South African Culture

South African culture is impossible to capture in a nutshell, as the country is home to a rich variety of cultural groups of diverse ethnic and national origins.

South African traditions often arise out of specific cultures, later crossing over to other cultural groups within the country. One of the main South African cultural practices is to braai (barbecue) beef sausage known as boerewors and chops of lamb, pork or beef. Originating in the Afrikaner culture, the braai has become a cross cultural phenomenon which all South Africans can identify with.

There are, however, aspects of South African culture which are specific to individual groups. The general division of South African cultural groups can be traced along the lines constructed or at least polarised by the old apartheid system of governance, which divided the population into groups, namely white, black, coloured and Asian. Although these groups do not apply in the same way to government policy in the current regime, the polarisation of cultures remains evident in many parts of South Africa.

White South African cultural groups can be further divided into English, Afrikaans, Jewish, Portuguese, Greek and Lebanese peoples. The black population is made up of various tribal groups, namely Xhosa, Zulu, Ndebele, Swazi, Tswana, Sotho. Most of the black population is Christian, as is the white population, but there is still a large following of traditional beliefs, with the strong influence of Sangoma's (witch doctors) in the cultural beliefs. African masks do not form as strong a part of South African cultures as they do in some central African cultures.

The so called coloured people are generally of mixed origin and most often Afrikaans speaking. Culturally they are a lot closer to the white cultural trends. Cape Town has become famous for dishes like babotie and other sweet curries which have been introduced and popularised by this cultural group. The so called Asian group is mostly comprised of people of Indian decent. Their culture has stayed true to the culture of India for the most part. There is a strong Indian cultural influence in the city of Durban, where great Indian restaurants can be enjoyed.

When it comes to South African business culture, there is a strong African influence when dealing with large BEE (Black Economic Empowerment) companies. The main business dealings take place within a Western business cultural setting.

With such a diverse population it takes quite a bit of reading to understand the complexities of South Africa's culture. In fact it is a popular study for sociologists who are trying to better understand society's different options and approaches to cross cultural interaction. Visiting South Africa will give you a chance to experience a rich and vibrant multi-cultural society.