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-01-26 |title=South Africa - Market Overview |url=https://www.trade.gov/knowledge-product/exporting-south-africa-market-overview |access-date=2025-07-23 |website=www.trade.gov |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Economy |url=https://dirco.gov.za/paris/economy/ |access-date=2025-07-23 |website=South African Embassy Paris, France |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=9 August 2013 |title=African Countries of the Future 2013/14 |url=http://www.fdiintelligence.com/Locations/Middle-East-Africa/African-Countries-of-the-Future-2013-14 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211072835/http://www.fdiintelligence.com/Locations/Middle-East-Africa/African-Countries-of-the-Future-2013-14 |archive-date=11 December 2013 |access-date=4 December 2013 |publisher=fDiIntelligence.com}}</ref> With a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) exceeding US$400 billion, it is also the continent's largest economy. South Africa has a relatively high nominal GDP per capita compared to other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, and its purchasing power parity (PPP) of around US$16,000 ranks among the highest on the continent as of 2025. The South African rand (ZAR) serves as the official currency and is both the most traded in Africa and one of the few African currencies active on the global foreign exchange market.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Agency |first1=Content Works |last2=Charlotte |date=2025-02-19 |title=Forex Trading in Africa - A 2025 Outlook |url=https://contentworks.agency/forex-trading-in-africa-a-2025-outlook/ |access-date=2025-07-12 |website=Contentworks |language=en-US}}</ref> The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) is the largest stock exchange in Africa and the 17th-largest in the world by market capitalization.<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |title=JSE Trading Hours & Market Holidays [2023] |url=https://www.tradinghours.com/markets/jse |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326195115/https://www.tradinghours.com/markets/jse |archive-date=26 March 2023 |access-date=2023-03-26 |website=www.tradinghours.com}}</ref>

South Africa is a major trading nation with an export-oriented economy and extensive global linkages. The country ranks among the world's top 50 exporters and importers, with trade playing a crucial role in its economic growth.<ref name="factbook222">{{cite web |title=South Africa |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/south-africa/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110042951/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/south-africa |archive-date=10 January 2021 |access-date=23 January 2021 |website=The World Factbook |publisher=CIA}}</ref> Its primary exports include minerals, vehicles, machinery, agricultural products, and processed goods. China is South Africa's largest trading partner, particularly for minerals and raw materials, followed by the United States, Germany, Japan, India, and the United Kingdom.<ref name="factbook222"/> The European Union collectively remains a key market for South African goods, while intra-African trade continues to expand under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).<ref name="factbook222"/> South Africa has also participated in preferential trade arrangements with the United States under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), supporting selected duty-free exports. In addition, the country is a member of the BRICS grouping and serves as an important regional hub for multinational firms operating across the African continent.<ref>{{Cite web |title=South Africa's membership of BRICS has tangible benefits for South Africans |url=https://www.thedtic.gov.za/wp-content/uploads/BRICS-Benefits-to-South-Africa.pdf |website=The Department of Trade Industry and Competition}}</ref>

Despite its economic advancements, South Africa faces deep-rooted socioeconomic challenges, including high unemployment, widespread poverty, and pronounced inequality. Around 55% of South Africans live below the upper-bound poverty line, while the wealthiest 10% hold over 70% of national wealth.<ref>{{cite web |date=28 September 2009 |title=South Africa has highest gap between rich and poor |url=http://www.iol.co.za/business/business-news/south-africa-has-widest-gap-between-rich-and-poor-1.707558 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111023162404/http://www.iol.co.za/business/business-news/south-africa-has-widest-gap-between-rich-and-poor-1.707558 |archive-date=23 October 2011 |access-date=7 November 2010 |publisher=Business Report}}</ref> The country's Gini coefficient of 0.67 makes it the most unequal society in the entire world.<ref>{{cite web |date=4 November 2010 |title=Inequality in income or expenditure / Gini index, Human Development Report 2007/08 |url=http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/indicators/161.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116234423/http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/indicators/161.html |archive-date=16 January 2013 |access-date=26 June 2013 |publisher=Hdrstats.undp.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Distribution of family income – Gini index |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2172.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070613005439/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2172.html |archive-date=13 June 2007 |access-date=26 June 2013 |publisher=Cia.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=INEQUALITY IN SOUTHERN AFRICA: AN ASSESSMENT OF THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN CUSTOMS UNION |url=https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099125003072240961/pdf/P1649270b73f1f0b5093fb0e644d33bc6f1.pdf |website=World Bank Group}}</ref> Although the government has introduced measures such as social grants and a national minimum wage to reduce inequality, progress remains uneven.<ref>{{cite web |title=The World Bank In South Africa |url=https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/southafrica/overview |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200528020105/https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/southafrica/overview |archive-date=28 May 2020 |access-date=17 May 2020}}</ref><ref name="worldbank-poverty3">{{Cite web |title="World Bank": South Africa |url=https://databankfiles.worldbank.org/public/ddpext_download/poverty/33EF03BB-9722-4AE2-ABC7-AA2972D68AFE/Global_POVEQ_ZAF.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230420193850/https://databankfiles.worldbank.org/public/ddpext_download/poverty/33EF03BB-9722-4AE2-ABC7-AA2972D68AFE/Global_POVEQ_ZAF.pdf |archive-date=20 April 2023 |accessdate=7 April 2023}}</ref> Nonetheless, South Africa remains the only African member of the G20, reflecting its financial importance and integration into the global economy.

=== Services and industry === {{Main|Banking in South Africa|Automotive industry in South Africa|Retailing in South Africa}}

[[File:Canal_walk_cpt.jpg|thumb|Canal Walk shopping mall in Cape Town. South Africa ranks sixth globally for the number of shopping centres.<ref name=":0322">{{Cite web |title=SA has the 6th highest number of shopping malls in the world |url=https://businesstech.co.za/news/lifestyle/99950/sa-has-the-6th-highest-number-of-shopping-malls-in-the-world/ |access-date=2025-07-20 |language=en-US}}</ref>|left]] South Africa's financial services sector is the most developed in Africa and among the strongest in the Global South, contributing around 20% of GDP and forming the largest and most important component of the national economy.<ref>{{Cite web |title=South Africa: assets of financial institutions |url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/421652/financial-institutions-assets-south-africa/ |access-date=2025-07-11 |website=Statista |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=South Africa: finance sector's value added to GDP 2015-2023 |url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/1121221/finance-sector-value-added-to-gdp-in-south-africa/ |access-date=2025-07-11 |website=Statista |language=en}}</ref> Johannesburg serves as the continent's financial hub, hosting Africa's largest banks and multinational corporations. Major institutions such as Standard Bank, First National Bank, Absa, and Nedbank operate across several African markets and internationally.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Standard Bank Group (SBK.JO) - Total assets |url=https://companiesmarketcap.com/standard-bank-group/total-assets/ |access-date=2025-07-11 |website=companiesmarketcap.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-04-19 |title=Standard Bank Ranked As Africa's Most Valuable Banking Brand For A Third Consecutive Year |url=https://www.forbesafrica.com/brand-voice/2024/04/19/standard-bank-ranked-as-africas-most-valuable-banking-brand-for-a-third-consecutive-year/ |access-date=2025-07-11 |website=www.forbesafrica.com |language=en}}</ref> The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) had a market capitalization of approximately US$1.36 trillion in 2023, accounting for roughly 90% of Africa's total market value.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-04-15 |title=Top 10 Stock Exchange Markets in Africa 2025 |url=https://www.africanexponent.com/top-10-stock-exchange-markets-in-africa-2025-2/ |access-date=2025-09-07 |website=The African Exponent |language=en}}</ref> The sector is overseen by the South African Reserve Bank, the oldest central bank on the continent, which plays a key role in maintaining monetary stability.<ref>{{Cite report |url=https://www.resbank.co.za/en/home/publications/publication-detail-pages/reports/annual-reports/2025/sarb-2024-25 |title=South African Reserve Bank Annual Report 2024/25 |date=30 June 2025 |publisher=South African Reserve Bank |language=english}}</ref>

The manufacturing sector accounts for around 13% of GDP and employs over 1.7 million people. Central to this industry is the automotive sector, where major international companies such as Toyota, Volkswagen, BMW, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, and Nissan maintain large-scale assembly plants. The country produces over 600,000 vehicles per year, with more than 60% exported to Europe, Asia, and other African nations,<ref>{{Cite web |title=naamsa {{!}} Automotive exports surge 19% to new highs |url=https://naamsa.net/automotive-exports-surge-19-to-new-highs/ |access-date=2025-07-11 |language=en-ZA}}</ref> making it Africa's largest motor vehicle producer and 20th-largest in the world.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Automotive - BDO |url=https://www.bdo.co.za/en-za/industries/consumer-markets/automotive |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250718132112/https://www.bdo.co.za/en-za/industries/consumer-markets/automotive |archive-date=2025-07-18 |access-date=2025-11-05 |website=www.bdo.co.za |language=en-ZA}}</ref> Other major manufacturing industries include processed food and beverages, chemicals, textiles, steel, mining equipment, and industrial machinery.

The retail and consumer industries are also the most developed on the continent. South Africa has the largest number of shopping centres in Africa and the sixth-highest in the world,<ref name=":0322"/> including major malls such as ''Sandton City'', ''Canal Walk'', and ''Gateway Theatre of Shopping''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Africa |first=FASA Franchise Association South |date=2018-10-16 |title=Survey shows SA has the sixth most shopping centre space in the world |url=https://www.fasa.co.za/survey-shows-sa-has-the-sixth-most-shopping-centre-space-in-the-world/ |access-date=2025-07-20 |website=Franchise Association South Africa |language=en-ZA}}</ref> Retail giants like ''Shoprite'', ''Pick n Pay'', ''Woolworths'', and ''Spar'' dominate the domestic market, while e-commerce platforms such as ''Takealot'' and ''Makro'' are expanding rapidly. The country is also known internationally for ''Nando's'' — the nation's most successful fast-food restaurant chain which operates more than 1,250 outlets in over 23 countries.<ref name="NandosGlobal">{{cite web |last=Seth Thorne |date=25 July 2024 |title=The men behind Nando’s – South Africa’s global Peri-Peri chicken empire |url=https://businesstech.co.za/news/business/784074/the-men-behind-nandos-south-africas-global-peri-peri-chicken-empire/ |website=BusinessTech |access-date=April 5, 2026}}</ref>

=== Agriculture === {{Main|Agriculture in South Africa}}

[[File:Franschhoek vineyard, Western Cape, South Africa (20318232350).jpg|thumb|250x250px|A vineyard in Franschhoek, Cape Winelands. South Africa ranks as the seventh-largest wine producer in the world.<ref name="statista.com">{{Cite web |last1=cycles |first1=This text provides general information Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct Due to varying update |last2=Text |first2=Statistics Can Display More up-to-Date Data Than Referenced in the |title=Topic: Wine industry in South Africa |url=https://www.statista.com/topics/11626/wine-industry-in-south-africa/ |access-date=2025-07-20 |website=Statista |language=en}}</ref>]]South Africa's agricultural sector contributes approximately 2–3% of GDP, playing a key role in employment, food security, and rural development. The country is a major producer of a wide range of crops and livestock, supported by diverse climates and well-developed commercial farming systems.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Trade-Probe-Issue-85 |url=https://www.namc.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Trade-Probe-Issue-85.pdf |website=www.namc.co.za}}</ref> South Africa holds significant global rankings in production, including the world's largest producer of mohair and ostrich meat (supplying 70% of global demand),<ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=Research {{!}} University Of Pretoria |url=https://www.up.ac.za/production-animal-studies/research |access-date=2025-12-15 |website=www.up.ac.za |language=en}}</ref> a top 10 producer of pears, grapes, oranges, and maize, and the 11th-largest producer of sugar.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-04-26 |title=Sugarcane |url=https://www.syngenta.co.za/sugarcane |access-date=2025-12-15 |website=Syngenta |language=en}}</ref> It is also a notable wine producer, ranking 8th globally by volume,<ref name="statista.com"/> while indigenous products such as Rooibos and Honeybush tea are produced exclusively in South Africa.

