Main article: Africa
Cities
Minerals
Gold Reserves and Mining
The YUAR-Driefontein Krupneyshy mine is located 80 km west of Johannesburg. Production in 2014 - 17.7 tons, gold reserves - 229 tons, resources - 711 tons, the average metal content in the extracted ore - 3.31 g/t, the total cost of production - $1,027 per ounce.
Negotiations on oil and gas exploration with Rosgeology
The national oil company of South Africa PetroSA and the Russian Rosgeologia in November 2019 are negotiating a deal worth $359 million, in which Russia will be allowed to explore promising oil and gas fields on the South African shelf.
Discussion of the deal began in 2017 at the BRICS summit.
Rosgeology expected the signing of an agreement at the RussiaAfrica forum "-," but South Africa slowed down with the approval of Rosgeology's share in the right to explore fields.
The transaction itself provides for geophysical and geochemical studies, as well as drilling six exploration and appraisal wells.
Population
Main article: Population of Africa
Population
2022:61 million people
Migration
2021: Net population inflow in 4 years
Overweight
Inequality between white and black
Black people earn three times less than their white counterparts
The report "Trends in Inequality" (November 2019) says that the average monthly salary of blacks (more than 80% of the population of South Africa) is 6,899 rand ($466.90), while for whites - 24,646 rand ($1,667.95).
The report used data collected by statistics agency Stats SA from 2002 to 2017.
Statistics showed that South Africa has one of the highest levels of inequality in the world. One of the main reasons is the legacy of apartheid.
Dating
2021:20% of adults out of wedlock used dating sites
174 cars per 1000 people
Cars per 1,000 people (World Bank, June 2019):
- UNITED STATES: 837
- Australia: 747
- Italy: 695
- Canada: 670
- Japan: 591
- Germany: 589
- Britain: 579
- France: 569
- Malaysia: 433
- Russia: 373
- Brazil: 350
- Mexico: 297
- Saudi Arabia: 209
- Turkey: 199
- Iran: 178
- SOUTH AFRICA: 174
- China: 173
- Indonesia: 87
- Nigeria: 64
- India: 22
Mortality
2019: Suicides per 100,000 people
in
2018: Number of road deaths per 100,000 vehicles
2016: Number of deaths from opioid use disorders
Citizenship and passport
For 2020, there are five types of South African passports: regular, maxi, children's, official and diplomatic. The maxi passport includes 48 pages instead of the usual 32.
In 2009, the passport underwent a redesign: on the inside pages you can find images of a lion, bison, leopard, elephant and rhino - the "big five" of South African animals.
On specially designated pages, the holder must enter his address of permanent residence and other contact information, including contacts of the person for emergency situations.
In South Africa, dual nationality is allowed with a proviso if another nationality is not acquired in order to avoid liability in South Africa.
The Henley & Partners Passport Index ranks South Africa's passport 56th with visa-free access to 101 countries around the world.
President
- Since 2009 - Jacob Zuma
Government
Foreign policy
2023: Refusal to condemn Russia in Ukraine conflict
Police
Every year, all South African law enforcement officers are tested for their ability to handle firearms. And in 2019, it was failed by 9 thousand employees.
Also, since 2013, police have lost 4.4 thousand weapons and 9.5 million rounds of ammunition.
Economy
Automobile traffic
The Republic of South Africa is a left-hand country.
Health care
The cause of the highest number of deaths
HIV and AIDS
2020: South Africa accounts for 15.3% of all new HIV infections worldwide
2018: Proportion of adults infected with HIV
Drug addiction
As of 2019, more than 100 thousand residents of South Africa are sitting on heroin.
According to a survey published by the European ENACT project, since the early 2000s, heroin has flooded cities and rural areas of South Africa, and the annual income from its trade is about $260 million.
The distribution mainly involves the homeless, for whom heroin trafficking is a way to survive on the streets.
The NGO Outreach Foundation, which helps drug addicts take the path of sobriety, reports that one in five people can last six months without a drug, and then it is not known what is happening to him. The success of the anti-heroin company is only 20%, or even less.
