In traditional African society, the tribe is the most important community as it is the equivalent of a nation.The basic unit of South African society is the family, which includes the nuclear family and the extended family or tribe.In addition to the indigenous black peoples of South Africa colonialism and immigration have brought in white Europeans, Indians, Indo-Malays, Chinese and many more.Īs such it is difficult to generalise at all on South African etiquettes and culture due to the diversity. In urban areas many different ethnic groups will make up the population. South Africa is one of the most multicultural countries in the world. The other official languages are: Afrikaans, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Southern Sotho, Swazi, Tsongo, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa and Zulu. English is the language of administration and is spoken throughout the country. Religions: Christian 68% (includes most whites and Coloreds, about 60% of blacks and about 40% of Indians), Muslim 2%, Hindu 1.5% (60% of Indians), indigenous beliefs and animist 28.5%īusiness Culture: Ranked 44th in the Business Culture Complexity Index™ Location: Southern most tip of Africa, bordering Botswana 1,840 km, Lesotho 909 km, Mozambique 491 km, Namibia 967 km, Swaziland 430 km, Zimbabwe 225 kmĬlimate: mostly semiarid subtropical along east coast sunny days, cool nightsĮthnic Make-up: black 75.2%, white 13.6%, Coloured 8.6%, Indian 2.6% You will gain an understanding of a number of key areas including: Remember this is only a very basic level introduction and is not meant to stereotype all South Africans you may meet!

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