Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • Free Essays • My Term Papers • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Economics The Republic of South Africa The Republic of South Africa The Republic of South Africa is located on the southern tip of the continent of Africa. It is slightly less than twice the size of Texas, about 1,223,201 square kilometers. Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Swaziland run from west to east along South Africa’s northern border. The country of Lesotho lies entirely within the borders of South Africa and is completely landlocked. The South Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean surround the southern coast. South Africa is divided into nine provinces: the Northern Province, Kwazulu/Natal, Mpumalanga, Gauteng, the North West Province, the Western Cape, the Northern Cape and the Eastern Cape. South Africa also has three capital cities: Pretoria serves as the administration capital; Cape Town serves as the legislative capital; and Bloemfontein serves as the judicial capital (CIA). South Africa was affected by colonialism like many other countries in Africa. After gaining independence from the British Commonwealth, the policy of apartheid was set up. Apartheid was a system of government that marginalized blacks by excluding them from full participation in the political and economic system. For example it determined where they could live, where they could work, and whom they could marry. Apartheid also affected the educational system and health care. With the collapse of apartheid during the 1990’s, President Nelson Mandela began setting the foundation for a new multiracial and more equal system of government. The first population census of the Union of South Africa was taken in 1911. One of the problems with this census was that it did not accurately count the black African population. The Population Registration Act of 1948 required all South Africans to be classified by race. In 1950, apartheid officially restricted black peoples to “homelands” that had no resources and was roughly 13 percent of the land and were excluded from the census. Another problem with the census measurements was that many black South Africans lived in “squatter camps” close to cities where they worked. They were not included in the census and many did not register births, deaths, marriages and divorces (Library of Congress, 48). In 1980, the census count was 23.8 million plus another 4.6 million was added to compensate for undercounting, making the total population 28.4 million. This also excluded the population of the independent homelands. The next census took place in 1991 during unprecedented political violence. The government used aerial photography for the first time to count the population where government officials couldn't access. A count of 30,986,920 citizens was reported. In 1992, the United Stated Bureau of the Census estimated that the total population of South Africa at 40.6 million people. In 1994, the South African government estimated it at 40.4 million after all ten homelands were included. That same year the United Stated Bureau of the Census estimated the total population at 43.9 million. In 1996 the population was estimated at 37,859,000, which is about 10 percent below the projections from earlier censuses. The South African Institute of Race Relations had also estimated that the population was 75.2 percent black, 13.6 percent white, 8.6 percent colored and 2.6 percent Asian (Library of Congress, 48). According to the Development Bank of South Africa, population growth declined from about 2.9 percent per year in the 1980’s to 2.4 percent in 1995. Today the population growth rate is estimated at 1.32 percent. Population growth was about 2.6 percent for blacks, 2.2 percent for coloreds, 1.9 percent for Asians and 1.0 percent for whites. The government estimates that by the year 2025 the population will have doubled. Life expectancy at birth was 62.7 years for males and 68.3 years for females in 1996. They both have lowered in 1999 to 52.68 years for males and 56.9 years for females. Life expectancy also varies by race. Life expectancy for black males was about nine years less than white males. According to the South African Central Statistical Service, 50.5 percent of the population is female and 49.5 percent is male. The gender ratio had been skewed because in some rural areas and homelands men were often drawn to the urban areas for work. The fertility rate went from 5.6 live births to an adult female in 1985 to 4.1 in 1995 and to 3.09 in 1999. The official estimate of the birth rate was at 27.1 live births per 1,000 people in 1995 to 25.94 in 1999. In the early 1990’s, 12 percent of all births were to women aged nineteen or younger. The infant mortality rate was at 45.8 deaths within the first year, per 1,000 births in 1995 to 51.99 in 1999. The average annual death rate has gone up from 7.6 per 1,000 in 1995 to 12.81 in 1999. In 1995, the population density averaged about 34.4 persons per square kilometer. The eastern half of the country is more densely populated than the western half because of the arid climate in the west and the concentration of minerals in the east. Until 1994, the most densely populated areas were the homelands where there was roughly 300 or more people per square kilometer. Black South Africans also formed a majority in all provinces except the in the Western Cape, where they made up only 20 percent. The cities were predominantly white while the townships or squatter areas were overwhelmingly black. As apartheid-related laws were rescinded or ignored during the mid 1990’s, the racial make up of the cities began to change (Library of Congress, 