Nelson Mandela’s family tree
Nelson Mandela was born in 1918 and died, aged 95, in 2013. His family tree remains, growing from three wives and six children to 17 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren and on …
South Africa’s population
South Africa is home to 63 million people. About 81.7% of them are black, 8.5% coloured, 2.6% Indian/Asian and 7.2% white. Find out more about birth, death, age, HIV, migration and other population trends.
The plain language guide to South Africa’s Bill of Rights
It protects everyone in the country – not just citizens. The Bill of Rights safeguards the democratic values of dignity, equality and freedom, and demands that basic needs are met.
Mapping poverty in South Africa
Where are South Africa’s poorest places? Two maps find the patterns of poverty: one shows the share of households living in poverty in each municipality, the other the number of poor people living there. And an animation tries to make sense of the maps.
Mandela and Tambo: A lifetime as comrades
Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo were friends for 60 years, from student days to partnership in a law firm, through imprisonment and exile, until the final victory over apartheid.
The workers who hunt for fossils in South Africa’s Cradle of Humankind
They have found important fossils in the human family. They have no degrees but instruct visiting researchers. Now the fossil technicians of the Sterkfontein Caves may get the recognition they deserve.
The online dictionary of South African English
Mixed with over a dozen African languages for over two centuries, spiced by imports from British, Dutch and Portuguese colonies, South African English has its own rich, varied and sometimes weird flavour.
Robert Sobukwe: ‘There is only one race. The human race’
Robert Sobukwe was one of South Africa’s greatest but forgotten heroes of the struggle for human rights and nonracialism.
Nelson Mandela 1918-2013: the timeline of a lifetime
A comprehensive timeline of the life of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela – revolutionary, soldier, political prisoner, president of South Africa, statesman and global icon of social justice.
Map: Distribution of South Africa’s population groups
The distribution of South Africa’s population groups reveals the country’s history. Find out more with these maps of where black, coloured, Indian and white South Africans live today, according to the 2011 census.
Infographic: Life expectancy in South Africa from 1960 to 2015
Charting South Africans’ life expectancy is to track the country’s modern history. In 1960, when the state was grimly implementing apartheid laws, an average newborn child was expected to have a lifespan of only 52 years – 50 years for boys. In 2015, life expectancy was 62 years.
Animation: How long do South Africans live?
This is an animation to break your heart. In any unequal society, the privileged live long lives and everyone else much shorter lives.
Infographic: The population of South Africa’s nine provinces
The population of each of South Africa’s nine provinces varies enormously. According to Statistics South Africa’s 2024 population estimates, the most populous provinces are Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, and the emptiest the Northern Cape and Free State.
Animations: South Africa’s many languages
Each of South Africa’s 11 languages has a fascinating vocabulary, with some words and phrases influenced by other languages, and many unique to that language.
HIV and Aids in South Africa
South Africa’s story of HIV and Aids starts with tragic arrogance in a new democracy suddenly threatened from an unexpected direction. Then came activism and tenacity by ordinary citizens. Today, the country has one of the world’s biggest treatment programmes.
Animation: Measuring the dimensions of poverty in South Africa
The South African Multidimensional Poverty Index looks at how poverty reveals itself in people’s health, their level of education, the dwelling they live in, how they cook their food, the water they drink …
Infographic: Census counts of South Africa’s population
South Africa has held three official censuses in its recent democratic history: in 1996, 2001 and 2011. The censuses have revealed both a growing population – from 41 million to 52 million – and a significant shift in the country’s racial profile.
Infographic: Exploring poverty in South Africa’s provinces
The Eastern Cape is South Africa’s poorest province, both in its percentage of poor households and the number of its people who live in poverty. The province with the smallest share of households in poverty is the Western Cape.
The people of South Africa by age, sex and race
Black men have the shortest lives, and white women the longest. Find out more about the country’s population structure with this infographic charting the realities of age, race and sex in South Africa.
Infographic: South Africa’s population in 2024
In 2024 South Africa had a population of 63 million. Black people were the majority at 51.5 million – 81.7% of the total. There were 5.3 million coloured people (8.5%), 4.5-million white people (7.2%) and 1.6-million Indian/Asian people (2.6%).
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