8 Systems approach to culture: South Africa Kinship system Recognition of lengthy family lines and extended family relationships

are common to all the population groups, most formally among Indians and blacks. For Africans, the clan, a group of people descended from a single remote male ancestor, symbolized by a totemic animal and organized politically around a chiefly title, is the largest kinship unit. These clans often include hundreds of thousands of people and apply their names to branches extending across ethnic boundaries, so that a blood relationship is not an organizing feature of clanship. Among the Nguni-speaking groups, it is against custom for people to marry anyone with their own, their mother's, or grandparents' clan name or clan praise name. Among the Basotho, it is customary for aristocrats to marry within the clan. A smaller unit is the lineage, a kin group of four or five generations descended from a male ancestor traced though the male line. Extended families are the most effective kin units of mutual obligation and assistance and are based on the most recent generations of lineal relationships.

Education system South Africa has a 3 tier system of education starting with primary school, followed by high school and tertiary education in the form of (academic) universities and universities of technology. In 2010, it had 12.3 million learners, 386,000 teachers and around 48,000 schools including 390 special needs schools and 1,000 registered private schools. Officially, primary schools comprise Grade 1 to 7 and High schools Grade 8 to 12. These are extended on either end with Grade 0 and 13 at the discretion of the school. School life spans 13 years or grades although the first year of education, Grade R or "reception year", and the last three years, Grade 10, 11 and Grade 12 or "Matric" are not compulsory. Many Primary schools offer Grade R, although this pre-school year may also be completed at Nursery.

Recently, great advances have been made in the introduction of new technology to the formerly disadvantaged schools. Organizations such as Khanya, (Nguni for enlightenment) have worked to provide computer access in state schools. A recent national initiative has been the creation of "FOCUS" schools. These specialise in specific curriculum areas (Business & Commerce, Engineering, Arts& Culture) and are very similar to the UK specialist schools programme. For university entrance, a "Matriculation Endorsement" is required, although some universities do set their own additional academic requirements. South Africa has a vibrant higher sector, with more than a million students enrolled in the countrys universities and universities of technology. All the universities are autonomous, reporting to their own councils rather than government. South Africa has the concept of public and private schools. They vary according to character, size, quality of education, and financial advantages. Both are promising. Most schools are funded by the state and private schools are funded by fees. 2.8% of the total school population is private equalling 340,000 students. In 2010, the literacy rate is 88.0% and South Africa is listed joint 107th of 180 countries on the world literacy list.

Economic system South Africa is the economic powerhouse of Africa, leading the continent in industrial output and mineral production and generating a large proportion of Africa's electricity. The country has abundant natural resources, well-developed financial, legal, communications, energy and transport sectors, a stock exchange ranked among the top 20 in the world, and a modern infrastructure supporting efficient distribution of goods throughout the southern African region. South Africa has a world-class and progressive legal framework. Legislation governing commerce, labour and maritime issues is particularly well developed, and laws on competition policy, copyright, patents, trademarks and disputes conform to international norms and conventions.

The country's financial systems are sophisticated and robust. The banking regulations rank with the best in the world, and the sector has long been rated among the top 10 globally. Not only is South Africa itself an important emerging economy, it is also the gateway to other African markets. The country plays a significant role in supplying energy, relief aid, transport, communications and investment on the continent. Its well-developed road and rail links provide the platform and infrastructure for ground transportation deep into Africa.

