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Portal:South Africa

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Introduction

Flag of South Africa
Flag of South Africa
Map of the South Africa within Africa.

The Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of the African continent. It borders the countries of Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Eswatini, and entirely surrounds Lesotho.

Hintsa Ka Phalo
Chief Hintsa OF The Gcaleka Xhosa

South Africa has the largest population of people of European descent in Africa, one of the largest Indian population outside of Asia, as well as the largest Coloured (of mixed European, Asian and African descent) community in Africa, making it one of the most ethnically diverse countries on the continent. Racial and ethnic strife between the black majority and the white minority have played a large part in the country's history and politics. The National Party began introducing the policy of apartheid after winning the general election of 1948; however, it was the same party under the leadership of F.W. de Klerk who started to dismantle it in 1990 after a long struggle by the black majority, as well as many white, coloured and Indian South Africans.

The country is one of the few in Africa never to have had a coup d'état, and regular free and fair elections have been held since 1994, making it a regional power and among the most stable and liberal democracies in Africa.

South Africa is ranked as an upper-middle income economy by the World Bank. It has the second largest economy in Africa after Nigeria, and the 34th-largest in the world. By purchasing power parity, South Africa has the 7th highest per capita income in Africa. Although being the second largest economy, South Africa has the most sophisticated economy in the continent, with modern infrastructure common throughout the country. The country is considered to be a newly industrialized country according to the World Bank classifications.

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Clockwise from top left: South African Marines stage for an operation in the Caprivi Strip, 1984; an SADF patrol searches the "Cutline" for PLAN insurgents; FAPLA MiG-21bis seized by the SADF in 1988; SADF armoured cars prepare to cross into Angola during Operation Savannah; UNTAG peacekeepers deploy prior to the 1989 Namibian elections; a FAPLA staff car destroyed in an SADF ambush, late 1975.

The South African Border War, also known as the Namibian War of Independence, and sometimes denoted in South Africa as the Angolan Bush War, was a largely asymmetric conflict that occurred in Namibia (then South West Africa), Zambia, and Angola from 26 August 1966 to 21 March 1990. It was fought between the South African Defence Force (SADF) and the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN), an armed wing of the South West African People's Organisation (SWAPO). The South African Border War was closely intertwined with the Angolan Civil War.

Following several years of unsuccessful petitioning through the United Nations and the International Court of Justice for Namibian independence from South Africa, SWAPO formed the PLAN in 1962 with material assistance from the Soviet Union, China, and sympathetic African states such as Tanzania, Ghana, and Algeria. Fighting broke out between PLAN and the South African security forces in August 1966. Between 1975 and 1988 the SADF staged massive conventional raids into Angola and Zambia to eliminate PLAN's forward operating bases. It also deployed specialist counter-insurgency units such as Koevoet and 32 Battalion, trained to carry out external reconnaissance and track guerrilla movements. (Full article...)
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Dutch Reformed Church, Nieuwoudtville
Dutch Reformed Church, Nieuwoudtville
Credit: Suzi-k

This dressed sandstone church in Nieuwoudtville is one of South Africa's Heritage Sites. Constructed between 1906 and 1907 it has served the surrounding community for more than a century.

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Vredefort Dome

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This is a Good article, an article that meets a core set of high editorial standards.
Oscar Pistorius running during the 2011 World Championships in Athletics in Daegu, South Korea

The mechanics of the running blades used by South African former Paralympic runner Oscar Pistorius depend on special carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer prosthetics. Pistorius has double below-the-knee amputations and competed in both non-disabled and T44 amputee athletics events. Pistorius's eligibility to run in international non-disabled events is sanctioned by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

Pistorius began running in 2004 after a rugby knee injury which led to rehabilitation at the University of Pretoria's High Performance Centre with coach Ampie Louw. His first racing blades were fitted by South African prosthetist Francois Vanderwatt. Because he was unable to find suitable running blades in Pretoria, Vanderwatt ordered some to be made by a local engineer at Hanger Orthopedic Group. These quickly broke, and Vanderwatt referred Pistorius to American prosthetist and Paralympic sprinter Brian Frasure to be fitted for carbon-fibre blades by Icelandic company Össur. (Full article...)
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Christiaan Neethling Barnard (8 November 1922 – 2 September 2001) was a South African cardiac surgeon who performed the world's first successful human-to-human heart transplant. He performed the world's first human heart transplant operation on 3 December 1967, in an operation assisted by his brother, Marius Barnard; the operation lasted nine hours and used a team of thirty people. The patient, Louis Washkansky, was a 54-year-old grocer, suffering from diabetes and incurable heart disease. Barnard later wrote, "For a dying man it is not a difficult decision because he knows he is at the end. If a lion chases you to the bank of a river filled with crocodiles, you will leap into the water, convinced you have a chance to swim to the other side."

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Malva pudding is a sweet pudding of South African origin. It contains apricot jam and has a spongy caramelised texture. A cream sauce is always poured over it while it is hot, and it is usually served warm with cold custard and/or ice-cream. Many South African restaurants offer it. The pudding is thought to originally be of Dutch then Cape Dutch origin synonymous with the Cape. (Full article...)
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In time, we shall be in a position to bestow on South Africa the greatest possible gift—a more human face.
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A panorama of the Johannesburg CBD at sunrise looking east across the M1 highway.
A panorama of the Johannesburg CBD at sunrise looking east across the M1 highway.
Credit: Dylan Harbour
Johannesburg CBD at sunrise.

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The following are images from various South Africa-related articles on Wikipedia.
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