Myths and Legends

From time untold , stories have been passed down from generation to generation in a largely oral , and some generations can appreciate a lesser extent remains of civilizations that tried to somehow capture their ethnic culture through paintings in caves, clay vessels , etc. . The reason to pass this kind of wisdom to younger is trying to keep the values ​​of their community and civilization, on the other hand served to forge a social morality, thus remained governed by the rules of the community. In South African culture is customary not convey " unknown " knowledge of culture without having told a story or a riddle menso thus could observe what was the reaction of the infant and capture better if the intellectual level was small fit enough for this new knowledge , one of the most used methods to correct the child was learning to use the media environment as stories or riddles (fauna , demography , geography and flora) and retains little better.

Myths and legends have also served to somehow explain to society and culture, the beginning of time and societies, of the things of nature and well. It is believed that there are over 2,500 myths and legends, which are transmitted in the same way that stories, orally and in prose where the characters suffer adventures and challenges to leave the listener some teaching in Africa.

Mabalel

The legend tells the story of young Mabalel , daughter of the chief of a South African tribe , full of life , happy and beautiful , her skin and as black as the night hair, Mabalel walking in the woods , only the sound is heard their anklets and accompanied only shadows. He had gone to fetch water from a well that was on the other side of a river that divided the forest land where his tribe was , his family and his soul ..

Night came and sunset, Mabalel was returning to his village , he could only watch the lights that lit the first fires on the horizon when his ankle touched the water of the river to cross , a dark shadow in the water and approached her ... "Mabalel run , run ! " They whispered shadows around. Lalele In water , the great crocodile god , who waited patiently for Mabalel was hiding.

Only water movement was heard near the shore and how it sank into the vase water background. Mabalel never returned home.

Racheltjie de Beer

She is a heroine in South Africa, to protect his little brother from the merciless temperatures raze any life in its path, in those cold nights in the South African desert.

Daughter of George Stephanus de Beer, tells Rachel Rachel winter months of 1843 was part of a trek from the Orange Free State to the south-eastern Transvaal. One of their nightly During Stopovers, the members of the trek Realised That a calf called Frikkie, much-beloved by Their children, was missing.

At the time Rachel and her brother left the group lost in the desert, Late Night lass desert temperatures down, starting to snow.

Trying to keep out the cold and snow, Rachel sought refuge, finding a anthill dug into this and introduced his little brother who is only 6 years old. That's how Rachel sacrificed to save his dying of cold and hypothermia family.

Social science

The development in South Africa began with the end of Apartheid in 1994. The downfall of this system meant reintegration and growth of the country such as international business and science and technology cooperation. Through cooperation in politic, economic and development, South Africa and European

         Union have achieved to establish a solid association, meanly in the field of science and technology. South Africa is by its characteristics policies, economics, and geographic in an advantageous position to form an international cooperation. It´s important to mention South Africa has a little scientific base, but upscale. South Africa has various attractive factors associated its geographic advantages that allow a growth of activities associated to astronomy and paleontology.

Since the agreement in 1996 about scientific and technology cooperation the South African researchers have contributed to the Research Framework Programme of European Union. During the VI Framework Programme took place the launch of programs to the advance of science and technology in Europe and South Africa (ESASTAP) and it is a platform centered in the advance of the society between South Africa and European Union, funded by European Union within the VI Framework Programme and directed by Science and technology department of South Africa.

In the Framework of South African Union, the initiatives in science and technology began in 2003 with the first Ministerial Conference on Science and Technology in Johannesburg. At that meeting produced the Plan of Action on Science and Technology.

The science and technology cooperation outside of African continent has been reflected through bilateral agreements with South American countries.

          The main country, Argentina, in 2006 both countries signed an agreement to the scientific- technologic cooperation and in which is presented as area of cooperation: agriculture and livestock; information technology, manufacturing, mining and geology, health and social sciences and humanities.

South Africa is a country that has had considerable development after the end of Apartheid, but also has progressed still much like fighting poverty and inequality that still exists in this country.   

Education

Education.

We consider that the education is the basis of all countries because  depend the development of a country. Currently South Africa is one of the countries in the world that make a great public investment on education that on any other area. Also the state has the obligation of provide a basic education to all its citizen without discrimination, this is according to the country`s constitution. The education in South Africa is divided in three levels, the basic education, the secondary education and high education.