48). Today South Africa’s population in general enjoys good health, compared with other African countries. During apartheid the superior care was available to the wealthy urban residents, who were white, and the inferior services were available to the poor, who were black. This began to change as apartheid was being dismantled in the early 1990’s. In 1994, the Reconstruction and Development Programme set aside R14 million (rand) for improvements in health care. Tuberculosis is the most prevalent disease reported to health officials during the 1990’s. It was probably introduced by European settlers during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. About 90 percent of tuberculosis cases reported after 1970 were among blacks. Among the causes were overcrowding in urban housing projects and many tuberculosis patients didn’t continue treatment long enough. More than 6,000 people died of tuberculosis in the early 1990’s and more than 47,800 new cases were reported in 1994. Malaria is ranked second among reported disease and affects whites less than other racial groups. During the 1970’s and 1980’s there were 40.5 cases per 10,000 among blacks, Asians, and people of mixed races. In 1994, health officials reported 4,194 cases of malaria nationwide. Some of the causes were from the banning of an insecticide called DDT and that mosquitoes became resistant to insecticides. Most other diseases decreased between 1970 and 1990. Infectious and parasitic diseases cause roughly 12 percent of all deaths among blacks and 2 percent among whites. Health officials attribute the high incidence of infectious diseases in poor areas to the lack of clean water and sewage disposal systems. Heart disease and cancer affect whites more than other racial groups in South Africa. Heart disease accounts for about 38 percent of all deaths and only 13 percent among blacks. Cancerous tumors are responsible for 18 percent of deaths among whites and only 8 percent among blacks (Library of Congress, 69). Although the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases has declined in South Africa during the past 30 years, the rate of infection has increased. The most prevalent diseases are Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). South Africa’s first reported death from AIDS occurred in 1982. In 1985, health officials began testing blood to prevent AIDS transmission through transfusion. By 1991, 613 cases of AIDS had been reported nationwide and 270 people had died from the disease. The South African Institute of Medical Research had estimated that 15,000 people were infected with HIV. The World Health Organization reported 1,234 cases of AIDS in South Africa in 1992. The number of AIDS cases reached 10,351 in 1996. Some health researchers had estimated that between 800,000 and one million South Africans were HIV positive and the rate of infection was likely to double every year. These figures suggest that there would be between four and eight million people with HIV by the year 2000 and more than one million deaths from AIDS in the next century. Some officials were more concerned about the incidence of tuberculosis than AIDS because tuberculosis caused about 36 deaths each day, while AIDS on average caused less than one per day. Before 1990, apartheid was practiced in most hospitals. Some admitted patients of one racial group only, and others designated operating rooms and special care facilities for patients of certain racial group. A very few medical personnel ignored apartheid-related restrictions, especially in emergency rooms and public clinics. Today the racial distinctions are disappearing, but the wealthy still has easier access to better health care services. South Africa’s health care facilities include hospitals, community health care centers, clinics, poison control centers, ambulance service, air rescue services, senior citizen homes, child assistance phone services, rape crisis centers, and suicide prevention programs. The South African Red Cross runs most of these facilities. Seven universities have medical schools and six provide dental training. Nurses are trained at several universities, hospitals, and nursing schools. More than 300 hospitals are managed by the government and only 255 are privately operated. There are about 108,000 hospital beds nationwide and almost 24,800 beds in psychiatric hospitals. In 1995, about 25,600 doctors and 24,500 health professionals, 160,000 nurses and more than 5,100 dentists and dental specialists were registered with the South African Medical and Dental Council and the South African Nursing Council. In the early 1990’s, only about 1,500 doctors, nationwide were black. Wealthy white areas averaged one doctor per 1,200 people and the poorest black homelands had one doctor for 13,000 people. One of the government’s highest priorities in the mid 1990’s was the prevention of childhood death and disease through nationwide immunization programs. Some of these health problems were malnutrition, starvation, tetanus, measles, malaria, and other communicable diseases. One of Nelson Mandela’s first actions after assuming office in May 1994 was to implement a program for free health care for children under the age of six. By 1996, officials estimated that at least 75 percent of all infants had been immunized against polio and measles. Minister of Health Nkosazana Zuma stated in December 1994 that only 20 percent of South Africans had some form of health insurance. The government plans to institute a program of free universal primary health care (Library of Congress, 70). In 1993, President Frederick W. De Klerk stressed the need for a non-racial school system that would allow communities to preserve their religious and