South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...
is divided into nine provinces. On the eve of the
1994 general election, South Africa's former homelands, also known as
Bantustan
A Bantustan (also known as Bantu homeland, black homeland, black state or simply homeland; ) was a territory that the National Party administration of South Africa set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa (n ...
s, were reintegrated, and the four existing provinces were divided into nine. The twelfth, thirteenth and sixteenth amendments to the
Constitution of South Africa
The Constitution of South Africa is the supreme law of the Republic of South Africa. It provides the legal foundation for the existence of the republic, it sets out the rights and duties of its citizens, and defines the structure of the Gov ...
changed the borders of seven of the provinces.
History
The
Union of South Africa
The Union of South Africa ( nl, Unie van Zuid-Afrika; af, Unie van Suid-Afrika; ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Tr ...
was established in 1910 by combining four British colonies: the
Cape Colony
The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with ...
, the
Natal Colony
The Colony of Natal was a British colony in south-eastern Africa. It was proclaimed a British colony on 4 May 1843 after the British government had annexed the Boer Republic of Natalia, and on 31 May 1910 combined with three other colonies to ...
, the
Transvaal Colony
The Transvaal Colony () was the name used to refer to the Transvaal region during the period of direct British rule and military occupation between the end of the Second Boer War in 1902 when the South African Republic was dissolved, and the ...
and the
Orange River Colony
The Orange River Colony was the British colony created after Britain first occupied (1900) and then annexed (1902) the independent Orange Free State in the Second Boer War. The colony ceased to exist in 1910, when it was absorbed into the Union ...
(the latter two were, before the
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the So ...
, independent republics known as the
South African Republic
The South African Republic ( nl, Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, abbreviated ZAR; af, Suid-Afrikaanse Republiek), also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer Republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when i ...
and the
Orange Free State
The Orange Free State ( nl, Oranje Vrijstaat; af, Oranje-Vrystaat;) was an independent Boer sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeat ...
). These colonies became the four original provinces of the Union:
Cape Province,
Transvaal Province
The Province of the Transvaal ( af, Provinsie van Transvaal), commonly referred to as the Transvaal (; ), was a province of South Africa from 1910 until 1994, when a new constitution subdivided it following the end of apartheid. The name "Trans ...
,
Natal Province
The Province of Natal (), commonly called Natal, was a province of South Africa from May 1910 until May 1994. Its capital was Pietermaritzburg. During this period rural areas inhabited by the black African population of Natal were organized into ...
and
Orange Free State Province
The Province of the Orange Free State ( af, Provinsie Oranje-Vrystaat), commonly referred to as the Orange Free State ( af, Oranje-Vrystaat), Free State ( af, Vrystaat) or by its abbreviation OFS, was one of the four provinces of South Africa fro ...
.
Segregation of the
black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...
population started as early as 1913, with ownership of land by the black majority being restricted to certain areas totalling about 13% of the country. From the late 1950s, these areas were gradually consolidated into "
homelands", also called "
bantustan
A Bantustan (also known as Bantu homeland, black homeland, black state or simply homeland; ) was a territory that the National Party administration of South Africa set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa (n ...
s". Four of these homelands were established as quasi-independent nation states of the black population during the
apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
era. In 1976, the homeland of
Transkei
Transkei (, meaning ''the area beyond he riverKei''), officially the Republic of Transkei ( xh, iRiphabliki yeTranskei), was an unrecognised state in the southeastern region of South Africa from 1976 to 1994. It was, along with Ciskei, a Ba ...
was the first to accept
independence
Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the stat ...
from South Africa, and although this independence was never acknowledged by any other country, three other homelands
Bophuthatswana
Bophuthatswana (, meaning "gathering of the Tswana people"), officially the Republic of Bophuthatswana ( tn, Riphaboliki ya Bophuthatswana; af, Republiek van Bophuthatswana), was a Bantustan (also known as "Homeland"; an area set aside for mem ...
