|
|
South Africa: People
Most South Africans, about 75%, have black skin but there are white skinned South Africans too. There are some people who are children of one black and one white parent and they are known as 'Coloureds'. Some are Indians.
poster used
with permission http://www.southafrica-travel.net/
The people of
South Africa follow these religions:
Christian, Muslim, Hindu and
animist.
Sports enjoyed by South Africans include cricket and rugby.
There is some
information about South African musicians here http://www.music.org.za/
If you have Real
Player software you can go here to BBC radio and hear about some
more South African musicians and listen to their music
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/world/guidesafrica.shtml
A short History
of the South African people
The San people (also known as Bushmen) have possibly lived in
Southern Africa for more than 100 thousand years.
Europeans traders from the Netherlands settled in Cape Town from
the mid 1600s. These Dutch settlers became known as Boers and
they spread into many parts of South Africa and became farmers.
British settlers arrived later
and Britain twice went to war with the Boers for the right to
control South Africa. The Boer won the first war but the British
won the second. The Union of South Africa was set up in 1910 and
the white people who ruled the country passed many laws that told
people where they could live and work and where they could go
to school, shop and play. There was one lot of places for white
people and other places for blacks. Black South Africans were
forced into parts of the country called 'homelands' where there
were no decent schools, hospitals or other services. Housing was
very poor and there was not enough food for the people living
there. Many black people left the homelands and went to live in
slums near the big cities. This system of keeping blacks away
from whites was called apartheid
Nelson
Mandela
Black people protested about the bad conditions of their lives and many leaders such as Nelson Mandela were sent to gaol. Violence against the black people continued until a new president, F.W. De Klerk, came to power. Free elections were held in 1994 and Nelson Mandela became president.
In the 1999 elections, Thabo Mbeki became president.
Health problems
in South Africa
Many poor black South Africans still live in poor houses without
a proper water supply and electricity. 
Diseases spread quickly in places without
proper sewage systems.
Nearly 5 million South Africans are infected with the AIDS virus
and millions of people could die unless a cure is found. This
is a serious problem for the country.
Go here
to read about food in South Africa
Acknowledge this
source in your bibliography like this:
Sydenham & Thomas, South Africa. [Online] www.kidcyber.com.au (2004)
updated © [2007] kidcyber