Culture of South Africa

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South Africa

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There is no single Culture of South Africa. As South Africa is so ethnically diverse, it is not surprising that there are vast cultural differences as well.

Contents [hide] 1 Main Cultural differences 1.1 Black people 1.2 White people 1.3 Coloured (Mixed-Race) people 1.4 Asian people 1.5 Protection of Cultural Rights 2 Sex and gender 2.1 Gender issues 2.2 Sexual orientation 3 International cultural boycott 4 Famous South Africans 5 Sport 5.1 Major sports 6 Food 7 TV and films 8 See also 9 References 10 External links

[edit] Main Cultural differences

Because of the legacy of Apartheid segregation, many cultural differences correspond closely to the racial groups defined by Apartheid (Blacks, Whites, Coloureds, Asians). This may change as assimilation progresses, although currently (2004) many cultural differences between Apartheid-defined racial groups persist.

[edit] Black people

The country's black majority still has a substantial number of rural inhabitants who lead largely impoverished and necessarily simple lives. However blacks are increasingly urbanised and westernised, and usually speak English or Afrikaans in addition to their native tongue, which may be one of nine Bantu languages with official status since 1994. These include the Nguni languages, Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele, Swazi, and Tsonga, and the Sotho languages, which include Tswana, Sotho, Northern Sotho and Venda. Cultural differences between speakers from the two language groups are comparable to those between speakers of German and Italian. Many urban blacks speak several indigenous languages, with Zulu being a lingua franca in the Johannesburg area.

Most are Christian, with membership of the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches being strong as is membership of the predominantly black Zion Christian Church, although many still follow traditional beliefs, many often consulting a sangoma. There is a vibrant indigenous culture, with local popular music forms, such as kwaito, while black South African musicians such as Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Mahotella Queens, Miriam Makeba, and Hugh Masekela are well known internationally.

[edit] White people

The white minority lead lifestyles similar in many respects to whites found in Western Europe, North America and Australasia, with sport being immensely popular. The braai (short for braaivleis or barbecue) is another national pastime, epitomised by an old advertising slogan for Chevrolet cars in the 1960s: Braaivleis, rugby, sunny skies and Chevrolet.

Historical enmity between Afrikaans and English-speaking whites has given way to more amiable banter or rivalry. Afrikaners refer to an English speaker as a soutpiel or 'salt dick', on account of his divided loyalties: one foot in Africa; the other in England; and his genitals in the sea. A less rude and perhaps more common soubriquet was rooinek or 'red neck' referring to the sunburn of the recent immigrant. Similarly English speakers have long made 'Van Der Merwe' jokes about Afrikaners (who they sometimes refer to as "Dutchmen"), and who they regard as stupid and philistine — hence their use of the "rockspider" epithet.

Religious beliefs are also strong, with most Afrikaners adhering to the Dutch Reformed Church. Most English-speaking whites are either Anglican or Roman Catholic. Perhaps 90,000 whites are Jewish, with a similar number being of Portuguese origin. There are some Greeks and Christian Lebanese.

Apartheid was abandoned as a policy by the government when 68% of voters supported change in a whites only referendum.

According to research by FutureFact on the evolving South African consumer, Afrikaans speakers have shown the most radical change in political outlook of all groups in South Africa since 1994. Afrikaans speakers are 300% more accepting of affirmative action in 2004 than they were in 2000. This contrasts with the total population which has not shown radically increased support for the concept.

[edit] Coloured (Mixed-Race) people

The mixed-race Coloureds are, culturally speaking, much closer to whites, especially Afrikaans speakers, whose language and religious beliefs they share, than they are to black South Africans, despite suffering considerable discrimination under apartheid. A small minority of Coloureds, known as Cape Malays are Muslim. Well known members of the community include Springboks rugby players Chester Williams and Breyton Paulse and jazz musicians jonathan butler and Abdullah Ibrahim (also known as Dollar Brand).

[edit] Asian people

Asians, (predominantly Indian origin) preserve their own cultural heritage, languages and religious beliefs, being either Hindu or Muslim, and speaking English, with Indian languages like Tamil, Hindi, Telugu or Gujarati being spoken less frequently.

Although Indian languages are seldom spoken or understood, English-subtitled Bollywood films and television programmes are popular among South African Indians.

There is a much smaller Chinese community in South Africa, although its numbers have been increased by immigration from Taiwan (although the Taiwanese were classified as "White", rather than Asian by the Apartheid regime.)

