South Africa

Submitted to:

Dr. Kalpak Kulkarni

Department of Management Studies,
Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee

BMN 506 Business Environment

Assignment 3 – Country Analysis Report

South Africa
Enrollment No. Group Members:
21810024 Jagrati Singh
21810030 Khushal Swami
21810036 Nandan Choudhary
 South Africa

Country Profile
Some of the earliest human remains in the fossil record are found in South Africa. By about A.D. 500,
Bantu speaking groups began settling into what is now northeastern South Africa displacing Khoisan
speaking groups to the southwest. Dutch traders landed at the southern tip of present-day South Africa in
1652 and established a stopover point on the spice route between the Netherlands and the Far East,
founding the city of Cape Town. After the British seized the Cape of Good Hope area in 1806, many of
the settlers of Dutch descent (Afrikaners, also called "Boers" (farmers) at the time) trekked north to found
their own republics, Transvaal and Orange Free State. In the 1820s, several decades of wars began as the
Zulus expanded their territory, moving out of what is today southeastern South Africa and clashing with
other indigenous peoples and with expanding European settlements. The discovery of diamonds (1867)
and gold (1886) spurred wealth and immigration from Europe.

a) Geography:
Location Southern Africa, at the southern tip of the continent of Africa
Geographic 29 00 S, 24 00 E
coordinates
Area total: 1,219,090 sq km
land: 1,214,470 sq km
water: 4,620 sq km
Land boundaries total: 5,244 km

border countries (6): Botswana 1969 km, Lesotho 1106 km, Mozambique 496
km, Namibia 1005 km, Eswatini 438 km, Zimbabwe 230 km
Climate mostly semiarid; subtropical along east coast; sunny days, cool nights
Terrain vast interior plateau rimmed by rugged hills and narrow coastal plain
Natural resources gold, chromium, antimony, coal, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, tin, rare
earth elements, uranium, gem diamonds, platinum, copper, vanadium, salt, natural
gas
Irrigated land 16,700 sq km (2012)
Natural hazards prolonged droughts volcanism: the volcano
forming Marion Island in the Prince Edward Islands, which last erupted in 2004, is
South Africa's only active volcano

b) Demography:
Population 56,978,635 (July 2021 est.)
Population growth 0.95% (2021 est.)
rate
Birth rate 18.89 births/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Death rate 9.27 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Net migration rate -0.12 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Life expectancy at total population: 65.04 years
birth male: 63.68 years
female: 66.42 years (2021 est.)
Infant mortality rate total: 26.82 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 29.9 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 23.68 deaths/1,000 live births (2021 est.)
Ethnic groups Black African 80.9%, Colored 8.8%, White 7.8%, Indian/Asian 2.5% (2018 est.)
Literacy definition: age 15 and over can read and write
population: 87%
male: 87.7%
female: 86.5% (2017)
c) Religious Demography:
Before Europeans arrived in southern Africa, various African religions were practiced. The first
Christian symbols in the area were crosses that were planted along the coast by Portuguese mariners.
Christianity is the main faith in South Africa, with over 80% of the population professing to be

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Christian. There is also sustained syncretism with the African traditional religion.
d) Cultural Diversity:
South Africa is made up of various cultures and religions. Some of these include the Afrikaner, Xhosa,
and Pedi people. The country is united by its diversity, and its people make up the country’s heritage.
Many people in rural settings lead impoverished lives. Most of the young generations from all cultures
have migrated to the cities where they lead a westernized lifestyle. Many South African people live in
townships. These are legacy areas of apartheid where non-whites were required by law to live in
designated areas.

Political System

Governance:
South Africa is a Constitutional democracy with a three-tier system of government and an independent
judiciary. The national, provided and local levels of government all have legislative and executive authority in
their own spheres, and are defined in the constitution as distinctive, interdependent and interrelated.
Operating at both national and provincial levels are advisory bodies drawn from south Africa’s traditional
leaders. It is a stated intention in the constitution that the country be run on a system of corporative governance.
Government is committed to building of a free, non-racial, non-sexist, democratic, united and successful south
Africa.
 Legislative Authority
Parliament (National)
 National Assembly (350-400 members)
 National Council of Provinces (90 delegates)

 Executive Authority
Cabinet (National)
 President
 Deputy President
 Ministers

Economic Analysis
South Africa is a middle-income emerging market with an abundant supply of natural resources; well-
developed financial, legal, communications, energy, and transport sectors; and a stock exchange that is
Africa’s largest and among the top 20 in the world.
Economic growth has decelerated in recent years, slowing to an estimated 0.7% in 2017. Unemployment,
poverty, and inequality - among the highest in the world - remain a challenge. Official unemployment is
roughly 27% of the workforce and runs significantly higher among black youth. Even though the
country's modern infrastructure supports a relatively efficient distribution of goods to major urban centres
throughout the region, unstable electricity supplies retard growth.
South Africa's economic policy has focused on controlling inflation while empowering a broader
economic base; however, the country faces structural constraints that also limit economic growth, such as
skills shortages, declining global competitiveness, and frequent work stoppages due to strike action. The
government faces growing pressure from urban constituencies to improve the delivery of basic services to
low-income areas, to increase job growth, and to provide university level-education at affordable prices.
International investors are concerned about the country’s long-term economic stability; in late 2016, most
major international credit ratings agencies downgraded South Africa’s international debt to junk bond
status.

a) GDP
GDP (purchasing power $730.913 billion (2019 est.)
parity)

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 South Africa

$729.799 billion (2018 est.)

$724.1 billion (2017 est.)

note: data are in 2010 dollars

GDP - real growth rate 0.06% (2019 est.)

0.7% (2018 est.)

1.4% (2017 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP) $12,482 (2019 est.)

$12,631 (2018 est.)

$12,703 (2017 est.)

note: data are in 2010 dollars

GDP - composition by sector agriculture: 2.8% (2017 est.)

industry: 29.7% (2017 est.)

services: 67.5% (2017 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate) $350.032 billion (2019 est.)

b) Trade
Industries mining (world's largest producer of platinum, gold, chromium),
automobile assembly, metalworking, machinery, textiles, iron and steel,
chemicals, fertilizer, foodstuffs, commercial ship repair

Industrial production 1.2% (2017 est.)

growth rate

Agriculture - products sugar cane, maize, milk, potatoes, grapes, poultry, oranges, wheat,
soybeans, beef

Exports $123.864 billion (2019 est.)

$127.055 billion (2018 est.)

$123.79 billion (2017 est.)

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 South Africa

Exports - commodities gold, platinum, cars, iron products, coal, manganese, diamonds (2019)

Exports - partners China 15%, United Kingdom 8%, Germany 7%, United States 6%, India
6% (2019)

Imports $131.721 billion (2019 est.)

$132.365 billion (2018 est.)

$128.141 billion (2017 est.)

Imports - commodities crude petroleum, refined petroleum, cars and vehicle parts, gold,
broadcasting equipment (2019)

Imports - partners China 18%, Germany 11%, United States 6%, India 5% (2019)

Resource Availability

a) Human Resources
Labor force 14.687 million (2020 est.)

Labor force - by occupation agriculture: 4.6%

industry: 23.5%

services: 71.9% (2014 est.)

Unemployment rate 28.53% (2019 est.)

27.09% (2018 est.)