The Geography and
Culture of South Africa
White South Africans
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German
Dutch
English
Afrikaner
• “The Dutch build churches
when they move to a place, the
English build a post office so
they can contact the Queen, the
Germans build a barn.” (tour
guide)
Black South Africans
• Cape Coloured
• Ethnic Groups
• “Afrikaners play rugby, Indians
play cricket, blacks play
soccer.” (tour guide)
How is culture represented in
South Africa?
• “The government glamorizes the museums and they are not real” (anonymous)
• “Black South Africans focus on the past for their future.” (anonymous)
• “Museums are not objective repositories of truths… not all individuals within communities agree on
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how to image themselves.” (John M.)
“Indians are the losers in South Africa. They were too black in times of apartheid, and too white in
today’s regime.” (Dr. M.)
“The history books in South Africa have traditionally presented a European point of view, but now the
government is coming out with a history book that presents the African point of view.” (Solomon)
“The Gandhi Museum is short on displays because government money went to white museums and
none to Indian monuments and museums.” (Raj G.)
“There are no specific monuments and memorials on the national level for Coloured people. “ (Beverly)
Guateng Province
• Takes up only 1.4% of South Africa's total land
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area – yet is the country's most populous province
Built on the wealth of gold found deep
underground – 40% of the world's reserves.
Johannesburg is the capital of Gauteng province
(Pretoria, also in Gauteng, is the capital of the
country)
Much of the struggle against apartheid was fought
in and from Soweto (black township), which is now
home to more than 2-million people
Home to the Cradle of Humankind, one of South
Africa's eight Unesco World Heritage sites.
Apartheid Museum
• Located in Johannesburg—2001
• Built by Gold Reef City Casino (in order to get
casino license the hotel had to do something for the
community)
• Large photographs, artifacts, newspaper clippings,
and film footage graphically animate the apartheid
story
• Separate entrance for “whites” and “non-whites”
emphasizes separateness enforced during apartheid
Home of Nelson Mandela
• Kitchen displays World Heavyweight
Boxing belt given to Mandela by Sugar Ray
Leonard
• Home where Mandela lived before
imprisonment on Robben Island
• On the corner of Vilakazi and Ngakane
Streets, Soweto
Hector Pieterson Museum
• Named for the young boy first shot by
the police and the 566 students who
were killed in SOWETO during a
student protest march against the
introduction of Afrikaans language as a
medium of instruction in all African
schools
• Houses photographic and audio-visual
displays of the struggle of the youth
against the injustices of Apartheid
SOWETO (South West Township)
• Original black township in Johannesburg
originally intended for temporary
housing of mine workers
• Place of 1976 uprising protesting the
teaching of Afrikaans language in
schools
• Nelson Mandela and Archbishop
Desmond Tutu lived in western part of
SOWETO
Voortrekker Monument
• Located in Pretoria—Afrikaner
Nationalism—1949—symbolic of Boer
arrival following Great Trek
• Dec 16 at 12 noon, ray of sunshine falls
onto Shrine of Honor in Heroes Hall
• Commemorates Battle of Blood River
when Boers defeated about 12,000 Zulus
• Due to dissatisfaction of British
government and strong feeling of
independence, Boers trekked inland—
known as Voortrekkers
Cradle of Humankind
• Caves have yielded much evidence of
the origins of humans
• 12 major fossil sites
• Tens of thousands of extinct animals
preserved in dolomitic bedrock
Lee Berger, National Geographic
Explorer in Residence
Quote
• Until the lions have their own historian, the history of the hunt will always
glorify the hunter.
• Chinua Achebe
Mpumalanga Province
• Second-smallest province after Gauteng, yet has the
fourth-largest economy in South Africa
• Situated mainly on the high plateau grasslands of the
Middleveld
• Contains southern half of Kruger National Park, a
nature reserve teeming with African wildlife in a total
area roughly the size of Israel
• Rich in coal reserves, and home to South Africa's
major coal-fired power station
• Mbombela (capital) is the second-largest citrus-
producing area in South Africa and is responsible for
one third of the country's export in oranges
Botshabelo Museum
• Self-sustaining mission built by German
missionaries—1860s
• Means “Sanctuary”—23 ha farm
• Came to spread the Word to the Zulu
• One of few places where black people could
obtain seminary training
• First translation of the Bible to an African
language
Kruger National Park
• One of the largest game
reserves in Africa
• The “Big Five” can be
seen in the park (African
lion, African elephant,
Cape buffalo, African
leopard, black/white
rhinoceros)
Krugerhof
• Located in Pretoria—1883-1900
• Served as last residence of
President Paul Kruger of the
South African Republic (ZAR)
• Kruger participated in the Great
Trek (mass migration of Dutchspeaking “Voortrekkers”) from
discontent with British Rule in
the Cape
Ndebele Village
• Community still live and practice their
traditional way of life
• All buildings are painted and decorated
in the famous multi-coloured Ndebele
geometric patterns
• Mural painting is passed down the
generations, from mother to daughter,
and each woman’s mural is unique and
means something different
Quote
• A man without culture is like a zebra without stripes.
