Categorising Research - Facts

Facts about South Africa, the Apartheid regime, post Apartheid South Africa, in particular Khayelitsha and the surrounding Cape Flats area:

1. The Republic of South Africa has been independent since 1961, but held its first democratic elections in 1994.
2. South Africa is one of the countries in the world most hard hit by HIV/AIDS. It is estimated that by 2005, 25% of the population will be infected by the virus.
3. South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of Africa. 
4. It is divided into nine provinces and has 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) of coastline.
5. To the north of the country lie the neighbouring territories of Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe; to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland; while Lesotho is an enclave surrounded by South African territory. 
6. South Africa is a multi-ethnic nation and has diverse cultures and languages. 
7. Eleven official languages are recognised in the constitution. Two of these languages are of European origin: South African English and Afrikaans, a language which originated mainly from Dutch that is spoken by the majority of white and Coloured South Africans.
8. South Africa has eleven official languages: Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tswana,Tsonga, Venda, Xhosa, and Zulu.
9. About 79.5% of the South African population is of black African ancestry, divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different Bantu languages, nine of which have official status.
10. By far the major part of the population classified itself as African or black, but it is not culturally or linguistically homogeneous. Major ethnic groups include the Zulu, Xhosa, Basotho (South Sotho), Bapedi (North Sotho), Venda, Tswana, Tsonga, Swazi and Ndebele, all of which speak Bantu languages.
11. South Africa is ranked as an upper-middle income economy by the World Bank.
12. It has the largest economy in Africa, and the 28th-largest in the world.
13. About a quarter of the population is unemployed and lives on less than US $1.25 a day.
14. At the end of apartheid in 1994, the "independent" and "semi-independent" Bantustans were abolished, as were the four original provinces (Cape, Natal, Orange Free State and Transvaal), and nine new provinces were created.
15. The new provinces are Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West, Northern Cape and Western Cape.
16. The provinces are in turn divided into 52 districts: 8 metropolitan and 44 district municipalities. 
17. White South Africans are descendants of Dutch, German, French Huguenots, English and other European and Jewish settlers.
18. The Coloured population is mainly concentrated in the Cape region, and come from a combination of ethnic backgrounds including White, Khoi, San, Griqua, Chinese and Malay.
19. APARTHEID (LIT. "APARTHOOD") (PRONOUNCED [UH-PAHRT-HEYT, [UH-PAHRT-HAHYT], ƏˈPⱭRTHEɪT, -HAɪT) IS AN AFRIKAANS WORD FOR A SYSTEM OF RACIAL SEGREGATION ENFORCED THROUGH LEGISLATION BY THE NATIONAL PARTY GOVERNMENTS, WHO WERE THE RULING PARTY FROM 1948 TO 1994, OF SOUTH AFRICA, UNDER WHICH THE RIGHTS OF THE MAJORITY BLACK INHABITANTS OF SOUTH AFRICA WERE CURTAILED AND WHITE SUPREMACY AND AFRIKANER MINORITY RULE WAS MAINTAINED.
20. RACIAL SEGREGATION IN SOUTH AFRICA BEGAN IN COLONIAL TIMES UNDER DUTCH[4] AND BRITISH RULE.
21. APARTHEID AS AN OFFICIAL POLICY WAS INTRODUCED FOLLOWING THE GENERAL ELECTION OF 1948.
22. NEW LEGISLATION CLASSIFIED INHABITANTS INTO FOUR RACIAL GROUPS ("NATIVE", "WHITE", "COLOURED", AND "ASIAN"), AND RESIDENTIAL AREAS WERE SEGREGATED, SOMETIMES BY MEANS OF FORCED REMOVALS. 
23. NON-WHITE POLITICAL REPRESENTATION WAS COMPLETELY ABOLISHED IN 1970, AND STARTING IN THAT YEAR BLACK PEOPLE WERE DEPRIVED OF THEIR CITIZENSHIP, LEGALLY BECOMING CITIZENS OF ONE OF TEN TRIBALLY BASED SELF-GOVERNING HOMELANDS CALLED BANTUSTANS, FOUR OF WHICH BECAME NOMINALLY INDEPENDENT STATES. 
