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#CARD:South Africa:Background Notes
US DEPARTMENT OF STATE BACKGROUND NOTES: SOUTH AFRICA

March 1990
Official Name:  Republic of South Africa

PROFILE
Geography
Area: 1,233,404 sq. km.(472,359 sq. mi.), including the enclave of
Walvis Bay in Namibia; (almost twice the size of Texas). Capitals
(population from the 1985 South African Government census):
Administrative-Pretoria (850,000). Cape Town (1.9 million),
Judicial-Bloemfontein (232,000).  Other cities-Johannesburg (1.7
million), Soweto (est. 2 million),  Durban (1 million). Terrain:
Plateau, savanna, desert, mountains, coastal plains. Climate: Moderate.

People
Nationality:  Noun and adjective-South African(s).  Population: 37.5
million (1988 estimate).  Ethnic groups:  African (black) 28 million;
white 5.4 million (Afrikaners 2.9 million; English-speaking and others
2.5 million); "colored" (mixed-race) 3.2 million; Asian (Indian) 1
million.  Annual growth rate:  overall 2.3%;  African 2.5%; white 0.85%;
"colored" 2.4%; Asian 1.89%.  Languages: English and Afrikaans
(official) , Zulu, Xhosa, North and South seSotho, seTswana, others.
Religions:  predominantly Christian;  traditional African, Hindu,
Muslim,  Jewish.  Education:  Years compulsory-white and "colored" from
ages 7-16; Asian from ages 7-15; being introduced incrementally for
blacks.  Health:  Infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births (range of
official and unofficial estimates, 1985)-overall 66.4; black 40-124
(wide variation reflects urban/ rural differences); white 9-12;
"colored" 29.51; Asian 12.18.  Life expectancy (U.S. Census Bureau,
1987)-overall 60.7 yrs.; black 58.6 yrs; white 71.9 yrs.; "colored" 60.8
yrs.; Asian 67.0 yrs.  Work force (11 million):  agriculture 25%;
manufacturing and commerce 32%; services 34.5%; mining 8.5%.

Government
Type:  Executive-president; under the 1984 constitution, tricameral
Parliament with one chamber each for whites, "coloreds," and Asians.
Independence:  The Union of South Africa was created on May 31, 1910;
became sovereign state within British Empire in 1934; became a republic
on May 31, 1961; left the British Commonwealth in October 1961.
Branches:  Executive-state president (chief of state) elected to a
5-year term subject to removal by majority vote of each of the three
Houses.  Legislative-tricameral Parliament consisting of 308 members in
three chambers elected by, respectively, the white, "colored," and Asian
electorates on separate voters' rolls. House of Assembly (white) 166
members elected directly for maximum 5-year term, four members nominated
by the president, eight indirectly elected by the chamber; House of
Representatives ("colored") 80 directly elected members, two members
nominated by the president, and three indirectly elected by the chamber;
House of Delegates (Asian) 40 members directly elected, two nominated by
the president and three indirectly elected by the chamber. President's
Council: 60 members, 25 appointed by the president, 20 elected by the
House of Assembly, 10 elected by the House of Representatives and five
elected by the House of Delegates. Members serve during term of
parliament.  Judicial-Supreme Court consisting of Appellate Division in
Bloemfontein and four provincial divisions.

Administrative subdivisions:  Provincial governments of the Transvaal,
Orange Free State, Cape of Good Hope, and Natal; 10 separate
"homelands," which the government has designated for Africans.  Four
are regarded as independent by South Africa but not  by any other
government.

Political parties:  White-National Party, Conservative Party, Democratic
Party (merger of Progressive Federal Party, Independent Party, and
National Democratic Movement).  "Colored"-Labour Party, Freedom Party,
People's Progressive Party, Reformed Freedom Party, New Convention
People's Party.  Asian-National People's Party, Solidarity, Progressive
Independent Party, National Federal Party, National Democratic Party.
Suffrage: Adult whites, "coloreds," and Asians 18 and older.
Central government budget  (FY 1989-90): Rand 46.32 billion (1
rand=about US$.38)
Defense (FY 1989-90): Rand 8.7 billion.
Fiscal year:  April 1- March 31.
Flag: Three horizontal bands-orange, white, and blue from top to bottom
with the Union Jack and the flags of the two former Boer Republics (the
Orange Free State and the Transvaal Republic) reproduced in miniature
and centered on a white band.

Economy
GDP (1988): $83.5 billion.  GDP growth rate (1988): 3.2% . GDP per
capita (1988): $2,256.  Government spending (1986): 18.8% of GDP.
Inflation (1988): About 12.5%.  Unemployment (1988): Estimated 25%-30%
for blacks; less than 2% for whites.
Natural resources:  Almost all essential commodities, except petroleum.
Agriculture (1988):  About 6% of GNP.  Products-corn, wool, dairy
products, wheat, sugar cane, tobacco, citrus fruits, wine.  Cultivated
land-12%.  Mining (1988):  About 13% of GDP.
Manufacturing (1988):   About 24% of GNP.
Industry:  Types-minerals, automobiles, fabricated material, machinery,
textiles, chemicals, fertilizer.
Trade:  Exports (1988)-f.o.b. $20.9 billion:   gold, platinum group
metals, ferrochromium, uranium compounds, diamonds, coal, agricultural
products.  Major markets-Japan,  West Germany., UK., US,  Switzerland.
Imports (1988)-f.o.b. $14.3 billion: machinery, mining equipment,
transportation equipment, computers, aircraft parts, rice, and office
machinery parts.  Major suppliers-Japan, West Germany, United Kingdom.
Official exchange rate (May 1989): Financial rand exchange rate (1
rand/$US: 0.23; commercial rand exchange rate (1 rand/$US): 0.38.

Membership in International Organizations
 UN and many of its specialized and related agencies, including the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the General Agreement on Tariffs
and Trade (GATT); INTELSAT; International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
(South Africa's voting rights in the UN General Assembly have been
suspended since 1974.)

GEOGRAPHY
 The Republic of South Africa lies at the southern tip of the African
continent.  The independent country of Lesotho is an enclave situated
within the east-central part of South Africa.
 South Africa has a narrow coastal zone and an extensive interior
plateau with altitudes ranging from 1,000 to 2,000 meters (3,000-6,000
ft.) above sea level.  South Africa lacks important arterial rivers or
lakes, so extensive water conservation and control are necessary.  The
coastline is about 4,300 kilometers (2,700 mi.) long.
 South Africa's climate is generally moderate, with sunny days and cool
nights.  The seasons are reversed from those in the northern hemisphere.
 The average mean temperature is remarkably uniform, with the most
southerly point, near Cape Town, having a mean yearly temperature of
16.50C (61.8 0F), while Johannesburg, about 1,600 kilometers (1,000 mi.)
to the northeast and 1,700 meters (5,700 ft.) higher, has an annual mean
temperature of 16 0C (60.80F).  Mean annual precipitation ranges from
less than 12.7 centimeters (5 in.) along the west coast to 102
centimeters (40 in.) or more in the east.

