pele SciaSction - new media

SOUTH AFRICA
when 68 percent of voters supported change in a whites
only referendum.
According to research by FutureFact on the evolving
South African consumer, Afrikaans speakers have shown
the most radical change in political outlook of all groups
in South Africa since 1994. Afrikaans speakers are 300
percent more accepting of affirmative action in 2004
than they were in 2000. This contrasts with the total
population which has not shown radically increased
support for the concept.
Coloured (Mixed-Race) people
The mixed-race Coloureds are, culturally speaking, much
closer to whites, especially Afrikaans speakers, whose
language and religious beliefs they share, than they are
to black South Africans, despite suffering considerable
discrimination under apartheid. A small minority of
Coloureds, known as Cape Malays are Muslim. Well
known members of the community include Springboks
rugby players Chester Williams and Breyton Paulse and
jazz musicians Jonathan Butler and Abdullah Ibrahim
(also known as Dollar Brand).
Asian people
Asians, (predominantly of Indian origin) preserve their
own cultural heritage, languages and religious beliefs,
being either Hindu or Muslim, and speak English, with
Indian languages like Tamil, Hindi, Telugu or Gujarati
being spoken less frequently.
Although Indian languages are seldom spoken or
understood, English-subtitled Bollywood films and
television programmes are popular among South African
Indians.
There is a much smaller Chinese community in South
Africa, although its numbers have been increased by
immigration from Taiwan (although the Taiwanese were
classified as "White", rather than Asian by the Apartheid
regime.)
Food
Indian Durban speciality is the 'bunny' or bunny chow,
which consists of a hollowed-out loaf of white bread filled
with curry. Cape Malay dishes have their origins in
Southeast Asia. Bobotie is a popular dish (originating in
Europe) which was adapted to suit the Cape Malay
palate. It is made from curried lamb, fruit and bread,
served with rice, and sosatie, a type of barbecued meat.
More recently, Pakistani and Indian restaurants have
been opened in major cities by recent immigrants, and
provide a more "authentic" South Asian dining
experience.
The Portuguese community has also made its mark, with
spicy peri-peri chicken being a favourite. The South
African Portuguese-themed restaurant chain Nando's
now has restaurants in the UK, Australia, Malaysia and
Kenya.
TV and films
Television, which for political reasons was not introduced
in South Africa until 1976, is also popular. Traditionally,
U.S. programmes have dominated TV schedules.
Programmes like The Bold and the Beautiful have been
popular with South Africans of all races, but locally
produced soap operas or 'soapies' now draw a large
audience and are exported all over Africa. The SABC
drama series Shaka Zulu, based on the true story of the
Zulu warrior King Shaka, was shown around the world in
the 1980s, but had to be marketed by a US distributor.
While many foreign films have been produced about
South Africa (usually involving race relations), few local
productions are known outside South Africa itself. One
exception was the film The Gods Must Be Crazy in 1980,
set in the Kalahari. This is about how life in a traditional
community of Bushmen is changed when a Coke bottle,
thrown out of an aeroplane, suddenly lands from the sky.
The late Jamie Uys, who wrote and directed The Gods
Must Be Crazy, also had success overseas in the 1970s
with his films Funny People and Funny People II, similar to
the TV series Candid Camera in the US. Leon Schuster's
You Must Be Joking! films are in the same genre, and
hugely popular among South Africans.
The braai or barbecue is widely popular, especially with
whites, and includes meat, especially boerewors or spicy
sausages, and mielies (maize) or Mielie-meal, often as a Other notable exceptions are the film Tsotsi, which won
porridge, or pearl millet, a staple food of black South the Academy Award for Foreign Language Film at the
Africans. Pastries such like koeksusters and desserts like 78th Academy Awards in 2006 as well as U-Carmen e-
melktert (milk tart) are also universally popular. Khayelitsha, which won the Golden Bear at the 2005
Vegetarianism is becoming widely accepted.
Berlin International Film Festival.
Another favourite among most South Africans is biltong, In 2004, the New South African TV channel (NSAT)
a form of dried meat usually made from beef or game,
began broadcasting on Sky Digital in the UK, thereby
and often consumed while watching sporting events.
reaching the large (predominantly white) expatriate
Indian food like curry is also popular, especially in community, showing a mix of South African
Durban with its large Indian population. Another local entertainment, films, sport and news coverage.
OPEN TRADE 56
Oct-Dec 2007