1.
LNER Class A4 4488 Union of South Africa
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60009 Union of South Africa is an LNER Class A4 steam locomotive built in Doncaster in 1937. It is one of six surviving Gresley A4s, currently operational and it was briefly renamed Osprey during part of the 1980s and 1990s due to political opposition against apartheid South Africa at the time. Built by the London and North Eastern Railway in 1937 at Doncaster and originally numbered 4488 and it had previously been allocated the name Osprey on 17 April 1937, but was renamed Union of South Africa to operate the Coronation streamlined train. It eventually carried the name Osprey in the 1980s and 1990s and this was due to the contemporary political opposition against South Africa, which undertook a controversial policy of racial apartheid from 1948–94. The name Osprey had previously carried by A4 No.4494. 60009s name has reverted to Union of South Africa. The works number was 1853, the plaques are located in the cab itself, the springbok plaque on the side of the locomotive was donated on 12 April 1954 by a Bloemfontein newspaper proprietor. Only the one plaque was fitted on the hand side of the locomotive. Two cast Springbok plaques were given to John Cameron in the mid 1970s and they have since been removed during overhauls but the original boiler side plaque remains. 60009 is fitted with an American, Crosby chime whistle in common with other members of its class, Union of South Africa has worn many liveries throughout her career. The first livery she wore was as 4488 in garter blue, the next livery applied was LNER wartime black on 21 March 1942. This livery was amended on 14 August 1943 when the L and R were removed to confuse potential spies,21 February 1947 saw Union of South Africa regain garter blue with red and white lining. Her number was changed to just 9 on 12 January 1946, under the scheme of Gresleys successor. She gained a stainless steel number 9 during this repaint,4 August 1949 saw 60009 applied with the standard British Railways express passenger blue livery. Finally on 2 October 1952, Union of South Africa was painted in British Railways brunswick green livery and she has worn this livery throughout preservation to date. As with all 35 of the Gresley A4 pacific steam locomotives, Union of South Africa was fitted with streamlined valances, or side skirting and this was found to hinder maintenance and, as with her sisters, it was removed. 4488 lost her valances during a works visit 21 March 1942,60009 has been fitted with 14 boilers during her career,8951,9129,8955,9128,8957,9027,29285,29278,27965,27961 and 29337. 60009 has had five tenders through her career, of two differing types, the first tender she had was a 1928 pattern streamlined corridor tender
2.
Dutch language
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It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language, after English and German. Dutch is one of the closest relatives of both German and English and is said to be roughly in between them, Dutch vocabulary is mostly Germanic and incorporates more Romance loans than German but far fewer than English. In both Belgium and the Netherlands, the official name for Dutch is Nederlands, and its dialects have their own names, e. g. Hollands, West-Vlaams. The use of the word Vlaams to describe Standard Dutch for the variations prevalent in Flanders and used there, however, is common in the Netherlands, the Dutch language has been known under a variety of names. It derived from the Old Germanic word theudisk, one of the first names used for the non-Romance languages of Western Europe. It literarily means the language of the people, that is. The term was used as opposed to Latin, the language of writing. In the first text in which it is found, dating from 784, later, theudisca appeared also in the Oaths of Strasbourg to refer to the Germanic portion of the oath. This led inevitably to confusion since similar terms referred to different languages, owing to Dutch commercial and colonial rivalry in the 16th and 17th centuries, the English term came to refer exclusively to the Dutch. A notable exception is Pennsylvania Dutch, which is a West Central German variety called Deitsch by its speakers, Jersey Dutch, on the other hand, as spoken until the 1950s in New Jersey, is a Dutch-based creole. In Dutch itself, Diets went out of common use - although Platdiets is still used for the transitional Limburgish-Ripuarian Low Dietsch dialects in northeast Belgium, Nederlands, the official Dutch word for Dutch, did not become firmly established until the 19th century. This designation had been in use as far back as the end of the 15th century, one of them was it reflected a distinction with Hoogduits, High Dutch, meaning the language spoken in Germany. The Hoog was later dropped, and thus, Duits narrowed down in meaning to refer to the German language. g, in English, too, Netherlandic is regarded as a more accurate term for the Dutch language, but is hardly ever used. Old Dutch branched off more or less around the same time Old English, Old High German, Old Frisian and Old Saxon did. During that period, it forced Old Frisian back from the western coast to the north of the Low Countries, on the other hand, Dutch has been replaced in adjacent lands in nowadays France and Germany. The division in Old, Middle and Modern Dutch is mostly conventional, one of the few moments linguists can detect somewhat of a revolution is when the Dutch standard language emerged and quickly established itself. This is assumed to have taken place in approximately the mid-first millennium BCE in the pre-Roman Northern European Iron Age, the Germanic languages are traditionally divided into three groups, East, West, and North Germanic. They remained mutually intelligible throughout the Migration Period, Dutch is part of the West Germanic group, which also includes English, Scots, Frisian, Low German and High German
3.
