History UsefulNotes / SouthAfrica

* The British series ''Series/Wild at Heart'', involving a game park in South Africa.

The concept of race in post-Apartheid South Africa is complex and fluid. In addition to black South Africans, which group comprises eighty percent of the total population and contains members of multiple ethnic origins and language groups, there is a considerable minority of white South Africans, who may be of Dutch, British, French Huguenot, Israeli, Greek, Portuguese or German descent, and who remain affected by the English/Afrikaans divide. There are also coloured [[note]]the term 'coloured' is not derogatory in South Africa. [[/note]] South Africans, who may be, inclusively, of white, black, Indonesian, Malaysian, Javanese, Arabic and/or Indian descent, and who have an extremely rich and diverse cultural heritage as a result, being mostly Afrikaans-speaking and having a high percentage of Muslims. There are also substantial immigrant groups of Indians, whose ancestors arrived in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century as migrant workers, and of people of Arabic descent, not to mention a Chinese population of around 100,000. There are also nearly 150,000 refugees, the majority from sub-Saharan Africa (and several million illegals); many come from UsefulNotes/{{Zimbabwe}}. Contrary to the image most media would portray, racism is still widespread. Recent controversies surrounding racism include prominent politician, [[JerkAss Julius Malema]], who sings a song called "Shoot the Boer" at rallies[[note]]"Shoot the Boers, they are rapists, shoot them, the cowards ...". Nice "reconciliation" there, buddy.[[/note]]. Recent years have also seen an upswing in xenophobic prejudice, the chief target of this being the refugees (although its debatable whether you can blame racism for the anti-refugee riots, seeing as in many cases the refugees and rioters were even from the same tribe)[[note]]There are several examples, but the one that comes to mind is the Shona, the largest ethnic group in Zimbabwe.[[/note]].

South Africa's earliest inhabitants were most likely the ancestors of the Khoesan, while [[SettlingTheFrontier Nguni settlers moved down]] from sub-Saharan Africa around 300 AD, the most populous of these eventually forming the Xhosa and Zulu tribes.[[note]] Although South Africa contains the Cradle of Humankind, which shows that some of the very first "humans" (if not the first) lived there.[[/note]] The first instance of European contact occurred in 1487, when Bartolomeu Dias, en route to India, rounded the Cape of Storms (later dubbed the Cape of Good Hope, which name is still in use today - the University of Cape Town's motto is ''spes bona''). However, South Africa was not colonised until 1652, when Jan van Riebeeck established a rest colony at the behest of the Dutch East India Company, mainly to supply passing vessels with fresh fruit in order to avoid scurvy. These Dutch settlers would later come to blows with British settlers who arrived during the early nineteenth century, when the British Empire annexed the territory (to keep this critical bit of land en route to [[TheRaj India]] away from [[UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte Napoleon]], who [[UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars controlled the Netherlands at the time]]).

South Africa's earliest inhabitants were most likely the ancestors of the Khoesan, while [[SettlingTheFrontier Nguni settlers moved down]] from sub-Saharan Africa around 300 AD, the most populous of these eventually forming the Xhosa and Zulu tribes.[[note]] Although South Africa contains the Cradle of Humankind, which shows that some of the very first "humans" (if not the first) lived there.[[/note]] The first instance of European contact occurred in 1487, when Bartolomeu Dias, en route to India, rounded the Cape of Storms (later dubbed the Cape of Good Hope, which name is still in use today - the University of Cape Town's motto is ''spes bona''). However, South Africa was not colonised until 1652, when Jan van Riebeeck established a rest colony at the behest of the Dutch East India Company, mainly to supply passing vessels with fresh fruit in order to avoid scurvy. These Dutch settlers would later come to blows with British settlers who arrived during the early nineteenth century, when the British Empire annexed the territory (to keep this critical bit of land en route to [[TheRaj India]] away from [[UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte Napoleon]], who [[NapoleonicWars controlled the Netherlands at the time]]).