PEOPLE
 South African law divides the population into four major racial
categories: Africans (blacks), whites, "coloreds," and Asians.  The
Africans (72% of the population) are mainly descendants of the Sotho and
Nguni peoples who migrated southward centuries ago.  The largest African
ethnic groups, according to 1980 estimates, are Zulu (6 million) and
Xhosa (5.8 million).  Africans are officially subdivided into 10 groups
corresponding to the 10 ethnically based, government-created "homelands"
(sometimes called "national states" by South Africa).
 Whites are primarily descendants of Dutch, French, English, and German
settlers, with smaller admixtures of other European peoples, and
constitute about 14% of the population.
 "Coloreds" are mostly descendants of indigenous peoples and the
earliest European and Malay settlers in the area.  "Coloreds" comprise
9% of the population and live primarily in Cape Province.
 Asians are mainly descendants of the Indian workers brought to South
Africa in the mid-19th century to work as indentured laborers on sugar
estates in Natal.  They constitute about 3% of the population.
 Of South Africa's 15 residential universities, 10 are designated for
whites (6 Afrikaans-speaking and 4 English-speaking), 4 for blacks, and
1 each for "coloreds" and Asians.  Africans also have a medical
university.  Increasing numbers of blacks are now admitted to white
universities.  The government has the legal power to impose quotas, and
as it underwrites 75%-80% of university costs, has the leverage to
withhold money to force universities to follow government standards and
regulations.  The four English-speaking universities for whites and the
one university for "coloreds" are seeking to integrate.  The student
body at these "open" or integrated universities is 17% nonwhite overall
(i.e., African, "colored", Asian), with an estimated 25% at the
University of Cape Town in 1988.  The University of South Africa
conducts correspondence courses for some 86,000 students of all races.
The literacy rate (15 years and older) for the various groups has been
estimated at: 98% for whites, 50% for Africans, 75% for "coloreds," and
85% for Asians.

HISTORY
 People have lived in southern Africa for thousands of years.  Of the
present inhabitants, the earliest are Bushmen and Hottentots-members of
the Khoisan language group, of whom only a few survive.
 Members of the Bantu language group, to which most of the present-day
blacks of South Africa belong, migrated slowly southward from central
Africa and began to enter the Transvaal region sometime before 100 AD.
The Nguni, ancestors of the Zulus and Xhosas, had occupied most of the
east coast by 1500.
 The Portuguese were the first Europeans to reach the Cape of Good Hope,
in 1488.  Permanent white settlement began when the Dutch East India
Company established a provisioning station there in 1652.  In subsequent
decades, French Huguenot refugees, Dutch, and Germans settled in the
Cape area to form the Afrikaner segment of the modern population.  By
the end of the 18th century, European settlement had extended through
the southern part of the Cape westward to the Great Fish River, where
the whites first came into conflict with the Xhosa branch of the Nguni.
 Britain seized the Cape of Good Hope at the end of the 18th century.
Subsequent British settlement and rule marked the beginning of a long
conflict between Afrikaner and English.  Partly to escape British
political rule and cultural hegemony, many Afrikaner farmers (Boers)
undertook a northern migration (the "Great Trek") beginning in 1836.
This movement brought them into contact with several African groups, the
most formidable of which were the Zulus.  Under their powerful leader,
Shaka (1787-1828), the Zulus conquered most of the territory between the
Drakensberg Mountains and the sea (now Natal).  At the Battle of Blood
River in 1838, the whites defeated the Zulus and weakened their power.
The Zulus remained a potent force in northern Natal until 1879, when,
after an initial Zulu victory, British troops destroyed Zulu military
power and occupied Zululand.
 Independent Boer republics of the Transvaal (the South African
Republic) and the Orange Free State were created in 1852 and 1854.
Relations between these republics and the British Government continued
to be strained.  The famous diamond strike at Kimberley in 1870 and, 16
years later, the discovery of extensive gold deposits in the
Witwatersrand region of the Transvaal prompted an influx of European
(mainly British) investment and immigrants.  The Boer reaction to this
flood and to British political intrigues against the two republics led
to the two Boer wars in 1880-1881 and 1899-1902.  In the second
struggle, British forces conquered the Boer republics and incorporated
them into the British Empire.  The two former republics and the two
British colonies of the Cape and Natal were joined on May 31, 1910, to
form the Union of South Africa, a dominion of the British Empire.
Whites controlled most domestic matters.  In 1934, under the Statute of
Westminster, the Union achieved status as a sovereign state within the
British Empire.
 Conflict between Afrikaners and English-speaking groups continued to
influence political developments.  A strong resurgence of Afrikaner
nationalism in the 1940s and 1950s led to a decision, through a 1960
referendum among whites, to give up dominion status and establish a
republic.  The republic was established on May 31, 1961.  In October
1961, South Africa withdrew its application for continued membership in
the Commonwealth.
 In 1983, whites approved by 66% of the vote a new constitution
containing limited power sharing with "coloreds" and Asians.  Elections
for the "colored" and the Asian Houses of Parliament took place in
August 1984.  The new constitution was promulgated on September 3, 1984.

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS
 When the Union of South Africa was established, the former Boer
republics and the principal British colony wanted their
capitals-Pretoria, Bloemfontein, and Cape Town-to be selected as the
capital of the new Union.  They compromised by making Pretoria the
administrative capital, Cape Town the legislative capital, and
Bloemfontein the judicial capital.
 The Union's successor, the Republic of South Africa, has opted for a
unique combination of a strong presidential system and a tricameral
parliament.  Ultimate power in South Africa today is increasingly
"extraparliamentary" in nature and rests to a substantial degree with
the State President, his advisory council, members of his cabinet, and
the security/defense establishment.
 South African laws are based on the doctrine of apartheid, which
prescribes basic rights and obligations according to racial or ethnic
origin.  The country's black majority continues to suffer from
pervasive, legally sanctioned discrimination based on race in political,
economic, and social aspects of life.  The "colored" and Asian
minorities also suffer from discrimination, although to a somewhat
lesser degree than blacks.  Political rights of the black majority are
confined to participation in tightly controlled urban councils in the
country's black residential areas (townships) and in the 10 so-called
homelands.  Blacks have been excluded from even the limited political
changes initiated under South Africa's 1984 constitution.  They have no
right to vote in national elections and have no representation in
Parliament.
 In the September 6, 1989 election to the House of Assembly, the
governing National Party lost strength to both the right and left but
still captured 93 seats.  The right-wing Conservative Party won 39
seats, up from 22, and remained the official opposition.  The pro-reform
Democratic Party increased its strength from 19 to 33 seats.
 Members for each House are elected from separate, racially based voter
rolls.  Each House has primary responsibility for "own-affairs" matters;

