The South African population
The country has 3 capitals: Pretoria administrative capital, Cape Town legislative capital and Bloemfontein judicial capital. The population of approximately 60 million inhabitants lived from 1948 to 1994 under the Apartheid regime, the social and economic consequences of which are still felt today.
The Dutch (Boers or Afrikaans) arrived in South Africa in 1652 and founded the city of Cape Town but had to move north after the Cape of Good Hope was taken by the British in 1806.
From 1910 the English and Afrikaans governed together under the Union of South Africa, which became a republic in 1961 after a whites-only referendum.
In 1948, the National Party systematized the policy of Apartheid (separation in Afrikaans) practiced since the seventeenth century by the first Dutch colonists. The African National Congress (ANC), led by leaders such as Nelson Mandela, violently opposed this racist and segregationist regime, and in the late 1980s, the National Party agreed to negotiate a transition to majority rule. On June 30, 1991, apartheid laws were abolished, and in 1994, the first multiracial elections were held, which were won by the ANC. Nelson Mandela became the first black president of South Africa.
Since then, South Africa has been working to address the social inequalities of the apartheid era in housing, education and health care, but remains one of the most unequal countries in the world.
The black community represents 80% of the population but remains a heterogeneous group because it is divided into tribes, each with its own traditions and customs: Nguni, Sotho, Shangaun, Tsonga, Venda, Zulu and Xhosa. Their social and economic situation has not really improved because of the systemic inequalities that persist.
The white community, which represents 9% of the population, is 60% Afrikaans and 40% British. Afrikaans are conservative, mainly Calvinist, and very attached to their language and culture. Some of them are descendants of Huguenots (French Protestants who fled France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in the 18th century). The British community has remained very "British" in its lifestyle and traditions.
The Coloreds represent 9% of the population and are mostly present in Cape Town. They are mostly Muslim, and their mother tongue is Afrikaans. At the end of Apartheid, social and economic measures were mainly put in place for the black community, and the Coloreds were left out of the reforms. They live mainly in their own townships. The 2% of Indians and Asians are mainly small traders.