24. THE GOVERNMENT SEGREGATED EDUCATION, MEDICAL CARE, BEACHES, AND OTHER PUBLIC SERVICES, AND PROVIDED BLACK PEOPLE WITH SERVICES INFERIOR TO THOSE OF WHITE PEOPLE.
25. APARTHEID SPARKED SIGNIFICANT INTERNAL RESISTANCE AND VIOLENCE AS WELL AS A LONG ARMS AND TRADE EMBARGO AGAINST SOUTH AFRICA.
26. SINCE THE 1950S, A SERIES OF POPULAR UPRISINGS AND PROTESTS WERE MET WITH THE BANNING OF OPPOSITION AND IMPRISONING OF ANTI-APARTHEID LEADERS.
27. REFORMS TO APARTHEID IN THE 1980S FAILED TO QUELL THE MOUNTING OPPOSITION, AND IN 1990 PRESIDENT FREDERIK WILLEM DE KLERK BEGAN NEGOTIATIONS TO END APARTHEID, CULMINATING IN MULTI-RACIAL DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS IN 1994, WHICH WERE WON BY THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS UNDER NELSON MANDELA. 
28. THE STATE PASSED LAWS WHICH PAVED THE WAY FOR "GRAND APARTHEID", WHICH WAS CENTRED ON SEPARATING RACES ON A LARGE SCALE, BY COMPELLING PEOPLE TO LIVE IN SEPARATE PLACES DEFINED BY RACE.
29. THE FIRST GRAND APARTHEID LAW WAS THE POPULATION REGISTRATION ACT OF 1950, WHICH FORMALISED RACIAL CLASSIFICATION AND INTRODUCED AN IDENTITY CARD FOR ALL PERSONS OVER THE AGE OF EIGHTEEN, SPECIFYING THEIR RACIAL GROUP.
30. EDUCATION WAS SEGREGATED BY MEANS OF THE 1953 BANTU EDUCATION ACT, WHICH CRAFTED A SEPARATE SYSTEM OF EDUCATION FOR AFRICAN STUDENTS AND WAS DESIGNED TO PREPARE BLACK PEOPLE FOR LIVES AS A LABOURING CLASS.
31. UNDER THE HOMELAND SYSTEM, THE SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT ATTEMPTED TO DIVIDE SOUTH AFRICA INTO A NUMBER OF SEPARATE STATES, EACH OF WHICH WAS SUPPOSED TO DEVELOP INTO A SEPARATE NATION-STATE FOR A DIFFERENT ETHNIC GROUP.
32. UNDER THE HOMELANDS SYSTEM, BLACKS WOULD NO LONGER BE CITIZENS OF SOUTH AFRICA; THEY WOULD INSTEAD BECOME CITIZENS OF THE INDEPENDENT HOMELANDS WHO MERELY WORKED IN SOUTH AFRICA AS FOREIGN MIGRANT LABOURERS ON TEMPORARY WORK PERMITS. 
33. DURING THE 1960S, 1970S AND EARLY 1980S, THE GOVERNMENT IMPLEMENTED A POLICY OF 'RESETTLEMENT', TO FORCE PEOPLE TO MOVE TO THEIR DESIGNATED "GROUP AREAS". MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WERE FORCED TO RELOCATE DURING THIS PERIOD. THESE REMOVALS INCLUDED PEOPLE RELOCATED DUE TO SLUM CLEARANCE PROGRAMMES, LABOUR TENANTS ON WHITE-OWNED FARMS, THE INHABITANTS OF THE SO-CALLED 'BLACK SPOTS', AREAS OF BLACK OWNED LAND SURROUNDED BY WHITE FARMS, THE FAMILIES OF WORKERS LIVING IN TOWNSHIPS CLOSE TO THE HOMELANDS, AND 'SURPLUS PEOPLE' FROM URBAN AREAS, INCLUDING THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE FROM THE WESTERN CAPE (WHICH WAS DECLARED A 'COLOURED LABOUR PREFERENCE AREA') WHO WERE MOVED TO THE TRANSKEI AND CISKEI HOMELANDS. THE BEST-PUBLICISED FORCED REMOVALS OF THE 1950S OCCURRED IN JOHANNESBURG, WHEN 60,000 PEOPLE WERE MOVED TO THE NEW TOWNSHIP OF SOWETO, AN ABBREVIATION FOR SOUTH WESTERN TOWNSHIPS.
