South Africa
Culture Shock
Welcome to this month’s edition of Culture Shock. As you know, we cover a different country for each edition. For those of you who are not aware, the reason being is that Kix strongly believe in bringing cultures & people together. Long gone are those days, when people would happily leave their front doors wide open all day, whilst getting on with business in doors or when strangers, would make the effort to acknowledge you on the street by saying hello or indeed saying thank you because you have just carried out an act of decency in some way or another.
Therefore the aim of this article each month is to encourage others to ‘get to know one another.’ Get to know about your next door neighbour, their culture, their country & what generally makes them tick.
This month’s subject is none other than South Africa. Yes, that’s right the very same country that held this year’s World Cup. Finally, with further insight to this colourful & certainly interesting country did you know that South Africa or SA as it is so affectionately known, actually has eleven official languages! Although English, Afrikaans, Zulu and Xhosa are spoken most widely. The phrases below in italics, are Afrikaans and Zulu.
How do you say hello? Hallo, Goeie dag / naand (Good day / evening) Sawubona
How do you say goodbye? Totsiens
Hamba kahle (to someone who is going)
Sala kahle (to someone who is staying)
How do you say please? Aseblief
How do you say thank you? Dankie Ngiyabonga
What is the current population? Over 47 million people
What are the common or major industries in South Africa? South Africa is incredibly rich in mineral resources and is one of the world’s leading exporters of many raw materials. Gold, platinum and diamonds are amongst their main exports. Although it is not a main source of income it is worth nothing, South Africa (along with
Swaziland) is the only African country to produce pulp and paper.
Historically, what periods do you think have had an effect on the country as a whole? South Africa is a nation whose history has been fraught with racial division. There are many key historic periods that the
5 Oc t obe r 2 0 1 0 K i x Ma g
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