Afrikaans
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Afrikaans is a West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and, to a lesser extent, Botswana and Zimbabwe. Hence, it is a language of Dutch, and was previously referred to as Cape Dutch or kitchen Dutch. Although, it is described as a creole, a partially creolised language the least. The term is derived from Dutch Afrikaans-Hollands meaning African Dutch. It is the first language of most of the Afrikaner and Coloured people of Southern Africa, therefore, differences with Dutch often lie in the more analytic morphology and grammar of Afrikaans, and a spelling that expresses Afrikaans pronunciation rather than standard Dutch. There is a degree of mutual intelligibility between the two languages—especially in written form. With about 7 million native speakers in South Africa, or 13. 5% of the population and it has the widest geographical and racial distribution of all the eleven official languages of South Africa, and is widely spoken and understood as a second or third language. About 1. 5% of black South Africans speak it as their first language, large numbers of speakers of Bantu languages and English-speaking South Africans also speak it as their second language. It is taught in schools, with about 10.3 million second-language students and it, along with German, was among the official languages of Namibia until the country became independent in 1990, 25% of the population of Windhoek spoke Afrikaans at home. Both Afrikaans and German survive as recognised regional languages in the country, estimates of the total number of Afrikaans speakers range between 15 and 23 million. The Afrikaans language arose in the Dutch Cape Colony, through a gradual divergence from European Dutch dialects, there is a degree of mutual intelligibility between the two languages, particularly in written form. Nevertheless, Dutch speakers are confronted with fewer non-cognates when listening to Afrikaans than the way round. Mutual intelligibility thus tends to be asymmetrical, as it is easier for Dutch speakers to understand Afrikaans than for Afrikaans speakers to understand Dutch, in general, mutual intelligibility between Dutch and Afrikaans is better than between Dutch and Frisian or between Danish and Swedish. The workers and slaves who contributed to the development of Afrikaans were Asians and Malagasys, as well as the Khoi, San, and Bantu peoples who also lived in the area. African creole people in the early 18th century — documented on the cases of Hendrik Bibault, Only much later in the second half of the 19th century did the Boers adopt this attribution, too. The Khoi and mixed-race groups became collectively referred to as Coloureds, beginning in about 1815, Afrikaans started to replace Malay as the language of instruction in Muslim schools in South Africa, written with the Arabic alphabet, see Arabic Afrikaans. Later, Afrikaans, now written with the Latin alphabet, started to appear in newspapers and political, in 1925, Afrikaans was recognised by the South African government as a real language, rather than simply a slang version of Dutch proper. Before the Boer Wars, and indeed for some time afterwards, rather, Afrikaans was described derogatorily as ‘a kitchen language’ or as ‘a bastard jargon, suitable for communication mainly between the Boers and their servants
4.
God Save the Queen
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God Save the Queen is the national and/or royal anthem in a number of Commonwealth realms, their territories, and the British Crown Dependencies. The author of the tune is unknown and it may originate in plainchant and it is also the royal anthem of all the aforementioned countries, as well as Australia, Canada, Barbados and Tuvalu. In countries not previously part of the British Empire, the tune of God Save the Queen has provided the basis for various patriotic songs, in the United States, the melody is used for the patriotic song My Country, Tis of Thee. The melody is used for the national anthem of Liechtenstein. Beyond its first verse, which is consistent, God Save the Queen/King has many historic, since its first publication, different verses have been added and taken away and, even today, different publications include various selections of verses in various orders. In general, only one verse is sung, sometimes two verses are sung, and on rare occasions, three. The sovereign and her or his consort are saluted with the entire anthem, the first six bars also form all or part of the Vice Regal Salute in some Commonwealth realms outside the UK, as well as the salute given to governors of British overseas territories. He also points to several pieces by Henry Purcell, one of which includes the notes of the modern tune. Nineteenth-century scholars and commentators mention the widespread belief that an old Scots carol, the first published version of what is almost the present tune appeared in 1744 in Thesaurus Musicus. The 1744 version of the song was popularised in Scotland and England the following year and this manuscript has the tune depart from that which is used today at several points, one as early as the first bar, but is otherwise clearly a strong relative of the contemporary anthem. It was recorded as being sung in London theatres in 1745, with, for example, Scholes analysis includes mention of untenable and doubtful claims, as well as an American misattribution. The surgical knife that was purpose-built for the occasion is on display in the Musée dhistoire de la médecine, lully set words by Marie de Brinon to music, and Créquy claims the tune was later plagiarised by Handel. Translated in Latin under the name Domine, Salvum Fac Regem, after the Battle of Culloden, the Hanover dynasty supposedly then adopted this melody as the British anthem. James Oswald, He is an author of the Thesaurus Musicus, so may have played a part in the history of the song. Dr Henry Carey, Scholes refutes this attribution, first on the grounds that Carey himself never made such a claim, second, when the claim was made by Careys son, it was accompanied by a request for a pension from the British Government on that score. Third, the younger Carey claimed that his father had written parts of it in 1745, Scholes recommends the attribution traditional or traditional, earliest known version by John Bull. The English Hymnal gives no attribution, stating merely 17th or 18th cent, God Save the Queen is the national anthem of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Like many aspects of British constitutional life, its official status derives from custom and use, in general only one or two verses are sung, but on rare occasions three
5.
Die Stem van Suid-Afrika
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In May 1918, C. J. Langenhoven wrote an Afrikaans poem called Die Stem, for which music was composed by the Reverend Marthinus Lourens de Villiers in 1921. It was widely used by the South African Broadcasting Corporation in the 1920s and it was sung publicly for the first time on 31 May 1928. It was not translated into English until 1952, while God Save The Queen did not cease to have official status until 1957, the poem originally had only three verses, but the government asked the author to add a fourth verse with a religious theme. The anthem speaks throughout of commitment to the Vaderland and to God, however, the anthem was generally disliked by black South Africans, who saw it as triumphalist and associated it with the apartheid regime where one verse shows dedication to Afrikaners. At the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona that year, Schillers Ode to Joy, as set to Beethovens music, was used instead, Die Stem van Suid-Afrika retained official status after the advent of full multi-racial democracy which followed the 1994 general election. The anthem shared equal status with Nkosi Sikelel iAfrika, which had long been a hymn used by the ANC. In 1995, Die Stem van Suid-Afrika was sung by a choir at the Rugby World Cup final match. The practice of singing two different anthems had been a cumbersome arrangement during the transition to post-apartheid South Africa, in 1997, following the adoption of a new constitution, a new hybrid anthem was introduced, which combined Nkosi Sikelel iAfrika and Die Stem van Suid-Afrika. List of historical national anthems National anthem of South Africa National anthem of the Orange Free State National anthem of the Transvaal YouTube recording of Die Stem van Suid Afrika
6.
