South Africa

In summer of 2010 the soccer World Cup will be played on the African continent for the first time with South Africa as the host for this mega-event. Hardly any other country can look back at such an eventful past and this is the reason why South Africa offers such varied and fertile research fields from a social science perspective.

South Africa’s history bears the imprint of its colonial past. The arrival of Dutch settlers on the Cape of Good Hope in 1652 began a story that stretches on until today. This time was overwhelmingly influenced by two factors. The first of these was the ongoing rivalry between the Dutch Boers and the British, who claimed the area of today’s South Africa for themselves and the resultant Boer Wars; evidence of the antagonistic dispute that went in favor of the British at the beginning of the 20th century.

The second critical factor was that the relationship of the recently immigrated white Boers to the indigenous black population was marked from the beginning by racism and white supremacism. The aftereffects of this second factor distinguishing South African history can still be felt today in the country’s politics, economy and society

Following the Second World War the white minority managed to install an inhuman system of racial segregation (Apartheid) which discriminated heavily against the black population. In spite of brutal reprisals a black resistance movement established itself, which, under the leadership of the African National Congress (ANC), first underground, then after 1990 also on the political stage, fought for change. They first met with success in the early nineties. The white minority in the country finally bowed to the pressure, which was rising rapidly not only through the strengthening resistance internally, but also through the increasing foreign political isolation at the international level. As of 1990 the Apartheid system was thus step-by-step phased out of the constitution and the transformation of political and social balance of power ushered in. With an overwhelming victory in the country’s first free elections, the ANC gained power becoming the ruling party in April 1994. South Africa’s first black president Nelson Mandela embarked directly on a policy of reconciliation. The population should come together under the banner “Rainbow Nation” without regard to skin color

Today’s South Africa is plagued by a multitude of problems which to some extent can be traced back to the Apartheid era. The social gap between the white and black population is generally extreme with the expansion of slums and a high crime rate as the consequences. In addition 21.5% of the entire population is infected with HIV.

Internationally, South Africa is seen as a reliable partner in the international community and a stable cornerstone in Africa, also while under the leadership of President Jacob Zuma, in office since May, 2009. And this has contributed to its being named the first African representative of a soccer World Cup. In the summer of 2010 the entire world turns its gaze to South Africa.

Literature references and descriptions of research projects are collected in five chapters offering an in-depth view of South Africa. Aspects covered are: politics, society and business in South Africa, the role of the nation at the international level, societal development in the course of the reconciliation process, as well as HIV and AIDS as difficult societal and domestic political problems. The concluding fifth chapter shines a light on the World Cup in South Africa from a social science perspective.

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