South Africa's agricultural exports are particularly strong, making the country a major player in the global fruit and fibre markets. It was the 32nd-largest agricultural exporter in the world in 2024 and the only African country in the top 40.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |date=2025-07-02 |title=SA agriculture in an uncertain global trade environment - SA Grain |url=https://sagrainmag.co.za/2025/07/02/sa-agriculture-in-an-uncertain-global-trade-environment/ |access-date=2025-12-15 |language=en-GB}}</ref> The country is the second largest exporter of citrus fruit after Spain and the largest in the Southern Hemisphere,<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Prowse |first=Wayne |title=Analysis: Range of fruit drives South Africa's export growth |url=https://www.fruitnet.com/fruitnet/analysis-range-of-fruit-drives-south-africas-export-growth/266374.article |access-date=2025-12-15 |website=Fruitnet |language=en}}</ref> the 4th-largest global exporter of apples and pears, and among the top five exporters of grapes, avocados, and plums.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Agro-Processing Industry |url=https://zuidafrika.nl/trade-investment/agro-processing-industry/ |access-date=2025-12-15 |website=South African Embassy to the Kingdom of the Netherlands |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":5" /> South Africa is also the world's largest exporter of fine wool. Horticultural products dominate the export basket by value, with citrus fruits, grapes, apples and pears, maize, wine, nuts (particularly macadamia), and wool comprising the leading export commodities.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How has South Africa's agricultural trade benefitted through AGOA? |url=https://www.namc.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Trade-Probe_Issue-95.pdf |website=www.namc.co.za}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Observatory of Economic Complexity |url=https://oec.world/en/profile/[...bespoke |access-date=2025-12-15 |website=The Observatory of Economic Complexity |language=en}}</ref> Overall, roughly half of South Africa's agricultural production is exported, reaching a record US$13.7 billion in 2024.<ref name=":4" />

=== Mining === {{Main|Mining in South Africa}}

[[File:Platinum Mining.jpg|thumb|An aerial view of the Two Rivers mine in South Africa, owned by African Rainbow Minerals. South Africa is the world's largest producer of platinum.|left]]The mining sector has been a cornerstone of the South African economy since the late 19th century, continuing to play a critical role in exports, investment, and industrial development. It contributes around 7–8% of GDP, making South Africa the 5th-largest mining country in the world in terms of mining's contribution to GDP,<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |title=Critical Minerals and Metals Strategy South Africa 2025 |url=https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202505/critical-minerals-and-metals-strategy-south-africa-2025.pdf |website=www.gov.za}}</ref> and accounts for more than half of the nation's merchandise exports.<ref name=":6" /> South Africa was the world's leading gold producer for much of the 20th century, peaking at nearly 1,000 tonnes in 1970,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mineral Resources |url=https://www.gcis.gov.za/sites/www.gcis.gov.za/files/docs/resourcecentre/pocketguide/2012/15%20Mineral%20Resources.pdf |website=www.gcis.gov.za}}</ref> which represented two-thirds of global production; no country has approached this scale since.<ref>{{Cite web |last=success |first=Your trusted source for investing |title=Top 10 Gold Reserves by Country {{!}} INN |url=https://investingnews.com/top-10-gold-reserves-country/ |access-date=2025-09-07 |website=investingnews.com |language=en}}</ref> The country remains the largest global producer of platinum,<ref>{{Cite web |title=USGS Platinum Production Statistics |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2021/mcs2021-platinum.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2021/mcs2021-platinum.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |access-date=29 April 2021}}</ref> chrome,<ref>{{Cite web |title=USGS Chromium Production Statistics |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2021/mcs2021-chromium.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511104210/https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2021/mcs2021-chromium.pdf |archive-date=11 May 2021 |access-date=29 April 2021}}</ref> manganese,<ref>{{Cite web |title=USGS Manganese Production Statistics |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2021/mcs2021-manganese.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210625143322/https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2021/mcs2021-manganese.pdf |archive-date=25 June 2021 |access-date=29 April 2021}}</ref> and vanadium,<ref>{{Cite web |title=USGS Vanadinum Production Statistics |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2021/mcs2021-vanadium.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413113347/https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2021/mcs2021-vanadium.pdf |archive-date=13 April 2021 |access-date=29 April 2021}}</ref> and ranks second in titanium,<ref>{{Cite web |title=USGS Titanium Production Statistics |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2021/mcs2021-titanium-minerals.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2021/mcs2021-titanium-minerals.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |access-date=29 April 2021}}</ref> ilmenite, palladium, rutile, and zirconium production.<ref name="auto2">{{cite web |title=USGS Minerals Information: Mineral Commodity Summaries |url=https://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/mcs/ |access-date=4 January 2018 |website=minerals.USGS.gov}}</ref> It is also among the top 10 producers of coal, iron ore, uranium,<ref>{{Cite web |title=World Uranium Mining - World Nuclear Association |url=https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/mining-of-uranium/world-uranium-mining-production.aspx |access-date=2024-12-08 |website=www.world-nuclear.org}}</ref> and diamonds.<ref name="usgs20252">{{cite web |title=Mineral Commodity Summaries 2025 – Iron Ore |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2025/mcs2025-iron-ore.pdf |access-date=2025-04-22 |publisher=United States Geological Survey}}</ref>

South Africa holds some of the world's most valuable mineral reserves,<ref name=":6" /> estimated at over US$2.5 trillion in total value, and ranks in the top 10 globally for 16 different mineral commodities.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |title=The South African mining sector - Wits University |url=https://www.wits.ac.za/wmi/about-us/the-south-african-mining-sector/#:~:text=Statistics%20from%20the%20South%20African,mining%20faces%20a%20systemic%20crisis. |access-date=2025-12-15 |website=www.wits.ac.za}}</ref> The country possesses the world's largest reserves of platinum group metals (approximately 88% of the global total), manganese (around 80%), and chromite (about 72%).<ref name=":7" /> It also holds significant alumino-silicate resources and ranks second globally for vanadium (32% of global reserves), zirconium (25%), titanium minerals (10%), vermiculite (40%), and fluorite (17%).<ref name=":7" /> South Africa ranks 3rd in the world for gold reserves (around 13% of known global reserves),<ref name=":7" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Neufeld |first=Dorothy |date=2025-10-30 |title=Ranked: Unmined Gold Reserves by Country (2025) |url=https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-unmined-gold-reserves-by-country-2025/ |access-date=2025-12-15 |website=Visual Capitalist |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-10-01 |title=How much gold has been found in the world? {{!}} U.S. Geological Survey |url=https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/how-much-gold-has-been-found-world |access-date=2025-12-15 |website=www.usgs.gov |language=en}}</ref> holds 17% of antimony reserves, and is among the top ten countries for coal, iron ore, and uranium reserves.<ref name=":7" />

=== Science and technology === {{Main|Science and technology in South Africa}}

[[File:Mark Shuttleworth NASA.jpg|thumb|Mark Shuttleworth in space]] Several important scientific and technological developments have originated in South Africa. South Africa was ranked 61st in the Global Innovation Index in 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |title=GII Innovation Ecosystems & Data Explorer 2025 |url=https://www.wipo.int/gii-ranking/en/south-africa |access-date=2025-10-16 |website=WIPO}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Dutta |first1=Soumitra |url=https://www.wipo.int/web-publications/global-innovation-index-2025/en/index.html |title=Global Innovation Index 2025: Innovation at a Crossroads |last2=Lanvin |first2=Bruno |publisher=World Intellectual Property Organization |year=2025 |isbn=978-92-805-3797-0 |page=19 |language=en |doi=10.34667/tind.58864 |access-date=2025-10-17}}</ref> 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 MacLeod Cormack pioneered X-ray computed tomography (CT scan); and Aaron Klug developed crystallographic electron microscopy techniques. Cormack and Klug received Nobel Prizes for their work. Sydney Brenner won in 2002, for his pioneering work in molecular biology. Mark Shuttleworth founded an early Internet security company Thawte.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About Thawte - SSL and Code Signing Certificates from Thawte, Inc. |url=https://www.thawte.com/about/ |access-date=2024-05-11 |website=www.thawte.com}}</ref>

South Africa has cultivated a burgeoning astronomy community. It hosts the Southern African Large Telescope, the largest optical telescope in the Southern Hemisphere. South Africa is currently building the Karoo Array Telescope as a pathfinder for the €1.5 billion Square Kilometre Array project.<ref>{{cite web |date=2 April 2011 |title=SKA announces Founding Board and selects Jodrell Bank Observatory to host Project Office |url=http://www.skatelescope.org/news/2nd-april-news/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121029041532/http://www.skatelescope.org/news/2nd-april-news/ |archive-date=29 October 2012 |access-date=14 April 2011 |publisher=SKA 2011}}</ref>

South Africa has also made significant advances in military technology. The country pioneered modern mine-resistant ambush protected (MRAP) vehicle technology, setting the global standard for countering landmines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs).<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=FinGlobal |date=2020-06-11 |title=South African inventions: What is South Africa famous for? |url=https://www.finglobal.com/2020/06/11/south-african-inventions/ |access-date=2025-08-13 |website=FinGlobal |language=en-US}}</ref> In aviation, South Africa played a pioneering role in the development of helmet-mounted display systems, integrating flight and targeting data directly into the pilot's field of view.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A history of helmet mounted displays {{!}} Request PDF |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/300796119 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221108121645/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/300796119_A_history_of_helmet_mounted_displays |archive-date=2022-11-08 |access-date=2025-08-13 |website=ResearchGate |language=en}}</ref> The Denel Rooivalk military attack helicopter was also the first helicopter in the world to successfully perform a 360-degree loop, a feat previously seen as impossible.<ref name=":2" />

=== Tourism === {{Main|Tourism in South Africa}}

[[File:Simon's Town - Boulder Beach Penguins 2.png|left|thumb|African penguins at Boulders Beach in Simon's Town on the Cape Peninsula, Cape Town. The beach is a popular tourist attraction and home to a colony of endemic, critically endangered African penguins.]] South Africa is a major global tourist destination, with tourism forming an important component of the national economy. As of May 2025, the sector accounted for approximately 3.3% of the country's gross domestic product, according to Statistics South Africa.<ref name="Government plan aims to boost South Africa's tourism employment to 2. 5 million by 2029">{{cite web |author=Mthobisi Nozulela |date=14 May 2025 |title=Government plan aims to boost South Africa's tourism employment to 2. 5 million by 2029 |url=https://www.msn.com/en-za/news/other/government-plan-aims-to-boost-south-africa-s-tourism-employment-to-2-5-million-by-2029/ar-AA1ELQD9 |access-date=14 May 2025 |publisher=MSN}}</ref> Tourism plays a significant role in both domestic and international travel markets, supported by extensive transport infrastructure, a well-developed hospitality industry, and a wide range of natural and cultural attractions.

In 2024, South Africa recorded an increase in visitor numbers, with combined passenger arrivals through its various ports of entry reaching approximately 8.92 million.<ref name="Government plan aims to boost South Africa's tourism employment to 2. 5 million by 20292">{{cite web |author=Mthobisi Nozulela |date=14 May 2025 |title=Government plan aims to boost South Africa's tourism employment to 2. 5 million by 2029 |url=https://www.msn.com/en-za/news/other/government-plan-aims-to-boost-south-africa-s-tourism-employment-to-2-5-million-by-2029/ar-AA1ELQD9 |access-date=14 May 2025 |publisher=MSN}}</ref> The country continued to gain international recognition in 2025, when it was ranked as the fourth best tourism destination globally and was rated as the top destination in Africa and the Indian Ocean region by ''The Telegraph''.<ref name="SA ranked fourth-best country in the world as tourism flourishes">{{cite web |author=Sibuliso Duba |date=25 July 2025 |title=SA ranked fourth-best country in the world as tourism flourishes |url=https://www.capetownetc.com/news/sa-ranked-fourth-best-country-in-the-world-as-tourism-flourishes/ |access-date=27 July 2025 |publisher=CapeTown ETC}}</ref>

According to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), tourism directly contributed around R102 billion to South Africa's GDP in 2012 and supports a substantial share of national employment.<ref>{{cite web |date=March 2013 |title=Travel & Tourism Economic Impact 2013 South Africa |url=http://wttc.org/site_media/uploads/downloads/south_africa2013_2.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140309024152/http://www.wttc.org/site_media/uploads/downloads/south_africa2013_2.pdf |archive-date=9 March 2014 |access-date=20 November 2013 |publisher=WTTC}}</ref> By early 2025, the sector employed an estimated 1.8 million people, representing about 10.3% of total employment.<ref name="Government plan aims to boost South Africa's tourism employment to 2. 5 million by 20293">{{cite web |author=Mthobisi Nozulela |date=14 May 2025 |title=Government plan aims to boost South Africa's tourism employment to 2. 5 million by 2029 |url=https://www.msn.com/en-za/news/other/government-plan-aims-to-boost-south-africa-s-tourism-employment-to-2-5-million-by-2029/ar-AA1ELQD9 |access-date=14 May 2025 |publisher=MSN}}</ref> Employment within tourism spans accommodation, transport, food services, conservation, and cultural industries, with further growth expected over the medium term.