Economic growth Until the global economic crisis hit South Africa in late 2008, economic growth had been steady and unprecedented. According to Statistics South Africa, GDP rose by 2.7% in 2001, 3.7% in 2002, 3.1% in 2003, 4.9% in 2004, 5% in 2005, 5.4% in 2006, 5.1% in 2007 and 3.1% in 2008. From the first quarter of 1993 to the second quarter of 2008, the country enjoyed an unprecendented 62 quarters of uninterrupted economic growth. But as the crisis made itself felt, GDP contracted in the third and fourth quarters of 2008, officially plunging the economy into recession. This contraction continued into the first and second quarters of 2009, with GDP growth at -6.4% and -3% respectively. South Africa's economy has been completely overhauled since the advent of democracy in the country in 1994. Bold macroeconomic reforms have boosted competitiveness, growing the economy, creating jobs and opening South Africa up to world markets. Over the years these policies have built up a rock-solid macroeconomic structure. Taxes have been cut, tariffs dropped, the fiscal deficit reined in, inflation curbed and exchange controls relaxed. Economic growth and prudent fiscal management have seen South Africa's budget deficit (the difference between the government's total expenditure and its total receipts, excluding borrowing) drop dramatically, from 5.1% of GDP in 1993/94 to 0.5% in 2005/06 - the second-lowest fiscal deficit in the country's history after the 0.1% reached during the gold boom in 1980. In 2006/07, the country posted its first ever budget surplus, of 0.3%.

Consumer inflation came in at under 5% from 2004 through 2006 before global prices pushed it up to 6.5% in 2007. In 1994 it stood at 9.8%. Despite lower taxes across the board, the upbeat economy, improved tax compliance and a steadily improving tax and customs administration have seen government revenue surging, hitting R475.8-billion in 2006/07 over three times the figure for 1996/97

Political system The Republic of South Africa is a federal state comprising of a national government and nine provincial governments. The constitution of South Africa was adopted in 1996 and implemented officially on 4 February, 1997. Under the political system of South Africa, the President is the executive head of the state elected by the parliament for two five year terms. The political system of South Africa has significantly evolved since the apartheid era.

Political structure of South Africa The Executive :President is both the executive Head of State and also leads the Cabinet. He is elected by the National Assembly for two five year terms. The President is subject to impeachment by the National Assembly under the following conditions:  On grounds of violation of the constitution or law  Misconduct  Inability to perform office functions. The Cabinet comprises of the President, Deputy President and the ministers. The President as the Head of Cabinet appoints the Deputy President from amongst the National Assembly members. He is also responsible for assigning powers and functions to the Deputy. The members of the Cabinet are accountable to the parliament, both individually and collectively.

Religious system Almost all South Africans profess some religious affiliation, according to the official census in 1991. Attitudes toward religion and religious beliefs vary widely, however. The government has actively encouraged specific Christian beliefs during much of the twentieth century, but South Africa has never had an official state religion nor any significant government prohibition regarding religious beliefs. About 80 percent of all South Africans are Christians, and most are Protestants. More than 8 million South Africans are members of African Independent churches, which have at least 4,000 congregations. The denomination generally holds a combination of traditional African and Protestant beliefs. The other large Protestant denomination, the Dutch Reformed Church, has about 4 million members in several branches. Most are whites or people of mixed race. Other Protestant denominations in the mid-1990s include at least 1.8 million Methodists, 1.2 million Anglicans, 800,000 Lutherans, 460,000 Presbyterians, and smaller numbers of Baptists, Congregationalists, Seventh Day Adventists, and members of the Assembly of God and the Apostolic Faith Mission of Southern Africa. More than 2.4 million South Africans are Roman Catholics; about 27,000 are Greek or Russian Orthodox. More than 7,000 are Mormons. Adherents of other world religions include at least 350,000 Hindus, perhaps 400,000 Muslims, more than 100,000 Jews, and smaller numbers of Buddhists, Confucians, and Baha'is.

Association system Despite government interference, nongovernmental organizations working to ameliorate the plight of the dispossessed majority, advance democratic ideals, and monitor human rights violations flourished in the 1970s and 1980s. Many of those groups were funded by foreign governmental and private antiapartheid movement donors. With the fall of apartheid and the move toward a nonracial democracy in the 1990s, much of their funding dried up. Also, the new government has been unreceptive to the independent and often socially critical attitude of these organizations. The ANC insists that all foreign funding for social amelioration and development be channeled through governmental departments and agencies. However, bureaucratic

obstruction and administrative incapacity have caused some donors to renew their connection with private organizations to implement new and more effective approaches to social problems.

