Country name: | Conventional long form: Republic of South Africa
Conventional short form: South Africa
Former: Union of South Africa
Abbreviation: RSA |
Government type: | Republic |
Capital: | Pretoria; Note - Cape Town is the legislative center and Bloemfontein the judicial center |
Administrative divisions: | 9 provinces; Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North-West, Northern Cape, Western Cape |
Independence: | 31 May 1910 (from UK); note - South Africa became a republic in 1961 following an October 1960 referendum |
National holiday: | Freedom Day, 27 April (1994) |
Constitution: | 10 December 1996; this new constitution was certified by the Constitutional Court on 4 December 1996, was signed by then President MANDELA on 10 December 1996, and entered into effect on 3 February 1997; it is being implemented in phases |
Legal system: | Based on Roman-Dutch law and English common law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations |
Suffrage: | 18 years of age; universal |
Judicial branch: | Constitutional Court; Supreme Court of Appeals; High Courts; Magistrate Courts |
Political parties: | African Christian Democratic Party or ACDP; African National Congress or ANC;
Democratic Alliance or DA;
Inkatha Freedom Party or IFP; Pan-Africanist Congress or PAC;
United Democratic Movement or UDM. |
Political pressure groups: | Congress of South African Trade Unions or COSATU;
South African Communist Party or SACP;
South African National Civics Organization or SANCO;
COSATU and SACP are in a formal alliance with the ANC |
Flag description: | Two equal width horizontal bands of red (top) and blue separated by a central green band which splits into a horizontal Y, the arms of which end at the corners of the hoist side; the Y embraces a black isosceles triangle from which the arms are separated by narrow yellow bands; the red and blue bands are separated from the green band and its arms by narrow white stripes |