Maternity leave
in
2020: Duration of guaranteed paid sick leave 6 months or more
Education
2022:35% of respondents spent money on online courses
2019
Percentage of people who can read
Schools without toilets or with pit toilets
In December 2019, the South African Court of Appeal awarded compensation to the family of a five-year-old boy who fell into a cesspool at school and drowned in 2014
Michael Comape's relatives will receive more than R1 million ($70,000). The Department of Education denied responsibility for Michael's death. The tragedy caused a public outcry in South Africa and drew attention to the lack of proper toilets in many schools.
After the same incident in 2018, when a five-year-old boy drowned after falling into a latrine, President Cyril Ramaphosa promised that South Africa would get rid of cesspools in public schools within two years.
- More than 4.5 out of 25 thousand schools in South Africa have latrines with cesspools.
- Many are made of cheap metal, poorly built and left open.
- The Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo provinces are among the worst, according to the Ministry of Education.
- Eastern Cape has 61 schools with no toilets and 1,585 schools with cesspools.
- KwaZulu-Natal provincial schools have 1,379 cesspools.
- In Limpopo province, where Michael Comape went to school, there are at least 932 unsafe toilets.
2018
Literacy rate
Ideas about geography
The "map upside down" in South Africa is designed to make the country perceived as dominating all others. South Africa turns out to be a peninsula wedging between two oceans: the Indian and Atlantic. The Tikhookensky region and Russia go to the periphery of the world.
The usual Mercator model map is criticized for incorrect proportions of continents, in particular Africa according to the Gall-Peters model is significantly larger. Some Africans consider modern maps to be colonial rudiment and the product of Europocentrism, and demand a revision of generally accepted norms.
Crime
2019
Collision of two fuel trucks
In December 2019, fuel trucks collided in South Africa.
Looters rob a truck with TVs
Looters stoned trucks on the N1 in the Western Cape and steal televisions.
Police shoot looters in Pretoria. Video
A man in Pretoria in August 2019 decided to take advantage of the riots on the street and tried to quietly carry a stolen TV past the police, but failed.
Day-to-day theft. Video
A thousand dogs are poisoned in South Africa every week
In 2019, about 97% of poisoned animals die, according to Gerhard Verdoorn, director of the Poison Control Information Center.
Dogs are poisoned by house crackers by adding poisons such as aldicarb, carbofuran and terbufos to food. All of them are pesticides and very toxic. Aldicarb is the main active substance used in some pesticides and is banned in Europe as well as South Africa. But it is still used in [Zimbabwe]], where it is smuggled from.
Veterinarians and Animal Resource in South Africa are urging the public to keep their pets at home at night and report cases of poisoning to police.
Heist of collectors. Video
Robbery of collectors in July 2019.
Prisons
2022: The minimum age for children to be jailed is 10 years
2021: Number of prisoners - 147,922
2018: Number of prisoners per 100 thousand citizens
History
2024: 'African National Congress' forced to negotiate coalition after election
The African Nazi Congress (ANC) faced many problems during its third decade of rule, which resulted in a drop in popularity. One of the main difficulties is the ongoing energy crisis.
Most South African power plants were built in the 20th century. The energy infrastructure has not been modernized for decades, and the capacity of the stations is not enough to provide consumers with stable electricity. At the same time, 83% of all energy generated is coal.
Corruption problems are just as urgent. Regular scandals related to dignitaries in the ANC did not add to their popularity. The "shot in the foot" from the ruling party, which allowed many corrupt officials to the elections, stands out, which caused heated discussions from the opposition.
Mass attacks on white farms also continue in the country. Killings of white farmers in South Africa under the ANC have become more frequent (on average 5 times a week). Almost completely ignoring the problem on the part of the government not only reduces its rating, but also exacerbates the interracial conflict in the country.
Ramaphosa's foreign policy has also been criticized by all opposition forces and outside actors. Attempts to "sit on two chairs" while maintaining relations with the United States, China and Russia meet resistance from the leadership of Washington. Domestically, those who stand for the West in the person of the Democratic Alliance and those who obviously support Moscow and Beijing, mainly represented by the Fighters for Economic Freedom, are clearly distinguished.
