South Africa - South Africa -
The sun is shining today in South Africa - of this there is no doubt. Whatever the time of year this glorious African sun will be shining down somewhere on this beautiful land. As I write this on a "cool" August winter's day in Port Elizabeth, the temperature is 23-nC/73'-'F -not unlike a warm summer day in my native England!
South Africa lies at the southern tip or the African continent with its stunning coastline washed by the Indian and Atlantic oceans. The country borders Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Swaziland and completely surrounds Lesotho. It covers an area of 471,445 sq.miles (1,221,037 sq.kms.). The interior is mostly plateau, coastal lowlands lie in the east, the Cape mountains are in the far south - Table Mountain in Cape Town being the most famous, The Namib Desert stretches along the west coast and the Kalahari Desert covers most of the north west interior.
Climatically it is generally mild and sunny The cape mountain region has warm, dry summers and cool wet winters. The coastal strip enjoys hot, humid summers and dry sunny winters. Summer days are hot and dry and the winters cold - often sub-zero temperatures on the plateau and the deserts hot and dry. Only one fourth of the country receives more than 25 inches (64 cms) of rain per year.
This is a country ot incredible natural beauty with abundant wildlife, birds and plant kingdom, And geographical variety, in fact - a world in one country - with a wealth of natural resources, especially minerals. It is the most highly industrialised country in Africa - the major exports being gold, diamonds, metals and minerals, wool, corn and sugar.
Despite its abundant resources and beautiful landscapes, South Africa has in the past been troubled by violence and was isolated from other countries because of its racial segregation policies (known as apartheid.). In 1990/1991 it repealed the last of its segregation laws and in 1994 the first democratic elcctions were held when we saw the country's first multi-racial government and Nelson Mandela became our first black president.
South Africa has three capitals - Cape Town (legislative), Pretoria (administrative) and Bloemfontein (judicial). It also has several national institutions designed to strengthen the country's democracy. These include the Human Rights Commission and commissions for the promotion and protection of the rights of cultural, religious and linguistic communities also for gender equality as well as the electoral commission.
The population is "estimated" at 44,223,000 and the estimate for the year 2003 is 49,029,000 with a population density of 36 persons per square km, Black Africans comprise 76% of the total population, of these Zulus form the largest ethnic group, then the Xhosas, followed by the Sothos and Tswanas. "White" Afrikaans and English speaking South Africans account for 13% of the population, Coloureds (mixed race) - 9% and Asians - 2%. There are eleven official languages but the most widely used are Xhosa, English, Afrikaans and Zulu.
The majority of South Africans are sports crazy - the climate being conductive to numerous outdoor sports. Traditionally, rugby has been the "national sport" but recently soccer and cricket have been competing for that title. In fact, we are still a nation in mourning since losing the 1999 cricket world cup and post mortems are still carried out on a daily basis - we truly thought "our boys" were invincible - in fact, if it wasn't for all the other teams we would have won! !
During those troubled years when South Africans were effectively cut off from the rest of the world, those of us within the international embrace of Rotary and Inner Wheel always knew that we had friends worldwide.
The ratio of Inner Wheel clubs to Rotary clubs in South Africa is small. We have here a unique situation where historically Rotary clubs have corresponding Rotary Ann clubs - which are informal groups consisting of the wives of Rotarians - many of them involved in wonderful community projects, while others are purely fellowship orientated.
In the past many "Anne" clubs are have not been keen to formalise their clubs expand their horizons and go international - even given all the obvious advantages. Also many Rotarians perceived that because we have our own constitution, we are some sort of breakaway women's lib group, some even saying that Inner Wheel is not part of the Rotary family!
However, we are working hard at extension. In recent years with the admission of a large percentage of women into Rotary and the ensuing drop in the number of "Rotary wives", many "Anne" clubs are now viewing lnner Wheel in a different light and are beginning to realise that they are missing out on a 'wonderful international experience.
South Africa is divided into two Inner Wheel Districts - 935 encompassing the nine clubs in the Cape Town area and extending north west to Saldanha Bay, where there is one club. District 932 currently consists of nine clubs extending from Port Elizabeth in the south to Gaborone in Botswana in the north.
