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South Africa
South Africa is located at the southernmost tip of the
African continent (22° - 34° south, 16° - 32° east), and
borders Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
South Africa was governed by Holland from 1672 to
1810, and then as two British colonies plus several
independent republics until 1901. It then became a selfgoverning member of the British Commonwealth 1910 to
1961, and finally in 1961 South Africa became an
independent republic.
During the first 300 years governance was
dominated by the white minority. Since 1994
South Africa has been a democracy with a nonracial franchise. Furthermore, South Africans
have the right to an environment which is not
harmful to their health or well-being, and have the
right to have the environment protected for
present and future generations (The Constitution
of the Republic of South Africa, Act 108 of
1996). This is confirmation of the government's
commitment to the environment, and sustainable
use of natural resources, and sets the scene for
this report.
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The country is divided into nine provinces and 367 magisterial
districts. The government is represented by National Departments,
Provincial Departments, and Local Government at the district level.
Environmental issues are the responsibility of the government at
each of these levels.
South Africa's population was estimated to be 40.6 million in the
1996 census, with roughly 50% living in urban areas, and 50% in
rural areas. The population growth rate is 1.9%, and although this
has been declining steadily over the last few years, the total
population will continue to increase. The government's
Reconstruction and Development Programme aims for 2.1%
fertility by 2010, 1.9% population growth, and stabilisation of the
population at 80 million by 2100.
Due to the diversity of cultures amongst the people of South
Africa, there are 11 official languages. Xhosa is the most widely
spoken as a home language, although the most commonly accepted
business language is English.
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The economy was originally built on natural resources,
with mining and agriculture the mainstays of the Gross
Domestic Product (GDP). Recently, however, there has
been a shift from production towards manufacturing,
with the secondary sector currently contributing
approximately 33% to GDP (compared to approximately
14% from the primary sector, and 53% from the tertiary
sector).
The currency of South Africa is the Rand (R6.10 = US
$1, as at September 1999). The economy has grown
steadily since 1992, although the rate has slowed. The
government's target was 3% p.a. for the period 19941996. Inflation is approximately 6%, and just under half
the population are living below the poverty line.
The climate in South Africa is typically warm and dry, with
winter temperatures rarely falling below 0°C, and
summer maxima frequently above 35°C. The average
annual rainfall is approximately 500mm (considerably
less than the world average of 860mm). Most of the
central and eastern parts of the country enjoy summer
rainfall, whilst the western side of the country is the
winter rainfall region. South Africa's diversity and
richness of mineral deposits (including coal, iron,
copper, gold, platinum) were the catylist for European
colonisation, and economic development. Although
these are distributed across the country, the most
economically important deposits (gold, coal and
platinum) are found in gauteng Province, which is now
the most populous, and affluent area.
Soils are generally thin, and moderately fertile. This
has contributed to agricultural development,
although some areas are marginal, and suffering
from degradation and soil erosion. South Africa is
ranked third in the world in terms of biological
diversity. The country encompasses a range of
vegetation types, from arid shrubland and semi
desert, through savanna and woodland to coastal
forest and alpine forest. These 68 vegetation types
are classified into 7 biomes, as shown.
Two internationally recognised biodiversity "hotspots" are located in South Africa, the Cape
Floristic Kingdom (an entire floral kingdom
found nowhere else) and the Succulent Karoo, the
only arid land hot-spot in the world. The Cape
Floral Kingdom covers only 4% of the area of
southern Africa, but is home to 45% of the subcontinent's plant species (Cowling & HiltonTaylor 1994). The South African coast also has a
large number (over 10,000) of species of plants
and animals. This is almost 15 % of global coastal
species, and 12 % of these are endemic, that is
they occure nowhere else (DEA&T 1997).