According to the results of the counting of all votes in the elections in June 2024, the ruling party gained just under 40%, while other parties did not show a high result, gaining about the same number of votes as in the 2019 elections. The remaining votes were pulled by the new party of the former president Jacoba Zuma Spear of the Nation and smaller, regional, organizations.
As a result, the ANC began coalition talks with the pro-Western second-place Democratic Alliance.
The head of the third-place Spear of the Nation party, Jacob Zuma, was dissatisfied with the result, almost threatening with a coup. True, this is all just rabid populism, probably aimed at creating a coalition with his party, under threat of force.
2021: Ex-President Jacob Zuma's arrest leads to unrest
The imprisonment of former President Jacob Zuma on charges of contempt of court provoked riots and robberies in South Africa on July 12, 2021.
Hundreds of shops in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces, which account for about half of the country's economic output, have been looted and major highways closed.
On 13 July, unrest continued in several communities in Gauteng, including Alexandra, Diepsloot, Voslorus and Mamelodi, although calm reigned in central Johannesburg, which bore the brunt of the violence on 12 July.
The unrest has damaged business confidence and worried investors. On July 13, the rand fell 1.4% against the dollar to 14.5994, its lowest level since April 9, after declining 1.3% on July 12.
1994: Transfer of power to the black population
On May 9, 1994, Nelson Mandela became president of South Africa, the apartheid regime collapsed.
In 1994, when Nelson Mandela and Frederick de Klerk agreed to transfer power in South Africa to the black majority, President Boputatsvana Lucas Mangope refused to annex the bantustan to South Africa. However, unrest began in it, as a result of the struggle of various groups, people began to die, and the army, having left subordination to the president, forced him to flee Bophuthatswana. The provisional government appointed soon agreed to become part of South Africa.
1990: Nelson Mandela released after 27-year sentence
1986
1985
1976: Uprising of schoolchildren and students demanding instruction in their native language. More than 100 people died
On June 16, 1976, an uprising took place in Soweto. About ten thousand black schoolchildren and students marched in a convoy more than half a mile long, protesting against poor quality formations and demanding the right to receive education in their native language.
As a result of the actions of the authorities, hundreds of young people were shot. More than a hundred people died during protests in the next two weeks, and more than a thousand were injured or maimed.
After the shooting of the demonstration of students protesting against teaching in the Afrikaans language, an uprising began against the entire system of apartheid and white rule, covering almost all segments of the suburban population and supported in other areas and cities of South Africa.
General political strikes began in August-November 1976. According to official figures alone, from June 16, 1976 to February 28, 1977, 575 people died as a result of police shootings, and about six thousand people were arrested.
The uprising was the beginning of a new phase of the liberation struggle led by the African National Congress.
June 16 - Children's Day in Africa.
1968
1958
1955
1946: UN rejects SAS request to include South West Africa in its membership
After World War II the newly created United Nations rejected the request of the South African Union to include South-West Africa in its composition. In response YUASA , he refused the proposal UN to replace the mandate of the dissolved League of Nations with a new one providing for international monitoring of the administration of the territory.
1938: Catch of a living fossil - latimeria
The first living celacant was found on December 22, 1938 by Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer (1907-2004), curator of the museum in East London (South Africa). She examined fish caught by the fishermen of the Nerin trawler in the waters of the Indian Ocean, near the mouth of the Chalumna River, and drew attention to the extraordinary blue fish. Courtenay-Latimer brought it to the museum, as she could not determine. Having not found the fish in any determinant, she tried to contact ichthyology professor James Smith, but all attempts were unsuccessful. Unable to save the fish, Marjorie gave it to a taxidermist to make stuffed fish. When Professor Smith returned to the museum, he immediately recognized the effigy as a representative of celacants, well known for fossil remains, and in March 1939 published a description of the find, giving it the Latin name Latimeria chalumnae in honor of Marjorie Latimer and the site of the find (Chalumna River).
Professor Smith also described this fish as a "living fossil," which later became generally accepted. Local residents called it "combess."
1930
1915: Occupation of the German colony of South West Africa
In 1915, during the First World War, the troops of the Union of South Africa (South Africa, since 1961 - South Africa) occupied the German colony of South-West Africa (modern Namibia). Following the conclusion of the war, the League of Nations gave the SAS a mandate to administer the territory.
