South African Business 2018 edition

FACT FILE: REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
President: Jacob Zuma (African National
Congress)
Capitals: Pretoria/Tshwane (administrative,
seat of government), Cape Town (legislative),
Bloemfontein (judicial).
Provinces and provincial capitals: Western Cape
(Cape Town), Eastern Cape (Bhisho), KwaZulu-
Natal (Pietermaritzburg), Mpumalanga
(Nelspruit), Limpopo (Polokwane), Gauteng
(Johannesburg), North West (Mafikeng),
Northern Cape (Kimberley), Free State
(Bloemfontein).
Time: GMT+2
Population: 55.91-million (2016)
Population under 15 years: 30%
Population over 60 years: 8%
Life expectancy: 65.1 (female); 59.7 (male)
Size: 1 220 813km²
Major languages: South Africa has 11 official
languages but the main language of government
and business is English. Zulu, Xhosa and
Afrikaans are widely spoken.
Religion: There is no state religion. The majority
of the population are Christian but many other
religions are followed such as Islam, Jewish and
Hindu.
Currency: The rand (100 cents). R13.48 = $1
(October 2017)
Political system: South Africa is a republic with
an executive president who is appointed by the
political party that wins the majority of votes in
parliamentary elections. There are three tiers
of government: national, provincial and municipal
but the revenue raising capacity of the
latter two spheres is limited. Allocations for
health and education for example, are made
by national government and then administrated
by provinces. Eight of South Africa’s nine
provinces are run by premiers from the African
National Congress; the Western Cape is administered
by the Democratic Alliance. In 2016,
municipal elections saw the DA come to power
in some of South Africa’s biggest cities, supported
by other parties such as the Congress
of the People and the United Democratic Front.
SPECIAL FEATURE
Legal system: South Africa is a constitutional
state with separation of powers between the
legal and executive authorities. All laws must
pass muster with the Constitutional Court which
is the ultimate court of appeal on legislation.
South Africa’s legal system is based on Roman
Dutch law.
Infrastructure: Ports of Cape Town, Saldanha,
Mossel Bay, Port Elizabeth, Ngqura East London,
Durban and Richards’ Bay. International airports
at Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban and
domestic airports at all major cities. South
Africa has 34 000km of railway track and half
of the country’s road network is paved. Most of
South Africa’s power is generated by coal-fired
power stations run by the state utility Eskom.
A vigorous programme to encourage private investment
into renewable energy began in 2012.
Resouces: Platinum, gold, iron ore, chromium,
vanadium, manganese, alumino-silicates, coal,
copper, diamonds, uranium, zirconium.
GDP: R3 055-billion (2015)
GDP growth: 0.5% (2016), projected 1.3% (2017)
(SA Treasury)
Exports: Precious and semi-precious stones,
mineral products, base metals, vehicles,
machinery, chemical products, vegetable products,
fruits, foodstuffs and beverages, paper
and pulp.
Main export markets: China, USA, Japan,
Germany, UK, India.
Imports: Machinery, mineral products, vehicles,
chemicals, original equipment, base metals,
plastics and rubber, textiles, optical and medical,
foodstuffs and beverages.
Main import markets: China, Germany, USA,
Japan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, UK, India, France,
Nigeria.
17 SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS 2018