South Africa offers both domestic and international tourists a wide variety of options, including picturesque natural landscapes and game reserves, a diverse cultural heritage, and highly regarded wines. Popular destinations include several national parks, notably the expansive Kruger National Park in the north of the country, the coastlines and beaches of the KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape provinces, and the major cities of Cape Town, Durban, and Johannesburg.

The top overseas source countries for tourists visiting South Africa have traditionally included the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, and France. Most visitors from elsewhere in Africa originate from Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states, with Zimbabwe historically accounting for the largest share at approximately 31%, followed by Lesotho, Mozambique, Eswatini, and Botswana. In addition, Nigeria has been a significant non-SADC source market, accounting for nearly 30% of African tourist arrivals.<ref>{{Cite web |date=25 October 2017 |title=3,5 million travellers to South Africa |url=https://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=10637 |access-date=2026-01-15 |website=www.statssa.gov.za}}</ref>

== Infrastructure == {{See also|Housing in South Africa}}

=== Transport === {{Main|Transport in South Africa}}

[[File:Gautrain..., O R Tambo Intl Airport South Africa.jpg|thumb|A Gautrain higher-speed express commuter rail at O. R. Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg]] [[File:Airbus A340-313X South African Airways ZS-SXA.jpg|thumb|South African Airways (SAA), the flag carrier of South Africa, at London Heathrow Airport]] [[File:Durban container port (24747434937).jpg|thumb|The Port of Durban is the largest and busiest shipping terminal in sub-Saharan Africa]] The country has the largest road network on the African continent, about 750,000 km in total, making it the 10th-largest in the world.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Roads – The Department of Transport |url=https://www.transport.gov.za/?page_id=1042 |access-date=2025-07-05 |language=en-ZA}}</ref> The South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) maintains over 22 000 km of national roads, while the remainder falls under provincial and municipal jurisdiction. With more than 12 million registered vehicles and an average road density of 16 vehicles per kilometre, urban areas frequently experience high traffic congestion. Major expressways, including the N1, N2, N3, and N4, link key cities and form part of transcontinental routes such as the Cape to Cairo Highway. Road safety remains a significant concern due to poor conditions, speeding, and inadequate enforcement.<ref>{{Cite web |title=SANRAL |url=https://www.nra.co.za/live/content.php?Item_ID=96 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180915122331/https://www.nra.co.za/live/content.php?Item_ID=96 |archive-date=2018-09-15 |access-date=2025-07-05 |website=www.nra.co.za}}</ref>

South Africa also possesses the largest and most developed railway system in Africa, and the 9th-largest in the world, with a total track length of approximately 30,400 km as of 2025.<ref name="Railways - The World Factbook">{{Cite web |title=Railways|work=The World Factbook |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/railways/ |access-date=2025-07-05 |publisher=CIA|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250702115859/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/railways/|archive-date=2025-07-02|url-status=dead}}</ref> Freight rail is dominated by Transnet Freight Rail, Africa's largest freight rail company and South Africa's second-largest state-owned enterprise, while commuter services are managed by the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA).<ref>{{Cite web |date=5 April 2022 |title=South Africa Transnet Freight Rail |url=https://www.trade.gov/market-intelligence/south-africa-transnet-freight-rail |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307183325/https://www.trade.gov/market-intelligence/south-africa-transnet-freight-rail |archive-date=7 March 2023 |access-date=2023-03-07 |website=www.trade.gov |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=South Africa – Rail Infrastructure |url=https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/south-africa-rail-infrastructure |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307183325/https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/south-africa-rail-infrastructure |archive-date=7 March 2023 |access-date=2023-03-06 |website=www.trade.gov |language=en}}</ref> PRASA operates extensive Metrorail networks in major urban centres, including the Southern Line in Cape Town, while the Gautrain provides a modern higher-speed connection between Johannesburg and Pretoria. South Africa is also exploring the development of high-speed bullet trains to enhance national and regional connectivity, with the first line expected to launch in 2030.<ref>{{Cite web |title=South Africa's first bullet train planned |url=https://businesstech.co.za/news/motoring/832149/south-africas-first-bullet-train-planned/ |access-date=2025-07-24 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=High-speed trains for South Africa are coming: Ramaphosa |url=https://businesstech.co.za/news/government/797467/high-speed-trains-for-south-africa-are-coming-ramaphosa/ |access-date=2025-07-24 |language=en-US}}</ref>

As of 2025, the country has 573 airports, making it the leading African nation by number of airports and 13th globally.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Airports – The World Factbook |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/airports/country-comparison |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220403171702/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/airports/country-comparison/ |archive-date=3 April 2022 |access-date=2023-04-02 |website=www.cia.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Yadav |first=Lalit |date=2021-12-02 |title=These 7 Awesome Airports In South Africa Are Making Travel Easy |url=https://traveltriangle.com/blog/airports-in-south-africa/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230402230218/https://traveltriangle.com/blog/airports-in-south-africa/ |archive-date=2 April 2023 |access-date=2023-04-02 |language=en-US}}</ref> Four major international hubs serve the country: O.R. Tambo International Airport (Johannesburg), Cape Town International Airport, King Shaka International Airport (Durban), and Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport (Gqeberha). O.R. Tambo is the largest and busiest airport in Africa, handling over 21 million passengers annually.<ref>{{Cite web |author1=Theafricalogistics |date=2019-07-08 |title=Top 10 largest airports in Africa |url=https://theafricalogistics.com/2019/07/08/top-10-largest-airports-in-africa/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230402230217/https://theafricalogistics.com/2019/07/08/top-10-largest-airports-in-africa/ |archive-date=2 April 2023 |access-date=2023-04-02 |website=The Africa Logistics |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2025, Cape Town International Airport was ranked the best airport in the world by the ''AirHelp'' Score index.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-07-12 |title=Cape Town International Airport awarded title of best airport globally |url=https://www.capetownetc.com/things-to-do-cape-town/travel/cape-town-international-airport-awarded-title-of-best-airport-globally/ |access-date=2025-07-19 |website=Cape Town ETC |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2025-07-12 |title=Cape Town International Airport ranked best airport in the world - SABC News - Breaking news, special reports, world, business, sport coverage of all South African current events. Africa's news leader. |url=https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/cape-town-international-airport-ranked-best-airport-in-the-world/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250716105821/https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/cape-town-international-airport-ranked-best-airport-in-the-world/ |archive-date=2025-07-16 |access-date=2025-07-19 |work=SABC News - Breaking news, special reports, world, business, sport coverage of all South African current events. Africa\'s news leader. |language=en-US}}</ref> South Africa's airline industry operates a diverse fleet across major carriers, including South African Airways (SAA), Airlink, FlySafair, CemAir, and LIFT, making it the largest and most developed aviation market on the continent.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Agbetiloye |first=Adekunle |date=2024-03-26 |title=10 African countries with the highest number of aircraft in 2024 |url=https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/lifestyle/10-african-countries-with-the-highest-number-of-aircraft-in-2024/p2d9d76 |access-date=2025-07-05 |website=Business Insider Africa |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Polito |first=Sebastián |date=2025-05-29 |title=South African Airways rebuilding its wide body fleet |url=https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/aviation-news/airline-news/airline-routes/south-african-airways-rebuilding-its-wide-body-fleet/ |access-date=2025-07-05 |website=Flightradar24 Blog |language=en-US}}</ref>

South Africa has one of Africa's most important maritime sectors, with major commercial ports located in Durban, Cape Town, Gqeberha, Richards Bay, Saldanha Bay, and East London. The Port of Durban is the largest and busiest container port in sub-Saharan Africa, and the fourth-largest in the Southern Hemisphere, handling approximately 4.5 million TEUs in 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019 |title=Port Terminals 2019 |url=https://www.transnet.net/InvestorRelations/AR2019/Port%20Terminals.pdf |website=TransNet}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=halong bay cruise overnight |url=https://cruiseinhalongbay.com/ |access-date=29 March 2023}}</ref> The Port of Richards Bay is among the continent's largest bulk export facilities.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Port of Richards Bay, South Africa |url=https://www.findaport.com/port-of-richards-bay |access-date=2025-07-24 |website=www.findaport.com}}</ref> The Port of Cape Town is also a major hub for exports, shipping, and cruise tourism,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Transnet - Port of Cape Town |url=https://www.transnetnationalportsauthority.net/OurPorts/Cape%20Town/Documents/(TNPA)%20Cape%20Town%20Brochure_lr.pdf |website=Transnet}}</ref> while Naval Base Simons Town, near Cape Town, is the largest naval base in Africa, serving as the primary base for the South African Navy and strategically positioned on the Cape of Good Hope to control access to a key global trade route, making it a significant military and geopolitical asset for South Africa.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wessels |first=André |date=2025-12-12 |title=Wanted: A new Simon's Town agreement? - DefenceWeb |url=https://defenceweb.co.za/sea/sea-sea/wanted-a-new-simons-town-agreement/ |access-date=2025-12-13 |language=en-ZA}}</ref> Port operations are managed by the Transnet National Ports Authority, which plays a crucial role in supporting both domestic logistics and international trade.<ref>{{Cite news |title=The bottleneck |url=https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2016/03/19/the-bottleneck |access-date=2025-07-24 |newspaper=The Economist |issn=0013-0613}}</ref>

=== Energy === {{main|Energy in South Africa}}

{{Further|Electricity sector in South Africa}}[[File:Koebergnps.jpg|thumb|Situated north of Cape Town, the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station is Africa's first and only commercial nuclear power facility, providing around 5% of South Africa's electricity supply|left]] South Africa has the largest and most advanced energy sector on the African continent and is the world's 22nd-largest producer of electricity.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Electricity Comparison|work=The World Factbook |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/electricity/country-comparison/ |access-date=2025-12-14 |publisher=CIA|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251212194708/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/electricity/country-comparison/|archive-date=2025-12-12|url-status=dead}}</ref> The sector is dominated by the state-owned utility Eskom, Africa's largest power company and South Africa's largest state-owned enterprise, which generates approximately 90% of the country's electricity from coal, nuclear, hydroelectric, and renewable sources.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-11-11 |title=100 Years – Eskom Heritage |url=https://www.eskom.co.za/heritage/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423120446/https://www.eskom.co.za/heritage/ |archive-date=23 April 2023 |access-date=2023-04-22 |website=www.eskom.co.za |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-02-16 |title=Coal fired power stations – Eskom |url=https://www.eskom.co.za/eskom-divisions/gx/coal-fired-power-stations/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230127183424/https://www.eskom.co.za/eskom-divisions/gx/coal-fired-power-stations/ |archive-date=27 January 2023 |access-date=2023-04-23 |website=www.eskom.co.za |language=en-US}}</ref> Eskom was internationally recognised in 2001 as one of the world's leading electricity utilities.<ref name="as222">{{Cite web |last1=Sguazzin |first1=Antony |last2=Naidoo |first2=Prinesha |last3=Burkhardt |first3=Paul |title=Eskom turns 100 next year – here's how it went from world best to SA's biggest economic risk |url=https://www.news24.com/fin24/economy/eskom-turns-100-next-year-heres-how-it-went-from-world-best-to-sas-biggest-economic-risk-20220927 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423120444/https://www.news24.com/fin24/economy/eskom-turns-100-next-year-heres-how-it-went-from-world-best-to-sas-biggest-economic-risk-20220927 |archive-date=23 April 2023 |access-date=2023-04-22 |website=Business |language=en-US}}</ref> South Africa's energy system remains heavily dependent on coal, which accounts for roughly three-quarters of electricity generation and around 70% of total energy consumption. The country is the world's seventh-largest coal producer, extracting over 200 million tonnes annually and supplying approximately 92% of coal consumed across the African continent. This coal-heavy energy profile has made South Africa one of the world's top 15 emitters of greenhouse gases.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Prater |first=Tom |date=2018-10-15 |title=The Carbon Brief Profile: South Africa |url=https://www.carbonbrief.org/the-carbon-brief-profile-south-africa/ |access-date=2025-12-14 |website=Carbon Brief |language=en}}</ref>

