Pray for South Africa

South Africa is located at the southern tip of Africa.
It is bordered by Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe in the north,
Mozambique and Swaziland in the east.
Its southern and eastern coastline stretches along the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean.
It completely surrounds the country of Lesotho and most of Swaziland.

South Africa has three capitals:
Pretoria         Executive/Administrative
Bloemfontein     Judicial
Cape Town        Legislative

Johannesburg is the largest city.

The population is 53 million

FACTS
South Africa is known as the ‘Rainbow Nation,’ due to its many ethnic groups.

The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast
of the Cape Peninsula.
The Portuguese king, John II, named it the Cape of Good Hope, because it
led to the riches of the East Indies.

Bloemfontein is known as ‘The City of Roses’ due to its abundance
of roses and annual rose festival.

South Africa is where the Limpopo River is located.

The musical and the movie 'Sarafina' takes place in South Africa.

The film 'District 9' was filmed in South Africa.

The 2005 film 'Tsotsi' was filmed in South Africa.

Afrikaners are mostly descended from Dutch settlers who arrived during
the 17th and 18th centuries.
They are colloquially referred to as Boers.
Beors have traditionally dominated South Africa's politics and agriculture.

Apartheid was a system of racial segregation in enforced by the National Party
government from 1948-1994.

Apartheid means ‘State of being apart’, literally ‘Apart-hood.’

FAMOUS SOUTH AFRICANS
Leaders
Dingiswayo (c.1780-1817) Ruler of the Mthethwa Paramountcy.

Shaka kaSenzangakhona Zulu(1787- 1828) Founder of the Zulu Empire.

Nelson Mandela (1918–2013)
Anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician and philanthropist
President of South Africa from 1994-1999.

Writer
Harold Athol Lanigan Fugard (b 1932)
Playwright, novelist, actor, and director
Known for his political plays opposing apartheid.

Gavin Hood (b 1963)
Filmmaker, screenwriter, producer.
Wrote and directed Tsotsi (2005)
Directed X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Ender's Game.

Mbongeni Ngema (b 1955)
A writer, lyricist, composer and director
Produced the musical Sarafina!

Sports
Steven Jerome Pienaar  (b 1982)
A footballer who was captain of the South African national team until 2012.

Jacobus Francois Pienaar (b 1967)
A rugby union player.
Best known for leading South Africa to victory in the 1995 Rugby World Championships.

Musicians
Brenda Fassie ( 1964 – 2004)
An anti-apartheid Afropop singer.
Called Mabrr by her fans.
Sometimes described as the 'Queen of African Pop'.

Hugh Ramopolo Masekela (b 1939)
A trumpeter, composer, and singer.
The father of American television host Sal Masekela.

DEMOGRAPHICS
79.2% Black African
8.9%  Coloured (Mixed)
8.9%  White (5.2% Afrikaner)
2.5%  Indian/Asian
0.5%  Other

73.52%   Christian
15%      Animism
8.08%    None
1.45%    Muslim
1.36%    Unknown
1.25%    Hindu
0.63%    Other
0.17     Jewish
0.03%    Buddhist/Chinese

HISTORY
South Africa has been inhabited for thousands of years.

Some of the early settlers were the San and Khoikhoi.
Around the 4-5th century A.D. Bantu groups settled and came to dominate the area.

In time Nguni became the dominant group.
Nguni groups included the Swazi, Xhosa and Zulu

The Bantu introduced ironworking.
From around 1200 AD a trade network began to emerge in the north.
Trade was conducted with Muslim traders via the Indian Ocean.

In 1487, Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias led the first European
voyage to southern Africa.
In 1488 he sighted the Cape of Good Hope.

In 1652 Jan van Riebeeck established a refreshment station at the Cape
on behalf of the Dutch East India Company.
This settlement became known as Cape Town

The Dutch transported slaves from Indonesia, Madagascar, and India as labor.

As they expanded east, the Dutch settlers met migrating Xhosa people.
A series of wars, the Cape Frontier Wars, (1779-1879) were fought over
land and livestock interests.

Britain took over the Cape area in 1795 to prevent it from falling
under control of France.

They briefly returned it to the Dutch in 1803 and then annexed it in 1806.
Britain used Cape Town as an interim port for its merchants' long voyages.
The British continued the frontier wars against the Xhosa and pushed
the eastern frontier.
British settlement was encouraged.

During the 1820’s both the Boers (Dutch, Flemish, German, and French settlers)
and British settlers claimed land in the north and east of the country.
Conflicts arose among the Xhosa, Zulu, and Afrikaner groups.

From 1816-1828 the Zulu became a militarized state and expanded their
territory under their leader, Shaka Zulu.
Zulu impis (warrior regiments) were famous for their discipline.

Zulu expansion led to a wave of displacement throughout Southern Africa
It also accelerated the formation of several states:
Sotho (Present-day Lesotho)
Swazi (Present day Swaziland).

An offshoot of the Zulu, the Matabele, created an empire of their own.

During the 1830s, approximately 12,000 Boers left Cape Colony to escape British control.
They migrated to the future Natal, Orange Free State, and Transvaal regions.
There they founded the Boer Republics: the South African Republic.

Diamonds were discovered in the interior in 1867 and gold in 1884.
These discoveries and increased economic growth and immigration.
This also intensified European-South African subjugation of the indigenous people.

The Boer Republics successfully resisted British encroachments during
the First Boer War (1880–1881)

The British returned during the Second Boer War (1899–1902).
Although the British won they suffered heavy casualties.

In 1909 British Parliament granted nominal independence.
In 1910 Britain created the Union of South Africa.

The Natives' Land Act of 1913 severely restricted the ownership of land by blacks.

In 1931 South Africa became independent.

