About South Africa

General Information    

Geography and Climate
The Republic of South Africa, the southernmost country on the African continent, covers an area about five times the size of Britain, or some 1 100 000 square kilometres. It has an extensive coastline, stretching for 3 000 kilometres, with the Atlantic Ocean on the west and the Indian Ocean on the east. Its long northern boundary borders Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Swaziland and Mozambique. The Kingdom of Lesotho is physically enclosed within South Africa.

Although geographically diverse, there are two broad physical regions – a great interior plateau ringed by steep mountain ranges and a relatively narrow coastal region. Vegetation varies from deserts and semi-deserts to bushveld, grasslands and scattered forests in low-lying regions.

The climate is temperate except for the south-western tip, which has a Mediterranean climate. The average number of daylight hours varies from 7.5 to 9.4, depending on the region, compared with New York's 6.9 and London's 3.8. Annual rainfall is comparatively low, averaging about 464 millimetres compared with a global average of 857 millimetres, and decreases from east to west. There are only a few naturally perennial rivers and no navigable rivers. Water conservation is accordingly a priority. Several large water projects harness the flow of rivers for agricultural and urban/industrial purposes or for the generation of hydroelectric power.

The country has a wealth of mineral resources. South Africa ranks amongst the leading countries with known reserves of chromium, fluorspar, gold, manganese and vanadium, platinum group metals, iron ore, diamonds, uranium, antimony and asbestos.

Population and Languages
The population as at October 2001 was approximately 44,8 million – an increase of 10% from 1996. There are eleven official languages, of which isiZulu, isiXhosa and Afrikaans are the most spoken languages, although English is the most commonly used language in business and Government.

Constitution
South Africa is a unitary state with characteristics of a federal system in that it has nine provinces. Some of the most significant features of the South African Constitution are summarised below.

Franchise
Every South African citizen over the age of eighteen years is entitled to vote.

Fundamental rights and their protection
The Constitution sets out in a Bill of Rights a number of fundamental rights and freedoms, including the right to equal treatment and freedom from discrimination, the protection of property rights and the freedoms of expression, association, religion, belief and opinion. These fundamental rights and freedoms are however not absolute, and the Constitution provides for their limitation in terms of law of general application to the extent that the limitation is reasonable and justifiable in an open and democratic society based on human dignity, equality and freedom, taking into account all relevant factors.

A Constitutional Court was established in terms of the Constitution. The Constitutional Court has the final power to decide disputes regarding the Constitution and breaches of fundamental rights and freedoms, although other courts may also grant constitutional relief. Only the Constitutional Court may strike down legislation which contravenes the Constitution, and should a High Court invalidate provincial or parliamentary legislation, the order of invalidity must be confirmed by the Constitutional Court before it has any effect.

Parliament
Legislative authority vests in a parliament consisting of two houses. The National Assembly consists of 400 members elected under a proportional representation system. The National Council of Provinces is composed of ten members from each of the nine provinces, who are elected by members of the provincial legislatures.

Executive power
Executive power vests in the Cabinet consisting of a President (elected by the National Assembly) and members appointed by the President, namely one Deputy President and several Ministers responsible for individual portfolios.

Provincial government
Each of the nine provinces has a provincial legislature which is elected by residents of the province on a proportional representation basis. Executive power in each province vests in the Premier, who works with an Executive Council appointed by him. The Constitution contains a schedule of matters over which the provincial legislatures have exclusive competence or concurrent competence with the National Government. There are accordingly significant elements of a federal system in South Africa's Governmental structure.

Local governments
Local governments have been established through democratic election by residents of particular areas. The most recent local government elections took place in December 2000.

South African Reserve Bank
The South African Reserve Bank is the central bank of South Africa. It is regulated by its own statute and is independent of the Government.

Continuation of existing laws
Laws in force prior to the commencement of the Constitution will continue in force, subject to the provisions of the Constitution, until repealed or amended by a competent authority. If they are inconsistent with the Constitution, the Constitution will prevail.

Entry Visas and Work Permits
A foreigner travelling to South Africa can obtain a visitor's or a business visa. Visitors from most countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the United States of America, may visit South Africa for bona fide holiday or business purposes, usually for a limited period of three months, without needing to obtain a visa prior to travelling to South Africa. Citizens of such countries can obtain a visitor's or business visa on arrival at the South African point of entry. Neither a business nor a visitor's visa entitles the holder to take up employment in South Africa – a work permit is required.

The Department of Home Affairs, which has local offices in all the major cities, administers the issuing of work permits and matters relating to residence in general. The Department has laid down very strict guidelines and procedures for the granting of work permits.

The basis for the Department's policy is the assumption that employment opportunities for skilled and unskilled workers in South Africa are limited and there is consequently no special drive to attract foreign workers to South Africa. The decisive factor in the Department's consideration of an application for a work permit is whether or not a South African citizen or permanent resident is available or can be trained to fill the position applied for by the applicant. If so, the Department is unlikely to grant the work permit. The Department does however readily grant work permits to key personnel (for example a CEO, managing or financial director or specialised technical personnel) of foreign companies investing in South Africa.

An applicant must submit the prescribed work permit application form to the South African Diplomatic Mission in or nearest to his/her country of residence (together with the supporting documentation specified in that form) before travelling to South Africa. Applications may not be submitted in South Africa.

The Department may require a cash deposit or bank guarantee from the applicant as security against the non-compliance by the applicant with his/her work permit. The fee for each work permit application is about US$186 and generally takes eight to twelve weeks. Applications for key personnel however generally take about two weeks.

Expatriates working in South Africa on a contract basis are free to remit remuneration to their country of origin and such expatriates are not subject to South African exchange control restrictions unless they choose to take up temporary or permanent residence in the country.

A new Immigration Act was promulgated in 2002. It presently provides for a quota system for work permits. However the Act has been widely criticised (even within Government circles) and amendments are expected which include a reconsideration of the quota system.