South Africa's national electricity grid has an installed capacity of approximately 60 GW, of which coal-fired power stations account for around 40–45 GW. Electricity generation is supported by some of the largest coal-fired power stations in the world,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-02-16 |title=Coal fired power stations - Eskom |url=https://www.eskom.co.za/eskom-divisions/gx/coal-fired-power-stations/ |access-date=2025-12-14 |website=www.eskom.co.za |language=en-US}}</ref> concentrated primarily in the eastern regions of the country, including Medupi and Kusile, both among the largest coal-fired power stations globally,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Labuschagne |first=Hanno |title=18 years and R467 billion later — Most expensive mistakes in the history of Eskom |url=https://mybroadband.co.za/news/energy/588945-18-years-and-r467-billion-later-most-expensive-mistakes-in-the-history-of-eskom.html |access-date=2025-12-14 |language=en-ZA}}</ref> as well as Kendal and Majuba.<ref name=":33">{{Cite web |title=Open Infrastructure Map |url=https://openinframap.org/stats/area/South%20Africa/plants |access-date=2025-08-19 |website=openinframap.org |language=en}}</ref> Kusile is also the most expensive coal-fired power station ever constructed.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vermeulen |first=Jan |title=Most expensive coal power station ever built in the history of mankind |url=https://mybroadband.co.za/news/energy/614516-most-expensive-coal-power-station-ever-built-in-the-history-of-mankind.html |access-date=2025-12-14 |language=en-ZA}}</ref> To diversify the energy mix, South Africa operates the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station in the Western Cape, Africa's first and only commercial nuclear power plant, which provides approximately 5% of national electricity generation.<ref name=":33"/> Additional generation is supplied by hydroelectric and pumped-storage schemes, as well as diesel-fired open-cycle gas turbine (OCGT) plants.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-02-16 |title=Peaking power stations - Eskom |url=https://www.eskom.co.za/eskom-divisions/gx/peaking-power-stations/ |access-date=2025-12-15 |website=www.eskom.co.za |language=en-US}}</ref> An increasing share of electricity is also supplied by independent power producers (IPPs), particularly in the solar, wind, and hydroelectric sectors.<ref>{{Cite web |title=World Bank Open Data |url=https://data.worldbank.org/ |access-date=2025-12-14 |website=World Bank Open Data}}</ref>

==== Energy crisis and transition ==== {{main|South African energy crisis}}

[[File:KhiSolarOneBirdView.jpg|thumb|Bird's-eye view of Khi Solar One, a solar power tower and concentrated solar thermal power plant Northern Cape, South Africa, the first solar tower plant on the African continent, representing part of the country's transition toward renewable energy as it reduces reliance on coal]]Despite substantial installed capacity, South Africa has faced a prolonged energy crisis for over a decade, marked by grid instability and widespread load-shedding, which has disrupted daily life and the national economy.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-12-04 |title=How eskom & the government can put an end to loadshedding in south africa |url=https://www.greenpeace.org/africa/en/blog/53187/how-the-government-eskom-can-put-an-end-to-load-shedding/ |access-date=2025-12-15 |website=Greenpeace Africa |language=en}}</ref> Load-shedding is implemented through scheduled outages, typically lasting two to four hours per session, sometimes totalling up to 12 hours in a day.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Eskom load shedding |url=https://loadshedding.eskom.co.za/LoadShedding/ScheduleInterpretation |access-date=2025-12-15 |website=loadshedding.eskom.co.za}}</ref> The crisis primarily affected coal-fired power stations and was significantly worsened by poor maintenance, deliberate sabotage, and corruption, with investigations revealing that some Eskom employees and managers were involved in acts of sabotage and procurement-related corruption for financial gain, contributing to plant breakdowns and reduced generation capacity.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Top executive linked to acts of sabotage at Eskom: report |url=https://businesstech.co.za/news/energy/693723/top-executive-linked-to-acts-of-sabotage-at-eskom-report/ |access-date=2025-12-15 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Diemen |first=Ethan van |date=2023-03-04 |title=Eskom sabotage: how cartels plunge South Africa into darkness |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-03-04-eskom-sabotage-cartels-power-cuts/ |access-date=2025-12-15 |website=Daily Maverick |language=en}}</ref> Government interventions, including security deployments to protect key power stations,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Eyaaz |date=2022-12-18 |title=Army deployed to Eskom power plants amid security threats |url=https://mg.co.za/news/2022-12-18-army-deployed-to-eskom-power-plants-amid-security-threats/ |access-date=2025-12-15 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> the removal and arrest of corrupt officials,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-03-15 |title=Eskom's ongoing collaboration with law enforcement leads to six arrests for procurement fraud - Eskom |url=https://www.eskom.co.za/eskoms-ongoing-collaboration-with-law-enforcement-leads-to-six-arrests-for-procurement-fraud/ |access-date=2025-12-15 |language=en-US}}</ref> and intensified maintenance, helped stabilise generation and suspend load-shedding by early 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-02-21 |title=Loadshedding continues to be suspended: R17.25 billion in year-on-year diesel savings achieved - Eskom |url=https://www.eskom.co.za/loadshedding-continues-to-be-suspended-r17-25-billion-in-year-on-year-diesel-savings-achieved/ |access-date=2025-12-15 |language=en-US}}</ref>

In October 2025, Minister of Electricity and Energy Kgosientsho Ramokgopa announced an updated Integrated Resource Plan (IRP),<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |title=Electricity Regulation Act: Integrated Resource Plan 2025 |url=https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202510/53596gon6767.pdf |website=www.gov.za}}</ref><ref name=":9">{{Cite web |title=IRP-2025 |url=https://www.dmre.gov.za/Portals/0/Energy%20Resources/IRP/IRP%202025/IRP-2025-Infographics.pdf?ver=mikaBx3HXniQafzjmQiXlQ%3D%3D |website=Department of Mineral Resources}}</ref> outlining a gradual transition from coal to a more diversified energy mix following the stabilisation of the electricity system.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-08-06 |title=South Africa load-shedding: How Eskom has kept the lights on |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4ng1ygxzddo |access-date=2025-12-15 |website=www.bbc.com |language=en-GB}}</ref> The plan provides for over 105 GW of new generation capacity by 2039, including approximately 34,000 MW of onshore wind, 25,000 MW of utility-scale solar PV, 16,000 MW of distributed generation, 16,000 MW of gas-to-power, 8,500 MW of battery storage, and 5,200 MW of new nuclear power. Further nuclear capacity exceeding 10,000 MW is planned under a separate nuclear industrialisation programme.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":9" /> The IRP, representing an estimated investment of R2.2 trillion (approximately US$130 billion), aims to strengthen energy security, support economic growth and industrial development, reduce reliance on coal, and encourage greater private-sector participation and decentralised electricity generation as part of South Africa's just energy transition.<ref name=":8" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-22 |title=South African government approves draft 2025 IRP |url=https://world-nuclear-news.org/articles/south-african-government-approves-draft-2025-irp |access-date=2025-12-15 |website=World Nuclear News |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Moyo |first=Admire |date=2025-10-31 |title=SA readies 117GW of renewable energy projects |url=https://www.itweb.co.za/article/sa-readies-117gw-of-renewable-energy-projects/KjlyrvwB6Amqk6am |access-date=2025-12-15 |website=ITWeb |language=en-ZA}}</ref>

=== Water supply and sanitation === {{Main|Water supply and sanitation in South Africa}}

[[File:Vanderkloof Dam aerial (cropped).jpg|thumb|250x250px|Vanderkloof Dam, the 2nd-largest dam in South Africa|left]] Two distinctive features of the South African water sector are the policy of free basic water and the existence of water boards, which are bulk water supply agencies that operate pipelines and sell water from reservoirs to municipalities. These features have led to significant problems concerning the financial sustainability of service providers, leading to a lack of attention to maintenance. Following the end of apartheid, the country had made improvements in the levels of access to water as those with access increased from 66% to 79% from 1990 to 2010.<ref name="JMP">WHO/UNICEF:Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation:[http://www.wssinfo.org/data-estimates/table/ Data table South Africa] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209002836/http://www.wssinfo.org/data-estimates/table/|date=9 February 2014}}, 2010. Retrieved 3 November 2012</ref> Sanitation access increased from 71% to 79% during the same period.<ref name="JMP" /> However, water supply and sanitation has come under increasing pressure in recent years despite a commitment made by the government to improve service standards and provide investment subsidies to the water industry.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Professor Says Cape Town Crisis Should Serve as a 'Wakeup Call to All Major U.S. Cities' |url=http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/688965/?sc=c59 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614121654/http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/688965/?sc=c59 |archive-date=14 June 2018 |access-date=14 June 2018 |website=www.newswise.com}}</ref>

The eastern parts of South Africa suffer from periodic droughts linked to the El Niño weather phenomenon.<ref name="whyCapeTownDroughtConversation">{{cite web |last=Hewitson |first=Bruce |date=19 October 2017 |title=Why Cape Town's drought was so hard to forecast |url=https://theconversation.com/why-cape-towns-drought-was-so-hard-to-forecast-84735 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180711112014/https://theconversation.com/why-cape-towns-drought-was-so-hard-to-forecast-84735 |archive-date=11 July 2018 |access-date=11 July 2018 |doi=10.64628/AAJ.vfseu9yet |editor-first1=Ozayr |editor-last1=Patel}}</ref> In early 2018, Cape Town, which has different weather patterns to the rest of the country,<ref name="whyCapeTownDroughtConversation" /> faced a water crisis as the city's water supply was predicted to run dry before the end of June. Water-saving measures were in effect that required each citizen to use less than {{Convert|50|l|gal}} per day.<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-42982959 "The 11 cities most likely to run out of drinking water – like Cape Town"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180213225140/https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/world-42982959|date=13 February 2018}} 11 February 2018. BBC News.</ref> Cape Town rejected an offer from Israel to help it build desalination plants.<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saundersonmeyer-drought-commentary/commentary-in-drought-hit-south-africa-the-politics-of-water-idUSKBN1FP226 In drought-hit South Africa, the politics of water] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122202625/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saundersonmeyer-drought-commentary/commentary-in-drought-hit-south-africa-the-politics-of-water-idUSKBN1FP226|date=22 November 2018}}, Reuters, 25 January 2018</ref><ref>[https://www.wsj.com/articles/cape-town-may-dry-up-because-of-an-aversion-to-israel-1519254816 Cape Town May Dry Up Because of an Aversion to Israel] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211214053920/https://www.wsj.com/articles/cape-town-may-dry-up-because-of-an-aversion-to-israel-1519254816|date=14 December 2021}}, Wall St. Journal, 21 February 2018</ref><ref>[https://www.aish.com/jw/me/The-Cape-Town-Water-Crisis-and-Hating-Israel.html The Cape Town Water Crisis and Hating Israel] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211214053921/https://www.aish.com/jw/me/The-Cape-Town-Water-Crisis-and-Hating-Israel.html|date=14 December 2021}}, aish, 11 February 2018</ref><ref>[https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/South-African-stupidity-540605 South African stupidity] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211214053918/https://www.jpost.com/opinion/south-african-stupidity-540605|date=14 December 2021}}, Jerusalem Post, 3 February 2018</ref>

=== Telecommunications === {{Main|Telecommunications in South Africa|Internet in South Africa|Internet censorship in South Africa}}

[[File:5G Cell Tower in Johannesburg.jpg|thumb|286x286px|A 5G cell tower in Johannesburg, South Africa. The country became the first in Africa to launch 5G services in 2019.]] South Africa has the most advanced telecommunications sector in Africa, regulated by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA).<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Telecommunications Infrastructure in South Africa |url=https://www.icafrica.org/en/news-events/infrastructure-news/article/telecommunications-infrastructure-in-south-africa-2818/ |access-date=2025-07-15 |website=ICA |language=en}}</ref> The country serves as a key regional hub for digital connectivity, supported by several major undersea cable systems such as WACS, SAT-3, Seacom, and 2Africa, which link South Africa to global networks.<ref>{{Cite web |title=All the undersea cables connecting South Africa to the rest of the world |url=https://mybroadband.co.za/news/internet/597987-all-the-undersea-cables-connecting-south-africa-to-the-rest-of-the-world-2.html |access-date=2025-07-15 |language=en-ZA}}</ref> Mobile penetration is among the highest on the continent, and internet access continues to expand rapidly across urban and rural areas.<ref name=":3" />

