South Africa

Abhishek Das
EPGDIM 09-11
Roll No. 02
 Republic of South Africa
• South Africa is a constitutional democracy in the form of a
parliamentary republic with a parliamentary dependent head of state
.

• It is one of the founding members of the African Union, and has the
largest economy of all the members.

• It is also a founding member of the United Nations.

• South Africa is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations,

Antarctic Treaty System, Group of 77,
South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone,
Southern African Customs Union, World Trade Organization,
International Monetary Fund, G20 and G8+5
 Geographic Location
• South Africa is the 25th-largest country in the world and
is comparable in size to Colombia.

• Located at the southern tip of Africa, with a

2,798 kilometers (1,739 mi) coastline on the Atlantic and
Indian Oceans.

• To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe and to

the east are Mozambique and Swaziland

• Lesotho is an independent country wholly surrounded by

South African territory
 Culture & Language
• South Africa is known for a diversity in cultures and languages

• Eleven official languages are recognized in the constitution

• Two of these languages are of European origin:

- Afrikaans, a language which originated mainly from Dutch that is

spoken by the majority of white and Coloured South Africans

- South African English

• Though English has a large role in public and commercial life, it is

nevertheless only the fifth most-spoken home language.
 Population Diversity
• South Africa is ethnically diverse.

- About 79.5% of the South African population is of

black African ancestry,divided among a variety of ethnic
groups speaking different Bantu languages, nine of which
have official status.

- South Africa also contains the largest European, Asian ,

and racially mixed communities in Africa.

• About a quarter of the population is unemployed and lives

on less than US $1.25 a day.
Provinces and Population
 Foreign Relations
• Since the end of apartheid, the South African foreign policy has focused
on its African partners particularly in the
Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union.

• South Africa has played a key role as a mediator in African conflicts over
the last decade, such as in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo ,
the Comoros, and Zimbabwe.

• After apartheid ended, South Africa was readmitted to the

Commonwealth of Nations .

• As the Union of South Africa, South Africa was a founding member of the
United Nations.

• South Africa was a non-permanent member of the

United Nations Security Council between 2007 and 2008
 Foreign Relations – contd.
• South Africa is a member of the Group of 77 and chaired the
organisation in 2006.

• South Africa is a member of the

South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone,
Southern African Customs Union, World Trade Organization,
International Monetary Fund, G20 and G8+5.

• In recent years, the SANDF has become a major

peacekeeping force in Africa, and has been involved in
operations in Lesotho, the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Burundi, amongst
others. It has also participated as a part of multi-national UN
peacekeeping forces.
 Demography
• South Africa is a nation of about 50 million people of diverse origins, cultures,
languages, and religions.

• Statistically South Africa provided five racial categories by which people could
classify themselves

- Black African at 79.4%

- White at 9.2%
- Coloured at 8.8%
- Indian or Asian at 2.6%

• Major ethnic groups include the Zulu, Xhosa, Basotho (South Sotho), Bapedi (North
Sotho), Venda, Tswana, Tsonga, Swazi and Ndebele, all of which speak
Bantu languages.

• The white population is not ethnically homogeneous and descends from many ethnic
groups: Dutch, Flemish, Portuguese, Norwegian, German, Greek, French Huguenot,
English, Polish, Irish, Italian, Scottish and Welsh.
 Religion
• According to the 2001 national census:

• Christians accounted for 79.7% of the population.

- Zion Christian (11.1%)
- Pentecostal (Charismatic) (8.2%)
- Roman Catholic (7.1%),
- Methodist (6.8%)
- Dutch Reformed (6.7%)
- Anglican (3.8%)
- Members of other Christian churches accounted for another 36% of the population.

• Muslims accounted for 1.5% of the population

• Hindus about 1.3%

• Judaism 0.2%

• 15.1% had no religious affiliation, 2.3% were other and 1.4% were unspecified
 Economy
• South Africa has a mixed economy with high rate of poverty and low GDP
per capita.

• By UN classification South Africa is a middle-income country with an

abundant supply of resources, well-developed financial, legal,
communications, energy, and transport sectors, a stock exchange that
ranks among the top twenty in the world, and a modern infrastructure
supporting an efficient distribution of goods to major urban centres
throughout the entire region.