i.e., legislation affecting its own racial constituency.  The State
President is empowered to decide arbitrarily which "general affairs"
matters are to be treated by all three chambers.  If efforts at
consensus on general affairs issues fail, the issues are referred to the
President's Council, a body composed of whites, "coloreds," and Asians,
for an advisory opinion.  The ruling National Party controls the
President's Council.  In June 1986, the "colored" and Asian Houses of
Parliament attempted to block security legislation passed by the white
House of Assembly.  The President's Council overrode this effort, and
the disputed security legislation became law.
 The lines between "own affairs" and "general affairs" are sometimes
imprecise.  Matters usually considered general affairs include foreign
policy, defense, and national security.  Education is normally an "own
affair" but is subject to general laws prescribing norms and standards
for salaries, curriculum, and exams.  The terms of the new constitution
and the existence of a white majority in Parliament ensure control by
the white House of Assembly over general affairs.  The National Party,
which has controlled South African political affairs since its first
parliamentary victory in 1948, dominates legislative affairs by sheer
force of numbers.  Within the National Party, viewpoints toward reform
of the apartheid system range from moderate to reactionary.  Internal
differences are, in theory, resolved in party caucuses.  In practice,
the State President, who also is the National Party leader, is the
ultimate arbiter.
 Blacks have no representation in Parliament.  Their political
participation remains limited to a franchise in one of the 10 homelands
to which all blacks, in principle, are assigned through ethnic or
linguistic identification, or, in the case of urban blacks, to selecting
black local government officials.  Assignment takes place regardless of
the wishes of those involved and without regard to whether they have
been born, ever lived in, or even visited their putative homeland.  When
a homeland "requests" and is granted "independence" by the South African
Government, blacks assigned to that homeland lose their South African
citizenship and receive the "citizenship" of the homeland.  (Provision
now has been made to permit nominal citizens of the "independent"
homelands to regain South African citizenship under circumstances not
fully defined.)
 An estimated 8 million blacks have lost South African citizenship under
this policy by South African legislation granting "independence" to four
homelands: Transkei (1976); Bophuthatswana (1977); Venda (1979); and
Ciskei (1981).  The Government has said it has no plans to abolish the
homelands system.
 An estimated 10 million blacks live in townships near white urban
areas.  Their only voting rights are those granted under the Community
Councils Act of 1977 and the Black Local Authorities Act of 1982.  The
Black Local Authorities Act of 1982 elevated the legal status of black
municipal authorities to that of white municipal governments.  It did
nothing, however, about the critical problems of inadequate financial
resources and the lack of political credibility faced by black local
government.  Much of the violence in black townships in 1986 was
directed at black town councillors and black policemen who were viewed
by many blacks as collaborators with the South African Government.  In
many areas, town councils resigned because of community opposition,
which often took the form of political violence.
 In 1985, Parliament passed legislation to replace all-white provincial
councils with multiracial regional services councils (RSCs), which were
to include representatives of black, Asian, and "colored" local
governments.  The government has had difficulty drawing authentic black
leaders into the RSCs.  The government characterizes RSCs as a
"devolution" of power to local bodies.  Many people regard them as
barriers to greater democracy in local government.
 In Natal Province, the Indaba, a convention in which all racial groups
and a range of social and political organizations are represented, met
for several months in 1986 on a proposal for a new constitution for the
province.  The proposal (among other provisions) provided for a bill of
rights with firm constitutional guarantees of individual liberties.  It
also proposed a universal franchise and a bicameral legislature in which
the larger chamber would be elected on a one-person, one-vote basis, and
the smaller chamber would represent specified ethnic groups with veto
rights over certain affairs affecting them.  The leader of the ruling
National Party for Natal Province rejected the terms of the Indaba
proposal when it was first announced.  Indaba leaders later presented
the proposal to the government, where it remains "under study."

Human Rights
 The human rights situation in South Africa deteriorated from 1985 to
1989.  Throughout this period, political discontent and violence have
persisted in black and colored townships.  Following the July 1985-March
1986 state of emergency, the government imposed a new state of emergency
in June 1986 for 1 year, which has been extended for each of the 3
succeeding years.  Under the state of emergency, police and military
exercise extraordinary arrest and detention powers.  Further,
legislative amendments passed in 1986 give the executive branch broad
emergency powers even without declaring a state of emergency.
 Human rights groups estimate that at least 846 people died as a result
of political unrest between June 1987 and June 1988, compared with 695
in the same period a year earlier.  In mid-1988, human rights groups
asserted that more than 30,000 people had been detained since the June
1986 declaration of a state of emergency and that an estimated 1,500
remained in detention at the end of the year.  Following a series of
hunger strikes and negotiations between the government and community
leaders, most of the detainees had been released by mid-1989.
 Leaders of the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF), a coalition of
more than 700 antiapartheid groups, and various black trade unions have
been special targets for detention under the emergency decree.  In
February 1988, the government effectively banned the UDF and 16 other
leading antiapartheid groups and prohibited the Congress of South
African Trade Unions, the country's largest labor organization, from
participating in "political" activities.  At the end of 1988, 32
opposition groups had been effectively banned.  Throughout the state of
emergency, reports of officially sanctioned acts of violence against
dissidents have been widespread.
 The banned African National Congress (ANC), most of whose leadership
was in exile, imprisoned, or operating underground within South Africa,
proclaimed 1986 as a year of intensified armed struggle against
apartheid.  In 1986, the ANC claimed responsibility for a number of acts
of urban violence and landmine explosions in rural areas, although it
has often equivocated on its responsibility for incidents that involved
civilian deaths.  The ANC also has called on blacks to overthrow the
government by concerted acts of violence, notably against black police
and township officials, in attempts to make the townships
"ungovernable."  The ANC has admitted responsibility for some bomb
attacks that shook South Africa in the first half of 1988.  Attacks
against "soft targets"-theaters, restaurants, sports
facilities-increased in late 1988, but the ANC described these as
aberrations from its policy.  The number of such attacks in 1989 was
negligible.
 The government released two elderly long-term prisoners in 1988, Zeph
Mothopeng, President of the PAC, and Henry Gwala, an ANC leader.  Three
prominent UDF activists who escaped police custody and took refuge in
the US Consulate General in Johannesburg in September were allowed to
leave the consulate unmolested and were granted passports for travel
abroad.  In December 1988, under great international pressure, the
government commuted the death sentences of the Sharpeville Six, who
were convicted of murder for their presence in a crowd that killed a
black township official.
 Newly elected President F.W. De Klerk took several steps in 1989 and
1990 to demonstrate his commitment to ending apartheid, including the
release of ANC leader Nelson Mandela, imprisoned in 1962 and sentenced
to life in 1964 for treason and sabotage, and other political prisoners
and detainees; unbanning the ANC and 32 other antiapartheid
organizations; lifting some state of emergency restrictions; and
allowing peaceful demonstrations.  An unprecedented mass pro-ANC rally
was held earlier in Johannesburg without police interference.
 Other opponents of apartheid, such as young black activists in the
townships, have advocated and engaged in violent attacks on black
township officials and others suspected of "collaborating" with the
government.  During the greatest unrest in 1984-85, many blacks were
attacked by activists attempting to enforce protest activities such as
school or consumer boycotts.  These actions, in turn, spawned the
creation, often with government encouragement, of black
vigilante groups opposed to the young black political activists, which
has led to internecine strife in a number of communities.
 Until De Klerk's inauguration, the government had imposed curbs on the
media to limit the reporting of political unrest and antigovernment
activities.  In December 1986, the government tightened existing
emergency regulations to prohibit reporting on a variety of politically
related topics without clearance by state censors.  In August 1987, it
imposed further curbs permitting it to bypass the courts in banning or
censoring newspapers and other journals.  Several prominent U.S. and
other foreign journalists have been expelled for allegedly violating
these restrictions.  The government continued to clamp down on the press
in 1988, suspending three newspapers for one to three months.  In late
1989, the government indicated that press restrictions would be reduced.