South West Africa
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South West Africa was the name for modern-day Namibia when it was ruled by the German Empire and later South Africa. As a German colony from 1884, it was known as German South West Africa, germany had a difficult time administering the territory, which experienced many insurrections, especially those led by guerilla leader Jacob Morenga. The main port, Walvis Bay, and the Penguin Islands were annexed by Britain in 1878, following the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, Walvis Bay became part of the Cape Province. As part of the Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty in 1890, a corridor of land taken from the border of Bechuanaland. It was named the Caprivi Strip after the German Chancellor Leo von Caprivi, in 1915, during South West Africa Campaign of the First World War, South Africa captured the German colony. After the war, it was declared a League of Nations Class C Mandate territory under the Treaty of Versailles, from 1922, this included Walvis Bay, which, under the South West Africa Affairs Act, was governed if it were part of the mandated territory. South West Africa remained a League of Nations Mandate until World War II, the Mandate was supposed to become a United Nations Trust Territory when League of Nations Mandates were transferred to the United Nations following the Second World War. This was to the advantage of the National Party, which enjoyed support from the predominantly Afrikaners. Between 1950 and 1977, all of South West Africas parliamentary seats were held by the Nationalists, an additional consequence of this was the extension of apartheid laws to the territory. The ICJ also clarified that the General Assembly was empowered to receive petitions from the inhabitants of South West Africa and to call for reports from the mandatory nation, the General Assembly constituted the Committee on South West Africa to perform the supervisory functions. In 1956, the Court further ruled that the Committee had the power to grant hearings to petitioners from the mandated territory, in 1960, Ethiopia and Liberia filed a case in the International Court of Justice against South Africa alleging that South Africa had not fulfilled its mandatory duties. This case did not succeed, with the Court ruling in 1966 that they were not the parties to bring the case. There was a struggle between South Africa and forces fighting for independence, particularly after the formation of the South West Africa Peoples Organisation in 1960. In 1966, the General Assembly passed resolution 2145 which declared the Mandate terminated and it also ruled that all member states of the United Nations were under an obligation not to recognise as valid any act performed by South Africa on behalf of Namibia. South West Africa became known as Namibia by the UN when the General Assembly changed the name by Resolution 2372 of 12 June 1968. In 1977, South Africa transferred control of Walvis Bay back to the Cape Province, the territory became the independent Republic of Namibia on 21 March 1990, although Walvis Bay and the Penguin Islands were only incorporated into Namibia in 1994. The South African authorities established 10 bantustans in South West Africa in the late 1960s and early 1970s in accordance with the Odendaal Commission and these bantustans were replaced with separate ethnicity based governments in 1980
7.
History of Namibia
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The history of Namibia has passed through several distinct stages from being colonised in the late nineteenth century to Namibias independence on 21 March 1990. From 1884, Namibia was a German colony, German South West Africa, after the First World War, the League of Nations mandated South Africa to administer the territory. South Africa objected arguing that a majority of the people were content with South African rule. There is a diversity of peoples in Namibia. The most famous, San are generally assumed to have been the earliest inhabitants of the region comprising todays Namibia, Botswana, the San were hunters and gatherers with a nomadic lifestyle. The most important part of their diet consisted of fruits, nuts and roots, over time, many different ethnic groups of immigrants settled in Namibia. The Ovambo, and the smaller and closely related group Kavango, lived in northern Namibia, southern Angola and, in the case of the Kavango, being settled people they had an economy based on farming, cattle and fishing, but they also produced metal goods. Both groups belonged to the Bantu nation, until about 2,000 years ago the original hunters and gatherers of the San people were the only inhabitants in Namibia. At this time the Nama, the Khoikhoi and the Hottentots settled around the Orange River in the south on the border between Namibia and South Africa where they kept herds of sheep and goats. Both the San and the Nama were Khoisan peoples, and spoke languages from the Khoisan language group, in the 9th century the Damara entered Namibia. The Damara do not relate to the other Khoisan peoples although they share a similar language and it is believed that they separated themselves early on from their Bantu brothers of Southern and Central Africa and moved to Southwest Africa. It is unclear where they came from, but they settled in the grasslands in central Namibia, during the 17th century the Herero, a pastoral, nomadic people keeping cattle, moved into Namibia. They came from the east African lakes and entered Namibia from the northwest, First they resided in Kaokoland, but in the middle of the 19th century some tribes moved farther south and into Damaraland. A number of tribes remained in Kaokoland, these were the Himba people, during German occupation of this region about one third of the population was wiped out in a genocide that continues to provoke widespread indignation. An apology was sought for this travesty in more recent times, in the 19th century white farmers, mostly Boers, moved farther north, pushing the indigenous Khoisan peoples, who put up a fierce resistance, across the Orange River. Known as Oorlams, these Khoisan adopted Boer customs and spoke a similar to Afrikaans. Armed with guns, the Oorlams caused instability as more and more came to settle in Namaqualand, under the leadership of Jonker Afrikaner, the Oorlams used their superior weapons to take control of the best grazing land. In the 1830s Jonker Afrikaner concluded an agreement with the Nama chief Oaseb whereby the Oorlams would protect the grasslands of Namibia from the Herero who were then pushing south
8.
