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Top 10 facts about South Africa

27.04.2021

13

CONTENTS

  1. Geography and population in South Africa
  2. Official language in South Africa
  3. Currency in South Africa
  4. Internet in South Africa
  5. Economic development of South Africa
  6. Job in South Africa
  7. Weekends and holidays in South Africa
  8. South African mentality
  9. Advertising in South Africa
  10. Cryptocurrency in South Africa

1. Geography and population in South Africa

South Africa is located at the southern tip of Africa. The country's coastline is 2800 km long. South Africa has an area of 1,200,000 km² and is ranked 24th in the world for this indicator. The highest point in South Africa is Mount Njesuti in the Drakensberg Mountains. In terms of population, South Africa is in 26th place in the world: 51.8 million people live in the country.

Over the past two decades, the country's population has remained almost unchanged due to the high infection rate with HIV, as well as the decline in the number of “whites”. One of the central problems is the massive spread of HIV infection (mainly among the black population), in which South Africa ranks 1st in the world (according to UN data published in 2003 and 2007), while South African The Republic is in 4th place (after Eswatini, Botswana and Lesotho). In total, about 5.7 million people are infected with HIV, which is 11.7% of the country's adult population (in 2007). Because of AIDS, deaths in South Africa have long exceeded births.

Average life expectancy: 50 years for men, 48 years for women.

General information about South Africa:
Area: 1,220,000 km2
Population: 60 million people
Capital: Pretoria
International Direct Dial Code: +27
Top-level domain/ TLD: .za
Language: Zulu, Afrikaans, Tsonga, Southern Ndebele, Tswana, Wenda, Northern Soto, Xhosa, Sesoto, English

2. Official language in South Africa

According to the Constitution of South Africa, the official languages of the republic are:

    • Zulu
    • Braid
    • Afrikaans
    • Venda
    • English
    • South ndebele
    • Swati, or Swazi
    • Sesotho, or South soto
    • North soto, or Cepedi
    • Tswana
    • Tsonga

The most common language in South Africa is Zulu (24%). In 2nd place is the Braid, in 3rd place is Afrikaans. English is only 5th, but it plays an important role as a language of inter-ethnic communication, especially in cities. English is most often used in the media and in government. At the same time, Afrikaans, although it lost its position after the fall of apartheid, retains its influence, especially in the West. The Zulu, Kosa, Swati and Ndebele languages are included in the Nguni group, and the speakers of each of them, in principle, are able to understand the speakers of other languages. Nguni languages predominate on the coast (except for the west) and in the east of the country. The same applies to Sesotho, Northern Sotho and Tswana - languages that are part of the Sotho group and are spoken mainly in the center of South Africa. In the west of the country, Afrikaans prevails, which is spoken not only by whites, but also by colored (from mixed marriages) residents of the country.

3. Currency in South Africa

The national currency of South Africa is the rand, introduced in the year of independence of the state - 1961. The rand is also the currency of South Africa, used by Namibia, South Africa and Lesotho - the powers that signed the Multilateral Monetary Agreement.

1 USD = 14.4945 ZAR

4. Internet in South Africa

In South Africa, about 8 million people use Internet. At the same time, the amount of Internet users in the country is less than 40%. Advances in information technology, particularly the Internet, are fundamentally changing the way South African businesses interact and serve their customers. Many retailers are now opening online stores, allowing shoppers to buy items any time of the day, anywhere, as long as they have access to the Internet. Although online shopping is common in some parts of the world, especially in developed countries, as well as in Asia, this phenomenon is starting to gain in importance in South Africa.

    • 1. Gumtree
    • 2. FNB
    • 3. Standard Bank
    • 4. ABSA
    • 5. News24
    • 6. OLX
    • 7. Nedbank
    • 8. Property24
    • 9. UniSA
    • 10. Bid or Buy

 

Mobile phone usage

Sub-Saharan Africa, which includes South Africa, has experienced significant growth in internet use among the population, according to a Pew Research Centre report published in October of last year.

The analysis reveals that the Sub-Saharan African people feel very positive about the influence of the internet in their countries, including in the area of education, economy, and politics.

The Pew Research study outlined the fact that 79% percent of the population has used a smartphone to receive or make payments on mobile phones. Also, 91% of adults own a mobile phone, be it a smartphone or a feature phone.

South Africa smartphone penetration has now gone beyond the 80% level, according to ICASA. They added that smartphone subscriptions stood at 47 million as of 30 September 2018, which is a figure to be noted as the population is nearly 59 million.

Last year, 13.5 million smartphones were sold in South Africa, a 7% increase from the previous year, which is far higher than the global sales growth of 1%, according to the Business Insider.

5. Economic development of South Africa

In terms of economic development, South Africa occupies a leading position among all African countries. It accounts for about 28% of GDP, 40% of industrial and 30% of agricultural products of the entire continent. South Africa's economy is in a state of steady growth and ranks 17th in the world in terms of GDP. This success is due to the presence of the richest raw material base, a wide range of extracted land resources, a vast advanced technological base and a market for a fairly cheap skilled and unskilled labor force.

