A not too complicated run-down of who speaks what...

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English- Europe of course

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Bantu languages - origins 3000 BC Niger - Congo

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Sotho - Tswana branch:

 

Northern Sotho - also known as Pedi or Pedi) spoken in Limpopo, Guateng,

Mpmalanga about 4,5 mil speakers

 

Sotho - Also the National language of Lesotho, spoken in Gauteng and

Orange Free State

 

Tswana - Northern parts of South Africa-  North West, Limpopo

 

Tsonga - Originally created in 1875 by Swiss missionaries in an attempt to make

one super language out of the east coast langauages, some of these were: Xigwamba,

XiNkuna, Xihlengwe, XiTembe, XiValoyi, XiNyembani, Xitswa, XiRonga, XiChopi.

The Swiss called it Thonga. There are about 13 mil native speakers today -across

borders.

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Venda - Sppoken in Northern Limpopo, related to Western Shona, Shona is spoken in

Zimbabwe. About 1,6 mil speakers in SA.

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Nguni branch:

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Xhosa - the langauage of clicks and intonation, a series of rising or falling intonations

change the

meaning of consonants and vowels. Spoke by roughy 7.5 mil in SA. The language of

Nelson Mandela.

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Zulu - Spoken by 10 mil people in SA, the most widely spoken native language, 24% of

the population and understood by over 50%. Herad mostly in kwa Zulu-Natal, and

parts of neighbouring provinces. The language of current President Jacob Zuma.

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Swazi (Swati) - The officail language of Swaziland, also taught in some schools in Mpumalanga

Province, SA. About3 mil speakers

 

Ndebele - Spoken in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, North West, it is diferent to the Ndebele of Zimbabwe.

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The Provinces

 

Prior to 1994 there were only 4 provinces, Traansvaal, Orange Free State and the Cape.

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KwaZulu Natal

Home to the Zulu,s and Zulu Land. Characterised by lush green rolling hills,the Drakensburg

Mountain, subtropical coastline, rocky coves and endless beaches. Also unique to this area

is the experience of bush, the big 5 and the beach and marine environments all together,

kind of like an African jungle on the beach. Witnessing massive turtles arriving in summer

and the hatclings swimming into the ocean is a privelidge. 

 

Beautiful places include: 

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iSimangeliso Wetland Park - Africas largest estuarine system, SA's first World Heritage Site, 

declared in 1999 a  a 332 000 hectare park

The Elephant Coast- Home to the largest tuskers in the world! (elephants with the biggest tusks)

The Drakensburg Mountain - Also a World Heritage Site, stretching over 200 km long. It forms

the provincial boundary between KZN (KwaZulu Natal) and The Orange Free State, as well as

the international border between SA and Lesotho. A Hikers paradise.

The Battlefields- historical locations of battles fought between the English and the Zulu's, the

Boers and the Zulu's and the Boers and the English...Sjoo! a lot of fighting!

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Durban city - A large city, best known for its tropical beaches and warm ocean and safe swimming,

along with its beach side prominade. A vibrant place with a dominant Zulu language, also the

highest concentration of Indian people and therefore the best curries in SA!

Weather - Winters are dry - June to August. Warm days, ooler evenings, but generally warm.  

Summers are hot with rain but still good to travel.

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Eastern Cape Province 

Home to the Xhosa people and and late President Nelson Mandela as well as Thabo Mbeki

and many of the freedom fighters like Steve Biko. EP also held the former "homelands" under

Apartheid- the Transkei and the Ciskei. As with all the provinces there are vast tracts of

untouched wilderness areas where you could literally get lost. Also green along the coast

and well known for its East Cape Thicket vegetation which is impenatrable in some areas

like The Great Fish River Conservancy and the Addo Elephant National Park area. The

Eastern Cape is below KZN, it is very hilly and difficult to navigate.

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Attractions here are the Xhosa villages, The Wild Coast, Addo elephant NP. Eastern Cape

has part of the famous Garden Route, the drive between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth

(where i grew up) along the coast. Characterised by forest, mountains, waterfalls, deep

georges and rivers. The Titsikamma Forest is one of only remaining indigeanous forests

where South Africas hardwoods are protected. Historical towns Grahamstown., Graaf

Reinette, the biggest city is Port Elizabeth. Part of the Karoo falls in ECape.