1914
1899-1902: Boer War
In southern Africa, more than 200 Russian subjects fought - almost a tenth of all foreigners who fought against the British.
In 2019, a plaque was unveiled in Cape Town in memory of Russian volunteers of the Boer War.
The 1880th
Paleolith
60 thousand years BC: Repeated ornaments on the shell of ostrich eggs
A large number (270 pcs.) of petrified fragments of the shell of two dozen ostrich eggs (55-65 thousand years BC), decorated with peculiar patterns from scratched lines, were discovered in 1999 during excavations in Diepkloof Rock Shelter cave, north of Cape Town. It turned out that the strokes forming patterns (ornaments) on the shell are located in a certain sequence and number (at least four such repeating ornaments were revealed).
It is assumed that the drawings depicted a kind of closed, "infinite staircase": two parallel lines went along the entire circumference of the egg and intersected (connected) by many and perpendicular to them, and oblique strokes (segments of lines).
Based on the statement (PNAS magazine) that ostrich eggs were used as water storage vessels, one can assume a connection between their symbolic drawings (ornament) and water (for example, a "staircase" is depicted on the sky to the high, heavenly, rainwater much needed for crops), writes Silberman Mikhail Izrailevich in the article "Some cult representations of the Paleolithic era."
Much later, the ancient Egyptians, in particular, believed that it was possible to rise to heaven by stairs: "The gods make a ladder for him (the soul of the deceased pharaoh) so that he could rise to heaven with its help" (W. Budge. Ibid. P. 28. 1934). A similar representation is found among the Sumerians: in the narrative of Nergal and Ereshkigal, it is said that you can not only rise to heaven by stairs, but also go down to earth (the Biblical Jews have a ladder from Jacob's dream). The same goes for the Indo-Aryans: "Indeed, the priest who performs the divine service makes himself a ladder and a bridge [parallel to the rainbow] in order to reach the world of heaven" ("Taittiriya Samhita"). It is known that the priest king of the Thracian tribes (Kosingas) threatened to leave his people and go to the goddess Hera on a wooden staircase (Polyen "Strategemata," VII). In Novochett texts, the staircase (silver, having 9 steps (KUB XVII)) is also used by the gods to move from heaven to earth and back.
Religions
Christianity
2019: Parishioners baptized in toxic water
The Fleurhof Dam in Soweto Township has spiritual significance for Christian communities. However, it is adjacent to abandoned mines, where gold, uranium and coal were previously mined.
Dust from landfills formed there enters the water during the rainy season. In addition, the sacred dam is polluted by open sewer pipes.
Water contains a mixture of chemicals such as arsenic and cyanide. Their entry into the body is fraught with damage to the brain, stomach, and can also lead to skin cancer.
But for 2019, pastors believe that religious practices are paramount, and this "government should make sure that the water remains clean."
By the way, the Department of Water and Sanitation promised to find a solution to water treatment, including work with the mining industry and the reconstruction of mines.
Sorcery
Killing lion pride to make potion
In October 2019, poachers poisoned and then dismembered a family of lions for sale to sorcerers in South Africa.
A whole pride fell victim to the killers. Animal body parts were going to be used to prepare "magic potions."
Workers of the South African reserve are horrified to talk about this on social networks. Police have launched an investigation.
Culture
Contemporary art
Customs
Wedding
2019
Superstitions
Sport
2022: The most popular sport is football
in
Fauna
2020
Shark attack statistics
Baboons
An incredible story from Kruger Park in South Africa occurred in January 2020. One of the organizers of the safari, Kurt Schultz, filmed a male baboon fiddling with a lion cub.
As Kurt said, in nature, a detachment of baboons can attack a lion or leopard and kill an animal. However, in 20 years of working with wildlife, he sees for the first time a baboon caring for a predator cub.
2019: Home for 80% of Africa's rhinos
For 2019, South Africa is home to almost 80% of all rhinos in Africa.
Of the 366 arrested poachers hunting rhinos in South Africa's Kruger National Park in 2019, 15 were employees of the park itself.
Between April 2018 and June 2019, 504 rhinos died at the hands of poachers.
Calendar
See also
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