 A milestone event in the black struggle for equal rights occurred in
August 1987 when the National Union of Mineworkers, the country's
largest black labor union, struck on an unprecedented scale, shutting
down about a third of the country's more than 100 gold and coal mines.
The strike continued for 3 weeks, longer than most observers thought
possible in view of the union's lack of resources, including the absence
of a strike fund.  Its leaders finally accepted a management offer of
improved benefits but failed to win the wage hike and other goals they
had sought.  The strike nevertheless signified the importance of trade
union organization and mobilization among black workers.  The government
rejected right-wing pressure to attempt to force the strikers back to
work.  And although the cost was heavy-nine people died-the strike
marked a critical test of the 1979 legislation legalizing black unions
and strikes by black workers.
 In the first half of 1986, Parliament made significant changes in the
apartheid system, including abolition of influx control or "pass" laws,
which for years extensively regulated the right of blacks to be present
in urban areas.  Parliament passed legislation permitting some blacks to
regain the citizenship they had lost in previous years when some
homelands were given "independence."  The government also introduced a
freehold system of land ownership for blacks, permitting some to own
homes in urban areas designated for blacks under the Group Areas Act.
Recently, the government repealed the remaining racial job
discrimination decrees in the mining industry.
 Race remains the fundamental basis for the organization of South
African society.  Although De Klerk has said that he supports the
eventual abolition of apartheid, the recognition and protection of group
rights and interests remains central to government policy.
Nevertheless, by 1990 the government and oppo-sition leaders appeared to
be moving toward negotiations to end apartheid and create a new South
Africa.

Principal Government Officials
State President-Frederik Willem De Klerk
Ministers:
Administration and Privatization-W.J. De Villiers
Agriculture-Jacob De Villiers
Constitutional Development and Planning and National Education
(White)-Gerrit Viljoen
Defense-Magnus Malan Education and Development Aid-C.J. Van Der Merwe
Environmental and Water Affairs-G.J. Kotze Finances-Barend Du Plessis
Foreign Affairs-Roelof F. "Pik" Botha
Internal Affairs and Manpower-E. Louw Justice-H.J. Coetsee
Law and Order-Adriaan Vlok
Mineral and Energy Affairs and Public Enterprises-D.J. De Villiers
National Health and Population Development-E.H. Venter
Planning and Provincial Affairs-Hernus Kriel
Trade, Industry, and Tourism-Kent Durr
Transport, Public Works, and Land Affairs-George Bartlett
Ambassador to the United States-Piet G.J. Koornhof
Ambassador to the United Nations-Jeremy Shearar
Chairman of the Ministers' Council of the ("colored") House of
Representatives-A.J. Hendrickse
Chairman of the Ministers' Council of the (Indian) House  of
Delegates-Jayaram N. Reddy

 The Republic of South Africa maintains an embassy in the United States
at 3051 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20008, [phone].

ECONOMY
 Until well into the 19th century, most South Africans, black and white,
lived primarily by herding and farming.  The discovery of diamonds in
1867 and gold in 1886 helped create South Africa's industrial age.
Rapidly growing mineral industries promoted the development of cities
and the concentration of workers by the hundreds of thousands.
 Today, South Africa is an industrializing country with most of the
characteristics associated with developing economies-a division between
formal and informal sectors, uneven distribution of wealth and income, a
dependence on commodity exports, and a legacy of government
intervention.  Despite its highly visible modern sector, South Africa is
not a wealthy country, with a population of 37 million and a GDP of
$83.5 billion.  It is comparable in size and per capita income to South
Korea.
 South Africa has a well-developed formal sector based on mining and
manufacturing and a smaller, but important ,sector based on agriculture
and services.  Despite the presence of a free-market ideology, South
Africa has a mixed economy, with substantial government intervention
existing jointly with a strong private sector.  Economic policy has
concentrated on the formal sector, but since the mid-1980s it has turned
to developing the informal sector through education and training, job
creation, and assistance to small businesses.
 The South African economy has evolved as part of the broader Western
industrial economy.  The cyclical economic fortunes of South Africa have
depended largely on demand from the Organization of Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD) for its exports, the world gold price, and
foreign capital inflows.  At the time that it became a republic in 1961,

South Africa's exports equalled almost a third of GDP, with more than
90% of these exports going to OECD countries.  As the following data
indicate, during the quarter-century since, the real growth rate has
correlated with the performance of the major industrialized economic
powers (Canada, France, West Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, and
the United States).
 South Africa's economy has slowed despite a rise in the price of its
key export, gold, from $35 an ounce in the 1960s to an average of $130
in the 1970s and $450 in 1980-1985.  South Africa's economy has suffered
primarily because of slower growth in export demand, a severe drought in
1982-1986, a drop in the price of gold, and a shortage of foreign
exchange.
 Economic sanctions also have worked to depress economic  growth (see
page 9).  Most economists agree that long-term economic recovery will
continue to be undermined by rising inflation and unemployment and by
balance-of-payments pressures.

Financial Policy
 The financial structure and financial institutions in South Africa are
extremely sophisticated, mirroring those found in a developed economy,
including an effective stock exchange that handles large volumes of gilt
and semigilt securities, in addition to private scrip.
 The South Africa Reserve Bank performs all central banking functions.
Its customers are limited to government agencies, private banks, and
discount houses.  The Reserve Bank is semi-independent of government
control but in practice works closely with the Department of Finance and
the State President in formulating and implementing government policy.
 The private financial structure is equally sophisticated, and the full
spectrum of financial institutions is found in the country.  Five firms
dominate retail banking.  A money market with four private discount
houses operates along the lines of the London discount market.  South
Africa also has a strong building society movement, which has
traditionally provided a major part of the finance requirements for
private home ownership.  Private pension funds and long-term insurers
are important savings institutions.
      South African monetary policy for the most part attempts to
emphasize market forces, including a managed float of the rand, some
deregulation of banking activities, money-supply growth targets, and
market-related interest rates.  Fiscal policy is less controlled, with a
history of increases in government spending as a percent of GDP and
deficits in the range of 4% to 5% of GDP in the last several years.
 In early 1985, growing international nervousness over South Africa's
political situation led some foreign banks to refuse to roll over South
African debt repayments.  This caused the value of the rand to plummet,
threatened the country with an uncontrolled outflow of capital, and led
the government to suspend principal repayments on $14 billion of South
Africa's $24 billion in foreign debt.
 To stabilize the value of the rand and act as a barrier against capital
outflow, South Africa reintroduced a dual exchange rate system.  The
exchange rate for the financial rand applies to all capital funds
leaving or entering South Africa.  A separate exchange rate for the
commercial rand was established for use solely within the country.
Decreasing foreign investment has led to reduced demand for the
financial rand, which usually trades at a considerable discount vis-avis
the commercial rand.
 In 1987 and in 1989, the South African Government was able to reach
3-year agreements with major commercial creditor banks for repayment of
the debt.  The dual-rand exchange rate system remains in practice.

