South African History 101

“History doesn't happen by spontaneous combustion” - Heather from my trip

Our lecture series is over until after we return from our trip around South Africa and Botswana. I thought I would treat you all with a little bit of what I've learned about South Africa that I didn't discuss in the previous blogs.

We finally ironed out the history of all the people in South Africa today...our program director, Rich, gave a short lecture on what we all were lacking in the readings(of those I did...) and in the lectures (which, you know, have been about as amazing as finding a bathroom with no toilet paper). He broke down the different ethic groups within the country and their history.

The first people to inhabit the Cape were the Khoisan. San is a word that is used to describe a native person, but according to one of our lecturers, it is a very derogatory word. Like many natives in many different cultures, surprise, surprise, they were kicked off their land by new settlers and treated badly. Their population today in South Africa is minute.

Next were the Bantu people or the traditional “Africans”. They make up 75% of the current population; the most dominant groups of Bantu are the Xhosa, Zulu and Sotho. There are nine different tribal languages. These are the languages with the 5 clicks...which I still need to learn how to do. The Bantu speakers arrived over 1000 yrs ago, and their tools and materials were superior to the Khoisan so naturally, the Khoisan were forced out and moved westward.

Next came the European population with the Dutch arriving in 1652. The Europeans make up 12% of the population and are Afrikaans (more about that later) and English speakers. Of the population, 2/3 of it is Afrikaans speakers, while the remaining 1/3 are English speakers. Many Afrikaner speakers also speak English. The Afrikaners became the dominant political group around 1948 and their Nationalist Party ushered in the Apartheid. The Afrikaans language is interesting – it started out as Dutch, as they were mainly Dutch immigrants. It then transitioned to the Afrikaans language over 150 years where it picked up African grammar, paired with Dutch words. Interesting linguistic history. Must learn more! There was, of course, conflict between the Afrikaners (Dutch immigrants) and English. Eventually, the Dutch left the cape and were pushed East and West.

The next group is the colored population. This group has a hold of about 10% of the total population and is a mix of African, South East Asian, and Dutch/English. This is the dominant group in the Cape area. Generally speaking, the mother tongue of the colored population is Afrikaans, however, many also speak English. The term “colored” does not have the negative connotation that it has in America.

Last is the Asian population making up about 3% of the population. Asian includes immigrants from India and Pakistan. This group is centered around the Durban area up the eastern coast. I'll be visiting there in a about a week and a half.

That's by no means exhaustive nor comprehensive, but it does give it a bit of a context...and I definitely needed it... So that's the interesting SA history that I finally sorted out....so now I want to leave you with some other startling facts/quotes I came upon...

South Africa has 40% of the GNP of Sub-Sahara Africa...

The literacy rate in South Africa is ONLY 36 %...yes, 36%..chew on that.

25% of South Africans are officially employed (in what you would consider a “normal” job or profession). 60% have an informal employment (selling crafts, etc).

As far as education is concerned: 2.8 of 6.8 million youth (aged 18-24) have left school or are unemployed/unenrolled.

Of the African (black) population, only 12% go to University, and of that 12%, only 5% graduate...

And for a teacher in South Africa...their monthly pay BEFORE deductions is about 10,000-12,000 Rand/month. That translates to about 1200 a month.... pretty meager, even for a a first year teacher. Teachers in SA do not get the same respect American teachers get (sometimes I feel that respect is lacking....), but the US situation is far superior to anything here in the Cape.

It's all just mind boggling....

And to end, our prof yesterday left us with this quote: “The monster of the Apartheid could come and go in a lifetime...” But what about the consequences.....?

More later...highlight of today was meeting a rapper. Yep...a South African rapper who starred on South Africa's version of Dancing with the Stars. More later!!

Peace!!