cultural values and their home language. The government also set aside 23.5 percent of the national budget for education for that year. When the new school year began in 1993, all government-run primary and secondary schools were officially integrated. More than 11 million pupils were enrolled. The number of teachers was 344,083, of whom 226,900 were black (Library of Congress, 67). As of the mid 1990’s, South Africa has 21 major universities which are government financed and open to students of all races. Secondary school graduates can attend one of 15 technikons, 128 technical colleges, and 70 teacher training colleges. Students in universities and teacher training colleges numbered 362,000 in 1994 with 14,460 academic staff members. At technical colleges, students numbered 191,087 with a teaching staff of 5,532. Each university sets its own tuition costs and receives government funding based on student-faculty ratios and tuition receipts (Library of Congress, 68). Today South Africa is a middle income, developing country with an abundant supply of resources; well-developed financial, legal, communications, energy, and transport sectors; a stock exchange that rank among the ten largest in the world; and a modern infrastructure that supports an efficient distribution of goods to major urban centers throughout the region (“Introduction: Economic Profile," 1999). The World Bank Group reports that South Africa has a gross national product of 120.2 billion in U.S. dollars and per capita of $2,880. Although South Africa has the highest GNP in southern Africa, only 13 percent of the population (about 5.4 million people) lives in “first world” conditions and 53 percent of the population (about 22 million people) live in “third world” conditions. Only one-fourth of these households have access to electricity and running water; only half have a primary school education; and more than a third of the children suffer from malnutrition. In 1998 it was estimated that South Africa had a GDP of $290.6 billion. Among the sectors that contribute to South Africa’s GDP are the mining, industry, agriculture, and service sectors. The lowest 10 percent receive 1.4 percent of the household income and the highest 10 percent receive 47.3 percent. In 1997, the active labor force was estimated at 15 million people. Of the types of jobs held, 35 percent were in services, 30 percent in agriculture, 20 percent in industry, 9 percent in mining, and 6 percent in other occupations. In 1998, the unemployment rate was estimated at 32.6 percent in 1995. The industry sector contributes about 32 percent of the GDP and manufactures a wide variety of consumer goods which include, food and beverage products, textiles, footwear and clothing, metal products and machinery, iron and steel, electric machinery, motor vehicles and motor vehicle parts, fertilizers, and wood and paper products. South Africa’s advanced industrial sector has made it the twenty-fifth largest economy in the world. South Africa produced more than one-third of Africa’s goods and services and nearly 40 percent of its manufacturing output (“Introduction: Economic Profile," 1999). There is also some special interest in the industry sector in computer equipment and software, health care technology, and franchising. South Africa’s computer market was valued at close to $1 billion in 1994 and is changing its focus from mainframes to personal computers and PC-based networks. It is also boosting demand for laptop and notebook computers and peripheral equipment such as printers, storage, and other add-on hardware. The information services are estimated at $500 million and are growing rapidly at 16 percent annually. More than $250 million per year is made by producing medical equipment and medical products and has an annual growth rate of 5 percent. There are approximately 90 franchisers currently in South Africa today. The largest is the fast food industry, followed by automobile servicing, educational training, hair care salons, and industrial cleaning services (Library of Congress, 90). South Africa South Africa also has a dual agriculture sector. The well-developed commercial sector and the predominantly rural subsistence oriented sector. Farming conditions in South Africa are not ideal because only about 11.4 percent of the land is suitable for agriculture. Rainfall is unreliable so irrigation farming has become vital to the agricultural industry. The area is also subject to changing weather conditions such as severe recurring droughts followed by devastating floods. Although the farming conditions aren’t ideal without the aid of irrigation, R8, 452,000 worth of food was exported in 1995. This represented 9.15 percent of the country’s total exports. Agriculture has contributed about 20 percent of the GDP in the 1930’s to 11.1 percent in the 1960’s to 4.3 percent in 1995. In May 1995, there were also 70,000 small farmers and 500,000 subsistence farmers in the country. Despite this decline in the agricultural industry’s contribution to GDP, it remains essential to South Africa’s growing economy (“Agricultural Economy,” 1999). Agricultural activities range from intensive crop production and mixed farming to cattle and sheep farming. Some important products produced are beef, sugar cane, eggs, flowers, mohair, pig-rearing, corn, wheat, potatoes, tobacco, wool, peanuts, sunflower seeds, beans, soybeans, poultry, milk, fruits and vegetables. South Africa’s most important crops are cereals and grains, which occupy 60 percent of the land under cultivation during the 1990’s. Corn is the country’s most important crop because it is a dietary staple, a source of livestock feed, and an export crop. Sugarcane is also an important export