[edit] Protection of Cultural Rights

The rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities are protected in the constitution by the Commission for the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities. This is a Chapter 9 Institution which was created by the constitution.

[edit] Sex and gender

[edit] Gender issues

South Africa demonstrates significant differences between the experiences of men and women. Cultural attitudes towards women tend to demonstrate inequality. The poorest and most disadvantaged people in South Africa remain black women, and women are disadvantaged in terms of their earning power, their access to education and their employment status. In addition, South African women face cultural chauvinism in other areas: for example, in some traditional southern African cultures, a woman cannot own property.

[edit] Sexual orientation

South Africa offers all its citizens, including gay men and lesbians, equality under the 1996 constitution. In July 2002, the High Court of South Africa in Bloemfontein ruled that to deny same-sex couples the right to marry equally is discriminatory and thus unconstitutional. While many conservative white South African people remain opposed to homosexuality [1], in some southern African cultures sex between adolescent males is normal and unremarkable (e.g. the Swazi practice of amantanyula [2]).

[edit] International cultural boycott

Many countries imposed cultural boycotts on the apartheid regime, meaning that South Africa was banned from the Olympic Games until 1992, as well as rugby and cricket. The 1971 Springbok rugby tour to Australia sparked mass protest and a state of emergency was even declared in Queensland. When the all-white national rugby team, the Springboks, toured New Zealand in 1981, it provoked public outrage, as did the decision of the British rock group Queen to perform in the Sun City resort in the bantustan of Bophuthatswana. Paul Simon caused controversy when he recorded his Graceland album with the South African group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, even though all its members were black.

Until the 1990s, the British actors' union, Equity, imposed a boycott on the sale of TV programmes to South Africa, although the state-controlled South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) happily bought U.S. programmes instead.

[edit] Famous South Africans

Nelson Mandela is the most famous South African. Other famous recent politicians include F. W. de Klerk and Steve Biko. From earlier in the 20th century we have Jan Smuts who was perhaps South Africa's only international statesman until Mandela. D. F. Malan, Hendrik Verwoerd and J G Strijdom were architects of Apartheid. Perhaps the world's most famous Anglican churchman is Desmond Tutu. Winnie Mandela is loved by some and despised by others but known by all. Helen Suzman was for years the only "one person, one vote" democrat in parliament.

J. R. R. Tolkien, author of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Silmarillion was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa in 1892.

Well known South African sports stars include Gary Player, Ernie Els and Retief Goosen; Jody Schekter; Kevin Curren; Zola Budd; Jonty Rhodes.

While South Africa was isolated by the cultural boycott in the 1980s, there are now many well-known South African performing artists and writers. They include playwrights such as Athol Fugard, and satirist Pieter Dirk Uys, actors like Anthony Sher, Hollywood stars like Oscar-winner Charlize Theron, and The Mummy Returns co-star Arnold Vosloo.

In music, the groups African Jazz Pioneers and Ladysmith Black Mambazo have found popularity worldwide. Ladysmith Black Mambazo's collaboration with Paul Simon in 1986 paved the way for many other musicians to gain popularity amongst international audiences, such as Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens, who popularized Mbaqanga music across the world. Another well known artist of South African origin is Dave Matthews, lead singer of the Dave Matthews Band. Miriam Makeba, a singer who first found fame in the anti-apartheid movie Come Back, Africa, Dudu Pukwana, a gifted jazz musician, and Abdullah Ibrahim (Dollar Brand), being on the wrong side of the colour bar, had to leave South Africa to fully exploit their talents — their music was not played on South African radio. Johnny Clegg's two groups Juluka and Savuka had huge cross-over appeal in the 1980s. His music is enjoying something of a revival; The alt-metal group Seether also features two prominent members of South African origin, guitarist and vocalist Shaun Morgan and bassist Dale Stewart and have received considerable play on mainstream radio and music television in the U.S. James Phillips was a prominent liberal rock musician of the 1980s.

Writers like Nadine Gordimer and J. M. Coetzee have also found international acclaim, both being winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature.

The infamous apartheid-era, Afrikaner bank robber and ex-Johannesburg police chief Andre Stander retained folklore status in South Africa since his death and has been the subject of several biographies and a 2004 feature film in the U.S. called Stander with American actor Thomas Jane portraying him. His last remaining accomplice Allan Heyl is almost as notorious and was released from prison in 2005. Director Bronwen Hughes interviewed him at length for research regarding the film.

