South Africa

I

Introduction

South Africa, officially Republic of South Africa, republic and southernmost country of continental Africa, bordered on the north-west by Namibia; on the north by Botswana and Zimbabwe; on the north-east by Mozambique and Swaziland; on the east and south by the Indian Ocean; and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. The independent country of Lesotho forms an enclave in the eastern part of the country. South Africa has an area of 1,219,090 sq km (470,693 sq mi). The administrative capital of South Africa is Pretoria, the legislative capital is Cape Town, and the judicial capital is Bloemfontein.

II

Land and Resources

The topography of South Africa typifies that of the continent of Africa as a whole. It comprises an interior upland plateau of ancient rock, separated from a narrow coastal plain by a mountainous escarpment known as the Great Escarpment. The plateau occupies about two thirds of the country and can be divided into three main regions: the Highveld, the Bushveld, and the Middle Veld.

The Highveld occupies the majority of the plateau and is mostly 1,500 m (5,000 ft) above sea level. It is characterized by level or gently undulating grasslands. The north-eastern limit of the Highveld is marked by a wide rocky ridge, called the Witwatersrand, which includes the city of Johannesburg and contains the world’s largest and richest goldfield. North-east of the Witwatersrand is the Bushveld, or Transvaal Basin. The Bushveld averages less than 1,000 m (4,000 ft) above sea level, but in parts reaches more than 1,800 m (5,900 ft); elevations decrease westward, towards the Botswana border and the River Limpopo. Much of the Bushveld is broken into basins by rock ridges. The Middle Veld occupies the western section of the plateau. It has an average elevation of about 915 m (3,000 ft), and also slopes downward. The Middle Veld is generally dry, ranching country, extending in the north into the arid Kalahari Basin; on the western coast it merges into the southern Namib Desert.

The plateau reaches its greatest heights in the east. Here it meets the Drakensberg, which form part of the Great Escarpment and contain South Africa’s highest point, Champagne Castle (3,375 m/11,072 ft). The Great Escarpment, which encompasses the plateau in a semicircle running from the north-east to the south-west, forms South Africa’s longest continuous topographic feature and provides some of the country’s most beautiful scenery. Other escarpment ranges to the south and west of the Drakensbergs include the Roggeveld, Sneeu, and Nuwveld systems.

In the south-west, and separate from the Great Escarpment, is one of the few areas of folded mountains in continental Africa. It includes ranges such as the Tsitsikama, Swartberg, Langeberg, and Drakenstein, as well as Table Mountain (1,086 m/3,563 ft) at Cape Town. Altitudes in these ranges average between 915 and 2,316 m (3,000 and 7,600 ft). Between the fold mountains and the Great Escarpment lie the dry tablelands of the Little and the Great Karoo, which are separated by the Swartberg Mountains. The Landeberg Mountains separate the Little Karoo from the coastal plain.

The coastal plain is fertile and generally narrow, reaching only about 130 km (80 mi) at its widest; at times it is only 30 km (19 mi) wide. Overall, South Africa has some 2,960 km (1,840 mi) of coastline with few indentations. Most of the coast has been subject to uplift and falling sea levels in the recent past. As a result, there are few drowned estuaries or natural harbours; the exceptions include the Kynsna Lagoon in the south-west and the Buffalo River at East London.

A

Rivers and Lakes

The chief rivers of South Africa are the Orange, the Vaal, and the Limpopo. The Orange River is the longest river in the country at about 2,090 km (1,300 mi). It originates in Lesotho and flows in a north-westerly then westerly direction through the Highveld and the Middle Veld to empty into the Atlantic Ocean. The westernmost section of the Orange River forms the boundary between South Africa and Namibia. The River Vaal is the largest branch of the Orange River. It originates in the north-east of South Africa, near Swaziland, and flows some 1,210 km (752 mi) in a south-westerly direction, before joining the Orange River in the Highveld west of Kimberley. The River Limpopo originates in the north-east and flows north-west to the Botswana border, and then east along South Africa’s borders with Botswana and Zimbabwe before entering Mozambique and continuing to the Indian Ocean.

In general, South Africa’s rivers are highly seasonal in flow, and many are dry for much of the year. Combined with the steep increase in gradient at the Great Escarpment, this means that the rivers are of little use for navigation or hydroelectric power. However, they are utilized for irrigation in most parts of South Africa. South Africa can suffer prolonged droughts, necessitating extensive water conservation and control measures. Growth in water usage threatens to outpace supply. Other related environmental concerns are pollution of rivers from agricultural, urban, and industrial run-off; soil erosion; and desertification.

B

Climate

South Africa has a temperate sub-tropical climate with considerable regional variations caused by differences in elevation, in wind systems, and in ocean currents. The eastern and south-eastern coasts, for example, are influenced by the warm, south-flowing Mozambique Current, which keeps temperatures higher, encouraging air circulation and facilitating the arrival of rain-bearing clouds from the east. In contrast, the western coast is under the influence of the cold, north-flowing Benguela Current, which not only cools temperatures significantly, but also contributes to the dryness and stability of the air masses over the western part of the country.

The climate of South Africa is generally dry—drought is relatively common and water is at a premium for both agriculture and industry. More than 67 per cent of South Africa is semi-arid or arid, receiving less than 810 mm (27 in) of rain annually. Rainfall generally decreases westward, and on the north-western coast precipitation averages less than 30 mm (1 in) a year. Only 6 per cent of South Africa, concentrated along the coast of KwaZulu-Natal Province, receives more than 1,016 mm (40 in) of rain a year.

Except for the Cape area, most of the country is under the influence of the easterly trade winds that blow across the Indian Ocean. During the spring and summer months of October to April, heating on the land can cause low-pressure areas that draw in these moisture-laden winds, bringing rain to the east and central areas. The eastern Lowveld receives about 890 mm (35 in) of rain a year. The Highveld receives between 380 and 760 mm (15 and 30 in) of rain a year on average; the amount diminishes rapidly westward. In the western coastal area, rainfall is as low as 51 mm (2 in) annually. In the drier regions of the plateau, the amount of rainfall and the beginning of the rainy season vary greatly from year to year.

The extreme south-western area round the Cape is under the influence of western winds originating over the Atlantic Ocean. This region receives about 560 mm (22 in) of rain a year, most of which occurs between June and September.

The average daily temperature in January in Durban, which is on a low-lying part of the north-eastern coast, is about 24° C (75° F). The corresponding temperature in Johannesburg, in the north-central Highveld, is about 19° C (66° F). Although closer to the equator than Durban, Johannesburg has a cooler summer largely because of its elevation (1,670 m/5,470 ft above sea level). The average daily January temperature in Cape Town, on the southern coast and influenced by cool winds from the South Atlantic, is about 20.6° C (69° F). The range of winter temperatures follows the same pattern. The average daily July temperature is about 17° C (62° F) in Durban, about 9° C (49° F) in Johannesburg, and about 12.2° C (54° F) in Cape Town. Snow is rare in South Africa, although winter frosts occur in the higher areas of the plateau.