League of Nations
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The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organisation founded on 10 January 1920 as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first international organisation whose mission was to maintain world peace. Its primary goals, as stated in its Covenant, included preventing wars through collective security and disarmament, at its greatest extent from 28 September 1934 to 23 February 1935, it had 58 members. The diplomatic philosophy behind the League represented a shift from the preceding hundred years. The League lacked its own armed force and depended on the Great Powers to enforce its resolutions, keep to its economic sanctions, however, the Great Powers were often reluctant to do so. Sanctions could hurt League members, so they were reluctant to comply with them, after a number of notable successes and some early failures in the 1920s, the League ultimately proved incapable of preventing aggression by the Axis powers in the 1930s. Germany withdrew from the League, as did Japan, Italy, Spain, the onset of the Second World War showed that the League had failed its primary purpose, which was to prevent any future world war. The League lasted for 26 years, the United Nations replaced it after the end of the Second World War on 20 April 1946 and inherited a number of agencies and organisations founded by the League. As historians William H. Harbaugh and Ronald E. Powaski point out, the organisation was international in scope, with a third of the members of parliaments serving as members of the IPU by 1914. Its aims were to encourage governments to solve disputes by peaceful means. Annual conferences were held to help refine the process of international arbitration. Its structure consisted of a council headed by a president, which would later be reflected in the structure of the League, at the start of the 20th century, two power blocs emerged from alliances between the European Great Powers. It was these alliances that, at the start of the First World War in 1914 and this was the first major war in Europe between industrialised countries, and the first time in Western Europe that the results of industrialisation had been dedicated to war. By the time the fighting ended in November 1918, the war had had an impact, affecting the social, political and economic systems of Europe. Anti-war sentiment rose across the world, the First World War was described as the war to end all wars, the causes identified included arms races, alliances, militaristic nationalism, secret diplomacy, and the freedom of sovereign states to enter into war for their own benefit. Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson, a British political scientist, coined the term League of Nations in 1914, together with Lord Bryce, he played a leading role in the founding of the group of internationalist pacifists known as the Bryce Group, later the League of Nations Union. The group became more influential among the public and as a pressure group within the then governing Liberal Party. In Dickinsons 1915 pamphlet After the War he wrote of his League of Peace as being essentially an organisation for arbitration and conciliation
9.
Cape Town
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Cape Town is a coastal city in South Africa. It is the second-most populous urban area in South Africa after Johannesburg and it is also the capital and primate city of the Western Cape province. As the seat of the Parliament of South Africa, it is also the capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality, the city is famous for its harbour, for its natural setting in the Cape Floristic Region, and for such well-known landmarks as Table Mountain and Cape Point. As of 2014, it is the 10th most populous city in Africa and it is one of the most multicultural cities in the world, reflecting its role as a major destination for immigrants and expatriates to South Africa. The city was named the World Design Capital for 2014 by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design, in 2014, Cape Town was named the best place in the world to visit by both the American New York Times and the British Daily Telegraph. Located on the shore of Table Bay, Cape Town was first developed by the Dutch East India Company as a station for Dutch ships sailing to East Africa, India. Jan van Riebeecks arrival on 6 April 1652 established the first permanent European settlement in South Africa, Cape Town quickly outgrew its original purpose as the first European outpost at the Castle of Good Hope, becoming the economic and cultural hub of the Cape Colony. Until the Witwatersrand Gold Rush and the development of Johannesburg, Cape Town was the largest city in South Africa, the earliest known remnants in the region were found at Peers Cave in Fish Hoek and date to between 15,000 and 12,000 years ago. It was later renamed by John II of Portugal as Cape of Good Hope because of the optimism engendered by the opening of a sea route to India. Vasco da Gama recorded a sighting of the Cape of Good Hope in 1497, in the late 16th century, Portuguese, French, Danish, Dutch and English but mainly Portuguese ships regularly stopped over in Table Bay en route to the Indies. They traded tobacco, copper and iron with the Khoikhoi in exchange for fresh meat, the settlement grew slowly during this period, as it was hard to find adequate labour. This labour shortage prompted the authorities to import slaves from Indonesia, many of these became ancestors of the first Cape Coloured communities. Some of these, including grapes, cereals, ground nuts, potatoes, apples and citrus, had an important, the Dutch Republic being transformed in Revolutionary Frances vassal Batavian Republic, Great Britain moved to take control of its colonies. Britain captured Cape Town in 1795, but the Cape was returned to the Dutch by treaty in 1803, British forces occupied the Cape again in 1806 following the Battle of Blaauwberg. In the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814, Cape Town was permanently ceded to Britain and it became the capital of the newly formed Cape Colony, whose territory expanded very substantially through the 1800s. With expansion came calls for independence from Britain, with the Cape attaining its own parliament. Suffrage was established according to the non-racial, but sexist Cape Qualified Franchise, the discovery of diamonds in Griqualand West in 1867, and the Witwatersrand Gold Rush in 1886, prompted a flood of immigrants to South Africa
10.