Also, the important in the country's economic recovery is a competent economic policy, which, coupled with the implementation of structural reforms, helped the country to achieve accelerated economic growth while slowing inflation, strengthening the state financial system and increasing foreign economic influence. The country has a favorable financial and investment climate, characterized by clear and reliability of banking and insurance services.

 

6. Job in South Africa

According to the South African Statistical Office, the average salary in South Africa in 2020 is 21,996 ZAR per month (about $1,240). Local workers receive approximately 263,952 ZAR ($ 14,865) annually. Compared to the same period last year, the average salary in South Africa has increased by 1,106 ZAR/ rand (or $62).

    • Animal care service - $300
    • Stylist/ hairdresser/ fitness trainer - $600
    • Car service - $650
    • Courier/ delivery/ driver - $700
    • Administrative staff - $700

7. Weekends and holidays in South Africa

January 1-New Year
March 21 - Human Rights Day (Sharpeville Day)
April 13-Good Friday
April 16-Family Day
April 27 - Constitution Day
May 1-Workers ' Day
June 16-Youth Day August
9-National Women's Day
September 24-Population Day
December 16 - Reconciliation Day
December 25-Christmas
December 26-Thanksgiving Day

If a public holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday is also considered a weekend.

Any resident of South Africa is characterized by a slow pace of business relations. Negotiations can take a long time, and the final decision can be postponed. But after signing all the documents, the partners always fulfill their obligations. The situation is similar in matters of punctuality; some consider it an integral part of business and friendly relations, but the latter are easily late for meetings.South Africans are used to starting their working day early. Calling your business partner at 8 am is considered normal, but it is not necessary to disturb a person after 9 pm, since South Africans often go to bed early.South Africa has a high level of development of banking and communication systems, which means that business issues are resolved quickly after reaching a final agreement.

8. South African mentality

The majority of South African residents are Christians, Muslims are about 1.5%, even fewer are Hindus and Jews, 15% are not religious. Black South Africans are the majority of the Republic's population. They are mostly friendly, calm and open people. Afrikaners are honest and straightforward. The descendants of the British are more private and polite. Asians, who are a minority of the population, still hold fast to the traditions of their ancestors. However, they are mostly materialists. Asians who have reached any heights in society love to show off expensive things, clothes and cars. South African society can be called liberal. Human rights are protected by the Constitution, and same-sex marriage was legalized in 2006, but rural residents can be much more conservative than urbanites. Some South Africans prefer to call themselves "South Africans", considering other terms offensive. Most women work. In some parts of South Africa, polygamous marriage is common, and allowed only for men. Gender divisions and physical and sexual violence against women are still widespread.

Like any country, Africa has certain demographic problems:
    • Massive spread of HIV infections and high mortality rate of the population due to AIDS;
    • Violence (in the family, at school);
    • Extremely high crime rate, especially in cities;
    • Racial discrimination (in relation to the white-skinned population);
    • Sharp contrasts in the living conditions of people of different social status, which leads to a tense social situation;
    • High emigration and, as a result, "brain drain" and low level of education.

9. Advertising in South Africa

Everyone knows that the mentality of the nation, the living conditions of the people are both the reason and the environment for the existence of exactly the advertising that is in the country at a given moment. The population of South Africa is a combination of people of different races, cultures, religions, speaking different languages and having different social status, which is why South Africa has always been famous for the diversity of culture, as well as the diversity of customs and traditions.

10.  Cryptocurrency in South Africa

User interest in the popular cryptocurrency has decreased in the past couple of months, bitcoin and all other cryptocurrencies are in stagnation. Indeed, Google Trends shows that interest in Bitcoin in mid-2018 was the same as in October 2017. When interest in a currency rises, prices jump; as soon as it falls, prices go down.

But there is one exception - South Africa.

Interest in bitcoin in South Africa is the highest in the world, according to data recorded by Google. And this is due to the active community of stakeholders in the country.

The blockchain technology on which Bitcoin is built has already been tested in financial transactions in South Africa. In addition, the country's Central Bank said that this technology helps to reduce the percentage of costs incurred for making monetary transactions.

In early 2014, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) issued a notice on digital currencies, stating that they have no “legal status or regulatory framework” and are not legally regulated by the authorities. However, in July 2017, the South African authorities, together with the Bankymoon blockchain project, began to develop regulations to control the crypto market.

In June 2018, the Reserve Bank of South Africa (SARB) announced the successful testing of the Khokha payment blockchain system. Despite the success of the project, the bank's management does not plan to replace the existing settlement system yet.

The new platform was tested for 14 weeks. The bank carried out about 70,000 anonymous transactions daily, the time of each did not exceed 1-2 seconds.

In South Africa, cryptocurrencies have not yet received legal status, but citizens are already required to pay taxes on them. The South African Federal Tax Office (SARS) has released a statement that any cryptocurrency transactions should be subject to income tax. However, this remains only on paper.

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