• Zulu Idiom
KwaZulu-Natal
• Western part is marked by the Drakensberg
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mountain range (World Heritage site)
Durban harbor is one of the busiest in South
Africa and one of the 10 largest in the world
Third smallest Province, with second largest
population
Richard’s Bay Coal Terminal second-largest
exporter of steam coal in the world
Major language: Zulu
Popular tourist destination
Shakaland
• Built as a set for the movie about
the great Zulu warrior Shaka
• Visitors can see how to make Zulu
beer, stick fighting, weaving, spear
throwing, courting rituals, and
dancing
• Shaka invented the short spear and
the horn-fighting tactic
Greater St Lucia Wetland Park
[iSimangaliso Wetland Park]
• South Africa’s first World Heritage
Site
• Habitats ranging from marine
systems (coral reefs and beaches) and
coastal forests (from salt and fresh
water marshes to the open estuarine
waters of Lake St Lucia itself) from
lush coastal plains to the drier
woodland areas
Phoenix Settlement
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Gandhi’s home in South Africa for 21 years
Located near Durban
First ashram of nonviolence for Satyagrahis
Throughout its long history, the Settlement
played an important role both from the
spiritual and political point of view, in
promoting justice, peace and equality
Quote
• If you think you are too small to make a difference,
you haven’t spent a night with a mosquito.
• African Proverb
Eastern Cape Province
• Major language: Xhosa
• Hub of South Africa's motor
industry
• National Arts Festival held
annually in Grahamstown hosts
over 50,000 people
• Port Elizabeth is a major seaport
1820 Settlers National Monument
• Built to commemorate the contributions
made by English-speaking Settlers to South
Africa.
• British Heritage—1974
• Commemoration occurred shortly after
150th anniversary of the arrival of
approximately 5000 settlers from Great
Britain in Grahamstown
Nelson Mandela Museums
• Three sites from Mandela’s home area (Qunu, Mvezo,
Umtato)
• Long Walk to Freedom book represented in Umtato
museum. Also includes gifts to Mandela from all over
the world
• Mvezo site is located at Mandela’s original home where
he was born
• Youth center at Qunu site. Retirement home of
Mandela where he gave Christmas parties for children
Steve Biko Gardens
• Biko considered the leader of the
Black Consciousness Movement
• Gardens contain his grave
• Biko brutally murdered in
detention on September 12, 1977
Quote
• If you and a fool have an argument, he succeeds.
• African proverb
Western Cape Province
• Major language: Afrikaans
• Sheep farming is the mainstay of the
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Karoo
World Heritage Site: Robben Island in
Table Bay
Bordered by two oceans: Indian and
Atlantic
Wines from this region known all over
the world
National Monument: Table Mountain
Taal Monument
• Located near Paarl—1942; Afrikaner
Nationalism
• Symbolic of the origins of the Afrikaans
language
• Du Toit and family members established a
society called the Association for True
Afrikaners (ATA)
Afrikaans Language
Museum
• Near Stellenbosch—Afrikaner Nationalism
• Purpose to pay tribute to the people that played
such an important role in the process of getting
Afrikaans recognized as an official language.
• The Association for True Afrikaners (ATA)
that was founded in this house on the 14th of
August 1875
Castle of Good Hope
• Fort established in 1600s by Dutch East
India Company
• Replaced a small clay and timber fort built
by Commander Jan van Riebeeck in 1652
• Stones brought from Holland—oldest
building in South Africa
District Six Museum
• 1966, District Six was officially declared an
area for white people only; area razed to the
ground and 60,000 people removed
• Museum established in 1994
• People who once lived there have signed
names and addresses on the large floor map
of former streets
Stellenbosch
• Dutch town established in the
1600s
• Village Museum features six
restored houses from 1700s to
1900s
• Dutch devised a system of
furrows to direct water through
the town
Robben Island
• Located in Table Bay (Cape Town)
• Political opponents of the Apartheid
regime were sent to prison here
• Mandela spent 18 years here
• Last political prisoners released in
1991
“This place did not intend to reform us, but to crush us.” (tour guide and former inmate)