34. BLACKS WERE NOT ALLOWED TO RUN BUSINESSES OR PROFESSIONAL PRACTICES IN THOSE AREAS DESIGNATED AS "WHITE SOUTH AFRICA" WITHOUT A PERMIT. THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO MOVE TO THE BLACK "HOMELANDS" AND SET UP BUSINESSES AND PRACTICES THERE. 
35. VOTING RIGHTS WERE DENIED TO COLOUREDS IN THE SAME WAY THAT THEY WERE DENIED TO BLACKS FROM 1950 TO 1983.
36. COLONIALISM AND APARTHEID HAD A MAJOR IMPACT ON WOMEN SINCE THEY SUFFERED BOTH RACIAL AND GENDER DISCRIMINATION. OPPRESSION AGAINST AFRICAN WOMEN WAS DIFFERENT FROM DISCRIMINATION AGAINST MEN. THEY HAD VERY FEW OR NO LEGAL RIGHTS, NO ACCESS TO EDUCATION AND NO RIGHT TO OWN PROPERTY.
37. CHILDREN SUFFERED FROM DISEASES CAUSED BY MALNUTRITION AND SANITARY PROBLEMS, AND MORTALITY RATES WERE THEREFORE HIGH.
38. MARRIAGE LAW AND BIRTHS WERE ALSO CONTROLLED BY THE GOVERNMENT AND THE PRO-APARTHEID DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH, WHO TRIED TO RESTRICT AFRICAN BIRTH RATES.
39. IN 1949 THE YOUTH WING OF THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS (ANC) TOOK CONTROL OF THE ORGANISATION AND STARTED ADVOCATING A RADICAL BLACK NATIONALIST PROGRAMME. THE NEW YOUNG LEADERS PROPOSED THAT WHITE AUTHORITY COULD ONLY BE OVERTHROWN THROUGH MASS CAMPAIGNS. IN 1950 THAT PHILOSOPHY SAW THE LAUNCH OF THE PROGRAMME OF ACTION, A SERIES OF STRIKES, BOYCOTTS AND CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE ACTIONS THAT LED TO OCCASIONALLY VIOLENT CLASHES WITH THE AUTHORITIES.
40. IN MAY 1961, BEFORE THE DECLARATION OF SOUTH AFRICA AS A REPUBLIC, AN ASSEMBLY REPRESENTING THE BANNED ANC CALLED FOR NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN THE MEMBERS OF THE DIFFERENT ETHNIC GROUPINGS, THREATENING DEMONSTRATIONS AND STRIKES DURING THE INAUGURATION OF THE REPUBLIC IF THEIR CALLS WERE IGNORED.
41. IN 1976 SECONDARY STUDENTS IN SOWETO TOOK TO THE STREETS IN THE SOWETO UPRISING TO PROTEST AGAINST FORCED TUITION IN AFRIKAANS. ON 16 JUNE, POLICE OPENED FIRE ON STUDENTS IN WHAT WAS MEANT TO BE A PEACEFUL PROTEST. ACCORDING TO OFFICIAL REPORTS 23 PEOPLE WERE KILLED, BUT NEWS AGENCIES PUT THE NUMBER AS HIGH AS 600 KILLED AND 4000 INJURED.