Foreign Trade
 Despite the development of a diversified manufacturing sector, South
Africa retains its historic pattern of importing mainly manufactured
capital goods and exporting raw and semiprocessed mineral and
agricultural products.
 Top trading partners in 1988 were West Germany and Japan, with the
United Kingdom and the United States next.
 South Africa's trade with Western countries has come under a variety of
well-documented stress:  declining Western demand for its traditional
commodity exports (coal, iron, steel, sugar, corn, wine); trade
sanctions and boycotts; an embargo on foreign financial capital; and
South Africa's foreign currency exchange controls.  As a result, South
Africa's growth potential has been reduced, creating a new urgency for
economic reform while narrowing the options for promoting structural
change.

Sanctions
 South Africa has been the target of restrictions because of opposition
to apartheid.  By executive order and legislation, the United States has
imposed increasingly stringent sanctions over the last 25 years,
including prohibitions on new investment; loans to the South African
Government's importers of iron, steel, krugerrand gold coins, textiles,
uranium, and products produced by "parastatal" organizations; and crude
oil exports, petroleum products, some computer technology, and arms.  By
mid-1988, the US share of South Africa's foreign trade had plummeted to
7.5%, far below its 1978 peak of 17.2%.
 South Africa has proved adept at circumventing sanctions.  Oil
continues to reach the country through third-party arrangements, and a
UN arms embargo in place since 1977 has led to the development of a
strong local armaments indus-try, which now exports arms.

Foreign Investment
 Foreign private investment is important to South Africa's economic
development.  In recent years, South African officials estimate that
about 10% of new investment capital has been obtained from foreign
countries.  Foreign investment is concentrated in mining, manufacturing,
and petroleum processing and distribution.
 Book value of US investment at the end of 1987 was $1.5 billion.  Under
the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986, the US Government
prohibits new investment in South Africa.  An exception is allowed for
private investment in South African firms owned by black South Africans.
 US firms already present in South Africa are required to adopt fair
labor standards that prohibit discrimination in the workplace and
provide assist-ance and training to black employees and other blacks.
All US firms with investment in South Africa must register with the
Department of State and submit a completed questionnaire that describes
their efforts to comply with the fair labor standards.  Firms judged to
be failing to comply are denied US export-promotion assistance
worldwide.
 Americans considering investment in black-owned businesses in the
so-called independent homelands of Transkei, Ciskei, Bophuthatswana, or
Venda should be aware that the United States can offer no diplomatic or
consular assistance in such areas.  The US Government does not recognize
the local "homeland governments" and has no official contact with them.

Employment
 South Africa's sluggish growth has inhibited its ability to create new
jobs.  From 1970 to 1987, total nonagricultural employment grew an
average of 1.1% a year.  Between 1978 and 1987, the average employment
growth rate was only 0.4%, well below the growth in the labor force.
 Many analysts estimate South Africa will need a 5% real annual growth
rate just to keep pace with the number of new black entrants into the
labor market.  Given South Africa's long-term economic problems, 5% is
considerably higher than appears likely.   Assuming the average GDP
growth rate at 3% a year, a better rate than in recent years, some 6
million South Africans, almost all of them black, will be unemployed by
the year 2000.
 The South African Government has attempted to alleviate employment
problems by eliminating reservation of certain jobs for whites,
legalizing black labor unions, spending more on black education, and
offering incentives for on-the-job training.

Key Sectors
 Minerals.  South Africa is endowed with a variety of minerals.  It is
the world's leading producer of gold, gem diamonds, vanadium, and
ferro-chromium, and a major producer of platinum-group metals, titanium,
antimony, asbestos, and manganese.  South African reserves of manganese,
platinum-group metals, and chrome ore are each greater than half of the
world's known supplies; reserves of gold are almost half of total known
world reserves.
 Mining, and in particular gold mining, is the most critical sector in
the South African economy.  Gold typically accounts for about 40% of all
export proceeds, and other minerals account for a further 20%.  Total
exports represent between one-fourth and one-third of GDP, and domestic
growth is to a considerable degree still led by export demand.
 Inadequate petroleum resources are a cause of concern to this otherwise
mineral-rich country.  Following extensive exploration efforts, limited
commercially promising petroleum deposits have been found in the
offshore areas adjacent to Mossel Bay.  Natural gas deposits are being
developed in the Mossel Bay area.  As of now, no commercial production
of oil has occurred, but exploration continues on and offshore.  South
African officials have long been aware of the vulnerability of their
country to a petroleum boycott and have built a substantial strategic
oil reserve.  They also have stressed the necessity of using coal for
energy.  Domestic coal provides about 75% of the country's energy needs
and may provide more in the future. South Africa's SASOL corporation
provides a coal gasification/liquefaction process to produce petroleum
products and is capable of providing an estimated 50% of South Africa's
petroleum requirements.

Manufacturing.
  South Africa has the most extensive and diversified manufacturing
sector in Africa.  Manufacturing accounts for 19% of the country's GDP.
Most goods produced in South Africa are destined for the domestic
market.
 Although the public sector is involved in manufacturing through
parastatal corporations such as ISCOR, the largest steel manufacturer,
most manufacturing is in the private sector.
 Investment in the manufacturing sector has fallen steadily, with real
net fixed investment turning negative in 1985--86.  In short, it was
inadequate even to cover depreciation in those years, and the physical
capital stock shrank.  Moreover, the investment that has occurred has
tended to substitute capital for labor, which has further hindered job
creation.
     Agriculture.  Except in periods of extreme drought such as 1982-86,
South Africa has been a net food exporter.  About 30% of nongold export
proceeds typically come from sales of agricultural and processed
agricultural products.  A variety of agricultural products is produced
because the country is so large and has a range of climatic conditions.
Almost every kind of food crop and fiber is grown successfully.  A
number of major irrigation schemes enable farmers to produce crops in
areas where the natural rainfall is too low.  But the bulk of
agricultural production is still rain-fed.
 Agricultural land, like residential areas, is racially zoned.  Blacks
can hold land only in the "independent" homelands, although a few black,
Asian and "colored" farmers are found in nominally white areas.  The
majority of agricultural production comes from sophisticated white-owned
commercial farms, yet the bulk of the agricultural labor force is
concentrated in the subsistence sector of the homeland areas.