(1977),
Venda
Venda () was a Bantustan in northern South Africa, which is fairly close to the South African border with Zimbabwe to the north, while to the south and east, it shared a long border with another black homeland, Gazankulu. It is now part of t ...
(1979) and
Ciskei
Ciskei (, or ) was a Bantustan for the Xhosa people-located in the southeast of South Africa. It covered an area of , almost entirely surrounded by what was then the Cape Province, and possessed a small coastline along the shore of the Indian O ...
(1981) followed suit.
On 27 April 1994, the date of the
first non-racial elections and of the adoption of the
Interim Constitution, all of these provinces and homelands were dissolved, and nine new provinces were established. The boundaries of these provinces were established in 1993 by a ''Commission on the Demarcation/Delimitation of Regions'' created by
CODESA
The apartheid system in South Africa was ended through a series of bilateral and multi-party negotiations between 1990 and 1993. The negotiations culminated in the passage of a new interim Constitution in 1993, a precursor to the Constitution ...
, and were broadly based on ''planning regions'' demarcated by the
Development Bank of Southern Africa
The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) is a development finance institution wholly owned by the Government of South Africa. The bank intends to "accelerate sustainable socio-economic development in the Southern African Development Communi ...
in the 1980s,
[https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/37351010.pdf ] and amalgamated from existing
magisterial districts, with some concessions to political parties that wished to consolidate their power bases, by transferring districts between the proposed provinces.
The definitions of the new provinces in terms of magisterial districts were found in Schedule 1 of the
Interim Constitution.
On 11 July 2003, the
11th amendment to the fifth constitution renamed the Northern Province to
Limpopo
Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature ...
. On 1 March 2006, the
12th and
13th amendments altered the boundaries of 7 provinces. On 3 April 2009 the
16th amendment altered the boundaries of the
North West and
Gauteng
Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'.
Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...
provinces.
Government
South Africa's provinces are governed, in different ways, on a national, provincial and local level.
Nationally, there is the National Council of Provinces, one of the houses of Parliament. Then there is the provincial government and, below that, the administration of district and metropolitan municipalities.
National Council of Provinces
South Africa has two houses of parliament: the National Assembly, and the National Council of Provinces.
The second exists to ensure that the interests of each province are protected in the laws passed by the National Assembly.
Each one of South Africa's nine provinces sends 10 representatives to the National Council of Provinces. Six of these are permanent members of the council, and four are special delegates.
Provincial government
Each province is governed by a
unicameral legislature. The size of the legislature is proportional to population, ranging from 30 members in the
Northern Cape
The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of the Kgalagadi ...
to 80 in
KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is loca ...
. The legislatures are elected every five years by a system of
party-list proportional representation
Party-list proportional representation (list-PR) is a subset of proportional representation electoral systems in which multiple candidates are elected (e.g., elections to parliament) through their position on an electoral list. They can also be u ...
; by convention, they are all elected on the same day, at the same time as the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the r ...
election.
The provincial legislature elects, from amongst its members, a
Premier
Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier.
A premier will normally be a head of governm ...
, who is the head of the executive. The Premier chooses an
Executive Council consisting of between five and ten members of the legislature, which is the cabinet of the provincial government.
The
Members of the Executive Council (MECs) are the provincial equivalent of
ministers.
The powers of the provincial government are limited to specific topics listed in the
national constitution. On some of these topicsfor example, agriculture, education, health and public housingthe province's powers are shared with the national government, which can establish uniform standards and frameworks for the provincial governments to follow; on other topics the provincial government has exclusive power.
[' Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996'', "Chapter 6: Provinces". Sections 104 and 146.]
The provinces do not have their own court systems, as the administration of justice is the responsibility of the national government.
List
Footnotes:
Provincial acronyms
Former administrative divisions
Footnotes:
:† States for which the homeland was quasi-independent.
See also
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Elections in South Africa
Elections in South Africa are held for the National Assembly, provincial legislatures and municipal councils. Elections follow a five-year cycle, with national and provincial elections held simultaneously and municipal elections held two years ...