There is a lot of English history, this is where the Frontier Wars were fought- the English and

the Xhosa's along the Buffalo and Fish Rivers. The poor 1820 Settlers arrived here not

knowing what they would be facing, fierce Xhosa's and crop destroying elephants.

Weather - Winter, can be cold, especially at night but generally the days are warm.

Summers are warm and it does rain. PE has enough wind to energise the earth.

 

Western Cape

The highest concentration of Afrikaans speakers, and that of mixed race. There are also a lot

of Xhosa's in the WCape who come for job opportunities. The WCape also has its share of

mountains, grasslands and semi arid areas such as the Karoo beautiful beaches and forests.

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Attractions are the West Coast, wich is arid and strikingly beautiful when the flowers are blooming in spring. Hermans, a lovely sea side holiday town which is one of the best land based whale watching areas in SA. Knysna is another up market holiday town, surrounded by the Knysna forest, famous for its Knysna Heads rock formations at the mouth of the Knysna Estuary. Storms River Mouth with the famous swing bridge, where you gain a sence of the the Garden Routes beauty, striking rocky cliffs topped with forest and a deep george meeting the rough ocean currents and crashing waves. Wilderness is also a holiday area with what feels like wilderness and beach surroundings, evergreen indigeanous forest and pristine coast line and important wetland areas. And just over one of the beautiful mountain passes, (as in the ECape part of the Garden Route) you find yourself in the Klein Karoo (Small Karoo) where the dry arid biomes begin. Here you find quaint and old towns dating back into early colonial times and earlier. Oudtshoorn is where you can crawl though the Cango Caves and ride on the back of an Ostrich. The Karoo is alos said to raise the best lamb in the world - I believe this is true, as I have tasted New Zealand lamb and it aint as good as ours!

 

Cape Town! The worlds most beautiful city and the no 1 visited in the world. Rightly so, with the main feature being Table Mountain and the city laid nout at its feet, pristine Blue Flag beaches and top class restaurants. What makes CT such a great place to stay is that its easy to get around and to the attractions. it has a wealth of top class restaurants and just about every type of cuisene you could imagine. There are some good cheap suhi spots in Sea Point. Table Mountain and the Cape Peninsula make up a big nature reserve, networked with walking trails, rock climbing routes and mountain streams and pools. (Dont walk in the reserve area alone)Excluding CT its self, is that in  1 to 3 hours  in any direction you will find yourself in nature reserves, quaint historical towns, beaches,rivers, mountains offering adventure activities like kayaking, rock climbing and hiking, surrounded by Fynbos and natural beauty. The Cape Floral Kingdom is 1 of 6 in the world and has the highest diversity of all 6 put together. And of course the Cape Winelands, Stellenbosch, Fraanschoek, Paarl, Worcester, Hermanus for wine tasting. Olive groves and cheeseries. Cape Town was where the British eventually established themselve's and it became the base from where they admisnistered the Cape Colony.

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Northern Cape

The Northen Cape is largely unexplored by tourism and who knows why, maybe like other parts of SA, it has always been in the shadow of the big attractions like KNP, Cape Town and the Garden Route. Although this will change. The NC is the largest province, it is a vast and predominantly dry and arid landscape, and can be extremely hot in summer and ice cold on winter nights.

 

Putting those insignificant facts aside, the landscape is one of those that transforms you into that place where you feel the vastness of the universe swirling around you into the eternal spheres, the cool evening breeze whispering around your ears in the utter silence of the Karoo while you loose yourself in the mistery's of the night sky. The sunsets and evenings are spectacular. If you are a star-gazer, this is the place for you! Small towns and populations create minimal to no noise and light pollution. 

 

NC is well known for its flowers that abound all over in early spring. The Great Karoo is unique and comprises unique biomes and sensitive ecosystems, eco-tones and bio-diversity hot spots. The Kalahari desert starts in this province and strecthes up to Gabon, central Africa, making it the longest single stretch of sand in the world. 

