South Africa – Its History, Geography, and People
South Africa – Its History, Geography, and People
This video is all about South Africa, a country shaped by its colonial history and former system of racial segregation called “Apartheid”. But the new South Africa is called “The Rainbow Nation” because of its diversity and acceptance of all the peoples that have contributed to it.
It’s also a land of surprising geographic diversity and…
source
Reviews
0 %
Hi, everyone! I hope you like the new video.
►Check out my video "Languages of South Africa": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU6dL9FMeIU
Thanks Paul! It is obviously impossible to give a real idea of a country with the complexity of South Africa in 12.5 minutes, and a lot of the things mentioned are more nuanced in reality, but this was a very good intro. You balance what is relevant and the level of simplification very well!
It is a long topic, but the ANC that lead the resistance to the old dispensation, has not really covered itself in glory after coming to power, not even in terms of serving it’s specific constituents well. But the electorate did eventually wake up to that, which is turning up the pressure for results over self serving.
Things are tough economically for people that lack good education or skills required by the modern employment market. For labour there is such an oversupply vs demand. It is no longer strictly race, but if your stuck in it, chances are children won’t be in a good school, so it is difficult to break out. Even so, many migrants from countries further north in Africa, and neighbouring countries, have seen opportunity and settled here in recent years, often outcompeting locals.
But after spending a few years abroad, I can say that if you have enough education for a reasonable job, it is a much more pleasant place to live than given credit for, even, perhaps especially, compared to England where I lived for a few years. It is not only climate (that was the least of the things that made me miss home) but the vibrancy of everything, cusine, the beauty of the country, and warm people, often worlds removed from, and much more bridge building than, the politicians that “represent” them.
South Africa has 13 language
It interesting how we the dispossessed interpret the same history of this region😮
As a South African, I would like people to know that we created Amapiano music🇿🇦🔥
Yes we like the video
❤
I was born in South Africa, I lived there until I was in my mid 60s. I find this video to be extremely accurate in terms of describing the country. The only thing I missed was perhaps a little more about Nelson Mandela. He was extremely unifying and beloved. I will never forget the first truly democratic general election when he came to power – there we stood, for hours, in long lines waiting to vote, black and white people together, supporting one another and experiencing something almost miraculous when one thinks of how easily change could have come with massive bloodshed.
South Africa is known as a failed state. There are governments responsible for this.
Apartheid has finished decades ago, once and forever, it can no more be blamed for the current situation.
Nothing has changed in South Africa you are still discriminated against on the basis of skin colour
I am Uruguayan born in Johannesburg in 1976 to Uruguayan parents who were living there for work and also to flee the Uruguayan dictatorship of that time (albeit for only 3 years). I have lived in Uruguay since 1977 and only returned to SA in 2013 to play music in a festival. It was sad to not be able to visit Johannesburg for lack of friends and a bit of fear of being robbed. Sadly it has a a very bad rep, and just coming out of the boarding area into the domestic flight area in Jo's airport was a bit scary since a lot of people started following us and talking to us. The festival was in Cape Town which I noticed was very Police controlled. Believe me I'm from Southamerica and hardly scared by any harsh hood, but this was a very different sensation. I felt guilty just for being white and was pretty saddened by the very racially polarized economy; in Cape Town most white people are business company personnel and all have cars, and black people are in charge of all service jobs and you rarely see one driving except taxis. We where accomodated by the festival at a hostel next to the train and bus station, and every evening we witnessed a massive exodus of black people going home to the poorer hoods after the daywork at the center of the city. There was no white people to be seen in that area. It was all very close to an apartheid without the old banners. Economic apartheid. Before the trip I tried to renew my SAfrican passport, and the Embassy in UY took so long that the trip time came and I travelled with my UY passport. They never delivered it and shortly after the Embassy in UY closed forever. I really wish some day I can return to SA and have a nicer impression of it's society and equality, but it is still long due.
Dividing and classifying according to race is such an ignorant thing bro… 😢
You didn't mention anything about the ANC burning hundreds of people alive and dancing around their burning bodies
My main takeaway, or rather something that hadn't been that clear to me before, is the two waves of colonialism (Dutch and British) and how they interacted. By the way, I remember as a child in the 1980s being told to check the country of origin of fruit and to never buy anything from South Africa because of the Apartheid regime. I had one classmate who travelled to SA in the late 80s and brought back dried ostrich meat and books about poisonous snakes. He also claimed – probably having been told by his racist parents – that the problems came from the black people. I remember my dad being really angry about this, because he couldn't tell a 9 year old to STFU.
