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South Africa: Black South Africa
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South Africa is a federal republic. Until 1994 it was governed by the white minority with minimal mixed-race and Asian representation and virtually no black representation. In Apr., 1994, the country became a fully multiracial democracy, under an interim constitution; a permanent constitution was adopted in 1996. It provides for a strong central government headed by a president, who is elected by the National Assembly for a five-year term and serves as both the head of state and head of government. The bicameral Parliament consists of a 400-member National Assembly, which is elected by proportional representation, and a 90-seat National Council of Provinces, which is elected by the provincial legislatures. Legislators serve five-year terms.
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The most recent addition to the transport crisis in South Africa is that of the eNatis traffic and licensing system. Originally eNatis was thought to stand for "Electronic NAtional Trafic Information System". After the "successful" implementation of this system in Johannesburg and surrounding areas, the acronym has been changed to "Eish, Not Available Today, I'm Sorry". As a result of this "buying" vehicle licenses has not only become the preferred but now the only way to avoid traffic fines. Naturally the problem with this system has nothing to do with the government, only the largely government owned and controlled affiliate institutions (such as Telkom). eNatis was produced by a Black Economic Empowerment IT consortium at a cost of approximately fifteen billion rand, which - when revealed - caused great outrage amongst the (more than 3,000) tax payers in the country, as this sum exceeds the salary of the minister of transport, Mr. Jeffrey Thumsucka Radebe, by more than 50%.
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Black South Africa has always had rich indigenous dance traditions, but the European settlers who came to the area were less quick to establish their own. In Cape Town during the 19th century ballet masters and their pupils put on amateur productions which imitated the fashions of Europe, but no professional companies were established. In 1926 the Cape Town Dance Teachers Association was formed and Édouard Espinosa visited as its first examiner. In 1934 Dulcie Howes (returning from touring with Pavlova) started up the University of Cape Town School of Ballet and later the University of Cape Town Ballet company. In Johannesburg the Dancing Teachers Association, established in 1923, staged some performances and in the early 1940s other companies were formed including the Johannesburg Festival Ballet and the Pretoria Ballet Club. In 1947 Faith de Villiers and Joyce van Greems started a professional company, Ballet Theatre, which collaborated with UCT Ballet for its first programme.
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South Africa has 11 official languages. Most people other than rural black Africans speak English, although not many as a first language. Afrikaans is ... widely-spoken, especially by the white and coloured population. Often Afrikaans is incorrectly called 'afrikan' or 'african' by foreigners. Note this is very incorrect as 'African' for a South African corresponds with the native-african languages: Zulu, Xhosa, Pedi etc. (and, of course, there are thousands of languages in Africa so no single language can be called 'African') Afrikaans has roots in Dutch, so it can be understood by Dutch speakers and sometimes deciphered by German speakers.
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Until 1991, South African law divided the population into four major racial categories: Africans (black), whites, coloreds, and Asians. Although this law has been abolished, many South Africans still view themselves and each other according to these categories. Black Africans comprise about 79% of the population and are divided into a number of different ethnic groups. Whites comprise about 10% of the population. They are primarily descendants of Dutch, French, English, and German settlers who began arriving at the Cape of Good Hope in the late 17th century. Coloreds are mixed-race people primarily descending from the earliest settlers and the indigenous peoples.
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Stone, who was recently honored by leaders in the Eastern Cape as one of South Africa's leaders of black culture, is widely known for his work with dreadlocks, braids and plaits. He runs a business that makes hair products for natural hair and a school that teaches aspiring beauticians how to work with natural hair. He thinks natural hairstyles best showcase true African beauty and is convinced that the present consumer interest in the hairstyles is more than a passing trend.
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Black South Africa