South Africa's earliest inhabitants were most likely the ancestors of the Khoesan, while [[SettlingTheFrontier Nguni settlers moved down]] from sub-Saharan Africa around 300 AD, the most populous of these eventually forming the Xhosa and Zulu tribes.[[note]] Although South Africa contains the Cradle of Humankind, which shows that some of the very first "humans" (if not the first) lived there.[[/note]] The first instance of European contact occurred in 1487, when Bartolomeu Dias, en route to India, rounded the Cape of Storms (later dubbed the Cape of Good Hope, which name is still in use today - the University of Cape Town's motto is ''spes bona''). However, South Africa was not colonised until 1652, when Jan van Riebeeck established a rest colony at the behest of the Dutch East India Company, mainly to supply passing vessels with fresh fruit in order to avoid scurvy. These Dutch settlers would later come to blows with British settlers who arrived during the early nineteenth century, when the British Empire annexed the territory (to keep this critical bit of land en route to [[TheRaj India]] away from [[NapoleonBonaparte Napoleon]], who [[NapoleonicWars controlled the Netherlands at the time]]).

Over twenty separate political parties ran in the 2009 national election, with alignments ranging from the extreme right to the extreme left. The ruling party, at just under two-thirds majority, is the big-tent but broadly economically leftist ANC; its leader, the Zulu-descended Jacob Zuma, is therefore President of the Republic (Parliament elects the President, who is both head of state and of government). The main opposition party is the Democratic Alliance-considerably more than half of its support now derives from non-whites[[note]]The DA is not a coalition of which the old National Party forms a part; it actually descends directly from the liberal-progressive ''white'' opposition of Apartheid times (whose supporters were mostly non-Afrikaners, e.g. British-descended or recent European immigrants--such as current DA leader Helen Zille, whose parents were Jews escaping NaziGermany). After apartheid, the NP became the NNP; they tried an alliance with the predecessor of the DA, hated it, and broke up soon afterward, with many of their members '''joining the ANC.''' Strange but true![[/note]]. A third party, the Congress of the People (also known as COPE, and yes, every joke that can possibly be made already has been) was formed due to an ANC split that occurred in late 2008 after the axing of Former President Thabo Mbeki, and, rather unexpectedly, won 10% of the vote. Besides these three larger parties, there are several dozen smaller parties representing minorities and special-interest groups. Therefore, as in most Parliamentary systems of government, coalitions between parties are very important; stand-offs and close calls between two large parties, as in the American system, just do not happen in South Africa. (Instead, they are liable to occur ''within'' the ANC, behind closed doors: the ANC is a rather large tent, including both near-communist leftists and people, like economic wizard Trevor Manuel, who are definitely neoliberal and might well be viewed as centre-right.)

Between approximately 1830 and 1860, a series of Frontier Wars were being waged by the white settlers, chiefly against the Xhosa, who were migrating south-west, and the Zulu, who had long held the northern areas. The Zulu in particular expanded greatly during the early nineteenth century under the leadership of Shaka Zulu, whose military conquests over the various smaller tribes and factions in that area led to what was retrospectively termed the Mfecane (or Difaqane in Sotho), which can be translated as 'The Hammering' - viewed positively, it can reference the forging of many small tribes into one; negatively, it aptly describes a series of brutal [[note]] as in, near-genocidal[[/note]] wars. Shaka was renowned during his time for his military genius, which included a series of revolutionary new manoeuvres, the organisation and regimentation of a formal army, and the implementation of new, more efficient weapons; this earned him the nickname of "the African Napoleon". A secession within the Zulu nation spearheaded by Mzilikazi of the Khumalo tribe led to the formation of the Ndebele people in the north; while Moshoeshoe of the Sotho fortified sections of the Drakensberg mountains to found what is today known as Lesotho.

* ''BreakerMorant'': Australian film set during the Boer War and based on actual events.