42. IN 1966, B.J. VORSTER WAS MADE SOUTH AFRICAN PRIME MINISTER. HE WAS NOT PREPARED TO DISMANTLE APARTHEID, BUT HE DID TRY TO REDRESS SOUTH AFRICA'S ISOLATION AND TO REVITALISE THE COUNTRY'S GLOBAL REPUTATION, EVEN THOSE WITH BLACK-RULED NATIONS IN AFRICA. THIS HE CALLED HIS "OUTWARD-LOOKING" POLICY; THE BUZZWORDS FOR HIS STRATEGY WERE "DIALOGUE" AND "DÉTENTE", SIGNIFYING A REDUCTION OF TENSION.
43. EARLY IN 1989, BOTHA SUFFERED A STROKE; HE WAS PREVAILED UPON TO RESIGN IN FEBRUARY 1989.[141] HE WAS SUCCEEDED AS PRESIDENT LATER THAT YEAR BY F.W. DE KLERK. DESPITE HIS INITIAL REPUTATION AS A CONSERVATIVE, DE KLERK MOVED DECISIVELY TOWARDS NEGOTIATIONS TO END THE POLITICAL STALEMATE IN THE COUNTRY. IN HIS OPENING ADDRESS TO PARLIAMENT ON 2 FEBRUARY 1990, DE KLERK ANNOUNCED THAT HE WOULD REPEAL DISCRIMINATORY LAWS AND LIFT THE 30-YEAR BAN ON LEADING ANTI-APARTHEID GROUPS SUCH AS THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS, THE PAN AFRICANIST CONGRESS, THE SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNIST PARTY (SACP) AND THE UNITED DEMOCRATIC FRONT. 
44. ON 11 FEBRUARY 1990, NELSON MANDELA WAS RELEASED FROM VICTOR VERSTER PRISON AFTER MORE THAN 27 YEARS OF CONFINEMENT.
45. A bantustan (also known as black African homeland or simply homeland) was a territory set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia), as part of the policy of apartheid. Ten bantustans were established in South Africa, and ten in neighbouring South-West Africa (then under South African administration), for the purpose of concentrating the members of designated ethnic groups, thus making each of those territories ethnically homogeneous as the basis for creating "autonomous" nation states for South Africa's different black ethnic groups.
46. APARTHEID WAS DISMANTLED IN A SERIES OF NEGOTIATIONS FROM 1990 TO 1993, CULMINATING IN ELECTIONS IN 1994, THE FIRST IN SOUTH AFRICA WITH UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE.
47. IN 1993, DE KLERK AND MANDELA WERE JOINTLY AWARDED THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE "FOR THEIR WORK FOR THE PEACEFUL TERMINATION OF THE APARTHEID REGIME, AND FOR LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS FOR A NEW DEMOCRATIC SOUTH AFRICA".
48. THE ELECTION WAS HELD ON 27 APRIL 1994 AND WENT OFF PEACEFULLY THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY AS 20,000,000 SOUTH AFRICANS CAST THEIR VOTES.
49. ON 10 MAY 1994, MANDELA WAS SWORN IN AS SOUTH AFRICA'S PRESIDENT. THE GOVERNMENT OF NATIONAL UNITY WAS ESTABLISHED, ITS CABINET MADE UP OF TWELVE ANC REPRESENTATIVES, SIX FROM THE NP, AND THREE FROM THE IFP. THABO MBEKI AND FREDERIK WILLEM DE KLERK WERE MADE DEPUTY PRESIDENTS.
50. THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE ELECTIONS, 27 APRIL, IS CELEBRATED AS A PUBLIC HOLIDAY IN SOUTH AFRICA KNOWN AS FREEDOM DAY.
51. Tutu is generally credited with coining the term Rainbow Nation as a metaphor for post-apartheid South Africa after 1994 under African National Congress rule. The expression has since entered mainstream consciousness to describe South Africa's ethnic diversity.
52. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (Xhosa pronunciation: [xoˈliːɬaɬa manˈdeːla]; born 18 July 1918) is a South African politician who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, the first ever to be elected in a fully representative democratic election.
