South Africa

Tuesday, 12 October 2010

The Rainbow Nation

A wide variety of cultures, languages and religious beliefs make up the South Africa’s population, 47 million people.

Eleven official languages are recognized in the constitution. Two of these languages descend from Europe dialects: Afrikaans, which was originated mainly from Dutch, is spoken by the majority of both white and colored South Africans, and South African English which descends from British. Though English has a large role in public and commercial life, it is nevertheless only the fifth most spoken language.

South Africa is ruled by a Constitutional Democracy, which doesn’t mean social development. A quarter of the population is unemployed and lives on less than US $1.25, and two quarters are non official employers. Poverty, racism, illiteracy and lack of health care institutions, are some of the problems that contribute to the human rights decadence.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, the Nobel Peace, was the major fighter against the Apartheid Regime that denies politic, social, and economic rights to the colored Community. Both Color and White Communities had different hospitals, different schools, different restaurants, even different toilets. As a consequence of his aims, Nelson Mandela faced the same cell for over 27 years. In the end he was successful and has created the foundation for the today’s community companionship in South Africa. With the support of several NGOs this balance is being sustained.

They find similarities, they start to accept their one differences, costumes and beliefs. For instance, the most amazing example of mutual cooperation  in South Africa is sport. Transcending race, politics or language groups, sport unites the country, giving them self-confidence, making them believe. 



by: António 12ºA