South Africa has allowed same-sex marriages since 2006. Also, according to TheOtherWiki, South Africa was the first nation in the world to explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation in its constitution. Contrast with most other countries in Africa, especially UsefulNotes/{{Uganda}}. This hasn't stopped or even slowed widespread murder, rape, and abuse of gays in South Africa, sadly.

* In the ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse, Flintheart Glomgold was a Boer and made his riches on the Rand, as seen during DonRosa's ''ComicBook/TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck''. (In ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales'', however, he's Scottish, just like Scrooge.)

Today, South Africa recognises eleven official languages, namely Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, isiXhosa and isiZulu, though certain other widely-spoken languages (such as South African Sign Language, Fanagalo (a Zulu-based pidgin used mostly in the mines, albeit with extremely negative connotations) and various Khoesan languages) are also given unofficial recognition. In addition, its many immigrant communities make use of, among others, Portuguese, Mandarin, German, and Hindi. Various languages are also recognized as being used "for primarily religious reasons", including Hebrew and Arabic. The so-called 'click languages' of South Africa, namely isiXhosa and isiZulu, form part of the Nguni family of languages, and make use of three click consonants, denoted by a 'c' for alveolar clicks, an 'x' for lateral clicks, and a 'q' for clicks that have variously been described as velar, palatal, and velar-palatal; placing an 'h' after a consonant, as in 'Xhosa', aspirates it. (The Khoesan languages may make use of as many as six clicks.) English is still the primary medium of business and instruction. The majority of the population learns it as a second or third language, and it, Afrikaans and sometimes Xhosa or Zulu are used as ''linguae francae''. Very few white South Africans speak a local language besides those two.

** South African [=APCs=] are used extensively by the mechanized infantry forces of M-Day in ''Literature/{{Countdown}}'', with a brief scene showing how the country has declined, following the general decay of the world at large.

* In Creator/TomKratman's ''Literature/{{Caliphate}}'', South Africa nearly collapsed by the start of the 21st century, due to high incidences of AIDS and incredible amounts of government corruption. However, refugee Europeans immigrated to South Africa to escape the spread of Islam in Europe, and when the inevitable civil war happened, the Boers and the refugee Europeans won. Africa south of the Sahara was under their control, with only the Zulu spared white rule. The Boers, however, have learned their mistakes from apartheid, so they rule only moderately as possible, and honor their agreements made with the Zulus in exchange for their assistance during the conflict. Slavery is still legal though: when a Muslim imam in Cape Town urged a jihad against the South African government, the angry Zulus with orders from the government had made a pogrom against Muslims, and the surviving prisoners are sold to the Caliphate. Bernie Matheson is covered as a black South African taxi driver.

South Africa's earliest inhabitants were most likely the ancestors of the Khoesan, while [[SettlingTheFrontier Nguni settlers moved down]] from sub-Saharan Africa around 300 AD, the most populous of these eventually forming the Xhosa and Zulu tribes.[[note]] Although South Africa contains the Cradle of Humankind, which shows that some of the very first "humans" (if not the first) lived there.[[/note]] The first instance of European contact occurred in 1487, when Bartolomeu Dias, en route to India, rounded the Cape of Storms (later dubbed the Cape of Good Hope, which name is still in use today - the University of Cape Town's motto is ''spes bona''). However, South Africa was not colonised until 1652, when Jan van Riebeeck established a rest colony at the behest of the Dutch East India Company, mainly to supply passing vessels with fresh fruit in order to avoid scurvy. These Dutch settlers would later come to blows with British settlers who arrived during the early nineteenth century, when the British Empire annexed the territory (to keep this critical bit of land en route to [[TheRaj India]] away from [[NapoleonBonaparte Napoleon]], who [[NapoleonicWars controlled the Netherlands at the time]]); it is worth noting that for some centuries, the most prominent (or at least best-publicised) cultural divide in South Africa was between Dutch-speaking (later Afrikaans-speaking) whites and English-speaking whites. The Dutch eventually seceded from the coastal areas, then known as the Cape Colony, and migrated north in an exodus called the Great Trek in order to found the Orange Free State. (''Trek'' is an old Dutch-Afrikaans term that can refer to a journey, hence ''Franchise/StarTrek''.)