• South Africa is ranked 25th in the world in terms of GDP (PPP) as of 2008

• Advanced development is significantly localised around four areas:

Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Durban, and Pretoria/Johannesburg.

• Unemployment is extremely high and income inequality is approximately

equal to Brazil.
 Appearance

•   South Africans of Urban cultures generally wear western dress.

•   Dress well in public, it will be expected by your South African host.

•   African women wear a sari.

 Behavior
• Gift giving is not the norm in business.

• Do not present gifts with the left hand.

• Use either both hands or the right hand when giving and
presenting gifts.

• Gifts will be opened upon receipt.

• Business meetings can be held over lunch or dinner in a good

restaurant.

• Meals at the home of a white South African will include a barbecue

by the pool--called a braaivleis (Afrikaans for roasted meat) or braai.
 Communications
• The handshake is the most common greeting. There are a variety of
handshakes between ethnic groups.

• Use titles and surnames to address people.

• Appointments should be made starting at 9 a.m.

• Do not rush deals. South Africans are very casual in their business
dealings.

• Business cards have no formal exchange protocol.

• South Africans prefer a "win-win" situation.

Geert Hofsted Cultural Dimensions
 Power Distance Index (PDI)
• Power Distance Index (PDI) that is the extent to which the less powerful
members of organizations and institutions (like the family) accept and
expect that power is distributed unequally. This represents inequality (more
versus less), but defined from below, not from above. It suggests that a
society's level of inequality is endorsed by the followers as much as by the
leaders. Power and inequality, of course, are extremely fundamental facts of
any society and anybody with some international experience will be aware
that 'all societies are unequal, but some are more unequal than others'.

• The Power Distance Index (PDI) for South Africa is 49

 Individualism
• Individualism (IDV) on the one side versus its opposite, collectivism, that is
the degree to which individuals are inte-grated into groups. On the
individualist side we find societies in which the ties between individuals are
loose: everyone is expected to look after him/herself and his/her immediate
family. On the collectivist side, we find societies in which people from birth
onwards are integrated into strong, cohesive in-groups, often extended
families (with uncles, aunts and grandparents) which continue protecting
them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty. The word 'collectivism' in this
sense has no political meaning: it refers to the group, not to the state. Again,
the issue addressed by this dimension is an extremely fundamental one,
regarding all societies in the world.

• Individualism rating for South Africa is 65

 Masculinity
• Masculinity (MAS) versus its opposite, femininity, refers to the distribution of roles
between the genders which is another fundamental issue for any society to which a
range of solutions are found. The IBM studies revealed that (a) women's values differ
less among societies than men's values; (b) men's values from one country to
another contain a dimension from very assertive and competitive and maximally
different from women's values on the one side, to modest and caring and similar to
women's values on the other. The assertive pole has been called 'masculine' and the
modest, caring pole 'feminine'. The women in feminine countries have the same
modest, caring values as the men; in the masculine countries they are somewhat
assertive and competitive, but not as much as the men, so that these countries show
a gap between men's values and women's values.

• Masculinity rating of South Africa is 63

 Uncertainty Avoidance Index
• Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI) deals with a society's tolerance for uncertainty
and ambiguity; it ultimately refers to man's search for Truth. It indicates to what extent
a culture programs its members to feel either uncomfortable or comfortable in
unstructured situations. Unstructured situations are novel, unknown, surprising,
different from usual. Uncertainty avoiding cultures try to minimize the possibility of
such situations by strict laws and rules, safety and security measures, and on the
philosophical and religious level by a belief in absolute Truth; 'there can only be one
Truth and we have it'. People in uncertainty avoiding countries are also more
emotional, and motivated by inner nervous energy. The opposite type, uncertainty
accepting cultures, are more tolerant of opinions different from what they are used to;
they try to have as few rules as possible, and on the philosophical and religious level
they are relativist and allow many currents to flow side by side. People within these
cultures are more phlegmatic and contemplative, and not expected by their
environment to express emotions.

• Uncertainty Avoidance Index for South Africa is 49

Thank you