Brainstorm

What do you know about South Africa?

Think of landscape, famous places and sights, their history, …

Have a look at the map. Use a marker to indicate the places you have ever heard of ?

What do you know about South-Africa ? Take the quiz and find out !
a) European settlement in South Africa started in Cape Town, which is why this city is still
called the Mother City to this day. Which people were the first to realize the strategic and
economic importance of the Cape ? (6th April 1652)
 The British
 The French
 The Dutch

b) When dealing with South Africa you often read about the Boers and the Boers wars
(1899-1902). What are the Boers ?
 white Dutch farmers
 a black tribe
 British colonists

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c) The South African Union was founded in 1913. What could the result of this union have
been ?
 a war between the whites and the blacks
 blacks were put in reservations
 a lot of whites left South Africa

d) Apartheid is the policy of

 consequently killing black people to get a white state
 consistent racial separation
 sending white people back to Europe

e) Nelson Mandela was imprisoned on Robben Island for … years, because he actively
fought against Apartheid.
 17
 22
 27

f) The first black president of South Africa was

 Thabo Mbeki
 De Klerk
 Nelson Mandela

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g) Zulu, Xhosa and Sotho are the names of South African
 tribes
 rivers
 mountains

h) The portion of the relatively prosperous white part of the South African population
amounts to …. % of the national population.
8
 12
 16

i) South Africa took a census (=volkstelling) October 1996 which showed (after an official
adjustement) a population of
 35, 032, 458
 43, 586, 097
 50, 988, 756

j) In Belgian three official languages are spoken. How many official languages does South
Africa have ?
9
 11
 13

k) The capital of South Africa is  Pretoria

 Bloemfontein
 Cape Town

l) The South African currency is  SA dollar

 SA pound
 SA Rand

Then read this introductory text.

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One further area where there is a substantial number of mother tongue speakers of
English is South Africa. Although Dutch colonists arrived in the Cape as early as 1652,
British involvement in the region dates only from 1795, during the Napoleonic Wars, when
an expeditionary force invaded. British control was established in 1806, and a policy of
settlement began in earnest in 1820, when some 5,000 British were given land in the
eastern Cape. English was made the official language of the region in 1822, and there was
an attempt to anglicize the large Dutch- (or Afrikaans-) speaking population. English
became the language of law, education, and most other aspects of public life. Further
British settlements followed in the 1840s and 1850s, especially in Natal, and there was a
massive influx of Europeans following the development of the gold and diamond areas in
the Witwatersrand in the 1870s. Nearly half a million immigrants, many of them English-
speaking, arrived in the country during the last quarter of the nineteenth century.
The English language history of the region thus has many strands. There was
initially a certain amount of regional dialect variation among the different groups of British
settlers, with the speech of the London area predominant in the Cape, and Midlands and
Northern speech strongly represented in Natal; but in due course a more homogeneous
accent emerged - an accent that shares many similarities with the accents of Australia,
which was also being settled during this period. At the same time, English was being used
as a second language by the Afrikaans speakers, and many of the Dutch colonists took
this variety with them on the Great Trek of 1836, as they moved north to escape British
rule. An African variety of English also developed, spoken by the black population, who
had learned the language mainly in mission schools, and which was influenced in different
ways by the various language backgrounds of the speakers. In addition, English came to
be used, along with Afrikaans and often other languages, by those with an ethnically mixed
background (Coloureds); and it was also adopted by the many immigrants from India,
who arrived in the country from around 1860.

QUESTIONS
1. Match the following words with the suitable definition or synonym.
Involvemen Policy Attempt Share Rule Mainly Background
t

Try
Chiefly, primarily.
Distribute something among people in the same proportion.
Origin, person’s social class.
Fact of including or affecting somebody in one operation.

2. Answer the following questions according to the text.

a. What year were the first British settlers given land?

b. How many new settlers arrived in South Africa since 1875 to 1900?

c. What other dialect is similar to the one spoken in South Africa?

d. Where did the Black Population learn English?

Freedom Questionaire
Discuss these questions with a partner.