During this time, a series of Frontier Wars were being waged by the white settlers, chiefly against the Xhosa, who were migrating south-west, and the Zulu, who had long held the northern areas. The Zulu in particular expanded greatly during the early nineteenth century under the leadership of Shaka Zulu, whose military conquests over the various smaller tribes and factions in that area led to what was retrospectively termed the Mfecane (or Difaqane in Sotho), which can be translated as 'The Hammering' - viewed positively, it can reference the forging of many small tribes into one; negatively, it aptly describes a series of brutal [[note]] as in, near-genocidal[[/note]] wars. Shaka was renowned during his time for his military genius, which included a series of revolutionary new manoeuvres, the organisation and regimentation of a formal army, and the implementation of new, more efficient weapons; this earned him the nickname of "the African Napoleon". A secession within the Zulu nation spearheaded by Mzilikazi of the Khumalo tribe led to the formation of the Ndebele people in the north; while Moshoeshoe of the Sotho fortified sections of the Drakensberg mountains to found what is today known as Lesotho.

* ''The Color of Friendship'', a Disney Channel Original Movie based on the true story of a young Black American girl who befriends a well-off Caucasian girl from South Africa through a student exchange program.

In colonial history, various colonies implemented some forms of institutionalized racism, such as native reservation systems. Whereas some colonies tried to implement parallel systems of national and local native government, others wanted blacks subjugated, and at least one area outright banned blacks from residing there. The discovery in the latter half of the nineteenth century of both gold and diamonds led to significant economic development, several large-scale British invasions of existing nations (both black and white), and the unification of various colonies and republics into the Union of South Africa. This led to the codification of black South Africans as a cheap, exploitable labor force. The African National Congress (ANC) was originally founded in 1910 (the same year as the formation of the Union of South Africa) to ensure than black South Africans would get equal representation in government and the legal system, which at the time was segregated. Unfortunately, the situation worsened in 1948, when Hendrik Verwoerd (a.k.a. 'The Architect of Apartheid') formalized existing local segregation laws into a national framework of segregation. Following this, the entire political mess created by the new legislation became caught up as part of the Cold War, with the West supporting the apartheid government and the USSR supporting the ANC and its allies... and it went downhill from there. See UsefulNotes/TheApartheidEra for further details.

The concept of race in post-Apartheid South Africa is complex and fluid. In addition to black South Africans, which group comprises eighty percent of the total population and contains members of multiple ethnic origins and language groups, there is a considerable minority of white South Africans, who may be of Dutch, British, French Huguenot, Israeli, Greek, Portuguese or German descent, and who remain affected by the English/Afrikaans divide. There are also coloured South Africans, who may be, inclusively, of white, black, Indonesian, Malaysian, Javanese, Arabic and/or Indian descent, and who have an extremely rich and diverse cultural heritage as a result, being mostly Afrikaans-speaking and having a high percentage of Muslims. (Note that the term 'coloured' is not derogatory in South Africa.) There are also substantial immigrant groups of Indians, whose ancestors arrived in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century as migrant workers, and of people of Arabic descent, not to mention a Chinese population of around 100,000. There are also nearly 150,000 refugees, the majority from sub-Saharan Africa (and several million illegals); many come from UsefulNotes/{{Zimbabwe}}. Contrary to the image most media would portray, racism is still widespread. Recent controversies surrounding racism include prominent politician, [[JerkAss Julius Malema]], who sings a song called "Shoot the Boer" at rallies[[note]]"Shoot the Boers, they are rapists, shoot them, the cowards ...". Nice "reconciliation" there, buddy.[[/note]]. Recent years have also seen an upswing in xenophobic prejudice, the chief target of this being the refugees (although its debatable whether you can blame racism for the anti-refugee riots, seeing as in many cases the refugees and rioters were even from the same tribe)[[note]]There are several examples, but the one that comes to mind is the Shona, the largest ethnic group in Zimbabwe.[[/note]].

