The quick guide to South Africa
Key facts on South Africa’s currency, time, geography, population, languages, provinces, government and education.
The online dictionary of South African English
Mixed with over a dozen African languages for over two centuries, spiced by imports from British, Dutch and Portuguese colonies, South African English has its own rich, varied and sometimes weird flavour.
What languages are spoken in South Africa’s nine provinces?
The home language of most people in KwaZulu-Natal is, unsurprisingly, isiZulu. In the Eastern Cape it’s isiXhosa. Around half the people of the Western Cape and Northern Cape speak Afrikaans. In Gauteng and Mpumalanga, no single language dominates.
Animations: South Africa’s 11 languages
Each of South Africa’s 11 languages has a fascinating vocabulary, with some words and phrases influenced by other languages, and many unique to that language. Learn a little South African with these animations.
The 11 languages of South Africa
South Africa has 11 official languages and a multilingual population fluent in at least two. IsiZulu and isiXhosa are the largest languages, while English is spoken at home by only one in 10 people – most of them not white.
The 16 June 1976 Soweto students’ uprising – as it happened
It took one day for young South Africans to change the course of the country’s history. That day was 16 June 1976. Here’s an hour-by-hour account of the events that sparked the 1976 Soweto students’ uprising.
What languages do black, coloured, Indian and white South Africans speak?
Nearly a third of black South Africans speak isiZulu as a first language, and 20% speak isiXhosa. Three-quarters of coloured people speak Afrikaans, and 86% of Indian South Africans speak English. Sixty percent of white people speak Afrikaans, and 30% speak English.