Nations should boycott the USA until Indian Reservations are made independent countries with seats at the United Nations.
Notable sportsperson:
Kork Ballington (multiple GP350 and GP250 champion)
Jon Ekerold (1980 GP350 champion)
Brad Binder (2016 Moto3 champion)
Darryn Binder (multiple Moto3 podium finisher)
Jody Scheckter (1979 F1 champion)
I don’t see Africans screaming that South Africans are called South Africans.
Unlike somewhere in the world where if you call someone American, they flip saying they’re also American. No bud, you’re Brazilian, Mexican, Cuban, and you’re either a north or South American 😤😤
I cannot imagine the amount of work you put into all of your videos
Segregation was brought to South Africa by the British, with the annexation of the British Cape Colony in 1806. Every major Apartheid law was enacted in British territories under British hegemony by a British Administration.
It was the Nationalist Administration that tidied up the horrific mess of British apartheid, a coiling, stirring mass of conflicting rules to each colony & annexation from 1806 to1910. From 1948 they tidied up, ameliorated, & item for item, law for law, ultimately worked it out of existence by 1994. Take note: They worked Apartheid out of the Constitution. They did not abandon the country, as the British did their colonies. They did not surrender the country to a general massacre & genocide, unlike so many British colonies.
A bit of a woke point of view and you probably should have mentioned it’s current pathetic state.
My main takeaway, besides everything else, is that the truly indigenous Khoisan (yes, more so than the majority Bantu blacks) were subsumed under the Coloured category (along with the Cape Coloureds, Cape Malays, etc.) during apartheid.
One thing I learned was that it wasn’t until the early 1900’s that the British took it over. I thought it was much earlier.
Ahh, look at all those smiling faces after the blacks took control. Too bad this doesn't mention that SA is now the rape capital of the world and is a living hell for white people, who by law are discriminated against. Yes, the black people there and Democrats of the USA will say that is wonderful, to have 'reverse' discrimination. It shows why the whites ended up becoming so controlling there in the first place. Because racists have always been running that country, if not the racist whites, then the racist blacks.
I literally just realized, it's probably just a coincidence but the name of the owner of the channel GeographyNow is also Paul. two pauls that both have extremely similar youtube channels on the same topics. very interesting
At least, north europeans are in love with nature and land while french came to Algeria and devastated the land with nukes and chemicals then left. Many areas in Algeria are unfarmable like before. My grand-father was professional farmer in many arid areas without simple tools. Todays, farming 🧺 is sub-impossible even with techinques and ultra-intelligence.
It's good my friend knows a lot of countries
No mention of the Mfakane, which was one of the most important events in the history of SA. It still resonates today.
You do good work Paul. Keep it up. Fan of both channels.
Great video!
Twelve official languages. Sign Language is also an official language.
Some perspective on the racial classifications:
My great-great-grandfather was considered Coloured, while the rest of my family were classified as White. He basically couldn't leave the house because if anyone saw him he would be reported. We have since done a DNA test and it's revealed we have Khoisan, Cameroonian,Bantu,Malaysian,Indian and various European ancestries.
Your "iSandlwana" pronunciation is kinda great. Not perfect, but way better than I could have expected for someone who isn't living in KwaZulu-Natal (Zulu kingdom+Natalia/Natal)
Paul, kudos for a concise and accurate summary. As a South African this video is a great reference point for me. I knew you put a lot of effort into researching your content but until one sees a topic one is familiar with you just don’t know. This is a video I would recommend to anyone interested in a brief overview of SA.
As for something I would like outsiders to know about SA: as you mentioned, the systems in place still tend to group people by the ethnic groupings designed under apartheid. In my experience this means that many SAens tend to still think of themselves through that lens and unfortunately creates barriers between people. I was unaware of this until my wife (not from SA or from any of the defined ethnic groupings) pointed out that SAens appear to classify themselves by racial category first and nationality second. Hopefully this will change for the younger generations.
Great video! Thanks again.