The mobile communications market is led by major South African operators including Vodacom, MTN, Telkom, Cell C, and Rain. MTN, in particular, stands out as Africa's largest mobile network operator and one of the top ten globally, with nearly 290 million users as of 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |title=MTN Group Limited |url=https://www.mtn.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/MTN-Group-FY-22-results-SENS.pdf |website=MTN Group Limited}}</ref> South Africa offers a full range of network technologies from 2G to 5G, with MTN, Vodacom, and Rain being the first to launch 5G services on the entire African continent.<ref>{{Cite web |date=25 May 2022 |title=The 5 African Countries That Have Launched 5G Services So Far |url=https://www.itnewsafrica.com/2022/05/all-the-african-countries-that-have-launched-5g-services-so-far/ |website=itnewsafrica.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Vodacom launches Africa's first live 5G network which supports both mobile and fixed wireless services {{!}} Vodacom Group |url=https://www.vodacom.com/news-article.php?articleID=7485 |access-date=2025-07-15 |website=www.vodacom.com}}</ref> While fixed-line connections have declined, fibre-optic broadband is growing quickly through providers such as Openserve, Vumatel, Frogfoot, Octotel, and MetroFibre.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Odendaal |first=Natasha |title=South Africa's telecommunications growth boosted by fibre, expanding network coverage |url=https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/south-africas-telecommunications-growth-boosted-by-fibre-expanding-network-coverage-2025-04-18 |access-date=2025-07-15 |website=Engineering News}}</ref> Satellite internet remains available for remote regions, though Starlink has yet to launch locally due to regulatory restrictions.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-07-12 |title=Elon Musk's Starlink faces fresh roadblock in South Africa amid tech sovereignty dispute |url=https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/lifestyle/elon-musks-starlink-faces-fresh-roadblock-in-south-africa-amid-tech-sovereignty/x11qcdj |access-date=2025-07-15 |website=Business Insider Africa |language=en}}</ref>

==Demographics== {{Main|Demographics of South Africa|List of municipalities in South Africa}}

thumb|Map of population density in South Africa{{Clear}} {{legend-col |{{legend|#ffffcc|<1 /km2}} |{{legend|#ffeda0|1–3 /km2}} |{{legend|#fed976|3–10 /km2}} |{{legend|#feb24c|10–30 /km2}} |{{legend|#fd8d3c|30–100 /km2}} |{{legend|#fc4e2a|100–300 /km2}} |{{legend|#e31a1c|300–1000 /km2}} |{{legend|#bc0026|1000–3000 /km2}} |{{legend|#800026|>3000 /km2}}}}

South Africa is a nation of about 62 million (as of 2022) people of diverse origins, cultures, languages, and religions.<ref name="Census-2022"/> The last census was held in 2022, with estimates produced on an annual basis. According to the ''United Nations World Population Prospects'', South Africa's total population was 55.3 million in 2015, compared to only 13.6 million in 1950.<ref>{{Cite web|title=World Population Prospects – Population Division – United Nations|url=https://population.un.org/wpp/|website=population.un.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200617000901/https://population.un.org/wpp/ |archive-date=17 June 2020 }}</ref> South Africa is home to an estimated five million illegal immigrants, including some three million Zimbabweans.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/23/africa/23saf.php|title=Anti-immigrant violence spreads in South Africa, with attacks reported in Cape Town – The New York Times|website=International Herald Tribune|date=23 May 2008|access-date=30 October 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090221002431/http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/23/africa/23saf.php|archive-date=21 February 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.sky.com/story/573086/escape-from-mugabe-zimbabwes-exodus|title=Escape From Mugabe: Zimbabwe's Exodus|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160124000311/http://news.sky.com/story/573086/escape-from-mugabe-zimbabwes-exodus|archive-date=24 January 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fin24.com/articles/default/display_article.aspx?ArticleId=1518-25_2035097|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090214052122/http://www.fin24.com/articles/default/display_article.aspx?ArticleId=1518-25_2035097|archive-date=14 February 2009|title=More illegals set to flood SA|publisher=Fin24|access-date=30 October 2011|url-status=dead }}</ref> A series of anti-immigrant riots occurred beginning in May 2008.<ref name="bbc">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7396868.stm|title=South African mob kills migrants|publisher=BBC|access-date=19 May 2008|date=12 May 2008|archive-date=13 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313001302/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7396868.stm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Barry|last=Bearak|title=Immigrants Fleeing Fury of South African Mobs|date=23 May 2008|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/23/world/africa/23safrica.html?_r=1&ref=africa&oref=slogin|access-date=5 August 2008|archive-date=1 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501055725/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/23/world/africa/23safrica.html?_r=1&ref=africa&oref=slogin|url-status=live}}</ref>

Statistics South Africa asks people to describe themselves in the census in terms of five racial population groups.<ref>{{cite news|last=Lehohla |first=Pali |title=Debate over race and censuses not peculiar to SA|url=http://www.statssa.gov.za/news_archive/05may2005_1.asp|date=5 May 2005|newspaper=Business Report|access-date=25 August 2013|quote=Others pointed out that the repeal of the Population Registration Act in 1991 removed any legal basis for specifying 'race'. The Identification Act of 1997 makes no mention of race. On the other hand, the Employment Equity Act speaks of 'designated groups' being 'black people, women and people with disabilities'. The Act defines 'black' as referring to 'Africans, coloureds and Indians'. Apartheid and the racial identification which underpinned it explicitly linked race with differential access to resources and power. If the post-apartheid order was committed to remedying this, race would have to be included in surveys and censuses, so that progress in eradicating the consequences of apartheid could be measured and monitored. This was the reasoning that led to a 'self-identifying' question about 'race' or 'population group' in both the 1996 and 2001 population censuses, and in Statistics SA's household survey programme.|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070814143522/http://www.statssa.gov.za/news_archive/05may2005_1.asp|archive-date=14 August 2007 }}</ref> The 2022 census figures for these groups were: Black African at 81%, Coloured at 8.2%, White at 7.3%, Indian or Asian at 2.7%, and Other/Unspecified at 0.5%.<ref name="Census-2022">{{Cite web |url=https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/P03014_Census_2022_Statistical_Release.pdf |title=Census 2022 Statistical Release |publisher=Statistics South Africa |access-date=15 October 2023 |archive-date=15 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231015192129/https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/P03014_Census_2022_Statistical_Release.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The first census in 1911 showed that whites made up 22% of the population; this had declined to 16% by 1980.<ref>{{Cite book| author = ((Study Commission on U.S. Policy toward Southern Africa (U.S.)))| title = South Africa: time running out: the report of the Study Commission on U.S. Policy Toward Southern Africa| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=sq43lnbklEUC&pg=PA42| publisher = University of California Press| year = 1981| page = 42| isbn = 978-0-520-04547-7| access-date = 14 October 2015| archive-date = 24 January 2016| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160124000311/https://books.google.com/books?id=sq43lnbklEUC&pg=PA42| url-status = live }}</ref>

South Africa hosts a sizeable refugee and asylum seeker population. According to the ''World Refugee Survey 2008'', published by the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, this population numbered approximately 144,700 in 2007.<ref name="World Refugee Survey 2008" /> Groups of refugees and asylum seekers numbering over 10,000 included people from Zimbabwe (48,400), the DRC (24,800), and Somalia (12,900).<ref name="World Refugee Survey 2008" /> These populations mainly lived in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town, and Port Elizabeth.<ref name="World Refugee Survey 2008">{{cite news|title=World Refugee Survey 2008|publisher=U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants|date=19 June 2008|url=http://www.refugees.org/resources/refugee-warehousing/archived-world-refugee-surveys/2008-world-refugee-survey.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019224639/http://www.refugees.org/resources/refugee-warehousing/archived-world-refugee-surveys/2008-world-refugee-survey.html|archive-date=19 October 2014 }}</ref>

One online database<ref>{{Cite web|title=South African Cities And Provinces – A Complete List|url=https://dirkstrauss.com/south-african-cities/|website=dirkstrauss.com|date=27 December 2018 |access-date=26 April 2021|archive-date=7 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507050602/https://dirkstrauss.com/south-african-cities/|url-status=live}}</ref> lists South Africa having more than 12,600 cities and towns.

=== Languages === {{Main|Languages of South Africa}}

[[File:South Africa 2011 dominant language map (hex cells).svg|right|thumb|{{Collapsible list | title = Map showing the dominant South African languages by area|{{legend|#80b1d3|Zulu (24.4%)}}|{{legend|#fb8072|Xhosa (16.0%)}}|{{legend|#8dd3c7|⁠Afrikaans (13.5%)}}|{{legend|#ffffb3|English (9.6%)}}|{{legend|#fdb462|Pedi (9.1%)}}|{{legend|#fccde5|Tswana (8.0%)}}|{{legend|#b3de69|Southern Sotho (7.6%)}}|{{legend|#ffed6f|Tsonga (4.5%)}}|{{legend|#bc80bd|Swazi (2.5%)}}|{{legend|#ccebc5|Venda (2.4%)}}|{{legend|#bebada|Southern Ndebele (2.1%)}}|{{legend|#d0d0d0|None dominant}}|{{legend|#ffffff|Areas of little or no population}} }}]]

South Africa has 12 official languages:<ref name="parliament.gov.za">{{Cite web|url=https://www.parliament.gov.za/press-releases/na-approves-south-african-sign-language-12th-official-language|title=The NA Approves South African Sign Language as the 12th Official Language |website=Parliament of South Africa |date=3 May 2023 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231222131030/https://www.parliament.gov.za/press-releases/na-approves-south-african-sign-language-12th-official-language |archive-date= 22 December 2023 }}</ref> Afrikaans, Zulu, Xhosa, English, Pedi,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 – Chapter 1: Founding Provisions {{!}} South African Government|url=https://www.gov.za/documents/constitution/chapter-1-founding-provisions#5|access-date=26 July 2020|website=www.gov.za|archive-date=18 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190518042037/https://www.gov.za/documents/constitution/chapter-1-founding-provisions#5|url-status=live}}</ref> Tswana, Southern Sotho, Tsonga, Swazi, Venda, and Southern Ndebele (in order of first language speakers), as well as South African Sign Language, which was recognised as an official language in 2023.<ref name="parliament.gov.za"/> In this regard, it is fourth only to Bolivia, India, and Zimbabwe in number. While all the languages are formally equal, some languages are spoken more than others. According to the 2022 census, the three most spoken first languages are Afrikaans (10.6%), Xhosa (16.6%), and Zulu (24.4%).<ref name="Census-2022"/> Although English is recognised as the language of commerce and science, it is only the fifth most common home language, that of only 8.7% of South Africans in 2022; nevertheless, it has become the de facto lingua franca of the nation.<ref name="Census-2022"/> Estimates based on the 1991 census suggest just under half of South Africans could speak English.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.brandsouthafrica.com/south-africa-fast-facts/geography-facts/languages|title=South Africa's languages|date=6 November 2007|access-date=21 February 2020|archive-date=26 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626173847/https://www.brandsouthafrica.com/south-africa-fast-facts/geography-facts/languages|url-status=live}}</ref> It is the second most commonly spoken language outside of the household, after Zulu.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://businesstech.co.za/news/business/319760/these-are-the-most-spoken-languages-in-south-africa-in-2019/|title=These are the most-spoken languages in South Africa in 2019|author=Staff Writer|website=businesstech.co.za|access-date=21 February 2020|archive-date=21 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200221184630/https://businesstech.co.za/news/business/319760/these-are-the-most-spoken-languages-in-south-africa-in-2019/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Other languages are spoken, or were widely used previously, including Fanagalo, Khoe, Lobedu, Nama, Northern Ndebele, and Phuthi.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.southafrica.info/about/people/language.htm|title=The languages of South Africa|publisher=SouthAfrica.info|date=4 February 1997|access-date=7 November 2010|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110304001836/http://www.southafrica.info/about/people/language.htm|archive-date=4 March 2011}}</ref> Many of the unofficial languages of the San and Khoekhoe peoples contain regional dialects stretching northwards into Namibia and Botswana, and elsewhere. These people, who are a physically distinct population from the Bantu people who make up most of the Black Africans in South Africa, have their own cultural identity based on their hunter-gatherer societies. They have been marginalised, and the remainder of their languages are in danger of becoming extinct.