Some of the attractions are Kgalagadi Trans Frontier National Park, Augrabies Falls National Park, Mokala NP, Namaqua NP, Richtersveld NP, Tankwa Karoo NP, The Big Hole in Kimberly where the diamond rush took place in the 1870's other historical towns are De Aar, Carnavon, Concordia. all the towns bare witness to some major historical events: Major railway stations and stop-overs for people travelling across the harsh interior, Hotels and bars that catered forthe Queen of England, minning, and hide outs for the gorilla style warfare of the Boers in the Boer War/ South Africa War of Independence. The great Orange River journeys through NC making its way to the Atlantic Ocean. It provides irrigation waters for commercial agriculture as well as lots of fun and adventure for water sports entusiasts.

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The Orange Free State

The Boer Republic. and the grasslands and savannah of South Africa. Lying high up in the Drakensberg shares boundaries with Lesotho, North West, Northen Cape, Eastern Cape, Kwa-Zulu Natal, Mpumalanga and Gauteng,it has some amazing scenery. it also has two of South Africas big rivers flowing on its boundries; the Orange River and the Vaal River. Home to the beautiful Golden Gate National Park and some of the highest densities of dinosaur fossils in the world. It was the granted to the Boers by the English as a 'free independant state'. It is still refered to as the Free State or Fry Staat. 

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Gauteng

Gauteng is the smallest of the provinces. It is home to Pretoria / Tshwane- meaning the Apies River which runs through the city)- the administrative capital and Johannesburg / eGoli -seSotho, meaning place of gold, the financial capital. Each city with their fair share of historical buildings from South Africa's early days under Calonialism, The Union and The Republic. Johannesburg has the Apartheid museum, Soweto, Nelson Mandela's and Mahatma Ghandis house museums. Johannesburg is the financial hub of South Africa and has become the central meeting point for Africa. It has been termed a 'world class African city'. The two cities are a melting pot of different races and cultures. The tempo in Johannesburg is fast, Pretoria is a bit more chilled out. There are some fantastic night time jaunts where you can really experience a complete mix of South Africa's cultures socialising together. BEST visited with a South African friend in a group and never alone. Guateng is on the Highveld, and is therfore cold in winter, but the sun still shines, summers however are consistently warm with a rain season. The weather is extremely predictable and you can bet on a braai every summers evening.

 

Limpopo

A strong mix of Bantu influences makes Limpopo a very interseting province. As with the whole of South Africa it also has a good mix of game reserves, national parks, private game lodges and Horse Riding Safari Lodges. Game breeding and hunting lodges. Limpopo is still considered to by fairly wild, with a dominance of the wildlife industry and plenty African bush in between, its a recipe for roaming wildlife, much like the St Lucia / iSimangaliso Wetland Park area's. The locals have regular encounters with wildlife on a daily basis. This is the land of Baobab trees in South Africa. Limpopo forms part of the iconic Kruger National Park. Limpopo is of major agricultural importance, making huge contributions to SA's fresh produce markets - 75% of South Africa's mangoes, 65% of its papayas, 36% of its tea, 25% of its citrus, bananas, and litchis, 60% of its avocados, 60% of its tomatoes, 285.000 tons of potatoes, and 35% of its oranges.

Attractions are The Waterberg Biosphere, Mapungubwe World Heritage Site and NP, KNP, Marakele NP,  numerous cultural centres and exhibitions.

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Three distinct climatic regions can be identified in the province. These are the: 

• Lowveld (arid and semi-arid) regions.

• Middle veldt, highveld, semi-arid region. 

• Escarpment region having sub-humid climate with rainfall in excess of 700 mm per annum.

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Mpumalanga

Formally known as Eastern Transvaal, Mpumalanga is considered to be one of the most geographically diverse and unbelievably beautiful places in South Africa. Termed "The place where the sun rises", Mpumalanga lies in the east of South Africa, north of KwaZulu-Natal and bordering Swaziland and Mozambique. In the northeast, the land rises towards mountain peaks and then terminates in an immense escarpment. In some places, this escarpment plunges hundreds of metres down to the low-lying area known as the Lowveld. Attractions are KNP, The Blyde River Canyon - the most tree'd canyon in the world. It is also end journey of the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, in this area is point of interest called Bourkes Luck Potholes- a geological point of interest with a stroy connected to the Gold Rush prospectors and the Voortrekkers at the confluence of the Blyde and Treur Rivers. Fly fishing in Dullstroom, Gods Window- Is a view point on the Panorama Route, located on the edge of the escarpment, you literally stand on the cliff edges plunging over 700 metres down to the lowveld. The other Panorama Route highlights are Bourke’s Luck Potholes, the Three Rondavels, the Mac Mac Falls and the Blyde River Canyon. Pilgrems Rest is a monument town, in its original state since the Gold Rush of 18  . Belfast, yes, named after Belfast, is the highest town in SA at 1990m. The oldest portiono f railway is also in the area.