Over twenty separate political parties ran in the 2009 national election, with alignments ranging from the extreme right to the extreme left. The ruling party, at just under two-thirds majority, is the big-tent but broadly economically leftist ANC; its leader, the Zulu-descended Jacob Zuma, is therefore President of the Republic (Parliament elects the President, who is both head of state and of government). The main opposition party is the Democratic Alliance-considerably more than half of its support now derives from non-whites[[note]]Just so nobody edits this back in, the DA is not a coalition of which the old National Party forms a part; it actually descends directly from the liberal-progressive ''white'' opposition of Apartheid times (whose supporters were mostly non-Afrikaners, e.g. British-descended or recent European immigrants--such as current DA leader Helen Zille, whose parents were Jews escaping NaziGermany). After apartheid, the NP became the NNP; they tried an alliance with the predecessor of the DA, hated it, and broke up soon afterward, with many of their members '''joining the ANC.''' Strange but true![[/note]]. A third party, the Congress of the People (also known as COPE, and yes, every joke that can possibly be made already has been) was formed due to an ANC split that occurred in late 2008 after the axing of Former President Thabo Mbeki, and, rather unexpectedly, won 10% of the vote. Besides these three larger parties, there are several dozen smaller parties representing minorities and special-interest groups. Therefore, as in most Parliamentary systems of government, coalitions between parties are very important; stand-offs and close calls between two large parties, as in the American system, just do not happen in South Africa. (Instead, they are liable to occur ''within'' the ANC, behind closed doors: the ANC is a rather large tent, including both near-communist leftists and people, like economic wizard Trevor Manuel, who are definitely neoliberal and might well be viewed as centre-right.)

* Nikki Alexander from ''SilentWitness'' was born in South Africa and sent to England around eleven to complete her education. One episode saw the trio go to the country, investigating the murder of ANC activists in 1985 and also a body fished up in Hout Bay.
* The British series ''Wild at Heart'', involving a game park in South Africa.
* Clint Eastwood's ''{{Invictus}}''.

* ''Film/BloodDiamond'' brings us real-life South African Andre Vosloo, playing South African colonel Coetzee. He even speaks Afrikaans at some points in the film.

South Africa hosted the [[TheWorldCup 2010 FIFA World Cup]], which was widely regarded as a resounding success and has proved to be a landmark event for the country - its only truly unfortunate outcome was to instill in the world at large a [[MemeticMutation perverse fascination]] with the South African custom of blowing into plastic horns called [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xl5iQFKygxw "vuvuzelas"]] during matches. South Africa is also a big cricketing nation, and their rugby team, the Springboks, is rather good too (being somewhere in the international top 5 at any given time). JRR Tolkien was born in this country.

South Africa's earliest inhabitants were most likely the ancestors of the Khoesan, while [[SettlingTheFrontier Nguni settlers moved down]] from sub-Saharan Africa around 300 AD, the most populous of these eventually forming the Xhosa and Zulu tribes. The first instance of European contact occurred in 1487, when Bartolomeu Dias, en route to India, rounded the Cape of Storms (later dubbed the Cape of Good Hope, which name is still in use today - the University of Cape Town's motto is ''spes bona''). However, South Africa was not colonised until 1652, when Jan van Riebeeck established a rest colony at the behest of the Dutch East India Company, mainly to supply passing vessels with fresh fruit in order to avoid scurvy. These Dutch settlers would later come to blows with British settlers who arrived during the early nineteenth century, when the British Empire annexed the territory (to keep this critical bit of land en route to [[TheRaj India]] away from [[NapoleonBonaparte Napoleon]], who [[NapoleonicWars controlled the Netherlands at the time]]); it is worth noting that for some centuries, the most prominent (or at least best-publicised) cultural divide in South Africa was between Dutch-speaking (later Afrikaans-speaking) whites and English-speaking whites. The Dutch eventually seceded from the coastal areas, then known as the Cape Colony, and migrated north in an exodus called the Great Trek in order to found the Orange Free State. (''Trek'' is an old Dutch-Afrikaans term that can refer to a journey, hence ''Franchise/StarTrek''.)