White South Africans may also speak European languages, including Italian, Portuguese (also spoken by black Angolans and Mozambicans), Dutch, German, and Greek, while some Indian South Africans and more recent migrants from South Asia speak Indian languages, such as Gujarati, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu. French is spoken by migrants from Francophone Africa.

=== Religion === {{Main|Religion in South Africa}}

{{Pie chart |thumb = right |caption = Religion in South Africa (2022 census<ref name="Census-2022"/>) |label1 = Christianity |value1 = 85.3 |color1 = dodgerblue |label3 = No religion |value3 = 3.1 |color3 = beige |label2 = Traditional faiths |value2 = 7.8 |color2 = darkorchid |label4 = Islam |value4 = 1.6 |color4 = Green |label5 = Hinduism |value5 = 1.1 |color5 = orange |label6 = Others |value6 = 1.1 |color6 = deeppink }}

According to the 2022 census, Christians accounted for 85.3% of the population, with a majority of them being members of various Protestant denominations (broadly defined to include syncretic African-initiated churches) and a minority of Catholics and other Christians. Per the 2001 census, the Christian category included Zion Christian (11.1%), Pentecostal (Charismatic) (8.2%), Catholic (7.1%), Methodist (6.8%), Dutch Reformed (6.7%), and Anglican (3.8%). Members of the remaining Christian churches accounted for the rest of the Christian population. Per the 2022 census, Muslims accounted for 1.6% of the population, Hindus 1.1%, traditional African religions 7.8%, 3.1% had no religious affiliation, and 1.1% were "other"."<ref name=factbook>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/south-africa/|title=South Africa|website=The World Factbook|publisher=CIA|access-date=23 January 2021|archive-date=10 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110042951/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/south-africa|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="state.gov">{{cite web|url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2005/51496.htm|title=South Africa – Section I. Religious Demography|publisher=U.S. Department of State|access-date=15 July 2006|archive-date=14 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614133513/https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2005/51496.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=South Africa |url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom/south-africa/ |access-date=2023-12-07 |website=United States Department of State |language=en-US |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207180945/https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom/south-africa/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first1=Wessel|last1=Bentley|author2=Dion Angus Forster|title=Methodism in Southern Africa: A Celebration of Wesleyan Mission|year=2008|publisher=AcadSA|isbn=978-1-920212-29-2|pages=97–98|chapter=God's mission in our context, healing and transforming responses}}</ref>

African-initiated churches formed the largest of the Christian groups. It was believed that many of the persons who claimed no affiliation with any organised religion adhered to a traditional African religion. There are an estimated 200,000 traditional healers, and up to 60% of South Africans consult these healers,<ref>{{cite book|author=van Wyk, Ben-Erik|author2=van Oudtshoorn, Gericke N|year=1999|title=Medicinal Plants of South Africa|location=Pretoria|publisher=Briza Publications|isbn=978-1-875093-37-3|page=10}}</ref> generally called {{lang|bnt|sangoma}} ('diviner') or {{lang|bnt|inyanga}} ('herbalist'). These healers use a combination of ancestral spiritual beliefs and a belief in the spiritual and medicinal properties of local fauna, flora, and funga commonly known as {{lang|bnt|muti|nocat=true}} ('medicine'), to facilitate healing in clients. Many peoples have syncretic religious practices combining Christian and indigenous influences.<ref name="DoS">{{cite web|url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2006/71325.htm|title=South Africa|publisher=State.gov|date=15 September 2006|access-date=30 October 2011|archive-date=14 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614154706/https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2006/71325.htm|url-status=live }}</ref>

South African Muslims comprise mainly Coloureds and Indians. They have been joined by black or white South African converts as well as those from other parts of Africa.<ref name=csmonitor /> South African Muslims describe their faith as the fastest-growing religion of conversion in the country, with the number of black Muslims growing sixfold, from 12,000 in 1991 to 74,700 in 2004.<ref name=csmonitor>{{cite journal|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0110/p13s1-woaf.html|title=In South Africa, many blacks convert to Islam / The Christian Science Monitor|journal=The Christian Science Monitor|date=10 January 2002 |access-date=30 October 2011|archive-date=30 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730173053/http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0110/p13s1-woaf.html|url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.religionnewsblog.com/9398/muslims-say-their-faith-growing-fast-in-africa|title=Muslims say their faith growing fast in Africa|date=15 November 2004 |publisher=Religionnewsblog.com|access-date=7 November 2010|archive-date=1 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101001060330/http://www.religionnewsblog.com/9398/muslims-say-their-faith-growing-fast-in-africa|url-status=live }}</ref>

There is a substantial Jewish population, descended from European Jews who arrived as a minority amongst other European settlers. This population peaked in the 1970s at 118,000, though only around 75,000 remain today, the rest having emigrated, mostly to Israel.<ref>[https://www.sajbd.org/index.php?p=pages/sa-jewish-history SA Jewish history] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231218014839/https://www.sajbd.org/index.php?p=pages/sa-jewish-history |date=18 December 2023 }} South African Jewish Board of Deputies</ref> The present-day Jewish community in South Africa is the largest on the African continent, and the twelfth-largest in the world.

=== Education === {{Main|Education in South Africa}}

[[File:UCT Upper Campus landscape view.jpg|thumb|The University of Cape Town]] The adult literacy rate in 2025 was 95%. This was the second-highest in Africa, behind only Seychelles.<ref name= "South Africa has second highest rate of literate adults in Africa">{{cite web|url= https://mg.co.za/education/2025-04-29-south-africa-has-second-highest-rate-of-literate-adults-in-africa/ |title= South Africa has second highest rate of literate adults in Africa |author= Umamah Bakharia |publisher= Mail & Guardian |date= 29 April 2025 |access-date= 1 May 2025 }}</ref> South Africa has a three-tier system of education starting with primary school, followed by high school, and tertiary education in the form of (academic) universities and universities of technology. Learners have twelve years of formal schooling, from grade 1 to 12. Grade R, or grade 0, is a pre-primary foundation year.<ref name=edufacts0831>{{cite web|url=http://www.southafrica.info/services/education/edufacts.htm|title=A parent's guide to schooling|access-date=31 August 2010|archive-date=22 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100722160229/http://www.southafrica.info/services/education/edufacts.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> Primary schools span the first seven years of schooling.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.southafrica.info/about/education/education.htm|title=Education in South Africa|publisher=SouthAfrica.info|access-date=20 June 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100617125606/http://www.southafrica.info/about/education/education.htm|archive-date=17 June 2010 }}</ref> High school education spans a further five years. The National Senior Certificate examination takes place at the end of grade 12, and is necessary for tertiary studies at a South African university.<ref name=edufacts0831 /> Public universities are divided into three types: traditional universities, which offer theoretically oriented university degrees; universities of technology (formerly called ''technikons''), which offer vocationally-oriented diplomas and degrees; and comprehensive universities, which offer both types of qualification. There are 23 public universities in South Africa: 11 traditional universities, 6 universities of technology, and 6 comprehensive universities. There are also a large amount of FET (Further Education and Training) and TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) colleges in South Africa.<ref>{{Cite web |title=TVET Colleges of South Africa |url=https://nationalgovernment.co.za/units/type/9/tvet-college |access-date=2025-01-09 |website=nationalgovernment.co.za}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=FET Colleges |url=https://www.education.gov.za/FurtherStudies/FETColleges.aspx |access-date=2025-01-09 |website=www.education.gov.za}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |author=Staff Reporter |date=2019-02-01 |title=Exploring FETs and TVETs as viable alternatives |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2019-02-01-00-exploring-fets-and-tvets-as-viable-alternatives/ |access-date=2025-01-09 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref>

Under apartheid, schools for black people were subject to discrimination through inadequate funding and a separate syllabus called ''Bantu Education'' which only taught skills sufficient to work as labourers.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://overcomingapartheid.msu.edu/sidebar.php?id=3|title=Bantu Education|publisher=Overcoming Apartheid|access-date=20 June 2010|archive-date=15 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200815013451/https://overcomingapartheid.msu.edu/sidebar.php?id=3|url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2004, South Africa started reforming its tertiary education system, merging and incorporating small universities into larger institutions, and renaming all tertiary education institutions "university". By 2015, 1.4 million students in higher education have been aided by a financial aid scheme which was promulgated in 1999.<ref name=Cele>{{cite news|last1=Cele|first1=S'thembile|last2= Masondo|first2=Sipho|title=Shocking cost of SA's universities|url=http://www.fin24.com/Economy/Shocking-cost-of-SAs-universities-20150118|access-date=19 January 2015|agency=City Press|publisher=fin24.com|date=18 January 2015|archive-date=19 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150119205443/http://www.fin24.com/Economy/Shocking-cost-of-SAs-universities-20150118|url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Health === {{Main|Health in South Africa|Healthcare in South Africa}}

[[File:Groote Schuur Hospital, Observatory, Cape Town, Western Cape. 05.JPG|thumb|Groote Schuur Hospital in Observatory, Cape Town, site of the world's first successful human-to-human heart transplant.]] According to the South African Institute of Race Relations, the life expectancy in 2009 was 71 years for a white South African and 48 years for a black South African.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.hsrc.ac.za/News-document-1426.phtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120516165837/http://www.hsrc.ac.za/News-document-1426.phtml|url-status=dead|title=Peoples Budget Coalition Comments on the 2011/12 Budget|archive-date=16 May 2012}}</ref> The healthcare spending in the country is about 9% of GDP.<ref name="smartpl">{{cite web|title='Clinic-in-a-Box' seeks to improve South African healthcare|url=http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/global-observer/-8216clinic-in-a-box-seeks-to-improve-south-african-healthcare/12844|publisher=SmartPlanet|access-date=25 August 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730011508/http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/global-observer/-8216clinic-in-a-box-seeks-to-improve-south-african-healthcare/12844|archive-date=30 July 2013 }}</ref> About 84% of the population depends on the public healthcare system,<ref name="smartpl" /> which is beset with chronic human resource shortages and limited resources.<ref name="icap">{{cite web|title=South Africa|url=http://icap.columbia.edu/where-we-work/south-africa|publisher=ICAP at Columbia University|access-date=25 August 2013|archive-date=13 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130713041358/http://icap.columbia.edu/where-we-work/south-africa|url-status=live}}</ref> About 20% of the population use private healthcare.<ref name="fmhealth" /> Only 16% of the population are covered by medical aid schemes;<ref name="medicl">{{cite web|title=What does the demand for healthcare look like in SA?|url=http://www.mediclinic.co.za/about/Documents/ECONEX%20NHInote%203.pdf|publisher=Mediclinic Southern Africa|access-date=25 August 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002145453/http://www.mediclinic.co.za/about/Documents/ECONEX%20NHInote%203.pdf|archive-date=2 October 2013 }}</ref> the rest pay for private care out-of-pocket or through in-hospital-only plans.<ref name="fmhealth">{{cite web|title=Motsoaledi to reform private health care|url=http://www.fm.co.za/fm/CoverStory/2013/07/04/motsoaledi-to-reform-private-health-care|publisher=Financial Mail|access-date=25 August 2013|archive-date=7 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130707152200/http://www.fm.co.za/fm/CoverStory/2013/07/04/motsoaledi-to-reform-private-health-care|url-status=live}}</ref> The three dominant hospital groups, Mediclinic, Life Healthcare and Netcare, together control 75% of the private hospital market.<ref name="fmhealth" /> These disparities have driven ongoing policy efforts to reform the healthcare system, including the introduction of National Health Insurance (NHI) aimed at expanding equitable access to healthcare.<ref>{{Cite web |title=National Health Insurance Bill |url=https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201908/national-health-insurance-bill-b-11-2019.pdf |website=www.gov.za}}</ref>