     Economic Effects of Apartheid.
 Economists agree that apartheid is incompatible with a modern, healthy
economy.  The multitude of laws and regulations that implement the
apartheid system imposes great costs on the economy and inhibit market
flexibility.  Apartheid and its impact on South Africa's international
status deny Pretoria the option of addressing its economic challenges
without reference to broader political issues.  As South Africa wrestles
with this problem, observers point to the following effects of apartheid
on the economy:
 -- Too many resources have gone into projects, programs, and policies
that are motivated by ideological and racial concerns without due regard
for economic realities.
 -- Inadequate investment has been made in "human capital," particularly
to educate blacks, damaging the country's international competitiveness,
among other effects.
 -- The continued practice of apartheid breeds instability and political
upheaval.  The underlying unease over the political situation in South
Africa serves to undermine economic confidence and performance.  As
political instability has increased, it has tended to reinforce the
economic difficulties.  During the last several years, this occurred in
several ways:
 --  Foreign investor confidence was damaged, leading to capital flight,
disinvestment, and a plummeting rand, culminating in reimposition of
foreign exchange controls and the declaration of a partial moratorium on
debt repayment; domestic political upheavals thus reinforced the erosion
of economic ties to the West.
 -- Domestic consumer and business confidence were hurt, leading to a
domestic "liquidity trap," with sharply reduced purchases of durable
goods, surplus industrial capacity, declining investment, and negative
real interest rates; domestic political unrest thus exacerbated South
Africa's deindustrialization.
 --  The government repressed most black political activities in a bid
to end the unrest, which led to politicization of the black labor union
movement and greater conflict between business and labor than might
otherwise have been the case; domestic political upheavals thus may have
reinforced mechanization of the narrowing industrial base.
 Each of these factors, in turn, feeds upon the others, creating an
unhealthy political-economic dynamic.  Recent government efforts to
instigate some reforms may reflect the realization that South Africa's
socioeconomic future otherwise would be bleak.

DEFENSE
 The South African Defense Force (SADF) comprises four services-army,
navy, air force, and medical-each headed by a lieutenant general.  Most
SADF personnel are white.  Because of growing need for staff in the
military and civilian sectors, recruitment of volunteers among other
races is increasing.  Only white males are subject to the draft.
 The SADF in 1987 had about 100,000 men on active duty, 55,000 of whom
were conscripts.  About 13,000 "coloreds," blacks, and Asians were
serving in the military.  A total of 400,000 other whites from the
reserves can be rapidly mobilized for duty.  The armed forces can
conduct counterinsurgency and conventional operations within South
Africa and in neighboring countries.  Improving the quality of training
and increasing the quality and quantity of military equipment are
emphasized.  South Africa has no international alliances.  The military
budget for FY 1989-90 was estimated to be rand 8.7 billion (about $3.3
billion).

FOREIGN RELATIONS
 South African forces fought in World War I on the Allied side, and its
diplomats participated in the 1919 Versailles Peace Conference.  South
Africa was a founding member of the League of Nations and was given a
mandate to govern South-West Africa, now Namibia, which had been a
German colony before the war.  South Africa created a Department of

External Affairs in 1927 and later that year established diplomatic
missions in the main West European countries and in the United States.
 South African volunteer forces, including blacks, fought on the side of
the Allies in World War II, took part in the Berlin Airlift, and
participated in the postwar UN force in Korea.  The South African
Government has long stressed anticommunism in unsuccessful efforts to
enlist Western countries in common defense efforts.
 South Africa's foreign relations have been bedeviled by its racially
discriminatory domestic policies, particularly since the end of World
War II.  Its refusal until 1988 to allow independence for Namibia also
provoked negative reaction.
 South Africa ignored an advisory judgment of the International Court of
Justice (ICJ) in 1950 that any change in the status of the Namibian
territory must receive the assent of the United Nations as the successor
to the League of Nations.  Ethiopia and Liberia later charged South
Africa with violating its mandate, but the ICJ dismissed the case on
technical grounds in 1966.  Later that year, the UN declared, with US
support, that the mandate was terminated and that responsibility for the
territory had passed to the UN.  The ICJ upheld this position in a 1971
advisory opinion.  (See Background Notes on Namibia.)
 In 1974, the 29th UN General Assembly voted to deprive South Africa of
its Assembly seat (although South Africa was not expelled from the
organization) for its refusal to comply with UN and ICJ rulings on
Namibia.  In January 1976, the UN Security Council voted unanimously to
demand that elections leading to independence be held in Namibia under
UN supervision.  In 1978, the South African Government agreed in
principle.  Nevertheless, the growing presence of Cuban forces in Angola
led the South African Government to insist on the withdrawal of these
forces in parallel with their implementation of UN Security Council
Resolution 435, which sets out a formula for Namibian elections.
 A 10-year mediation by the United States among Angola, Cuba, and South
Africa culminated in two agreements signed on December 22, 1988.  The
agreements established a timetable for the withdrawal of Cuban troops
from Angola and cleared the way for South African withdrawal from
Namibia.  Implementation of Resolution 435 began on April 1, 1989.
Elections for a constituent assembly were scheduled for November 1989,
in anticipation of independence a few months thereafter.
 Beginning in the 1960s, South Africa attempted to improve relations
with the rest of Africa, emphasizing the role that its economic and
technological resources might play in the future of African development
efforts.  Exchanges of visits between South African leaders and those of
other African countries began in the late 1960s, and various kinds of
relationships were established with a number of countries.  Only Malawi
agreed to formal diplomatic relations.  In 1988, President P. W. Botha
made unprecedented visits to Mozambique, Malawi, Zaire, and Cote
d'Ivoire.
 In recent years, South African forces have conducted military raids
into Lesotho, Mozambique, Botswana, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The incursions have been aimed at ANC bases and have resulted in
civilian casualties.  South Africa has backed antigovernment
insurgencies in Angola and Mozambique and has been accused of supporting
dissident elements in Zimbabwe and other neighboring countries.
 In 1984, South Africa signed the Nkomati Accord with Mozambique, in
which each country agreed to prohibit hostile operations against the
other from its territory.  Mozambique has complained that the South
Africans have failed to live up to their side of the bargain through
continued support to RENAMO-the Mozambique resistance movement founded
by Rhodesian authorities in the 1970s.  More recently, relations between
the two countries  have improved amid signs that the South Africans were
distancing themselves from RENAMO.  South Africa also has agreed to
rehabilitate the electrical distribution system bringing power from the
Cahora Bassa Dam to South Africa, much of which has been destroyed by
RENAMO.
 South Africa has no diplomatic relations with any communist country.
The Soviet Union broke off relations in the 1950s.  With the advent of
"new thinking" in Soviet foreign policy, the USSR, through its role as
an observer during the Angola-Namibia negotiations, has begun informal
contacts with South Africa.  The Soviet Union also participates in the
Joint Commission that oversees implementation of the Angola-Namibia
agreements.  A Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister visited South Africa
unofficially in early 1989.
 International pressure on South Africa has intensified in reaction to
three major outbreaks of violent protest and government repression:  in
1960-61, when demonstrations broke out in the aftermath of the
Sharpeville massacre, in which 69 black protesters were shot dead during
peaceful protests; in 1976-77, when Soweto students revolted and
protests again swept across the country; and since 1984, because of
Government action to suppress dissent by declaring states of emergency.
 By 1987, South Africa faced economic sanctions in place by the United
States, members of the European Community, the Nordic countries, and
many Third World countries.