Health system South Africa's health system consists of a large public sector and a smaller but fast-growing private sector. Health care varies from the most basic primary health care, offered free by the state, to highly specialised hi-tech health services available in the private sector for those who can afford it. The public sector is under-resourced and over-used, while the mushrooming private sector, run largely on commercial lines, caters to middle- and high-income earners who tend to be members of medical schemes (18% of the population), and to foreigners looking for top-quality surgical procedures at relatively affordable prices. The private sector also attracts most of the country's health professionals.  Public versus private spend Although the state contributes about 40% of all expenditure on health, the public health sector is under pressure to deliver services to about 80% of the population. Despite this, most resources are concentrated in the private health sector, which sees to the health needs of the remaining 20% of the population. Drug expenditure per person varies widely between the sectors. In 2000 about R8.25-billion was spent on drugs in South Africa, with the state spending only 24% of this. Thus, R59.36 was spent on drugs per person in the state sector as opposed to R800.29 on drugs per person in the private sector. Of all the country's pharmacists, 40% work in Gauteng in the private sector. The number of private hospitals and clinics continues to grow. Four years ago there were 161 private hospitals, with 142 of these in urban areas. Now there are 200. The mining industry also provides its own hospitals, and has 60 hospitals and clinics around the country.

Most health professionals, except nurses, work in private hospitals. With the public sector's shift in emphasis from acute to primary health care in recent years, private hospitals have begun to take over many tertiary and specialist health services. Public health consumes around 11% of the government's total budget, which is allocated and spent by the nine provinces. How these resources are allocated, and the standard of health care delivered, varies from province to province. With less resources and more poor people, cash-strapped provinces like the Eastern Cape face greater health challenges than wealthier provinces like Gauteng and the Western Cape.

Recreational system Sport in South Africa is a multibillion rand industry and contributes more than 2% to the countrys gross domestic product. The most popular team sports in South Africa are soccer, rugby and cricket. According to a 2004 survey, adult South Africans expressed most interest in: soccer with 78 percent of votes, rugby (47 percent), cricket (39 percent), wrestling (25 percent), athletics (22 percent), tennis (22 percent), boxing (18 percent), motorsport (12 percent), golf (12 percent) and netball (11 percent). (NB: the participants in the survey were allowed to choose more than one sport as preferred.) After South Africa's readmission to the international sports arena in 1992, rugby and cricket teams have competed successfully and won numerous honors. Soccer has the widest base and the biggest number of supporters, but the national soccer team is yet to achieve major results in international competitions. Many hope that the 2010 world cup will be a significant turning point for South African soccer. South Africans are outdoorsy nation that likes both to watch sports and participate in them. The most popular sporting pursuits both professional and recreational - are swimming, cycling, rugby, golf and tennis.

South Africa also has numerous sporting events for disabled athletes. South African sports and recreation fact and figures:  South Africa was banned from the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo due to the apartheid policies. This ban lasted until 1992.  South Africa is one of the leading cricket-playing nations in the world and one of ten countries that is sanctioned to play Test cricket.  South Africa won the Rugby World Cup in 1995 and 2007.  Golf is one of the best individual sports event that South Africans participate in, with top quality players.  The Comrades Marathon is the world's oldest and largest ultramarathon run over a distance of approximately 90 km (55.9 mi) between the capital of the Kwazulu-Natal Province of South Africa, Pietermaritzburg, and the coastal city of Durban. The direction of the race alternates each year between the up run starting from Durban and the down run starting from Pietermaritzburg.  The Two Oceans Marathon is a 56 km / 35 mile ultramarathon held annually in Cape Town, South Africa on the Saturday of the Easter weekend. Claimed to be "the world's most beautiful marathon", the race is run against a backdrop of spectacular scenery through the Cape Peninsula. Nearly 8,000 runners entered the 2007 event.

http://www.everyculture.com/Sa-Th/South-Africa.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_South_Africa http://www.southafrica.info/business/economy/econoverview.htm http://www.123independenceday.com/south-africa/political-system.html http://countrystudies.us/south-africa/52.htm

http://www.southafrica.info/about/health/health.htm http://www.southafricaweb.co.za/page/sport-and-recreation-south-africa