crop, making South Africa the world’s tenth largest sugar producer. Wheat production varies widely; 2.1 million tons were produced in 1991 and only 1.3 million tons in 1992 (Library of Congress, 88). The livestock sector produces about 900,000 tons of red meat each year. Poultry and pig farms produced about 500,000 tons in 1994. Ostrich raising is also growing and produces plumes, skins, and meat. Wool is an important export, which made South Africa the fourth largest exporter of wool in the late 1940’s and today it is still among the top ten with 100,000 tons per year. Dairy farming is also found throughout the country (Library of Congress, 89). South Africa’s economy had been shaped over several centuries by its ample natural resources. For most of the twentieth century, South Africa’s mineral wealth had surpassed that of almost any other country in the world, except the Soviet Union. South Africa produced nearly half of the world’s gold and ranked among the top ten producers of a dozen other valuable minerals, including diamonds and copper. The mining industry created the foundation for the strongest economy on the continent. The only thing South Africa doesn’t have, is oil, and as a result, it has relied on its coal deposits and importing oil for its industrial needs. It is also ranked high among producers and exporters of coal, iron ore, uranium, silver, fluorspar, asbestos, limestone, antimony, phosphates, lead, zinc, vermiculite, chromium, vanadium, platinum, manganese, titanium, alumino-silicates, ferrochromium, nickel, granite, and zirconium. The mineworkers’ association called the South African Chamber of Mines currently includes 36 gold mines, 22 coal mines, and 16 diamond, platinum, antimony, asbestos, manganese, lead, and copper mines in South Africa (“Mineral Wealth,” 1999). The mining industry contributed nearly 15 percent of GDP during the 1980’s and has gone down to about 9.6 percent in the mid 1990’s. The mining sector has been gradually surpassed in terms of national output and labor force participation by the manufacturing and financial services, but the mines still account for a greater share of export revenues than any other economic activity in South Africa during the 1990’s. Mineral sales were worth R56,874,000 in 1995. About 80 percent of all mineral production is exported to more than 80 other countries. Mineral export sales accounted for 48.1 percent of total export revenue (CIA). In 1994, the United States Department of Commerce identified South Africa as one of the world’s top ten “Big Emerging Markets” (BEM) because of its enormous potential for U.S. business. South Africa was chosen as a BEM for the following reasons:  It is the most productive and advanced economy in Africa, with a GDP nearly three times that of Egypt, its nearest competitor on the continent.  Its 1994 annual growth rate of 2.3 percent indicated that the economy is responding positively to the economic policies of the new government.  It is the gateway to the southern African region. It has well-developed transportation and communications infrastructure support and efficient distribution of imported goods to major urban centers throughout the region.  It accounts for approximately 75 percent of GDP for the southern African region and 45 percent for the entire African continent.  It has a diversified economy, with manufacturing representing the largest sector of the economy, contributing 26 percent of GDP, followed by finance and business services with 16 percent, commerce with 13 percent, mining with 11 percent, and agriculture with 6 percent.  It is opening its markets to foreign investment. It has begun to implement tariff reductions in selected industries (such as textiles and automobiles) and to terminate past protective policies. Import surcharges on capital goods have been eliminated and foreign investors are allowed to have 100 percent ownership. The U.S. Department of Commerce has also identified the following areas ripe for foreign investment: aircraft and aircraft parts, industrial chemicals, computers and peripherals, computer software, drugs and pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, airport and ground support equipment, franchising, metalworking machinery, and telecommunications (“South Africa: ‘Big Emerging Market’,” 1999). For more than 40 years the policy of apartheid had oppressed South Africa’s majority black and nonwhites. With the end of apartheid, the South African government has made moderate changes to its domestic and foreign policies to form a non-racial, free, democratic society and to open up its markets to the global economy. Today a new South Africa is being created by building the future from an imperfect past. Bibliography: BIBLIOGRAPHY Wekesser, Carol, ed. Africa: Opposing Viewpoints, San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 1992. Lonely Planet, “ South Africa,” (October 25, 1999). “Standard Corporate and Merchant Bank - Internal Business Centre Trading Profile: South Africa,” , (October 25,1999). Library of Congress, “South Africa-A Country Study,”, (October 25,1999). The World Bank Group, “Countries: South Africa,” , (September 29,1999). “Agricultural Economy,” , (October 25,1999). “Mineral Wealth,” , (October 25,1999). “Introduction: Economic Profile,” , (October 25,1999). CIA, The World Factbook 1999, “South Africa, ” (October 25,1999). Bureau of African Affairs, Africa : Macroeconomic Overview,” , March 27, 1998. “The Living Africa,”, (October 25,1999). MBendi, “Africa-Continent of Opportunities,” ,(October 25,1999). MBendi, “Africa-Outlook for 1999,” , (October 25,1999). Word Count: 3420
Copyright © 1998-2008 College Term Papers, INC All Rights Reserved. DMCA Notifications and Requests