South Africa is still far from the ideal of a multi-cultural society. There is still a deep trench going through the population. Black and white people lead largely separate lives with few points of contact.

Nevertheless, the society's democratisation is steadily progressing. A milestone on the way to a new national consciousness was the "Truth and Reconciliation Commission". It had a mandate to uncover the crimes of apartheid, let them be publicly confessed with the aim of forgiveness. The Commission was headed by Desmond Tutu, the highly esteemed former arch bishop of the Anglican Church in Cape Town and holder of the Nobel Peace Price. South Africa is, in respect of overcoming racism, in the spotlight of the world like no other country. The future of the state largely depends upon its ability to create equal opportunities for all people, so that the formerly disadvantaged population groups can have their share of the national wealth.

South Africa, a Society in Transition

Numerous population groups with different languages, cultural backgrounds and origins all coexist in South Africa. The bigger groups are Zulus (21 %), Xhosas (17 %) and the Sotho (15%). Next are smaller minorities, such as the Tswana, Venda, Ndebele, Swasi, Pedi and others. The province of Natal is home to about one million Indians, whose forefathers came to South Africa to work on the sugarcane plantations. And there are three million people of mixed race, the so-called "coloureds," mainly living in the Cape region. They are descendants of the first Dutch settlers and the native population of the Cape (Khoikhoi) or the Malays, who were taken to South Africa as slaves from East India in the 18th century. The "coloureds" have a cultural heritage of their own.

The portion of the relatively prosperous white part of the South African population amounts to 8 % (4 million) of the national population. Most of them derive from Dutch, German or French immigrants. They are called Afrikaners and speak Afrikaans, which is closely related to the Dutch language. The English speaking part of the white population is concentrated in the Western and Eastern Cape province and in Natal.

The apartheid regime over-emphazised the differences among the various ethnic groups, mainly between whites and non-whites, but also for example between Xhosas and Zulus, to turn them against each other rather than against the government. The policy of racial segregation served to guarantee the political and economic power of the white minority. To this day, South Africa has to deal with the consequences of this disastrous policy. A large part of the fast growing black majority lives in oppressive poverty. In the outer districts of the cities, spread vast miserable settlements of tin and carton shacks, lacking sufficient sanitation, electricity and water. Many of the residents are illiterate. The enormous poverty problem in South Africa is the major reason for the high cime rates.