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1. What is Freedom? What does it mean to you personally?
2. Are people in your country free?
3. If so how are they making use of their freedom?
4. If not how would they make use of their freedom if they had it?
5. Everyone is pleased that Apartheid is gone, but there are many other forms of
oppression. Can one be oppressed by one’s own family? One’s society? One’s religion?

Do you agree or disagree?

5. It is often noted that extraordinary people emerge in times of great difficulty. Artists often
produce their most profound work during periods of extreme misery. If Van Gogh had had
a happy life he would not have painted such wonderful pictures. And do you think that
suffering, and perhaps lack of freedom, is therefore sometimes necessary?
6. Freedom is not just something you can sit back and enjoy after winning it. It is
something you have to continually fight for, every day of your life, wherever you are in the
world.
7. Would you say that a person who is a slave to money / fashion / … is not truly free?
8. “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose….” This is a line from a famous old
song (Me and Bobby Mcgee). Is this true? What do you think?

Eddy Grant “Gimme hope Joanna”

Well Jo'anna she runs a country
She runs in Durban and the Transvaal
She makes a few of her people happy, oh
She don't care about the rest at all
She's got a system they call apartheid
It keeps a brother in a subjection
But maybe pressure will make Jo'anna see
How everybody could a live as one

(Chorus:)
Gimme hope, Jo'anna
Hope, Jo'anna
Gimme hope, Jo'anna
'Fore the morning come
Gimme hope, Jo'anna
Hope, Jo'anna
Hope before the morning come

I hear she makes all the golden money

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To buy new weapons, any shape of guns
While every mother in black Soweto fears
The killing of another son
Sneakin' across all the neighbours' borders
Now and again having little fun
She doesn't care if the fun and games she play
Is dang'rous to ev'ryone

(Chorus:)

She got supporters in high up places

Who turn their heads to the city sun
Jo'anna give them the fancy money
Oh to tempt anyone who'd come
She even knows how to swing opinion
In every magazine and the journals
For every bad move that this Jo'anna makes
They got a good explanation

(Chorus:)

Even the preacher who works for Jesus

The Archbishop who's a peaceful man
Together say that the freedom fighters
Will overcome the very strong
I wanna know if you're blind Jo'anna
If you wanna hear the sound of drum
Can't you see that the tide is turning
Oh don't make me wait till the morning come

Surf the Internet

a) This song is called “Gimme hope Joanna”. Who or what is Joanna in this case ?
b) What are Durban and Transvaal ?
c) Find a good definiton of “apartheid”. What is Apartheid ? What were the consequences
of this regime?
d) What is Soweto ? (http://www.joburg.org.za/soweto/)

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e) Archbishop “Desmond Tutu” also fought against Apartheid. How and what kind of
award did he get for it ? (http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1984/tutu-bio.html)
f) How did the international community react ?
(http://racerelations.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F
%2Fwww.infoplease.com%2Fce5%2FCE002520.html)
g) Find out who Steve Biko was ?
5. Fact files

a) Textbook p 83. Skim the page to find the correct answers. Some answers are not to be
found on the page and will have to be looked up on the Internet.

Full name of the country

Area (in km2)
Capital city
Ethnic communities
Languages commonly spoken
Religion(s)
Form of government
Head of State

b) One of the most common languages of South Africa is A____________________ It is

very similar to our language. Try to translate the following words to English.
Afrikaans English
Danksy
Verskillende
Saamsmelte
Aktiwiteite
Kreatiewe
Tradisies

c) Have a look at the map and complete

Which countries border on South Africa ?
Which oceans border on South Africa ?
Which animals are presented in the
picture ? (Look up in a dictionary when
necessary)

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d) Textbook p 83. Not all the answers are to be found on this page. Some facts will have
to be looked up on the Internet.
What are homelands ?
What was every individual classified by
under the apartheid system ?
What did the classification result in ? (5)
What is the ANC and what did it oppose
to ?
Were there only conflicts between whites
and blacks ? Explain.
Why did the whites gradually make the
apartheid laws less strict ?
Who was the last white president ?