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SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC

CULTURE AND FOLK CUSTOMS 

      SIMO JELAČA, PhD

FOREWORD

This book summarizes information about culture and customs of different nations. Noticeable differences in customs are among Christian, Islamic and Buddhist’s nations, although in all prevails intention for nice and greatest.  

It will be too much to include every country, as there are similarities among many nations of the same or close nationalities. Characteristic are Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, Belarus, Croatia, Montenegro, Macedonia, or as well as Germany and Austria. The similar conclusion values for Latin nations, among themselves too.

Readers will find basic information about each country, such as its location and size, population and Ethnic Make-up, Religion, Climate, Language, Etiquettes and others. 

This book can equally be used for travelers, either as tourists or business people, therefore everyone will find necessary information about Etiquette of people at their homes as well as at the business.

My intention was to find as much good information as possible. How much I have succeeded readers will judge it. 

                                                                                                            Author

SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC

CULTURE AND FOLK CUSTOMS   

Location:  Southernmost tip of Africa,

 bordering Botswana 1,840 km, Lesotho 909 km,

 Mozambique 491 km, Namibia 967 km, Swaziland 430 km,

 Zimbabwe 225 km.

South Africa has an area of 1,223,208 square kilometers. It lies at the southern end of the African continent, bordered on the north by Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Swaziland; on the east and south by the Indian Ocean; and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. The independent country of Lesotho lies in the middle of east central South Africa.

Size: 1,223.208 sq.km.

Capital:   Pretoria, population 750.000

Climate:  mostly semiarid; subtropical along east coast; sunny days, cool nights.

Population:  about 43 million.

Ethnic Make-up: black 75.2%, white 13.6%, Coloured 8.6%, Indian 2.6%.

Religions:  Christian 68% (includes most whites and Colour, about 60% of blacks and about 40% of Indians), Muslim 2%, Hindu 1.5% (60% of Indians), indigenous beliefs and animist 28.5%.

Demography :

The population numbers approximately forty million, comprised of eight officially recognized Bantu-speaking groups; white Afrikaners descended from Dutch, French, and German settlers who speak Afrikaans, a variety of Dutch; English-speaking descendants of British colonists; a mixed-race population that speaks Afrikaans or English; and an immigrant Indian population that speaks primarily Tamil and Urdu.

Languages:

South Africa has eleven official languages, a measure that was included in the 1994 constitution to equalize the status of Bantu languages with Afrikaans, which under the white minority government had been the official language along with English. Afrikaans is still the most widely used language in everyday conversation, while English dominates in commerce, education, law, government, formal communication, and the media. The other official languages are: Afrikaans, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Southern Sotho, Swazi, Tsongo, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa and Zulu.

National Identity 

Afrikaners historically considered themselves the only true South Africans and, while granting full citizenship to all residents of European descent, denied that status to people of color until the democratic transition of 1994. 

The Family in South Africa

·         The basic unit of South African society is the family, which includes the nuclear family and the extended family or tribe. 

·         In traditional African society, the tribe is the most important community as it is the equivalent of a nation. The tribe provides both emotional and financial security in much the same way the nuclear family does to white or coloured South Africans.

·         The coloured and more traditional Afrikaans cultures consider their extended family to be almost as important as their nuclear family, while the English-speaking white community places more emphasis on the nuclear family.

·         The nuclear family is the ultimate basis of the tribe. The tribal and family units are being disrupted by changes in the economic reorganization of the country

·         As more people move into the urban areas, they attempt to maintain familial ties, including providing financial support to family members who have remained in the village.

The Rural/Urban Dichotomy

·         There are vast differences between the values of the rural and urban dwellers. 

·         The majority of the whites living in rural areas are Afrikaner farmers who are descended from the Calvinists. Their views on the world are sometimes narrow. At the same time they value human decency over materialism. 

·         City dwellers live life in the fast lane, which affects their outlook. 

·         People from Johannesburg can quite often be regarded as having materialistic values, and being more interested in what you own rather than who you are. They prefer to see themselves as urbane and their country cousins as less sophisticated.

·         People from Cape Town are very proud of their city, and often appear to have a superior attitude about their city versus the rest of the country. Family ties, long-term friendships and social standing are all important to Capetonians. 

·         The many rural black communities are still rooted in the traditions of their heritage, whereas the increasingly urban black community combines their roots with the urban environment and international influences that surround them. 

Meeting Etiquette 

There are several greeting styles in South Africa depending upon the ethnic heritage of the person you are meeting.

·         When dealing with foreigners, most South Africans shake hands while maintaining eye contact and smiling. 

·         Some women do not shake hands and merely nod their head, so it is best to wait for a woman to extend her hand. 

·         Men may kiss a woman they know well on the cheek in place of a handshake Greetings. 

Gift Giving Etiquette

·         In general, South Africans give gifts for birthdays and Christmas. 

·         Two birthdays - 21 and 40 - are often celebrated with a large party in which a lavish gift is given. It is common for several friends to contribute to this gift to help defray the cost.

·         If you are invited to a South African's home, bring flowers, good quality chocolates, or a bottle of good South African wine to the hostess. 

·         Wrapping a gift nicely shows extra effort. 

·         Gifts are opened when received.

Dining Etiquette

If you are invited to a South African's house:

·         Arrive on time if invited to dinner. 