Some of the defining moments of South African history have happened in Mpumalanga.

Events like the beginnings of oxygen producing plants, ancient tribes roaming the lands, the legends of King Solomon’s mines and Queen Sheba. Tracks mark the land caused by the Voortrekkers who forged their way up the country, the Boer War that followed the trek, and the gold rush that consumed the area. Clashes of culture and ideology during apartheid, its eradication. All of these iconic events took place in Mpumalanga. Needless to say, Mpumalanga is steeped in history.

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North  West Province

Much of the province consists of flat areas of scattered trees and grassland. The Magaliesberg mountain range in the northeast extends about 130 km (about 80 miles) from Pretoria to Rustenburg. The Vaal River flows along the southern border of the province. Temperatures range from 17° to 31° C (62° to 88° F) in the summer and from 3° to 21° C (37° to 70° F) in the winter. Annual rainfall totals about 360 mm (about 14 in), with almost all of it falling during the summer months, between October and April.Mafikeng, formerly Mafeking, serves as the provincial capital. Other significant towns include Brits, Klerksdorp,Lichtenburg,Potchefstroom, Rustenburg and Sun City.

Important historical sites in the province include Mafikeng, the traditional capital of the Barolong people, where a British garrison was placed under siege by Afrikaners during the Boer War (1899-1902); Lotlamoreng Cultural Village near Mafikeng, which re-creates a traditional African village; and Boekenhoutfontein, the farm of Paul Kruger, who was the last president of the South African Republic (a state created by Afrikaners in what is now north-eastern South Africa), from 1883 to 1902. The province has several national parks. The largest, Pilanesberg Game Reserve, is located in the crater of an extinct volcano.

The mainstay of the economy of North West Province is mining, gold, mined at Orkney and Klerksdorp; uranium, mined at Klerksdorp; platinum, mined at Rustenburg and Brits; and diamonds, mined at Lichtenburg, Christiana, and Bloemhof. The northern and western parts of the province have many sheep farms and cattle and game ranches. The eastern and southern parts are crop-growing regions that produce maize (corn), sunflowers, tobacco, cotton, and citrus fruits. The entertainment and casino complex at Sun City and Lost City also contributes to the provincial economy.

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Lesotho

Lesotho is a landlocked country within the borders of SA. It his home to the Basotho people. It lies on the western side of the Drakensberg Mountain surrounded by the Orange Free State, kwaZulu Natal, and the Eastern Cape. It is known as the "Kingdom in the sky" as the whole lie of the land is above 1000m above sea level.

Lesotho still has traits of a monarchy. It is a poor country. Traditional herdsman still care for their livestock as in years gone by. A trip to visit these traditional homesteads using Basotho ponies as pack mules is a popular excursion. 

Leotho is beautiful and ascending up this mountainous country does feel like you are leaving the world that you know. 

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Swaziland

Swaziland is also landlocked by SA. It is said to be the only true monarchy left in Africa. the northern parts of the country are mountainous. The northern border lies in close proximity to the Kruger National Park, and makes a wonderful destination after visiting KNP,  on the east its neighbour is Mozambique. The remaining borders are surrounded by SA. 

Swaziland has always had good trade with SA. The GDP contributions are canning, botteling, forrestry, mining. Under Apartheid, Swaziland used to be a playground for South Africans who enjoyed gambling casinos and inter-racial relationships. Now that SA has relaxed its rules, this income for Swaziland has died down. 

Swaziland has some fantastic nature reserves like Malalotja, in the north eastern mountainous regions, which offer spectacular views and hiking trails. Heading south one finds the collection of Swazilands Big 5 National parks

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