South Africa and
Apartheid
A country of contrasts
Simonetta Gatto
Istituto Comprensivo di Casella (GE)
The Republic of South Africa is in the south of the African continent.
The borders
• Northwest: Namibia
• North: Botswana
• Northeast: Zimbabwe
and Mozambique
• East: Swaziland.
• Southwest: Atlantic
Ocean
• Southeast: Indian
Ocean
• Enclave: Lesotho
Enclaves
What is an enclave?
• It is a country within the territory of another
How many enclaves are there in the world?
• Three: Lesotho, the Vatican and the Republic
of San Marino.
Physical map
• South Africa is located at the
southern tip of Africa.
• It has a long coastline of
about 2,500 km (1,553 miles)
and two oceans: Atlantic and
Indian.
• The interior is a vast and flat
land.
• The north is dry because of
the desert.
• The mountain ranges are the
Drakensberg Mountains and
the Roggeveld Mountains.
Political map
• Constitutional parliamentary
republic
• 9 provinces
• Capital cities: Pretoria
(executive), Bloemfontein
(judicial), Cape Town (legislative)
• Indipendence: from the UK in
1910
• Population: 49 million people
(70% black, 9% coloured, 9%
white, 3% Asian)
• Languages: South African
English and Africaans
The Head of State
• The President of the
Republic is Mr Jacob Zuma.
• He was born in 1942 and
was elected by Parliament
after the victory of his
party in general election in
2009.
• His party is the African
national Congress (ANC)
What was Apartheid?
• It was a system of
government from 1948 to
1990.
• This Afrikaans word means
separation: the whites were
separated from the black
Africans and other
minorities.
• The white minority ruled
the country and the black
majority did not have any
rights.
How did the world react to Apartheid?
• A lot of countries
boycotted South Africa
during Apartheid: they
refused to buy its
products.
• Film and pop stars
refused to perform in
South Africa
The world of sports against Apartheid
• South Africa was absent
from international
sport events for most
of the apartheid era due
to sanctions
• A lot of teams and
champions refused to
compete either in South
Africa or against South
Africa
The first black president: Nelson Mandela
• He was the most important
antiapartheid leader
• He spent 27 years in prison
for his ideas
• In 1994 he became the first
black president after the
first free elections in South
Africa: for the first time the
black people could vote in
their own country.
Economy: one fifth of the African products are
from South Africa
The most important products are:
• Gold
• Diamonds
• Wine: the eighth producer in the world
• Tourism
Tourists come to South Africa to see the game
parks
The big five:
• Elephant
• Buffalo
• Lion
• Leopard
• Rhyno
National sports
Other popular sports
•
•
•
•
•
Rugby
Running
Netball
Surfing
Boxing