53. Before being elected President, Mandela was a militant anti-apartheid activist, and the leader and co-founder of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC).
54. In 1962 he was arrested and convicted of sabotage and other charges, and sentenced to life imprisonment. Mandela went on to serve 27 years in prison, spending many of these years on Robben Island. 
55. Following his release from prison on 11 February 1990, Mandela led his party in the negotiations that led to the establishment of democracy in 1994. As President, he frequently gave priority to reconciliation, while introducing policies aimed at combating poverty and inequality in South Africa.
56. Mandela has received more than 250 awards over four decades, including the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize
57. Khayelitsha (/ˌkaɪ.əˈliːtʃə/) is a partially informal township in Western Cape, South Africa, located on the Cape Flats in the City of Cape Town. The name is Xhosa for New Home. It is reputed to be the largest[2] and fastest growing township in South Africa.
58. The discrimination and black population control by the apartheid regime did not prevent blacks from settling in the outskirts of Cape Town. After the scrapping of pass laws in 1987 many blacks, mainly Xhosas, moved into areas around Cape Town in search of work.
59. Today Khayelitsha has an estimated population of 406,779 (as of 2005), and runs for a number of kilometres along the N2.
60. The ethnic makeup of Khayelitsha is approximately 90.5% Black African, 8.5% Coloured and 0.5% White, with Xhosa being the predominant language of the residents.
61. Khayelitsha has a very young population. Fewer than 7% of its residents are over 50 years old and over 40% of its residents are under 19 years of age.
62. Key statistics (2001): Area: 43.51 square kilometres (16.80 sq mi), Population: 329,002: 7,561.99 inhabitants per square kilometre (19,585.5 /sq mi), Households: 85,984: 1,976.31 per square kilometre (5,118.6 /sq mi)
63. Around 70% of residents still live in shacks and one in three people has to walk 200 meters or further to access water.
64. Khayelitsha is located on the Cape Flats, between Table Bay and False Bay.
65. Khayelitsha has been split into about 22 sub-sections or areas, depending on how one divides them.
66. Khayelitsha is made up of old formal areas and new informal/formal areas. 
67. The old formal areas built originally by the apartheid government an are known as Bongweni, Ikwezi Park, Khulani Park, Khanya Park, Tembani, Washington Square, Graceland, Ekuphumleni and Zolani Park.
68. The newer areas have been built up around the older areas. They include Site B, Site C, Green Point, Litha Park, Mandela Park, Makaza and Harare. With the exception of Litha Park, these areas contain a high number of informal settlements, RDP houses, and informal backyard dwellers.
69. Khayelitsha has a good transport infrustructure. Golden Arrow Bus Services, Metrorail trains, and many taxis all use routes to and from the township.
70. Khayelitsha District Hospital is a brand new hospital opened in Khayelitsha in February 2012 this offers district level care including a large 24 hour Emergency Centre as well as medical wards, surgical wards, obstetric wards, gynaecology wards, paediatric wards and nursery.
71. Recently a tourist centre opened in the township on Look Out Point, or Lookout Hill [2] one of the highest hills in the area on the corner of Mew Way & Spine Road. There are also numerous organisations which offer "township tours", who support Khayelitsha through social tourism. There are also opportunities for social tourism as volunteers in numerous projects around Khayelitsha.
72. There are many different types of house in Khayelitsha. Some are permanent as they are built from bricks and others are built from scraps of sheet iron and timber. Most people living in Khayelitsha live in informal houses called 'imikhukhu'.
73. There are no Supermarkets in Khayelitsha. People buy their food and other supplies from small shops called Spaza shops. These shops make a substantial contribution part of Khayelitsha's entrepreneurial growth.
74. Khayelitsha is a mix of old and new, formal and informal and affluent and poor. There are housing projects which are continuously on the go, to alleviate the housing problems, but shacks are continuously being erected by the steady stream of people arriving from the Eastern Cape.