Pretoria
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Pretoria is a city in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the three capital cities, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government. Pretoria is the part of the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality which was formed by the amalgamation of several former local authorities including Centurion. There have been proposals to change the name of Pretoria itself to Tshwane, the elder Pretorius had become a national hero of the Voortrekkers after his victory over Dingane and the Zulus in the Battle of Blood River. The elder Pretorius also negotiated the Sand River Convention, in which Britain acknowledged the independence of the Transvaal and it became the capital of the South African Republic on 1 May 1860. The founding of Pretoria as the capital of the South African Republic can be seen as marking the end of the Boers settlement movements of the Great Trek, during the First Boer War, the city was besieged by Republican forces in December 1880 and March 1881. The peace treaty ended the war was signed in Pretoria on 3 August 1881 at the Pretoria Convention. The Second Boer War resulted in the end of the Transvaal Republic, the city surrendered to British forces under Frederick Roberts on 5 June 1900 and the conflict was ended in Pretoria with the signing of the Peace of Vereeniging on 31 May 1902. The Pretoria Forts were built for the defence of the city just prior to the Second Boer War, though some of these forts are today in ruins, a number of them have been preserved as national monuments. The Boer Republics of the ZAR and the Orange River Colony were united with the Cape Colony, Pretoria then became the administrative capital of the whole of South Africa, with Cape Town the legislative capital and Bloemfontein served as the judicial capital. Between 1910 and 1994, the city was also the capital of the province of Transvaal, on 14 October 1931, Pretoria achieved official city status. When South Africa became a republic in 1961, Pretoria remained its administrative capital and it lies at an altitude of about 1,339 m above sea level, in a warm, sheltered, fertile valley, surrounded by the hills of the Magaliesberg range. Pretoria has a subtropical climate with long hot rainy summers and short cool to cold. The city experiences the typical winters of South Africa with cold, clear nights, although the average lows during winter are mild it can get bitterly cold due to the clear skies, with nighttime low temperatures in recent years in the range of 2 to −5 °C. The average annual temperature is 18.7 °C, rain is chiefly concentrated in the summer months, with drought conditions prevailing over the winter months, when frosts may be sharp. Snowfall is a rare event, snowflakes were spotted in 1959,1968 and 2012 in the city. During a nationwide heatwave in November 2011, Pretoria experienced temperatures that reached 39 °C, similar record-breaking extreme heat events also occurred in January 2013, when Pretoria experienced temperatures exceeding 37 °C on several days. The year 2014 was one of the wettest on record for the city, a total of 914 mm fell up to the end of December, with 220 mm recorded in this month alone
11.
Bloemfontein
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Bloemfontein is the capital city of the province of Free State of South Africa, and, as the judicial capital of the nation, one of South Africas three national capitals. Bloemfontein is the sixth largest city in South Africa, Bloemfontein was popularly and poetically known as the city of roses, owing to the abundance of these flowers and the annual rose festival held there. The citys Sesotho name is Mangaung, meaning place of cheetahs, Bloemfontein has since 2011 formed part of the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality, having previously been part of the Mangaung Local Municipality. Bloemfontein is situated at an altitude of 1,395 m above sea level, the city is home to 369,568 residents, while the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality has a population of 645,455. Although modern day Bloemfontein has a reputation for its flowers in an arid region. Bloemfontein literally means fountain of flowers or flower spring in Dutch, with colonial policy shifts, the region changed into the Orange River Sovereignty and eventually the Orange Free State Republic. From 1902–10 it served as the capital of the Orange River Colony, in 1910 it became the Judicial capital of the Union of South Africa. Warden originally chose the site largely because of its proximity to the route to Winburg, the spacious open country. Bloemfontein was the farm of Johannes Nicolaas Brits born 21 February 1790, owner. Johann – as he was known – sold the farm to Maj Warden, as the capital of the Orange Free State Republic the growth and maturing of the Republic resulted in the growth of the town. Numerous public buildings remain in use today were constructed. This was largely facilitated by the excellent governance of the Republic, the old Orange Free States presidential residence the Old Presidency is currently a museum and cultural space in the city. A railway line was built in 1890 connecting Bloemfontein to Cape Town. The writer J. R. R. Tolkien was born in the city on 3 January 1892, though his family left South Africa following the death of his father, Arthur Tolkien and he recorded that his earliest memories were of a hot country. In 1899 the city was the site of the Bloemfontein Conference, the conference was a final attempt to avert a war between Britain and the South African Republic. With its failure the stage was set for war, which broke out on 11 October 1899, the rail line from Cape Town provided a centrally located railway station, and proved critical to the British in occupying the city later. On 13 March 1900, following the Battle of Paardeberg, British forces captured the city and built a concentration camp nearby to house Boer women and children. The National Womens Monument, on the outskirts of the city, the hill in town was named Naval Hill after the naval guns brought in by the British in order to fortify the position against attack
12.
Pietermaritzburg
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Pietermaritzburg is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and is also regarded as the birth place of legends. It was founded in 1838 and is governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Its Zulu name umGungundlovu is the used for the district municipality. Pietermaritzburg is popularly called Maritzburg in English and Zulu alike, and it is a regionally important industrial hub, producing aluminium, timber and dairy products. It is home to schools and tertiary education institutions, including a campus of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. It had a population of 228,549 in 1991, the current population is around 500,000 and has one of the largest populations of Indian South Africans in South Africa. The city was founded by the Voortrekkers, following the defeat of Dingane at the Battle of Blood River, britain took over Pietermaritzburg in 1843 and it became the seat of the Natal Colonys administration with the first lieutenant-governor, Martin West, making it his home. Fort Napier, named after the governor of the Cape Colony, in 1893, Natal received responsibility for their own government and an assembly building was built along with the city hall. In 1910, when the Union of South Africa was formed, Natal became a province of the Union, there exist two interpretations about the origin of the citys name. One is that it was named after Piet Retief and Gert Maritz, the other is that it was originally named after Piet Retief alone, since his full name was Pieter Maurits Retief. In this interpretation the name was Pieter Maurits Burg, later transliterated to the current name. Retief in fact never reached Pietermaritzburg and was killed by Dingane, successor to Shaka, Maritz died of illness on 23 September 1838 near the present-day town of Estcourt, some hundreds of kilometres northwest of Pietermaritzburg. This was after the battle with the Zulus at Bloukranz, in 1938, however, the city announced officially that the second element Maritz should also honour Gert Maritz. At the time of the rise of the Zulu Empire, the site that was to become Pietermaritzburg was called Umgungundlovu and this is popularly translated from the Zulu as Place of the Elephant, although it could also be translated to mean The elephant wins. Umgungundlovu is thus thought to be the site of some Zulu kings victory since Elephant is a name taken by the Zulu monarch. Legend has it that Shaka had his warriors hunt elephant there to sell the ivory to English traders at Durban, today, the town is still called by its Voortrekker name, although the municipality of which it is part bears the Zulu name. During apartheid, the city was segregated into various sections, 90% of the Indian population was moved to the suburb of Northdale while most of its Zulu inhabitants were moved to the neighbouring township of Edendale. The University of Natal was founded in 1910 as the Natal University College, the two campuses were incorporated into the University of Natal in March 1949
13.
