The rainbow nation

Valsala Rajan takes you on a journey of South Africa, a country with a vibrant culture

For a country that has 22 languages written into the constitution, 11 official languages may not seem like much. But now look at 1/23 of 22… Almost 1, you say? Well, South Africa has approximately 1/23 of India’s population and 11 official languages. How’s that for diversity? No wonder Desmond Tutu dubbed it the Rainbow Nation. South Africa has a wide array of ethnic groups, including the Zulu, Sotho, Ndebele, and Venda, each speaking their own language and following their own customs. Western influences and African traditions have blended here to form a unique culture.

And then you have the Afrikaners. But before we talk about them, let’s go back a bit. South Africa shows evidence of human habitation that dates back 1,00,000 years. The region of Gauteng, which has numerous fossil sites, is known as the ‘Cradle of Humankind’. Khoikhoi (Men of Men) were the first to occupy South Africa, making South Africa one of the world’s oldest regions inhabited by modern man. The Khoikhoi were pastoralists/cattle keepers, and they coexisted with the San people. The blend between Khoikhoi and San resulted in a group called Khoisan. Colonisation began in the 17th century. The British formed the Union of South Africa in 1910. The Afrikaners are of European descent — mostly Dutch — and in the 20th century, they rose to power, winning the election in 1948. With that, ‘apartheid’ became the word most commonly associated with South Africa. Many nations condemned the system of racial segregation and discrimination and shunned ties with the nation in various ways. Cricket-playing nations refused to play with the South African team. Side by side with apartheid, Nelson Mandela’s fame grew as a champion of the coloured people of South Africa. As did our own Gandhi, whose initial thoughts on the philosophy he later put to practice in India are founded on several experiences in South Africa. Mandela spent a whopping 27 years in jail. Apartheid was finally dismantled in the early 1990s with the release of Mandela. The first democratic election was held, and Mandela became the nation’s first elected President. Uniquely, South Africa has three capitals — Pretoria (administrative capital), Cape Town (legislative capital), and Bloemfontein (judicial capital). South Africa has a 4,900-kilometre-long border with five countries — Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, Eswatini and Zimbabwe. And, just as the Vatican is situated within Rome, the tiny country of Lesotho is surrounded by South Africa.

Like many places in Africa, English is widely used in South Africa, making travel easy for many of us. Afrikaans is spoken by the white South African ethnic group. Afrikaans evolved from Dutch. 

As with the people, so with the land. South Africa has landscapes that are spectacular, dominated by the Table Mountain as seen in many a picture. But there’s also the Inland safari destination — Kruger National Park, beaches, the wine country (South African wines are famous), craggy cliffs at the Cape of Good Hope (the Portugese king wanted to stay optimistic that this point would be important in finding a route to the East), forests and lagoons. Tabletop Mountain is, of course, noteworthy for its flat top, but it also has all kinds of distinctive wildlife, including the ghost frog, which is only found there. South Africa’s national animal is the springbok. This gazelle-like animal is on postage stamps and the country’s Coat of Arms. Footballers will know that the South African football team are often referred to as the “Boks”.

A short list of the largest in the world would include: the largest land mammal, the African elephant; the biggest reptile, the leatherback turtle; and the largest bird on earth, South Africa’s ostrich. And yes, we mustn’t forget the mining of the world’s largest diamond — the Cullinan Diamond, mined in South Africa in 1905.

More important to our lives is the fact that the first human heart transplant was conducted by Christiaan Barnard, a South African cardiac surgeon, in 1967. Indeed, South Africa boasts several well-known personalities. Apart from Mandela and Barnard, there’s the Nobel prize winning author J M Coetzee; Trevor Noah (who Bengalureans may remember as the comedian who cancelled a show here) and Elon Musk (who will always be remembered not only for Tesla and for being the richest man in the world but also for being Trump’s erstwhile best buddy). 

What’s a discussion of culture without talking about the food?! The National dish of South Africa is Bobotie — a minced meat dish with spices, fruits and nuts, topped with a custard-like layer and baked. And yes, there’s an Indian touch too in the ‘curried’ part. Bunny Chow is a Durban fast food speciality where a hollowed-out loaf of bread is filled with curry. Biltong is a dried, cured meat snack which I’m told tastes much better than it looks!

Fun fact: Vilakazi Street, in Johannesburg, is the only street in the world to have been home to two Nobel Peace Prize recipients: Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Unsurprisingly, this street has become a symbol of the struggle for freedom and equality in South Africa.