The Republic of South Africa is situated at the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin southern tip of Africa]] and comprises nine provinces. Bordering on Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia and Swaziland, and completely surrounding Lesotho, it formed part of the British Commonwealth until it became a republic in 1961, but continued to implement the segregationist laws collectively known as the Apartheid system until 1994, when Nelson Mandela was elected president in the country's first democratic elections. Its capital cities are Pretoria, Bloemfontein and Cape Town, which are recognised respectively as the executive, judicial and legislative capitals (i.e., a separate city for each branch of government). [[hottip:*: Contrary to popular belief, Johannesburg is not a national capital, but the capital of Gauteng Province. It is, however, very close to Pretoria.]]

South Africa has a somewhat... complex history, due largely to its diverse ethnic make-up and its extremely unfortunate colonial legacy of segregation. Even though a good deal of progress has been made over the past two decades, a good half of the population still lives below the poverty line, and housing shortages, not to mention a severely sub-standard education system, a very high crime rate (18,148 murders from April 2008 to March 2009[[hottip:*:That's about twice as many in a month as the UK, with only ten million more people, has in an entire year]]), a reputation as the "Rape Capital of the World," and a one-in-ten HIV infection rate, all pose serious problems.

During this time, a series of Frontier Wars were being waged by the white settlers, chiefly against the Xhosa, who were migrating south-west, and the Zulu, who had long held the northern areas. The Zulu in particular expanded greatly during the early nineteenth century under the leadership of Shaka Zulu, whose military conquests over the various smaller tribes and factions in that area led to what was retrospectively termed the Mfecane (or Difaqane in Sotho), which can be translated as 'The Hammering' - viewed positively, it can reference the forging of many small tribes into one; negatively, it aptly describes a series of brutal [[hottip:*: as in, near-genocidal]] wars. Shaka was renowned during his time for his military genius, which included a series of revolutionary new manoeuvres, the organisation and regimentation of a formal army, and the implementation of new, more efficient weapons; this earned him the nickname of "the African Napoleon". A secession within the Zulu nation spearheaded by Mzilikazi of the Khumalo tribe led to the formation of the Ndebele people in the north; while Moshoeshoe of the Sotho fortified sections of the Drakensberg mountains to found what is today known as Lesotho.

Over twenty separate political parties ran in the 2009 national election, with alignments ranging from the extreme right to the extreme left. The ruling party, at just under two-thirds majority, is the big-tent but broadly economically leftist ANC; its leader, the Zulu-descended Jacob Zuma, is therefore President of the Republic (Parliament elects the President, who is both head of state and of government). The main opposition party is the Democratic Alliance-considerably more than half of its support now derives from non-whites[[hottip:*:Just so nobody edits this back in, the DA is not a coalition of which the old National Party forms a part; it actually descends directly from the liberal-progressive ''white'' opposition of Apartheid times (whose supporters were mostly non-Afrikaners, e.g. British-descended or recent European immigrants--such as current DA leader Helen Zille, whose parents were Jews escaping NaziGermany). After apartheid, the NP became the NNP; they tried an alliance with the predecessor of the DA, hated it, and broke up soon afterward, with many of their members '''joining the ANC.''' Strange but true!]]. A third party, the Congress of the People (also known as COPE, and yes, every joke that can possibly be made already has been) was formed due to an ANC split that occurred in late 2008 after the axing of Former President Thabo Mbeki, and, rather unexpectedly, won 10% of the vote. Besides these three larger parties, there are several dozen smaller parties representing minorities and special-interest groups. Therefore, as in most Parliamentary systems of government, coalitions between parties are very important; stand-offs and close calls between two large parties, as in the American system, just do not happen in South Africa. (Instead, they are liable to occur ''within'' the ANC, behind closed doors: the ANC is a rather large tent, including both near-communist leftists and people, like economic wizard Trevor Manuel, who are definitely neoliberal and might well be viewed as centre-right.)