In 1948 the National Party was elected to power.
The Party strengthened the racial segregation which started under Dutch
and British colonial rule.
Legally institutionalized segregation became known as apartheid.

Legislation classified inhabitants into four racial groups:
Black
White
Coloured (Mixed)
Indian

Residential areas were segregated as well as education, medical care,
beaches, and other public services.

The white minority (less than 20%) controlled the larger black majority
and had the highest standard of living in Africa.
Blacks were disadvantaged in every way.

Coloured people were also discriminated against and subject to forced relocation.

From 1960-1983, 3.5 million non-whites were removed from their homes,
and forced into segregated neighborhoods, in one of the largest mass removals
in modern history.

In 1961 the country became a republic.
Despite opposition both within and outside the country, the government
legislated for a continuation of apartheid.

The government harshly oppressed resistance movements.
Violence became widespread.
Anti-apartheid activists used strikes, marches, protests, and sabotage.
The African National Congress (ANC) was a major resistance movement.

Apartheid became increasingly controversial.
Some Western nations and institutions began to boycott doing business with South Africa.

Non-white political representation was abolished in 1970.
During that same year Blacks were deprived of citizenship, and became citizens
of one of ten tribally based self-governing homelands called Bantustans.

In 1976 the Soweto Uprising took place
It began as a series of protests led by Black high school students to the
introduction of Afrikaans as the required language in local schools.
20,000 students took part in the protests.
The number of people who died is usually given as 176, with estimates of up to 700.

In 1990 the National Party lifted the ban on the African National Congress
and other political organizations.
It released activist Nelson Mandela who had been in prison for 27 years for sabotage.

South Africa held its first universal elections in 1994
The ANC won by and has been in power ever since.
Nelson Mandela, became the first black African President of Republic of South Africa.

CONDITIONS
South Africa has traditionally relied on agriculture, herding and mining.
It has more recently become involved in manufacture and finance.
South Africa is a popular tourist attraction and this also adds to revenue.

South Africa has lost a large area of natural habitat due to overpopulation,
development and deforestation.
South Africa is one of the worst affected countries in the world when it comes
to invasion by foreign plant species.
These species are a threat to the native biodiversity and scarce water resources.

South Africa is ranked in the top 10 countries in the world for income inequality.
Although the middle class is growing, extremes of wealth and poverty persist.
The black majority itself includes a wealthy elite and a poor majority.

The current government has struggled to ensure both redistribution
of wealth and economic growth.
There are problems with corruption.

There are high levels of poverty and unemployment.
35% of the population are unemployed or have given up looking for work.

A quarter of South Africans live on less than US $1.25 a day.
Most of those in poverty are black, but poverty has increased among whites as well.

The high levels of unemployment and inequality are considered by most South Africans
to be the most greatest economic problems facing the country.

Poverty and unemployment have led to increasing crime.
Rape and violent crime are high.
There has been a proliferation of illegal firearms.
Crime has hurt investment and growth.
Poverty, desperation and lack of justice fuels hopelessness and anarchy.

HIV/AIDS is a prominent health concern.
South Africa is believed to have more people with HIV/AIDS than any
other country in the world.

18.10% of the adult population has HIV/AIDS.
Many are not receiving anti-retroviral treatment.  
Between 42% and 47% of all deaths among South Africans sre HIV/AIDS deaths.

Years of apartheid had a deep impact on all ethnic groups.
Relations between blacks and whites where effected as well as Coloureds and Indians.
Relationship were also damaged among various black ethnicities.
Many still feel resentment, mistrust and deep sated fears toward other ethnic groups.

Many refugees have applied for asylum in South Africa.
The refugees are mostly from Zimbabwe, but many also come from Burundi,
Rwanda,Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Many immigrants continue to live in poor conditions.
The immigration policy has become increasingly restrictive since 1994.

South Africans are more opposed to immigration than anywhere else in the world.
This is due to competition over jobs, business opportunities, public services
and housing.
There has been increasing tension between refugees and host communities.
xenophobia is a problem.

In May 2008, riots left over sixty people dead.
Over 100,000 people were driven from their homes.
The targets were mainly migrants and refugees seeking asylum.
A third of the victims were South African citizens.

SPIRITUAL CONDITIONS
Most of the population claims Christianity.
There are many mainline and smaller independent churches.

Traditionalism and nominalism is prevalent, especially in mainline churches

Evangelicals were slow to denounce apartheid and this has led to divisions.

Society is becoming increasingly secular.

15% of the population is animist
Syncretism is high.
Many who claim no affiliation with any organized religion adhere
to traditional African religion.

There are about 200,000 Sangomas/Inyangas (traditional healers) in South Africa.
They use a combination of animism and belief in both the medicinal and spiritual
properties of plants to treat patients.
Up to 60% of the population consults them

1.45% of the population is Muslim.
They are mostly from among the Coloureds and Indians.
The number of black Muslims has been increasing

Ethnic Indian Hindus form another significant portion of the population.

PRAYER NEEDS
Pray that the economy improves.
Pray that the environment be protected.

Pray that inequity ceases.
Pray that government corruption cease.

Pray for those suffering from poverty and or unemployment.

Pray that violent crime stops.
Pray for those who have suffered from violence.
Pray for those who have been raped.

Pray for those suffering from HIV/AIDS.
Pray that those suffering are able to get access to treatment.

Pray that there be forgiveness and reconciliation among the different ethnic groups.

Pray that xenophobia end.
Pray for immigrants and refugees.
Pray that they be treated with compassion and justice.

Pray that churches experience a revival.
Pray that churches show discernment and sound Biblical teaching

Pray that the Gospel spread to the unreached.

Pray that spirits of animism and witchcraft be bound.