With the end of the apartheid the South African`s constitution establish that all its citizen have the same rights and little by little it has been eradicate the inequality and discrimination, increasing the number of non-white children in college that were exclusive for withe children . In South Africa exist a public and private education, the public education is finance and managed for the South African state. Additionally the government is has promised to provide a

compulsory and free education for all the South African children from the 9 years to 15 years old and after that the family   finance the high education, in where  fewer people  have the opportunity of continue studying.

For the other hand Private schools and higher education institutions have all the autonomy but without make no type of discrimination against the students already will be for his or her religious, race etc.

The education in this country is divided in three levels, the basic education, the secondary education, and high education and since 2009 is managed by two ministers and each one achieve with its functions. Additionally South Africa has 12 million students and 366.000 teachers and around of 28,000 schools. Despite Government’s effort exist a great percentage of children that do not attend to class for lack of resources.

The South African government is working hard for overcome the high rates of illiteracy that left the apartheid, and beside the low levels of literacy and education can stop the economic developing of a country. 

Literature

            The literature plays an important role is South Africa and highlight important authors like Nadine Gardimer, Zakes Mda and Mongane Wally Serote. The traditional sources are the proverbs, stories, fable and historical narrative.

Oral or written poetry in South Africa covering various topics such as traditional medicine, Commentaries on the Laws or the latest news, passing by the marital problems or the rate of inflation.

           The novel is a literary form imported. One characteristic of the South African narrative is the absence of the heroic novel or glorification of national figures. In the oral tradition, a high percentage of authors and storyteller have been women.  This oral tradition goes back many centuries ago and has been passed down from generation to generation.  In its beginnings the literature in Afrikaans focused on the themes of the mother country and of the political and linguistic struggles of the Afrikaner. The beginnings of the literature in English in South Africa  portrayed the romanticism of the borders and tragic realism. The first African literature written in English was born in the late twentieth century in the missionary school in training institute. The works came from the romantic towards the take of awareness, after the slaughter of Sharpeville and uprisings soweto in 1976, the resistant literature emerged within of the universal contemporary literature and the south African authors more important are found Nadine Gordimer who received the novel prize of literature in 1991, also Zakes Mda and Mongane Wally Serote.

We want to talk about the most important authors like Nadine Gordimer who is a South African narrator and essay- writer; she was the first African woman that received Nobel Prize in Literature in 1991.

Among her literary works have eight novels and a lot of short stories and who is considered the main representative of South African literature. Her short stories are linked to the liberty of black population and against of Apartheid regime, for this reason many of her works have been forbidden by the South African authorities  like “place to love (1963)” and “the last bourgeois (1966)”. Her first work was “the soft voice of the serpent (1953)” even her first novel “the lying days”

As the South Africa situation deteriorates, the literary works of Gordimer are more committed and which publish “July’s people (1981)” which won the prize Grinzane Cavour. Among her most recent works is “my son’s story (1990)”

On the other hand is known Zakes Mda. He is considered one of the most important South African authors. Author of plays and novels, he is a journalist, artist, poet and university professor. Mda is the founder of the Southern African Media Program AIDS. He participates since 1985 in AIDS education; Zakes Mda has produced many writings on the topic for theater and television. Since 1996 he is also Director Thapama Productions where he worked in several film productions. Among the many awards he has received include the prestigious Mda Commonwealth Writers Prize 2001, the African region Fiction Award and the Sunday Times 2001 The Heart of Redness, and the Olive Schreiner Prize Paper Award and M-Net.

Furthermore another important author is Mongane Wally Serote. He is a poet and novelist and is an influential figure in the 'cultural policy' in South Africa he was one of the first figures in protrudes during the 70s. His first book of verse was Yakhal ' inkomo (1972) and then he published four more and in 1981 he published his first novel called “to every birth its blood”.  He was banished to the end of the seventies, and returned to South Africa in 1990 and headed the Section of Arts and Culture of African National Congress.

South Africa has important representatives that show the fight and worth facing situation like the apartheid regime and they expressed through writing and the South African people appreciate.

Art and music

          About 2200 years ago began the migration of black people from North Africa and began the first settlements humans in the region.  The variety of settlements, urban structures and construction forms was diversifying in function of the different climates, accessible materials to build, ways of life of every people and technical advances. Regarding the ornamentation in many cases was influenced by religious or magical ideas of their builders. South Africa has a rich architectural heritage which contributed all cultural groups in the country: simple huts made from branches and straw huts of various kinds of mud and Totora used by rural towns. Farmer’s simple houses, whitewashed walls and gables that gave life to the simple but extraordinary architecture of rural towns, the styles functional and attractive Malay Quarter Cape Town, and the houses decorated Cape Dutch style.