Politics of South Africa
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The Republic of South Africa is a parliamentary representative democratic republic. The President of South Africa, serves both as head of state and as head of government, the President is elected by the National Assembly and must enjoy the confidence of the Assembly in order to remain in office. South Africans also elect provincial legislatures which govern each of the nine provinces. Since the end of apartheid in the 1999 the African National Congress has dominated South Africas politics, the ANC is the ruling party in the national legislature, as well as in eight of the nine provinces. The ANC received 62. 15% of the vote during the 2014 general election and it had received 62. 9% of the popular vote in the 2011 municipal election. The main challenger to the ANCs rule is the Democratic Alliance, led by Mmusi Maimane, other major political parties represented in Parliament include the Economic Freedom Fighters and the Inkatha Freedom Party, which mainly represents Zulu voters. The formerly dominant New National Party, which introduced and ended apartheid through its predecessor the National Party, disbanded in 2005 to merge with the ANC. Jacob Zuma has served as President of South Africa since May 9,2009, South Africa is a parliamentary representative democratic republic, wherein the President of South Africa, elected by parliament, is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government, legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of Parliament, the Council of Provinces and the National Assembly. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature, Government is three-tiered, with representatives elected at the national, provincial and local levels. Following the 1994 elections, South Africa was governed under an interim constitution and this constitution required the Constituent Assembly to draft and approve a permanent constitution by 9 May 1996. The Government of National Unity established under the interim constitution ostensibly remained in effect until the 1999 national elections, the parties originally comprising the GNU – the African National Congress, the National Party, and the Inkatha Freedom Party – shared executive power. On 30 June 1996, the NP withdrew from the GNU to become part of the opposition, under the Constitution, the President is both head of state and head of government. General elections take place every 5 years, the first fully multi-racial democratic election was held in 1994, the second in 1999, the third in 2004, the fourth in 2009, and the most recent in 2014. The last two floor crossing windows occurred in 2005 and in 2007, after the 2009 elections, the ANC lost its two-thirds majority in the national legislature which had allowed it to unilaterally alter the constitution. The Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party are in an alliance with the ruling ANC. The legal rights of suspects also are enumerated. It also includes wide guarantees of access of food, water, education, health care, the constitution provides for an independent and impartial judiciary, and, in practice, these provisions are respected
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Unitary state
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The majority of states in the world have a unitary system of government. Of the 193 UN member states,165 of them are governed as unitary states, unitary states are contrasted with federal states. In a unitary state, sub-national units are created and abolished, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is an example of a unitary state. Many unitary states have no areas possessing a degree of autonomy, in such countries, sub-national regions cannot decide their own laws. Examples are the Republic of Ireland and the Kingdom of Norway, in federal states, the sub-national governments share powers with the central government as equal actors through a written constitution, to which the consent of both is required to make amendments. This means that the units have a right of existence. The United States of America is an example of a federal state, under the U. S. Constitution, powers are shared between the federal government and the states
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Constitutional monarchy
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A constitutional monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the sovereign exercises their authorities in accordance with a written or unwritten constitution. A constitutional monarchy may refer to a system in which the acts as a non-party political head of state under the constitution. Political scientist Vernon Bogdanor, paraphrasing Thomas Macaulay, has defined a constitutional monarch as a sovereign who reigns, in addition to acting as a visible symbol of national unity, a constitutional monarch may hold formal powers such as dissolving parliament or giving royal assent to legislation. Many constitutional monarchies still retain significant authorities or political influence however, such as through certain reserve powers, the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms are all constitutional monarchies in the Westminster tradition of constitutional governance. Three states – Malaysia, Cambodia and the Holy See – are elective monarchies, the oldest constitutional monarchy dating back to ancient times was that of the Hittites. These were scattered noble families that worked as representatives of their subjects in an adjutant or subaltern federal-type landscape, the most recent country to move from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy was Bhutan, between 2007 and 2008. At the same time, in Scotland the Convention of Estates enacted the Claim of Right Act 1689, although Queen Anne was the last monarch to veto an Act of Parliament when in 1707 she blocked the Scottish Militia Bill, Hanoverian monarchs continued to selectively dictate government policies. For instance George III constantly blocked Catholic Emancipation, eventually precipitating the resignation of William Pitt the Younger as Prime Minister in 1801, Queen Victoria was the last monarch to exercise real personal power but this diminished over the course of her reign. In 1839 she became the last sovereign to keep a Prime Minister in power against the will of Parliament when the Bedchamber crisis resulted in the retention of Lord Melbournes administration, today, the role of the British monarch is by convention effectively ceremonial. No person may accept significant public office without swearing an oath of allegiance to the Queen, with few exceptions, the monarch is bound by constitutional convention to act on the advice of the Government. Constitutional monarchy also occurred briefly in the years of the French Revolution. As originally conceived, a monarch was head of the executive branch and quite a powerful figure even though his or her power was limited by the constitution. In many cases the monarchs, while still at the top of the political and social hierarchy, were given the status of servants of the people to reflect the new. In the course of Frances July Monarchy, Louis-Philippe I was styled King of the French rather than King of France, following the Unification of Germany, Otto von Bismarck rejected the British model. However this model of constitutional monarchy was discredited and abolished following Germanys defeat in the First World War. Later, Fascist Italy could also be considered as a constitutional monarchy and this eventually discredited the Italian monarchy and led to its abolition in 1946. After the Second World War, surviving European monarchies almost invariably adopted some variant of the constitutional monarchy model originally developed in Britain, nowadays a parliamentary democracy that is a constitutional monarchy is considered to differ from one that is a republic only in detail rather than in substance. However, three important factors distinguish monarchies such as the United Kingdom from systems where greater power might otherwise rest with Parliament, other privileges may be nominal or ceremonial
