The Ethnic Groups of South Africa and their effects on its society.

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South African Ethnicities                                                                                         Jala

The Ethnic Groups of South Africa

Sirisha Nandini Jala

SOC 308

Jennifer Cramer

January 17th 2011

The ethnicities of South Africa

First, South Africa is a country with a very rich and vivid ethnic history because it boasts the Coloureds and Asians as two of the minorities. There are three types of Coloured people in South Africa: part White and part Black, part Black and part Asian, or part Asian and part White (Kizilos, 16). The members of the Coloured group are people who are born from interracial unions. The Coloured group did not have to carry passes unlike the Black South Africans had to during the Apartheid-era and had more political privileges then the Blacks did (Marger, 379). There are three different groups of Asians in South Africa. The three different Asian ethnicities are the Indians, Chinese, and Malays ( Kizilos, 16). The Malays are interesting because they are called Coloureds but also Asians. One notable Asian South African is the Community of Christ International Peace Award recipient Ela Gandhi, who happens to be the granddaughter of M.K.Gandhi (Walters, 2010).

Additionally, the Whites are the largest of the three minorities. The members of the largest group are the Afrikaners whereas the members of the smaller group are the English-speaking South Africans (Kizilos, 1998). Afrikaners are people who are originally from the Netherlands, Germany, France, or Flanders. One notable Afrikaner is F. W. de Klerk, the former State President of South Africa (Johnson, 1995). English South Africans are people who are originally from England, other Western countries, and the Jews. One notable English South African is the lawyer, politician, diplomat and anti-apartheid leader Harry Schwarz (Mitchell, 2002). Some White South Africans have even made big names in Hollywood. One example is that of the Academy Award-winning actress Charlize Theron (Karsten, 2009).

Finally, the most important reason that makes South Africa a country with a very rich and vivid ethnic history is because the Blacks are the majority. Many different ethnic groups are indigenous to South Africa and other African countries (Kizilos, 1998). They include but are not limited to the Zulu, Xhosa, Pedi, Sotho, Tswana, Tsonga, Swazi, Ndebele, and Venda. The two largest Black ethnic groups are those of the Zulu and the Xhosa (Kizilos, 1998). An Important Zulu chief is Mangosuthu Buthelezi, a cabinet member in the new South African government. The Zulu is the largest at about 22 percent of the total African population (World Book, 2010). An important Xhosa member is former president Nelson Mandela. The Xhosa is a group that makes up around 17.5 percent of the total (World Book, 2010).

Indeed, while South Africa happens to be the only place in the universe that boasts of an ethnic group called the Coloureds, South Africa is still a country with a very rich and vivid ethnic history. There are eleven official languages in South Africa (Lewis, 2009). Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Tsonga, Venda, Xhosa and Zulu are the eleven national languages of South Africa. The country of South Africa also recognizes many different unofficial languages such as Fanagalo, Khoe, Lobedu, Nama, Northern Ndebele, Phuthi, San and South African Sign Language (Lewis, 2009). There are also many other languages spoken by some of the other South Africans. The minorities of South Africa also speak many languages and they are Portuguese, German, Greek, French, Chinese, Korean, Tamil, Hindi, Gujarati, Urdu and Telugu (Kizilos, 1998). There is a rich and unique history of religions in South Africa. Christianity, the African traditional religion, agnosticism/atheism, Bahá'í Faith, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism are the religions practiced in this unique country (South Africa, 2010).

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Even though South Africa happens to be the only place in the universe that boasts of an ethnic group called Coloureds, South Africa is a country with a very rich and vivid ethnic history because of its four ethnic groups: the Blacks, Whites, Coloureds, and Asians. South Africa has a unique culture and many diverse groups call South Africa their home. The largest ethnic group is the Blacks, and they are a part of many tribal groups. The next largest group is the Whites who are further divided into two groups: The Afrikaners and the English-speaking South Africans. The largest Caucasian ...

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