The concept of race in post-Apartheid South Africa is complex and fluid. In addition to black South Africans, which group comprises eighty percent of the total population and contains members of multiple ethnic origins and language groups, there is a considerable minority of white South Africans, who may be of Dutch, British, French Huguenot, Israeli, Greek, Portuguese or German descent, and who remain affected by the English/Afrikaans divide. There are also coloured South Africans, who may be, inclusively, of white, black, Indonesian, Malaysian, Javanese, Arabic and/or Indian descent, and who have an extremely rich and diverse cultural heritage as a result, being mostly Afrikaans-speaking and having a high percentage of Muslims. (Note that the term 'coloured' is not derogatory in South Africa.) There are also substantial immigrant groups of Indians, whose ancestors arrived in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century as migrant workers, and of people of Arabic descent, not to mention a Chinese population of around 100,000. There are also nearly 150,000 refugees, the majority from sub-Saharan Africa (and several million illegals); many come from UsefulNotes/{{Zimbabwe}}. Contrary to the image most media would portray, racism is still widespread. Recent controversies surrounding racism include prominent politician, [[JerkAss Julius Malema]], who sings a song called "Shoot the Boer" at rallies[[hottip:*:"Shoot the Boers, they are rapists, shoot them, the cowards ...". Nice "reconciliation" there, buddy.]]. Recent years have also seen an upswing in xenophobic prejudice, the chief target of this being the refugees (although its debatable whether you can blame racism for the anti-refugee riots, seeing as in many cases the refugees and rioters were even from the same tribe)[[hottip:*:There are several examples, but the one that comes to mind is the Shona, the largest ethnic group in Zimbabwe.]].

Over twenty separate political parties ran in the 2009 national election, with alignments ranging from the extreme right to the extreme left. The ruling party, at just under two-thirds majority, is the big-tent but broadly economically leftist ANC; its leader, the Zulu-descended Jacob Zuma, is therefore President of the Republic (Parliament elects the President, who is both head of state and of government). The main opposition party is the Democratic Alliance-considerably more than half of its support now derives from non-whites[[hottip:*:Just so nobody edits this back in, the DA is not a coalition of which the old National Party forms a part; it actually descends directly from the liberal-progressive ''white'' opposition of Apartheid times (whose supporters were mostly non-Afrikaners, e.g. British-descended or recent European immigrants). After apartheid, the NP became the NNP; they tried an alliance with the predecessor of the DA, hated it, and broke up soon afterward, with many of their members '''joining the ANC.''' Strange but true!]]. A third party, the Congress of the People (also known as COPE, and yes, every joke that can possibly be made already has been) was formed due to an ANC split that occurred in late 2008 after the axing of Former President Thabo Mbeki, and, rather unexpectedly, won 10% of the vote. Besides these three larger parties, there are several dozen smaller parties representing minorities and special-interest groups. Therefore, as in most Parliamentary systems of government, coalitions between parties are very important; stand-offs and close calls between two large parties, as in the American system, just do not happen in South Africa. (Instead, they are liable to occur ''within'' the ANC, behind closed doors: the ANC is a rather large tent, including both near-communist leftists and people, like economic wizard Trevor Manuel, who are definitely neoliberal and might well be viewed as centre-right.)