US-SOUTH AFRICAN RELATIONS
 The United States has maintained an official presence in South Africa
since an American consulate was opened in Cape Town in 1799 (the fifth
on the African Continent).  US Consulates General are in Johannesburg,
Durban, and Cape Town.  The US Embassy in Pretoria moves to Cape Town
during parliamentary sessions.  In addition to official relationships,
Americans and South Africans have many nongovernmental ties.  For
example, black and white American missionaries have a long history of
activity there, and the United States has long been one of South
Africa's leading trading partners.
 During the last 20 years, however, US-South African relations have been
increasingly affected by South Africa's racial policies, which are
antithetical to the US commitment to racial justice and human rights.
The United States believes the denial of all political rights and equal
economic opportunity to the black majority of South Africa to be a major
factor of instability in southern Africa.  The United States attaches
great importance to good relations with other African countries, all of
which oppose South Africa's racial policies.  If South Africa's policies
are unaltered, the United States predicts progressively violent racial
confrontation and the possible introduction of great-power rivalry into
the region, to the detriment of all of its inhabitants.
 To demonstrate US opposition to apartheid and to support peaceful
change toward racial justice, the United States has imposed restraints
on relations with South Africa.  Since 1963, the United States has
embargoed arms sales to South Africa, and in 1977 it supported the UN
Security Council's imposition of a mandatory international arms embargo
on South Africa.  In February 1978, the US Government issued regulations
(in compliance with, but going beyond, the Security Council resolution)
to prohibit exports destined for the South African military, the police,
or apartheid-enforcing agencies.  These were revised in early 1982 to
enhance enforceability.
 On October 2, 1986, Congress passed the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid
Act of 1986.  This act widened sanctions against South Africa, including
a ban on new investments unless they were in firms owned by black South
Africans.  South African Airways' landing rights in the United States
were terminated, loans to the private sector in South Africa were
banned, and a prohibition on imports of iron, steel, textiles, food,
sugar, and other agricultural products was introduced.  The legislation
prohibited export of crude oil and petroleum products to South Africa.
 By 1987, US sanctions were the toughest of any of South Africa's major
trading partners.  In late 1989, the Bush Administration recommended to
Congress that additional sanctions not be enacted in view of steps being
taken within South Africa to bring about change through peaceful means.
 The United States has refused to recognize the "independence" of
Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda, and Ciskei and has said that it will
not recognize the "independence" of any of the South African homelands.
 The United States opposes the homeland policy because it arbitrarily
denies South African citizenship to most blacks residing in those areas.
 Moreover, it allocates less than 15% of the land area to the almost
three-fourths of the population that is black.
 In addition to these restraints, the United States has sought to
encourage peaceful evolution in South Africa toward a government based
on the consent of all those governed by it, regardless of race.  The
United States maintains contacts with political opposition groups within
and outside South Africa, trying to convince all parties that negotiated
change is preferable to violence.  In January 1987, then-Secretary of
State Shultz met in Washington with ANC President Oliver Tambo.  In May
1989, President Bush met with Archbishop Desmond Tutu and other
clergymen prominent in the struggle against apartheid.  The United
States has repeatedly called for the release of all political prisoners,
as well as the lifting the state of emergency, viewing these actions as
necessary first steps toward meaningful negotiations.
 Meanwhile, the US Government sponsors an assistance program whose aim
is to help South Africans disadvantaged by apartheid.  The program is
conducted entirely outside South African Government channels.  In fiscal
1989, about $35 million was programmed for projects in education, human
rights, labor, black enterprise, and community development.

Principal US Officials Ambassador-William L. Swing
Deputy Chief of Mission and Minister-Counselor-Genta Hawkins Holmes
Economic Counselor-Stephen H. Rogers
Political Counselor-Robin Raphel
Public Affairs Officer-Kent Obee
Defense Attache-Lt. Col. Michael Fergunson
Administrative Counselor-Andrew J. Winter
AID Director-Dennis P. Barrett
Agricultural Attache-Roger Puterbaugh
Consul General, Cape Town-Charles R. Baquet, III
Consul General, Durban-F. Allen Harris
Consul General, Johannesburg-Peter R. Chaveas.

The African National Congress (ANC)
 The African National Congress (ANC) is a predominantly black South
African political and paramilitary organization, founded in 1912.  It is
the oldest organization opposing legalized racism and white rule and was
banned by the South African Government from 1960 to 1990, operating
underground and in exile.
 The ANC was founded with the objectives of eliminating all restrictions
based on color and obtaining black representation in Parliament. In its
first 50 years of existence, the ANC staged demonstrations, strikes,
petitions, and other peaceful protest, all of which made it a target for
police harassment and arrest.  After the National Party came to power in
1948, with its doctrine of white supremacy and apartheid, ANC membership
grew rapidly, rising to more than 100,000 by 1952.  In that year, Chief
Albert Luthuli was elected president general of the party.  He was
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1961.
 In 1960, the ANC, along with a splinter group known as the Pan
Africanist Congress (PAC), organized mass demonstrations to protest the
pass laws that for years regulated the right of blacks to be present in
urban areas.  In one of these protests, at Sharpeville, south of
Johannesburg, police opened fire and killed 69 demonstrators.  Scores
were wounded.  Subsequently, the ANC and the PAC were outlawed.  Denied
legal avenues toward political change, the ANC turned first to sabotage
and then began to organize for guerrilla warfare.  Nelson Mandela, a
black lawyer and ANC leader, was the most prominent of the ANC members
who were arrested, tried, and convicted for treason in 1964.  Following
the release in October 1989 of Walter Sisulu and other longtime fellow
prisoners, the release of Mandela was expected to occur by early 1990.
Mandela, along with the current president, Oliver Tambo, who operates
from exile in Zambia, are the best-known leaders.
 Long-term aims of the ANC were set forth in the "Freedom Charter,"
which was adopted in 1955.  This document states that the ANC's ultimate
goal is a liberated, nonracial South Africa in which individual rights
would be guaranteed and nationalization of certain industries would
occur within a basically mixed economy.  In 1988, the ANC published
draft constitutional guidelines that expounded on the ideas expressed in
the Freedom Charter but contained less rigid views on South Africa's
economic future.
 The South African Communist Party has aligned itself with the ANC since
the civil disobedience campaigns of the 1950s and remains a significant
influence within the organization's leadership.  But the Communist Party
is only one element in the coalition of interests in the ANC.
 The Soviet Union and its allies have provided arms to the ANC to
conduct its insurgent campaign, while the Scandinavian countries provide
nonmilitary assistance.  The South African Government has depicted the
ANC as terrorists and puppets of Moscow and has across borders of
neighboring countries at ANC guerrilla bases.
 The United States has maintained contacts with the ANC, just as with
other black opposition groups, for some time.  The freeing of Nelson
Mandela and the unbanning of the ANC in February 1990 were first steps
by the Government toward negotiations leading to a more just society in
South Africa.

