Republic of South Africa
Republiek van Suid-Afrika
CAPITAL: Pretoria (administrative); Cape Town (legislative); Bloemfontein (judicial)
FLAG: The national flag, adopted in 1994, consists of a blue-black triangle placed vertical to the hoist and bordered in gold-yellow. Bands of red, white, green, white, and blue appear horizontally.
ANTHEM: Two anthems are currently in use: the official anthem, Die Stem van Suid-Afrika (The Call of South Africa), and Nkosi Sikelel' Afrika (God Bless Africa), a hymn adopted by most liberation groups.
MONETARY UNIT: The South African rand (R) is a paper currency of 100 cents. It is used throughout the South African monetary area. There are coins of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 cents and 1 rand, and notes of 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 rand. R1 = $0.1329 (or $1 = R7.52) as of May 2003.
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES: The metric system is in use.
HOLIDAYS: New Year's Day, 1 January; Republic Day, 31 May; Kruger Day, 10 October; Day of the Vow, 16 December; Christmas, 25 December; Goodwill Day, 26 December. Movable religious holidays include Good Friday and Ascension; Family Day is a movable secular holiday.
TIME: 2 PM = noon GMT.
South Africa has no territories or colonies. South Africa once maintained a civil administration and a military presence in Namibia (South West Africa). Namibia, a sovereign state, is discussed under its own heading elsewhere in this volume.