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Monarchy of South Africa
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The monarchs constitutional roles were mostly delegated to the Governor-General of the Union of South Africa. South Africa became a republic and left the Commonwealth on 31 May 1961, on 31 May 1994, South Africa rejoined the Commonwealth as a republic, after the end of apartheid. The monarchy was created by the South Africa Act 1909 which united four British colonies in southern Africa, Cape of Good Hope, Natal, Orange River Colony and Transvaal. The Act also made provisions for admitting Southern Rhodesia as a province of the Union in the future. South-West Africa became a League of Nations mandate of the Union in 1915, following a referendum on the subject, South Africa adopted a new constitution in 1961 which abolished the monarchy. King George VI, his wife Queen Elizabeth, and their daughters Elizabeth and Margaret, Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, visited South Africa in her capacity as Head of the Commonwealth, in 1995 and 1999. State President of South Africa President of South Africa
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George V
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George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. He was the son of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. From the time of his birth, he was third in the line of succession behind his father and his own brother, Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence. From 1877 to 1891, George served in the Royal Navy, on the death of his grandmother in 1901, Georges father became King-Emperor of the British Empire, and George was created Prince of Wales. He succeeded his father in 1910 and he was the only Emperor of India to be present at his own Delhi Durbar. His reign saw the rise of socialism, communism, fascism, Irish republicanism, the Parliament Act 1911 established the supremacy of the elected British House of Commons over the unelected House of Lords. In 1917, George became the first monarch of the House of Windsor, in 1924 he appointed the first Labour ministry and in 1931 the Statute of Westminster recognised the dominions of the Empire as separate, independent states within the Commonwealth of Nations. He had health problems throughout much of his reign and at his death was succeeded by his eldest son. George was born on 3 June 1865, in Marlborough House and he was the second son of the Prince and Princess of Wales, Albert Edward and Alexandra. His father was the eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and he was baptised at Windsor Castle on 7 July 1865 by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Longley. As a younger son of the Prince of Wales, there was expectation that George would become king. He was third in line to the throne, after his father and elder brother, George was only 17 months younger than Albert Victor, and the two princes were educated together. John Neale Dalton was appointed as their tutor in 1871, neither Albert Victor nor George excelled intellectually. For three years from 1879, the brothers served on HMS Bacchante, accompanied by Dalton. They toured the colonies of the British Empire in the Caribbean, South Africa and Australia, and visited Norfolk, Virginia, as well as South America, the Mediterranean, Egypt, Dalton wrote an account of their journey entitled The Cruise of HMS Bacchante. Between Melbourne and Sydney, Dalton recorded a sighting of the Flying Dutchman, after Lausanne, the brothers were separated, Albert Victor attended Trinity College, Cambridge, while George continued in the Royal Navy. He travelled the world, visiting many areas of the British Empire, during his naval career he commanded Torpedo Boat 79 in home waters then HMS Thrush on the North America station, before his last active service in command of HMS Melampus in 1891–92. From then on, his rank was largely honorary
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Edward VIII
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Edward VIII was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire, and Emperor of India, from 20 January 1936 until his abdication on 11 December the same year. Edward was the eldest son of George V and Mary of Teck and he was named Prince of Wales on his sixteenth birthday, nine weeks after his father succeeded as king. As a young man, he served in the British Army during the First World War, Edward became king on his fathers death in early 1936. However, he showed impatience with court protocol, and caused concern among politicians by his apparent disregard for established constitutional conventions. Only months into his reign, he caused a crisis by proposing marriage to Wallis Simpson. When it became apparent that he could not marry Wallis and remain on the throne and he was succeeded by his younger brother, George VI. With a reign of 326 days, Edward was one of the monarchs in British history. After his abdication, he was created Duke of Windsor and he married Wallis in France on 3 June 1937, after her second divorce became final. Later that year, the couple toured Germany, after the war, Edward spent the rest of his life in retirement in France. Edward was born on 23 June 1894 at White Lodge, Richmond Park and he was the eldest son of the Duke and Duchess of York. His father was the son of the Prince and Princess of Wales and his mother was the eldest daughter of Francis and Mary Adelaide, Duke and Duchess of Teck. At the time of his birth, he was third in the line of succession to the throne and he was baptised Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David in the Green Drawing Room of White Lodge on 16 July 1894 by Edward White Benson, Archbishop of Canterbury. The names were chosen in honour of Edwards late uncle, who was known to his family as Eddy or Edward and he was always known to his family and close friends by his last given name, David. As was common practice with children of the time, Edward. One of Edwards early nannies often abused him by pinching him before he was due to be presented to his parents and his subsequent crying and wailing would lead the Duke and Duchess to send him and the nanny away. The nanny was discharged after her mistreatment of the children was discovered, Edwards father, though a harsh disciplinarian, was demonstrably affectionate, and his mother displayed a frolicsome side with her children that belied her austere public image. She was amused by the children making tadpoles on toast for their French master, initially Edward was tutored at home by Helen Bricka. Upon his parents return, Edward was placed under the care of two men, Frederick Finch and Henry Hansell, who brought up Edward and his brothers
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George VI