What is Apartheid?
 In the language of the ruling white Afrikaners in South Africa,
"apartheid" means "apartness."  Since 1948, when the National Party
assumed power, apartheid or "separate development" has been the policy
that governs relations between South Africa's white minority and black
majority (although the South African Government now rarely uses these
terms in official communications).  It sanctions racial segregation and
political and economic discrimination against all who are not white.
 The National Party extended racial segregation through passage of a
number of legislative acts soon after it came to power in 1948.  In the
1960s and the 1970s, other laws were passed to make every black African,
irrespective of actual residence, a hypothetical citizen of one of 10
homelands created by the South African Government as political entities
to which blacks would be arbitrarily assigned.  This device excluded
blacks from the South African body politic.  By the early 1980s, four of
the homelands-Transkei, Ciskei, Bophuthatswana, and Venda-had been
granted "independence" as "national states."  No government except South
Africa recognizes the four homelands as independent.  All 10 remain
politically and economically dependent on South Africa.
 In 1950, the white Parliament passed the Group Areas Act, which
established residential and business sections in urban areas for each

race and strengthened existing "pass laws," which require blacks to
carry documents authorizing their presence in restricted areas.  Other
laws were enacted to forbid most social contacts between the races,
mandate segregated public facilities, establish separate educational
standards, restrict each race to certain kinds of jobs, curtail black
labor unions, and abolish nonwhite participation (through white
representatives) in the national government.
 The Population Registration Act of 1950 required the classification of
every individual born in South Africa according to race:  white
(European), Asian (Indian), "colored" (mixed-race), or African.
Apartheid over the years has become an infamous term that signifies
institutionalized injustice based on racial discrimination.
Antiapartheid actions and campaigns have been undertaken within and
outside South Africa to protest the continued deprivation of political
rights and economic justice affecting the majority of South African
inhabitants

Travel Notes
 The Department of State advises US citizens that the political
situation in South Africa remains tense.  A state-of-emergency with
severe restrictions on the antiapartheid opposition and the media has
been in effect since 1986.  Visitors should be aware that antiapartheid
demonstrations are often met with force by security officials and that
the potential for violent clashes always exists in such situations.
Many forms of political gatherings and other expressions of dissent are
prohibited or are subject to strict control.  State of Emergency
regulations allow security officials to detain persons whom they
consider a threat to public order and hold them indefinitely without
charge.  Foreign nationals, including US citizens, are not immune from
such detention.  Severe restrictions have been placed on the reporting
or photographing of antiapartheid activities or incidents of unrest.  US
citizens should exercise extreme caution in photographing or filming any
assembly that could be construed as antigovernment.
 Travel to the areas most frequented by tourists, such as city centers,
game parks, and beaches, generally is safe.  Although bomb explosions
have been numerous in recent years against civilian targets, including
shipping centers and bus terminals, the frequency of such bombings
appears to be diminishing.
 Travel to the "independent" homelands of Bophuthatswana, Venda, Ciskei,
and Transkei is discouraged.  The South African Government claims these
areas are independent countries, but the United States and all other
countries have refused to recognize their independence.  Homeland
officials often deny or limit access by US consular officials to US
citizens under arrest or otherwise in distress in these areas.  These
officials have not consistently notified US consular officials when
American citizens have been arrested in the homelands.
 Because of the potential for fast-changing political developments, US
citizens who live in South Africa or visit for an extended period should
register upon arrival at the US Embassy in Pretoria or the US Consulates
General in Johannesburg, Cape Town, or Durban.

 Climate and clothing:  Clothing suitable for central and southern
California is appropriate for South Africa's mild climate.  Remember
that seasons in the southern hemisphere are reversed:  winter there
corresponds to summer here and vice versa. Customs:  US citizens must
obtain visas before arriving.  No immunizations are required, except for
yellow fever if the traveler passes through an infected area. Health:
The standard of community sanitation is high, and city water is potable.
 A cholera immunization is recommended for travelers visiting an
infected area.  Avoid swimming in fresh water, which may be infested
with bilharzia.
 Telecommunications:  Telephone service in South Africa is good, and
cities have direct-dial systems.  Calls to the United States can be
dialed directly, and connections usually are good.  South Africa is 7
hours ahead of eastern standard time and 6 hours ahead of eastern
daylight savings time.  South Africa does not observe daylight saving
time.
 Transportation:  South Africa has a modern transportation network,
including regularly scheduled flights, trains between major cities, and
excellent paved highways.
 Tourist attractions:  Major attractions include Kruger National Park
for game viewing; the Cape Peninsula, including the national park at the
Cape of Good Hope; and the sandy beaches of Natal.  Most outdoor
activities are available, ranging from hiking and mountain climbing to
tennis and cricket.  The major cities offer various cultural
attractions, such as theaters, art galleries and museums. National
holidays:  Shops and businesses may be closed on the following holidays.
New Year's Day --January 1
Founders' Day --April 6
Good Friday* Easter Monday* Ascension Day*
Labor Day --May 1
Republic Day --May 31
Kruger Day  --October 10
Day of the Vow  -- December 16
Christmas Day --December 25
Day of Good Will  -- December 26
*Dates vary.

Further Information
 These titles are provided as a general indication of the material
published on this country.  The Department of State does not endorse
unofficial publications.
 Adam, Heribert and Kogila Moodley.  South Africa Without Apartheid.
Berkeley: University of California Press,    1986.
 Adams, H., and H. Giliomee.  The Rise of Afrikaner Power.Cape Town:
David Philip, 1979.
 Baker, Pauline H.  "The United States Policy in Southern Africa."
Current History. Vol. 86, No. 520, May, 1987.
 Berger, Peter L. and Bobby Godsell.  A Future South Africa. 1989
 De Klerk, F. W.  The Puritans in Africa-A Study in Afrikanerdom.
London: Collins, 1975
 Gordon, L., ed.  Survey of Race Relations in South Africa.
Johannesburg: South African Institute of Race Relations, annual.
Lelyveld, Joseph.  Move Your Shadow. New York: Time Books, 1985.
 Lodge, Tom.  Black Politics in South Africa Since 1945. Braamfontein:
Raven Press, 1983.
 Michener, James A. The Covenant. New York: Random House, 1980.
 Official Yearbook of the Republic of South Africa. Johannesburg: Chris
van Rensburg Publications, annual.
 Omond, Roger.  The Apartheid Handbook. Harmondsworth, Middlesex,
England, NY, Penguin Books, 1985.
 Pakenham, T.  The Boer War. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson,1979.
 Paton, Alan.  Cry, the Beloved Country. New York: Scribner,1948.
 Rotberg, Robert I.  South Africa and its Neighbors:  Regional Security
and Self Interest. Lexington, MA.: Lexington Books,   1985.
 Skinner, Elliot.  Beyond Constructive Engagement. New York: Paragon
House, 1986.
 Study Commission on US Policy Toward Southern Africa.
 South Africa:  Time Running Out. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University
of California Press, 1981.
 Wilson, Francis and Mamphela Ramphele.  Uprooting Poverty:  The South
African Challenge.  New York:  W. W. Norton, 1989.

Average Real Growth Rate
    1960-69   1970-79    1980-85

Group of 7 GDP  5.6  3.6   2.2
South Africa GDP  5.7  3.4   1.9
South Africa Exports 4.7  3.7  0.9

 Available from the Superintendent of Documents, US Government Printing
Office, Washington, DC  20402: American University.  South Africa-A
Country Study. 1981. US Department of Commerce. "South Africa" Foreign
Economic Trends and Their Implications for the United States.
Semiannual. US Department of State.  Background Notes on Namibia.
January 1987.

 Published by the United States Department of State --  Bureau of Public
Affairs  -- Office of  Public Communication --  Editorial Division --
Washington, D.C.-- March 1990 Editor: Jim Pinkelman  Department of State
Publication 8021  Background Notes Series  -- This material is in the
public domain and may  be reprinted without permission; citation of this
source is appreciated. For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, US.
Government Printing Office, Washington, DC  20402.  (###)


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