*
List of municipalities in South Africa
*
List of South African provinces by Human Development Index
*
Members of the Executive Council (MEC)
*
Municipalities of South Africa
Local government in South Africa consists of municipalities ( tn, bommasepala; st, bomasepala; nso, bommasepala; af, munisipaliteite; zu, ngomasipala; Southern Ndebele: ''bomasipala''; xh, ngoomasipala; ss, bomasipala; ve, vhomasipala; ...
*
Premier (South Africa)
In South Africa, a Premier is the head of government of one of South Africa's nine provinces. The Premier of a province plays for that province a role similar to that played by the President for the country as a whole.
Election
Elections for the n ...
*
Prince Edward Islands
The Prince Edward Islands are two small uninhabited islands in the sub-Antarctic Indian Ocean that are part of South Africa. The islands are named Marion Island (named after Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne, 1724–1772) and Prince Edward Islan ...
*
Proposals for South Africa to annex Lesotho
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Provincial governments of South Africa
The nine provinces of South Africa are governed by provincial governments which form the second layer of government, between the national government and the municipalities. The provincial governments are established, and their structure define ...
*
Provincial legislature (South Africa)
*
Telephone numbers in South Africa
South Africa switched to a closed numbering system effective 16 January 2007. At that time, it became mandatory to dial the full 10-digit telephone number, including the zero in the three-digit area code, for local calls (e.g., 011 must be ...
*
Vehicle registration plates of South Africa
South African number plates are unique in each of the provinces. Each province has their own number plate design, colour scheme and alphanumeric scheme. e.g. AB 12 CD GP or CA 123-456
History
From 1 February 2000, a process started to replac ...
*
Walvis Bay
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ISO 3166-2:ZA
Transportation
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List of national routes in South Africa
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List of provincial routes in South Africa
*
List of regional routes in South Africa
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List of Metropolitan Routes in South Africa
Metropolitan Routes in South Africa, also called Metro Roads or Metro Routes are designated with the letter M, and are usually major routes around cities in South Africa.
East London
Cape Town
Johannesburg
Pretoria
Durban
Rd, B ...
**
Metropolitan Routes in East London
**
Metropolitan Routes in Cape Town
The City of Cape Town ( Cape Town metropolitan area) like most South African metropolitan areas, uses Metropolitan or "M" routes for important intra-city routes, a layer below National (N) roads and Regional (R) roads. Each city's M roads are in ...
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Metropolitan Routes in Johannesburg
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Metropolitan Routes in Pretoria
The City of Tshwane ( Pretoria metropolitan area) like most South African metropolitan areas uses Metropolitan or "M" routes for important intra-city routes, a layer below National (N) roads and Regional (R) roads. Each city's M roads are inde ...
**
Metropolitan Routes in Durban
Ethekwini (Durban metropolitan area), like most South African metropolitan areas, uses Metropolitan or "M" routes for important intra-city routes, a layer below National (N) roads and Regional
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as z ...
**
Metropolitan Routes in Bloemfontein
Mangaung (Bloemfontein metropolitan area) like most South African metropolitan areas, uses Metropolitan or "M" routes for important intra-city routes, a layer below National (N) roads and Regional (R) roads. Each city's M roads are independent ...
**
Metropolitan Routes in Port Elizabeth
Port Elizabeth, like most South African cities, uses Metropolitan or "M" routes for important intra-city routes, a layer below National (N) roads and Regional (R) roads. Each city's M roads are independently numbered.
These roads naturally in ...
**
Metropolitan Routes in Pietermaritzburg
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Numbered routes in South Africa
In South Africa some roads are designated as numbered routes to help with navigation. There is a nationwide numbering scheme consisting of national, provincial and regional routes, and within various urban areas there are schemes of metropolitan ...
References
{{Articles on first-level administrative divisions of African countries
Subdivisions of South Africa
Provinces of
South Africa 1
Provinces, South Africa
South Africa geography-related lists