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George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death. He was the last Emperor of India and the first Head of the Commonwealth, known as Albert until his accession, George VI was born in the reign of his great-grandmother Queen Victoria, and was named after his great-grandfather Albert, Prince Consort. As the second son of King George V, he was not expected to inherit the throne and spent his life in the shadow of his elder brother. He attended naval college as a teenager, and served in the Royal Navy, in 1920, he was made Duke of York. He married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923 and they had two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret, in the mid-1920s, he had speech therapy for a stammer, which he never fully overcame. Georges elder brother ascended the throne as Edward VIII upon the death of their father in 1936, however, later that year Edward revealed his desire to marry divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson. British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin advised Edward that for political and religious reasons he could not marry a divorced woman, Edward abdicated in order to marry, and George ascended the throne as the third monarch of the House of Windsor. During Georges reign, the break-up of the British Empire and its transition into the Commonwealth of Nations accelerated, the parliament of the Irish Free State removed direct mention of the monarch from the countrys constitution on the day of his accession. The following year, a new Irish constitution changed the name of the state to Ireland, from 1939, the Empire and Commonwealth – except Ireland – was at war with Nazi Germany. War with Italy and Japan followed in 1940 and 1941, respectively, though Britain and its allies were ultimately victorious in 1945, the United States and the Soviet Union rose as pre-eminent world powers and the British Empire declined. After the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947, George remained king of countries, but relinquished the title of Emperor of India in June 1948. Ireland formally declared itself a republic and left the Commonwealth in 1949, George adopted the new title of Head of the Commonwealth. He was beset by problems in the later years of his reign. He was succeeded by his eldest daughter, Elizabeth II, George was born at York Cottage, on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, during the reign of his great-grandmother Queen Victoria. His father was Prince George, Duke of York, the second and eldest-surviving son of the Prince and his mother was the Duchess of York, the eldest child and only daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Teck. His birthday was the 34th anniversary of the death of his great-grandfather, Albert, uncertain of how the Prince Consorts widow, Queen Victoria, would take the news of the birth, the Prince of Wales wrote to the Duke of York that the Queen had been rather distressed. Two days later, he again, I really think it would gratify her if you yourself proposed the name Albert to her. Consequently, he was baptised Albert Frederick Arthur George at St. Mary Magdalenes Church near Sandringham three months later, within the family, he was known informally as Bertie
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Elizabeth II
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Elizabeth II has been Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand since 6 February 1952. Elizabeth was born in London as the eldest child of the Duke and Duchess of York, later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth and her father acceded to the throne on the abdication of his brother Edward VIII in 1936, from which time she was the heir presumptive. She began to undertake duties during the Second World War. Elizabeths many historic visits and meetings include a visit to the Republic of Ireland. She has seen major changes, such as devolution in the United Kingdom, Canadian patriation. She has reigned through various wars and conflicts involving many of her realms and she is the worlds oldest reigning monarch as well as Britains longest-lived. In October 2016, she became the longest currently reigning monarch, in 2017 she became the first British monarch to commemorate a Sapphire Jubilee. Elizabeth has occasionally faced republican sentiments and press criticism of the family, however, support for the monarchy remains high. Elizabeth was born at 02,40 on 21 April 1926, during the reign of her paternal grandfather and her father, Prince Albert, Duke of York, was the second son of the King. Her mother, Elizabeth, Duchess of York, was the youngest daughter of Scottish aristocrat Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and she was delivered by Caesarean section at her maternal grandfathers London house,17 Bruton Street, Mayfair. Elizabeths only sibling, Princess Margaret, was born in 1930, the two princesses were educated at home under the supervision of their mother and their governess, Marion Crawford, who was casually known as Crawfie. Lessons concentrated on history, language, literature and music, Crawford published a biography of Elizabeth and Margarets childhood years entitled The Little Princesses in 1950, much to the dismay of the royal family. The book describes Elizabeths love of horses and dogs, her orderliness, others echoed such observations, Winston Churchill described Elizabeth when she was two as a character. She has an air of authority and reflectiveness astonishing in an infant and her cousin Margaret Rhodes described her as a jolly little girl, but fundamentally sensible and well-behaved. During her grandfathers reign, Elizabeth was third in the line of succession to the throne, behind her uncle Edward, Prince of Wales, and her father, the Duke of York. Although her birth generated public interest, she was not expected to become queen, many people believed that he would marry and have children of his own. When her grandfather died in 1936 and her uncle succeeded as Edward VIII, she became second-in-line to the throne, later that year, Edward abdicated, after his proposed marriage to divorced socialite Wallis Simpson provoked a constitutional crisis. Consequently, Elizabeths father became king, and she became heir presumptive, if her parents had had a later son, she would have lost her position as first-in-line, as her brother would have been heir apparent and above her in the line of succession
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Governor-General of the Union of South Africa
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The Governor-general of the Union of South Africa was the representative of the British and later South African Crown in the Union of South Africa between 31 May 1910 and 31 May 1961. The Union of South Africa was a Commonwealth realm in which Queen Elizabeth II was given the title Queen of South Africa, as in other Dominions, this would change, and from 1943 onward only South Africans held the office. The office was established by the South Africa Act 1909, although the Governor General was nominally the countrys chief executive, in practice he was bound by convention to act on the advice of the prime minister and the cabinet. In the interim, the National Party used the Governor-Generals post as a sinecure for retired National Party ministers. In 1957, God Save the Queen ceased to have status with Die Stem van Suid-Afrika as a national anthem. However, it was not until 1960 that prime minister Hendrik Verwoerd advised governor-general Swart to hold a referendum on the issue, the result was 52 per cent in favour of the change. Swart, the last governor-general, asked the Queen to relieve him of his duties on 30 April 1961, state President of South Africa President of South Africa Prime Minister of South Africa
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pronunciation (help·info)) is the historic predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into being on 31 May 1910 with the unification of four previously separate British colonies: the Cape, Natal, Transvaal and Orange River colonies. It included the territories formerly part of the Boer republics annexed in 1902, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State.
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