·         Contact the hostess ahead of time to see if she would like you to bring a dish. 

·         Wear casual clothes. This may include jeans or pressed shorts. It is a good idea to check with the hosts in advance. 

·         In Johannesburg, casual is dressier than in other parts of the country. Do not wear jeans or shorts unless you have spoken to the hosts. 

·         Offer to help the hostess with the preparation or clearing up after a meal is served.

Business Etiquette and Protocol

·         South Africans are transactional and do not need to establish long-standing personal relationships before conducting business. 

·         If your company is not known in South Africa, a more formal introduction may help you gain access to decision-makers and not be shunted off to gatekeepers.

·         Networking and relationship building are crucial for long-term business success.

·         Relationships are built in the office. 

·         Most businessmen are looking for long-term business relationships.

·         Although the country leans towards egalitarianism, businesspeople respect senior executives and those who have attained their position through hard work and perseverance. 

·         There are major differences in communication styles depending upon the individual's cultural heritage.

·         For the most part, South Africans want to maintain harmonious working relationships, so they avoid confrontations. 

·         They often use metaphors and sports analogies to demonstrate a point. 

·         Most South Africans, regardless of ethnicity, prefer face-to-face meetings to more impersonal communication mediums such as email, letter, or telephone.

Business Meeting Etiquette

·         Appointments are necessary and should be made as far in advance as possible. 

·         It may be difficult to arrange meetings with senior level managers on short notice, although you may be able to do so with lower-level managers.

·         It is often difficult to schedule meetings from mid December to mid January or the two weeks surrounding Easter, as these are prime vacation times.

·         Personal relationships are important. The initial meeting is often used to establish a personal rapport and to determine if you are trustworthy. 

·         After a meeting, send a letter summarizing what was decided and the next steps.

·         Business Negotiations

·         It is imperative to develop mutual trust before negotiating. 

·         Women have yet to attain senior level positions. If you send a woman, she must expect to encounter some condescending behavior and to be tested in ways that a male colleague would not. 

·         Do not interrupt a South African while they are speaking. 

·         South Africans strive for consensus and win-win situations. 

·         Include delivery dates in contracts. Deadlines are often viewed as fluid rather than firm commitments. 

·         Start negotiating with a realistic figure. South Africans do not like haggling over price. 

·         Decision-making may be concentrated at the top of the company and decisions are often made after consultation with subordinates, so the process can be slow and protracted.

Dress Etiquette

·         Business attire is becoming more informal in many companies. However, for the first meeting, it is best to dress more conservatively. 

·         Men should wear dark coloured conservative business suits. 

·         Women should wear elegant business suits or dresses. 

Urbanism, Architecture

Architecture in the European sense began with the construction of Cape Town.Monumental public buildings, houses of commerce, private dwellings, churches, and rural estates of that period reflect the ornamented but severe style of colonial Dutch architecture. Many of the Cape's most stately buildings were constructed with masonry hand carved by Muslim "Malay". The domestic architecture of the Khoi and Bantu speaking peoples was simple but strong and serviceable, in harmony with a migratory horticultural and pastoral economy.

 Food in Daily Life 

The food consists of the traditionally simple fare of starches and meats characteristic of a farming and frontier society. Afrikaners and Colored people gather at weekends and special occasions at multifamily barbecues called braais, where community bonds are strengthened.

Basic Economy 

South Africa accounts for forty percent of the gross national product of sub-Saharan Africa, a primarily agricultural economy that had much marginally productive land and was dependent on livestock farming.  After the democratic transformation of 1994, programs for land restitution, redistribution, and reform were instituted, but progress has been slow.

Major Industries 

Mining is still the largest industry, with profits from diamonds, gold, platinum, coal, and rare metals accounting for the majority of foreign exchange earnings. 

 Trade 

The most important trading partners are the United States and the European Union, particularly Great Britain and Germany, followed by Malaysia, Indonesia, India, and African neighbors such as Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Exports have surged since 1991, and the country has a trade surplus.

Marriage 

Pre-Christian marriage in black communities was based on polygyny and bride wealth, which involved the transfer of wealth in the form of livestock to the family of the bride in return for her productive and reproductive services in the husband's homestead. In rural African communities, the domestic unit was historically the homestead, which consisted of a senior man and his wives and their children, each housed in a small dwelling. 

Inheritance among white, Colored, and Indian residents is bilateral, with property passing from parents to children or to siblings of both sexes, with a bias toward male heirs in practice. Among black Africans, the senior son inherited in trust for all the heirs of his father and was responsible for supporting his mother, his junior siblings, and his father's other wives and their children.

Education

Rural African communities organized the formal education of the young around rites of initiation into adulthood.  Christian and Muslim (Colored and Indian) clergy introduced formal schools with a religious basis in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Today a unified system of formal Western schooling includes the entire population, but the damage done by the previous educational structure has been difficult to overcome. Schools in black areas have few resources, and educational privilege still exists in the wealthier formerly white suburbs. 

Higher Education 

There are more than twenty universities and numerous technical training institutes. These institutions are of varying quality, and many designated as black ethnic universities under apartheid have continued to experience political disturbances and financial crises.

Health Care

Government-subsidized public hospitals and clinics are overstressed, understaffed, and are struggling to deal with the needs of a majority of the population that was underserved during white minority rule.

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