==== HIV/AIDS ==== {{Main|HIV/AIDS in South Africa}}

[[File:Life expectancy in select African countries, 1950–2019.jpg|thumb|Life expectancy in select Southern African countries, 1950–2019. HIV/AIDS has caused a fall in life expectancy.]] According to the 2015 UNAIDS medical report, South Africa has an estimated seven million people who are living with HIV – more than any other country in the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unaids.org/en/regionscountries/countries/southafrica|title=HIV and AIDS estimates (2015)|access-date=21 December 2014|archive-date=12 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150212190759/http://www.unaids.org/en/regionscountries/countries/southafrica|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2018, HIV prevalence—the percentage of people living with HIV—among adults (15–49 years) was 20.4%, and in the same year 71,000 people died from an AIDS-related illness.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unaids.org/en/regionscountries/countries/southafrica|title=South Africa|website=www.unaids.org|language=en|access-date=9 November 2019|archive-date=28 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190828020358/https://www.unaids.org/en/regionscountries/countries/southafrica|url-status=live}}</ref>

A 2008 study revealed that HIV/AIDS infection is distinctly divided along racial lines: 13.6% of blacks are HIV-positive, whereas only 0.3% of whites have the virus.<ref name="ten">{{cite web|title=South Africa HIV & AIDS Statistics|url=http://www.avert.org/south-africa-hiv-aids-statistics.htm|publisher=AVERT.org|access-date=6 May 2013|archive-date=16 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016190720/http://www.avert.org/south-africa-hiv-aids-statistics.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Most deaths are experienced by economically active individuals, resulting in many AIDS orphans who, in many cases, depend on the state for care and financial support.<ref name="avertaids">{{cite web|url=http://www.avert.org/aidsorphans.htm|title=AIDS orphans|publisher=Avert|access-date=8 October 2006|archive-date=7 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100707054438/http://www.avert.org/aidsorphans.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> It is estimated that there are 1,200,000 orphans in South Africa.<ref name="avertaids" />

The link between HIV, a virus spread primarily by sexual contact, and AIDS was long denied by President Thabo Mbeki and his health minister, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, who insisted that the many deaths in the country are caused by malnutrition, and hence poverty, and not HIV.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.afrol.com/articles/21094|title=Sack SA Health Minister – world's AIDS experts|publisher=afrol News|access-date=8 October 2006|archive-date=18 October 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061018120544/http://www.afrol.com/articles/21094|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2007, in response to international pressure, the government made efforts to fight AIDS.<ref name="www.info.gov.za">{{cite web|url=http://www.info.gov.za/otherdocs/2007/aidsplan2007/situation_analysis.pdf|title=Situation Analysis. HIV & AIDS and STI Strategic Plan 2007–2011|publisher=info.gov.za|access-date=26 June 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130530221742/http://www.info.gov.za/otherdocs/2007/aidsplan2007/situation_analysis.pdf|archive-date=30 May 2013 }}</ref> After the 2009 general elections, President Jacob Zuma appointed Aaron Motsoaledi as the health minister and committed his government to increasing funding for and widening the scope of HIV treatment,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unpan.org/Regions/Africa/PublicAdministrationNews/tabid/113/mctl/ArticleView/ModuleId/1460/articleId/21146/Zuma-Announces-NHI-AIDS-Reforms.aspx|title=Zuma announces AIDS reforms|publisher=UNPAN|access-date=9 March 2010|archive-date=27 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151227121601/http://www.unpan.org/Regions/Africa/PublicAdministrationNews/tabid/113/mctl/ArticleView/ModuleId/1460/articleId/21146/Zuma-Announces-NHI-AIDS-Reforms.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref> and by 2015, South Africa had made significant progress, with the widespread availability of antiretroviral drugs resulted in an increase in life expectancy from 52.1 years to 62.5 years.<ref name="conversationHIVExcelled">{{cite web|url=https://theconversation.com/south-africa-has-excelled-in-treating-hiv-prevention-remains-a-disaster-51501|title=South Africa has excelled in treating HIV – prevention remains a disaster|first=Saiqa|last=Mullick|editor-first1=Candice |editor-last1=Bailey |date=December 2015 |doi=10.64628/AAJ.vygkpxsep |access-date=12 July 2018|archive-date=12 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712052403/https://theconversation.com/south-africa-has-excelled-in-treating-hiv-prevention-remains-a-disaster-51501|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Culture == {{Main|Culture of South Africa}}

The South African black majority still has a substantial number of rural inhabitants who lead largely impoverished lives. It is among these people that cultural traditions survive most strongly; as black people have become increasingly urbanised and Westernised, aspects of traditional culture have declined. Members of the middle class, who have historically been predominantly white but whose ranks include growing numbers of black, Coloured and Indian people,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.fin24.co.za/articles/default/display_article.aspx?Nav=ns&ArticleID=1518-25_2117122|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070822120841/http://www.fin24.co.za/articles/default/display_article.aspx?Nav=ns&ArticleID=1518-25_2117122|archive-date=22 August 2007|title=Black middle class explodes|date=22 May 2007|publisher=FIN24|url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-05-04 |title=South Africa Black Middle-Class Demographic Study 2023 |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/south-africa-black-middle-class-131300018.html |access-date=2023-11-05 |website=Yahoo Finance |language=en-US}}</ref> have lifestyles similar in many respects to that of people found in Western Europe, North America and Australasia.

=== Arts === [[File:San Rock Art - Cederberg.jpg|thumb|Rock painting by the San people, Cederberg]] South African art includes the oldest art objects in the world, which were discovered in a South African cave and dated from roughly 75,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/apr/16/artsandhumanities.arts|title=World's Oldest Jewellery Found in Cave|work=The Guardian|access-date=16 April 2011|location=London|first=Tim|last=Radford|date=16 April 2004|archive-date=12 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210212095737/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/apr/16/artsandhumanities.arts|url-status=live }}</ref> The scattered tribes of the 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. They were superseded by the Bantu/Nguni peoples with their own vocabularies of art forms. Forms of art evolved in the mines and townships: a dynamic art using everything from plastic strips to bicycle spokes. The Dutch-influenced folk art of the Afrikaner {{lang|af|trekboers|nocat=true}} and the urban white artists, earnestly following changing European traditions from the 1850s onwards, also contributed to this eclectic mix which continues to evolve to this day.

===Media=== {{Main|Mass media in South Africa}} The South African media sector is large, and South Africa is one of Africa's major media centres. While the many broadcasters and publications reflect the diversity of the population as a whole, the most commonly used language is English. However, all ten other official languages are represented to some extent. South Africa's media landscape is diverse and well-developed, comprising the public broadcaster SABC, the private free-to-air channel E.tv, and satellite television provider MultiChoice, which operates DStv across sub-Saharan Africa. The country has partially rolled out digital terrestrial television (DTT), though full migration from analogue broadcasting has experienced delays.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-06-21 |title=TV – DTT (Digital Terrestrial Television) {{!}} Sentech |url=https://www.sentech.co.za/tv-dtt-digital-terrestrial-television/ |access-date=2025-07-15 |website=www.sentech.co.za |language=en}}</ref>

=== Popular culture === {{Further information|Music of South Africa}}[[File:2014-11-26 traditional Zulu performance 02 anagoria.JPG|thumb|Zulus perform a traditional dance]] There is great diversity in South African music. Black musicians have developed styles called Kwaito and Amapiano.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2822/is_3_28/ai_n15648564/pg_5|title=South African music after Apartheid: kwaito, the "party politic," and the appropriation of gold as a sign of success|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130613074154/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2822/is_3_28/ai_n15648564/pg_5|archive-date=13 June 2013 }}</ref> Of note is Brenda Fassie, who launched to fame with her song "Weekend Special", which was sung in English. More famous traditional musicians include Ladysmith Black Mambazo, while the Soweto String Quartet performs classical music with an African flavour. South Africa has produced world-famous jazz musicians, notably Hugh Masekela, Jonas Gwangwa, Abdullah Ibrahim, Miriam Makeba, Jonathan Butler, Chris McGregor, and Sathima Bea Benjamin.

Afrikaans music covers multiple genres, such as the contemporary Steve Hofmeyr, the punk rock band Fokofpolisiekar, and the singer-songwriter Jeremy Loops. South African popular musicians that have found international success include Manfred Mann, Johnny Clegg, rap-rave duo Die Antwoord, Tyla, and rock band Seether. Rappers such as AKA, Nasty C and Cassper Nyovest gained notoriety in other avenues like the BET Awards for best African acts.

Although few South African film productions are known outside South Africa, many foreign films have been produced about South Africa. Arguably, the most high-profile film portraying South Africa in recent years was ''District 9'', as well as ''Chappie''. Other notable exceptions are the film {{lang|fly|Tsotsi}}, which won the Academy Award for Foreign Language Film at the 78th Academy Awards in 2006, as well as {{lang|xh|U-Carmen e-Khayelitsha}}, which won the Golden Bear at the 2005 Berlin International Film Festival. In 2015, the Oliver Hermanus film ''The Endless River'' became the first South African film selected for the Venice Film Festival.

=== Literature === {{Main|South African literature}}

{{Multiple image | direction = horizontal | total_width = 210 | image1 = Sol Plaatje 002.jpg | caption1 = Sol Plaatje | image2 = Alan Paton.jpg | caption2 = Alan Paton | image3 = Archibald Campbell Mzolisa Jordan .jpg | caption3 = Archibald Campbell Jordan | image4 = Breyten Breytenbach, Bestanddeelnr 932-4729.jpg | caption4 = Breyten Breytenbach | perrow = 2 | caption_align = center }}

South African literature emerged from a unique social and political history. It "embraces all the languages and cultures of the people of South Africa" and began as an oral tradition.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kwatsha |first=Linda |date=2012-09-26 |title="South African literature is not South African English literature": Linda Kwatsha reviews The Cambridge History of South African Literature - LitNet |url=https://www.litnet.co.za/south-african-literature-is-not-south-african-english-literature-linda-kwatsha-reviews/ |access-date=2026-05-06 |website=LitNet - Die boekehuis met baie wonings}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |editor1-first=David |editor1-last=Attwell |editor2-first=Derek |editor2-last=Attridge |title=The Cambridge History of South African Literature |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2012 |isbn=9781107681873}}</ref> South Africa has 11 official languages: Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, isiXhosa and isiZulu. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Countries |first=Geo |date=2026-01-01 |title=South Africa Languages – Official (Afrikaans, English & more), ISO Codes, Scripts & Speaker Data |url=https://www.geocountries.com/lang/south-africa |access-date=2026-05-06 |website=Geo Countries |language=en-US}}</ref>

==== Literature in English ====

Notable white South African authors include anti-apartheid activist Alan Paton, who published the novel ''Cry, the Beloved Country'' in 1948. Nadine Gordimer became the first South African to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1991. J.M. Coetzee won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2003. When awarding the prize, the Swedish Academy stated that Coetzee "in innumerable guises portrays the surprising involvement of the outsider."<ref name="Swedish Academy">{{cite news|url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2003/press.html|title=The Nobel Prize in Literature: John Maxwell Coetzee|date=2 October 2003|publisher=Swedish Academy|access-date=2 August 2009|archive-date=7 March 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090307025506/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2003/press.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Antjie Krog is a poet, journalist, academic and writer noted for confronting apartheid and its aftermath in her work. She reported on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for the South African Broadcasting Corporation, and her best-known book is ''Country of My Skull'' (1998).<ref>{{Cite news |title=Antjie Krog |url=https://kids.britannica.com/kids/article/Antjie-Krog/602087 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260213063020/https://kids.britannica.com/kids/article/Antjie-Krog/602087 |archive-date=2026-02-13 |access-date=2026-04-12 |work=Britannica Kids |language=en-US}}</ref> Elsa Joubert was an Afrikaans novelist, travel-writer and journalist whose work draws on African landscapes and human experiences. She is best known for the 1979 novel ''Die swerfjare van Poppie Nongena (The Long Journey of Poppie Nongena)'', a story of a Black South African woman's endurance under apartheid, translated into many languages and widely celebrated.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Elsa Joubert {{!}} South African History Online |url=https://sahistory.org.za/people/elsa-joubert |date=2011-02-17 |access-date=2026-05-09 |website=sahistory.org.za |language=en|archive-date=25 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225054616/https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/elsa-joubert |url-status=live}}</ref>

One of the first well-known novels written by a black author in an African language was Solomon Thekiso Plaatje's ''Mhudi'', written in 1930. During the 1950s, ''Drum'' magazine became a hotbed of political satire, fiction, and essays, giving a voice to the urban black culture.