South Africa has a rich architectural heritage which contributed all cultural groups in the country: simple huts made with branches and straw of Khoisan people, huts of various kinds of mud and reeds used by rural villages, simple houses of farmers who raising cattle, whitewashed walls and gables that gave life to the simple architecture of rural villages, functional and attractive styles Malay Quarter of Cape Town, and the ornate Dutch style houses Cabo.

The history of the South African dance come from the Stone Age, the artists decorated their caverns with native paint about their environment. The painting is used like a decorative form to paint mask and sculpture until twentieth century.

The tendencies are based on nationalism, ethnicity, or political moment of the country. After the Second War began to emerge new style considered expressionist tightly related with old African art.

On the other hand about the sculpture the South African people used the wood as the main element to make the sculpture. The most of the pieces are mask, thrones, stools and others objects. The anthropomorphic figures are other creation related with their gods, ancestors, and magical creatures. The masks are traditionally used in ceremonies of fertility, funerals and religious rituals. Now the materials have varied such as clay, fabric, seed, and animal´s bone.

The handicrafts are sample of art incorporated into everyday life. They manifested their artistic creativity through objects and utensils such as basketry and pottery which are two of the oldest arts of humanity. In the majority of tribal societies, baskets and pots are usually made by women. The domestic containers are constructed with different materials (metal, clay, leather, Gourds) and for different uses. In the design can be appreciate religious character symbols.

More over the African and South African music had been carried by its musician to the entire world especially to Europe and America which emerged styles like blue, jazz, reggae, country, Cuban music and Latin music.

        Its music is connected with the events of daily life such as a birth, social and religious celebrations. The music is shared in community which is accompanied with singing, dance and the instruments.

There are a variety of instruments such as djembe rarely play alone, the dum dum, the loudspeaker , the sanza mbira, the chekeré which is a kind of gourd rattle, the kora which is a kind of mixture between harp and lute.

One of the most notable styles of South Africa is Mbanganga which mix guitars and South African rhythm. The principal representative is Miriam Makeba. Mbaganga is a style of South African rural music.

Moreover the traditional dances are related with season change, births, marriages, deaths and others and there are a variety of rhythms depending ethnic group. There are different types of dance each one with a particular propose.

Introduction

South Africa is a country located southern tip of Africa. Bordering countries like Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Swaziland. The country is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean.

South Africa is known for its cultural diversity languages ​​and religious beliefs. Eleven official languages ​​are recognized by the Constitution of South Africa. Two of these languages ​​are of European origin: Afrikans, language which is originated mainly from Dutch that is spoken by the majority of white people and mestizos, and English.

Due to the extent of the country, the climate is very variable depending on climatic zones. In the south and the highlands, the weather is mild, while in the north the climate is subtropical and in the western part of the country is semi-arid.

The prevalent biome in the country is the prairie, especially in the Highveld, where the predominant floras are grasses, low shrubs, and acacia trees, mainly white and camel thorn. The vegetation is sparser towards the northwest due to low rainfall.

In the Bushveld are numerous habitats of mammals such as the lion, leopard, wildebeest, kudu, impala, hyena, hippo and giraffe.

South Africa has a wealth of flowering plants, but has few forests. A very small portion of South Africa is forest, found almost exclusively in the humid coastal plain. There are reserves even smaller forests that are outside the scope of the fire. Plantations of imported tree species are predominant, particularly the non-native eucalyptus and pine

In the fifteenth century, settled the first European settlement South Africa. What they did was appropriate the best lands for grazing and farming, thus causing progressive displacement of the indigenous population. This population was displaced and shelter in areas barren and dry as the Kalahari Desert.

Apartheid, or segregation, was a phenomenon that marks its official start in 1948 and his term is running concurrently with the Cold War in 1991.

The Apartheid regime practiced by the British in South Africa and implemented by Dutch settlers (The Boer), had as main objective to raise a hierarchy between whites and blacks. This led to a political division, geographic, and other even more extreme.

In 1948, the National Party came to power with a pro-apartheid campaign.

The end of apartheid came with the release of Nelson Mandela after 27 years in prison that fought for the rights of discriminated persons.

This led to the first democratic elections in South Africa in 1994, and the Government of National Unity.