[edit] Sport

[edit] Major sports

See also Sport in South Africa

Many Sports have a passionate following, although it remains largely divided on ethnic lines and is still largely seen (in the words of a former member of Women and Sport South Africa) as "the domain of men". In 1997, one writer described "massive gender inequalities in the sporting structures of the country, and a strong association between sport and masculinity". The most popular sport among black South African men is soccer, with the national team being nicknamed Bafana Bafana (meaning 'The Boys'). Soccer in the past has tended to be less segregated than white-dominated sports, like rugby union or cricket, though this is no longer the case.

Rugby union is one of the most popular sports in South Africa, which is especially popular among Afrikaners, the Springboks. The Springboks famously hosted and won the 1995 Rugby World Cup, it was their first appearance at the World Cup. The defeat of the All Blacks in the final is remembered as one of the most famous South African sporting moments. The domestic league - the Currie Cup is also played annually, as well as the international Super 14.

Cricket is traditionally popular among English-speaking whites.

After being tainted by associations with apartheid, the Springboks (or 'Boks') have sought to become part of the 'New South Africa', with President Nelson Mandela wearing the Springbok jersey, once only worn by whites, at the final of the 1995 Rugby World Cup.

The country has a number of disabled athletes, most notably the double amputee world record holder at 100m, 200m and 400m - Oscar Pistorius.

South Africa will be hosting the 2010 World Cup Tournament, the first soccer World Cup to be held in Africa.

[edit] Food

See also Cuisine of South Africa

The braai or barbecue is widely popular, especially with whites, and includes meat, especially boerewors or spicy sausages, and mielies (maize) or Mielie-meal, often as a porridge, or millet, a staple food of black South Africans. Pastries such like koeksusters and desserts like melktert (milk tart) are also universally popular. Vegetarianism is becoming widely accepted.

Another favourite among most South Africans is biltong, a form of dried meat usually made from beef or game, and often consumed while watching sporting events.

Indian food like curry is also popular, especially in Durban with its large Indian population. Another local Indian Durban speciality is the 'bunny' or bunny chow, which consists of a hollowed-out loaf of white bread filled with curry. Cape Malay dishes, which have their origins in Southeast Asia, include bobotie made from curried lamb, fruit and bread, served with rice, and sosatie, a type of barbecued meat. More recently, Pakistani and Indian restaurants have been opened in major cities by recent immigrants, and provide a more "authentic" South Asian dining experience.

The Portuguese community has also made its mark, with spicy peri-peri chicken being a favourite. The South African Portuguese-themed restaurant chain Nando's now has restaurants in the UK, Australia, Malaysia and Kenya.

[edit] TV and films

Television, which for political reasons was not introduced in South Africa until 1976, is also popular. Traditionally, U.S. programmes have dominated TV schedules. Programmes like The Bold and the Beautiful have been popular with South Africans of all races, but locally produced soap operas or 'soapies' now draw a large audience and are exported all over Africa. The SABC drama series Shaka Zulu, based on the true story of the Zulu warrior King Shaka, was shown around the world in the 1980s, but had to be marketed by a US distributor.

While many foreign films have been produced about South Africa (usually involving race relations), few local productions are known outside South Africa itself. One exception was the film The Gods Must Be Crazy in 1980, set in the Kalahari. This is about how life in a traditional community of Bushmen is changed when a Coke bottle, thrown out of an aeroplane, suddenly lands from the sky. The late Jamie Uys, who wrote and directed The Gods Must Be Crazy, also had success overseas in the 1970s with his films Funny People and Funny People II, similar to the TV series Candid Camera in the US. Leon Schuster's You Must Be Joking! films are in the same genre, and hugely popular among South Africans.

Other notable exceptions are the film Tsotsi, which won the Academy Award for Foreign Language Film at the 78th Academy Awards in 2006 as well as U-Carmen e-Khayelitsha, which won the Golden Bear at the 2005 Berlin International Film Festival.

In 2004, the New South African TV channel (NSAT) began broadcasting on Sky Digital in the UK, thereby reaching the large (predominantly white) expatriate community, showing a mix of South African entertainment, films, sport and news coverage.

[edit] See also

• South African Pop History: Dance
• Rugby union in South Africa

[edit] References

• Race, Gender and Sport in Post-Apartheid South Africa, Robert Chappell, 2005.
• South African government report on gender equality, Statistics SA 2002
• Gender Inequality and the Economy: Empowering Women in the New South Africa, by Zarina Maharaj

[edit] External links

• SA Rugby, the national governing body of Rugby Union.
• SA Football Association

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