The plays of Athol Fugard have been regularly premiered in fringe theatres in South Africa, London (Royal Court Theatre) and New York. Olive Schreiner's ''The Story of an African Farm'' (1883) was a revelation in Victorian literature: it has become recognised as one of the first feminist novels.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/schreiner/diniejko.html|title=Olive Schreiner's "The Story of an African Farm" As an Early New Woman Novel|website=victorianweb.org}}</ref>

Breyten Breytenbach was jailed for his involvement with the guerrilla movement against apartheid.<ref>{{cite book |author1=André Brink |url=https://archive.org/details/seasoninparadise0000brey |title=A Season in Paradise |publisher=Faber and Faber |year=1985 |isbn=0-571-13491-2 |location=London |page=11 |chapter=Introduction |url-access=registration}}</ref> André Brink was the first Afrikaner writer to be banned by the government after he released the novel ''A Dry White Season''.<ref>{{Cite news | url = https://www.csmonitor.com/1980/0310/031052.html | title = Novel for foreigners who want to understand the Afrikaner; A Dry White Season, by Andre Brink. New York: William Morrow & Co. $10.95. | last = Goodwin | first = June | newspaper = Christian Science Monitor | issn = 0882-7729 | access-date = 2016-02-27 }}</ref>

=== Cuisine === {{Main|South African cuisine}}

{{See also|South African wine}} [[File:Melktert.jpg|thumb|Milk tart, a traditional South African dessert made with a creamy custard filling]] South African cuisine is diverse and reflects the country's multicultural heritage, incorporating influences from indigenous African, Dutch, British, Indian and Cape Malay culinary traditions. Meat plays a central role in many regional food cultures, most notably through the ''braai'', an originally Afrikaner variation of the barbecue that functions as both a cooking method and a widely shared social custom across communities. Common braai staples include ''boerewors'' (spiced sausage), lamb chops, steak, ''pap'' (maize porridge) and ''chakalaka'' (spicy relish). Traditional dishes also vary by region and heritage, including ''bobotie'', a curried minced meat dish with an egg-based topping; ''bunny chow'', a hollowed-out loaf of bread filled with curry originating in Durban; and ''potjiekos'', a slow-cooked stew prepared in a cast-iron pot over an open flame. Street foods such as ''vetkoek'', ''gatsby'' sandwiches, ''samoosas'' and ''biltong'' (air-dried cured meat) are widely consumed, while popular desserts such as ''milk tart'' and ''koeksisters'' reflect the country's layered culinary traditions.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dunn |first=Scott |title=A Guide to Food in South Africa {{!}} Scott Dunn UK |url=https://www.scottdunn.com/blog/traditional-food-south-africa |access-date=2025-12-27 |website=www.scottdunn.com |language=en-gb}}</ref>

South Africa also has a highly developed fast-food culture, with several locally founded chains achieving national and international prominence. The most notable is ''Nando's'', founded in Johannesburg in 1987, which specialises in flame-grilled peri-peri chicken and operates more than 1,250 outlets in over 23 countries.<ref name="NandosGlobal"></ref> Other major South African fast-food franchises include ''Wimpy'', ''Steers'', ''Debonairs Pizza'' and ''Chicken Licken'', many of which have expanded throughout Africa and other regions. International fast-food brands are also well established in South Africa; the country is among the world's leading markets for ''KFC'' outlets, reflecting the widespread popularity of fast food across income groups and urban centres.<ref name="kfcstores2">{{cite web |title=KFC |url=https://www.yum.com/wps/portal/yumbrands/Yumbrands/company/our-brands/kfc |access-date=2 June 2021 |website=Yum}}</ref>

In the beverage sector, South Africa has played an influential role in both global energy drinks and wine. ''Monster Energy'', although marketed as an American brand, was founded by South African-born entrepreneurs Rodney Sacks and Hilton Schlosberg, who relocated to the United States and played a central role in the company's international expansion.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The two South Africans who built a global powerhouse – outperforming Apple and Microsoft |url=https://businesstech.co.za/news/business/779537/two-south-africans-built-a-global-powerhouse-which-outperformed-apple-and-microsoft/ |access-date=2025-07-15 |language=en-US}}</ref> South African wine is also renowned internationally, with vineyards in regions such as Stellenbosch, Franschhoek, Paarl and Barrydale. These wine-producing areas form a significant part of the country's culinary tourism industry, contributing to South Africa's international reputation for food and drink.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thewinedoctor.com/regionalguides/southafrica.shtml|title=South African Wine Guide: Stellenbosch, Constantia, Walker Bay and more|publisher=Thewinedoctor.com|access-date=30 October 2011|archive-date=18 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130118223726/http://www.thewinedoctor.com/regionalguides/southafrica.shtml|url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Sports === {{Main|Sport in South Africa}}

[[File:South Africa - Cape Town Drieankerbaai from Lion's head.jpg|thumb|alt=Aerial view of the Cape Town Stadium in Cape Town, South Africa|Cape Town Stadium is the 5th-largest stadium in South Africa, with a capacity of 55,000.]] Sport plays a significant role in South African culture, and the country's most popular sports are soccer, rugby union and cricket.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.southafrica.info/about/sport/sportsa.htm|title=Sport in South Africa|publisher=SouthAfrica.info|access-date=28 June 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100629152527/http://www.southafrica.info/about/sport/sportsa.htm|archive-date=29 June 2010}}</ref> Other sports with notable support are swimming, athletics, golf, boxing, mixed martial arts, tennis, ringball, field hockey, surfing and netball.<ref>[https://www.topendsports.com/world/countries/south-africa.htm Sport in South Africa] topendsports.com, accessed 3 December 2020.</ref>

Soccer is the most popular sport in South Africa.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://businesstech.co.za/news/lifestyle/103113/blacks-like-soccer-whites-like-rugby-in-sa/|title=Blacks like soccer, whites like rugby in SA|access-date=27 May 2021|archive-date=25 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210525104157/https://businesstech.co.za/news/lifestyle/103113/blacks-like-soccer-whites-like-rugby-in-sa/|url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.enca.com/south-africa/sa-sport-not-unifier-it-once-was-survey|title=SA sport not the unifier it once was: survey|work=eNCA |access-date=27 May 2021|archive-date=25 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210525101120/https://www.enca.com/south-africa/sa-sport-not-unifier-it-once-was-survey|url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://punditarena.com/football/thepateam/cant-south-africa-produce-better-football-team/|title=Analysis: Bafana Bafana Struggling To Make Needed Improvements|date=11 June 2016|access-date=27 May 2021|archive-date=25 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210525101142/https://punditarena.com/football/thepateam/cant-south-africa-produce-better-football-team/|url-status=live }}</ref> South Africa hosted the 2010 FIFA World Cup.<ref>{{cite web|last=Cooper|first=Billy|title=South Africa gets 9/10 for World Cup|url=http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-07-12-sa-gest-910-for-world-cup|website=Mail & Guardian|date=12 July 2010|access-date=9 September 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100715063001/http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-07-12-sa-gest-910-for-world-cup|archive-date=15 July 2010 }}</ref> It hosted the 1996 African Cup of Nations, with the national team Bafana Bafana going on to win the tournament. South Africa's men's U-20 team also won the 2025 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations. In 2022, the women's team also won the Women's Africa Cup of Nations, beating Morocco 2–1 in the final. The women's team went on to reach the last 16 at the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, beating Italy and tying with Argentina in the group stage.

Famous combat sport personalities include Baby Jake Jacob Matlala, Vuyani Bungu, Welcome Ncita, Dingaan Thobela, Corrie Sanders, Gerrie Coetzee, Brian Mitchell, Garreth McLellan and current UFC Middleweight Champion Dricus du Plessis. Durban surfer Jordy Smith won the 2010 Billabong J-Bay Open making him the highest ranked surfer in the world. South Africa produced Formula One motor racing's 1979 world champion Jody Scheckter. Famous active Grand Prix motorcycle racing personalities include Brad Binder and his younger brother Darryn Binder.

[[File:Bokke Webb Ellis-beker toer JHB 20191107 145608.jpg|thumb|The Springboks on their tour of the country after winning the 2019 Rugby World Cup]] South Africa has won the Rugby World Cup four times, the most wins of any country. South Africa first won the 1995 Rugby World Cup, which it hosted. They went on to win the tournament again in 2007, 2019 and 2023.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-union/67252413|title=New Zealand 11-12 South Africa: Springboks win record fourth Rugby World Cup in dramatic final|date=28 October 2023|work=BBC Sport|accessdate=1 November 2023}}</ref>

Cricket is one of the most played sports in South Africa. It has hosted the 2003 Cricket World Cup, the 2007 World Twenty20 Championship. South Africa's national cricket team, the Proteas, have also won the inaugural edition of the 1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy by defeating West Indies in the final. The 2023 ICC Women's T20 World Cup was hosted in South Africa and the women's team won silver. The men's team won silver at the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup, and won the 2023–2025 ICC World Test Championship, beating Australia in the final. South Africa's national blind cricket team also went on to win the inaugural edition of the Blind Cricket World Cup in 1998.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.blindcricketsa.co.za/|title=Blind Cricket South Africa|website=www.blindcricketsa.co.za}}</ref>

In 2004, the swimming team of Roland Schoeman, Lyndon Ferns, Darian Townsend and Ryk Neethling won the gold medal at the Olympic Games in Athens, simultaneously breaking the world record in the 4×100 Freestyle Relay. Penny Heyns won Olympic Gold in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, and more recently, swimmers Tatjana Smith (née Schoenmaker), Lara van Niekerk, Akani Simbine and Wayde van Niekerk have all broken records and won medals at both the Olympic and Commonwealth Games, with Wayde van Niekerk being the world record holder in 400 metres since 2016. In 2012, Oscar Pistorius became the first double amputee sprinter to compete at the Olympic Games in London. Gary Player is regarded as one of the greatest golfers of all time, having won the Career Grand Slam, one of five to have done so.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.golfmonthly.com/features/players-won-golf-grand-slam-154520|title=Which Players Have Won A Golf Grand Slam?|author1=Mike Hall|date=18 May 2022|website=Golf Monthly Magazine}}</ref>

== See also == {{Portal|South Africa}}  * Timeline of South Africa * Outline of South Africa

== Notes == {{Notelist}}

== References == {{Reflist}}

== Further reading == {{refbegin|30em}} * ''A History of South Africa, Third Edition''. Leonard Thompson. Yale University Press. 2001. 384 pages. {{ISBN|0-300-08776-4}}. * ''Economic Analysis and Policy Formulation for Post-Apartheid South Africa: Mission Report, Aug. 1991''. International Development Research Centre. IDRC Canada, 1991. vi, 46 p. Without ISBN. * ''Emerging Johannesburg: Perspectives on the Postapartheid City''. Richard Tomlinson, et al. 2003. 336 pages. {{ISBN|0-415-93559-8}} * ''Making of Modern South Africa: Conquest, Segregation and Apartheid''. Nigel Worden. 2000. 194 pages. {{ISBN|0-631-21661-8}}. * ''South Africa: A Narrative History''. Frank Welsh. Kodansha America. 1999. 606 pages. {{ISBN|1-56836-258-7}} * ''South Africa in Contemporary Times''. Godfrey Mwakikagile. New Africa Press. 2008. 260 pages. {{ISBN|978-0-9802587-3-8}}. * ''The Atlas of Changing South Africa''. A. J. Christopher. 2000. 216 pages. {{ISBN|0-415-21178-6}}. * ''The Politics of the New South Africa''. Heather Deegan. 2000. 256 pages. {{ISBN|0-582-38227-0}}. * ''Twentieth-Century South Africa''. William Beinart Oxford University Press 2001, 414 pages, {{ISBN|0-19-289318-1}}. {{refend}}

== External links == {{Sister project links|South Africa|auto=yes|collapsible=collapsed}} {{Scholia|country}} * [https://www.gov.za/ Government of South Africa] * {{Cite CIA World Factbook|country=South Africa}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20081026035604/http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/for/southafrica.htm South Africa] from ''UCB Libraries GovPubs'' (archived) * [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14094760 South Africa] from the BBC News * {{wikiatlas|South Africa}} * {{OSM relation|87565}}

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