KEY FACTS ANDFIGURESAgriculture: 81.6% of total land area

Arable land: 12.1% of total

Provinces: Eastern Cape, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, Limpopo, North West, Free State and Western Cape

Capitals: Pretoria (administrative), Cape Town (legislative), Bloemfontein ( judicial)

Largest city: Johannesburg

President: Jacob Zuma

Area: 1 221 037 km2

Calling code: +27

Internet TLD: .za

O� cial languages: Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa and Zulu

Measures: Metric system

Currency: One Rand (R) = 100 cents

Currency code: ZAR

Fiscal year: 1 April to 31 March

Time: Two hours ahead of GMT

GDP (PPP): $578.6 billion

Per capita: $11 300

GDP (nominal): $384.3 billion

Per capita: 51.2

HDI: 0.629

THE POLITICALLANDSCAPEA multiparty democracy, South Africa has an independent judiciary and a free press. The 1996 constitution – considered to be one of the most progressive in the world – is the highest law of the land.

The country ’s Bill of Rights protects equality, freedom of expression and association, property, housing, healthcare, education, access to information and access to courts.

The national legislature comprises a bi-cameral parliament, elected every fi ve years, that consists of a 400-seat national assembly and a 90-seat council of provinces.

A GLOBALLY COMPETITIVE ECONOMYSouth Africa fared well in the most recent World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index. South Africa’s overall ranking is 53 out of 148 countries in the 2013 WEF Competitiveness Index.

South Africa’s fl agship competitive advantages:

• Strength of auditing and reporting standards (1st)• E� cacy of corporate boards (1st)• Legal Rights Index (1st)• Protection of minority stakeholders’ interests (1st)• E� ciency of legal framework (12th)• Intellectual property protection (18th)• Property rights (20th)• Judicial independence (22nd)• Financial market development (3rd overall)• Regulation of securities exchanges (1st)• Soundness of banks (3rd)• Availability of fi nancial services (2nd)• Financing through the local equity market (2nd)

According to the 2013 IMD Competitiveness Yearbook, the fi ve top attractiveness features of South Africa are:

• Its e� ective legal environment • The quality of corporate governance• The dynamism of the economy• The country ’s open and positive attitude• Reliable infrastructure

THE SOUTH AFRICAN SCORECARDCountry size: 27th largest in the world, by population and GDP

Local currency vs. the US dollar: Second best in the world

Most democratic: 44th out of 150 countries (ahead of China, India, Brazil and Russia)

Size of gold reserves: 24th out of 192 countries

Protection of investors: 10th out of 183 countries

Size of exports: 41st out of 192 countries

Agricultural output: In the world’s top 20

Press freedom: 38th out of 176 countries (higher than France, Italy, Spain and Portugal)

Rail network: World’s 11th longest

Road network: World’s 17th biggest

Electricity production: World’s 19th biggest

Budget: The Open Budget Index ranks South Africa’s budget as the 2nd most

transparent in the world

Nation brand: One of the most valuable on the continent in 2012,

according to UK-based Brand Finance

Tourism: Voted one of the top 5 destinations in the world

Corruption: The 53rd least corrupt nation, according to the World Audit Survey

Source: www.southafrica.info

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TRANSPORTINFRASTRUCTURENew investment in South African infrastructure

• R844.5 billion budgeted over the next three years for infrastructure

• R262 billion being invested in transport and logistics

• R300 billion being invested in the energy sector• 2012 Budget Review lists 43 major infrastructure

projects, adding up to R3.2 trillion in investment• South Africa boasts the most advanced and • extensive infrastructure in Africa, and o� ers direct

access to the 14 SADC countries – a market of 250 million people

Air transport• OR Tambo International caters for 17 million

passengers annually• The World Economic Forum Global

Competitiveness Report ranks SA 15th globally in the Quality of Air Transport Infrastructure

• Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA) operates 9 airports, which handle more than 200 000 aircraft landings and 10 million departing passengers annually

• The numbers all add up to ACSA being Africa’s premier airports authority

• OR Tambo International Airport passenger volumes FY 2011/12: International – 8 088 488; Regional – 846 066

International relations• A fi rst for Africa – South Africa has the fi rst

female Chair of the African Union Commission, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma

• As the Union of South Africa (31 May 1910), the country was a founding member of the League of Nations (the predecessor of the United Nations)

• After decades of international isolation, South Africa became one of the founding members of the African Union (AU)

• South Africa is also a founding member of the AU’s New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD)

• South Africa has played a key role as a mediator in African confl icts, such as in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Comoros and Zimbabwe

• South Africa actively contributes to ongoing multilateral peacekeeping operations, such as the AU-UN Hybrid mission in Sudan, and the peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

• After apartheid, South Africa was readmitted to the Commonwealth of Nations

• South Africa is a member of the Group of 77 and chaired the organisation in 2006

• South Africa is also a member of the Southern African Development Community, South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone, Southern African Customs Union, Antarctic Treaty System, World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund, G20 and G8+5

• In April 2011, South Africa was included as a member of the BRICS formation, which in total accounts for 43% of the world population

Road and rail transport

• A massive motorway improvement scheme has seen extra lanes added, a sophisticated electronic toll system introduced and interchanges drastically renovated

• The Gautrain rapid rail system links the OR Tambo International Airport with stations in Johannesburg and Pretoria

Ports

• South Africa has the most advanced port infrastructure on the African continent

• The port of Saldanha Bay in the Western Cape is the largest natural anchorage with the deepest water, 60 nautical miles northwest of Cape Town

• The Durban port in KwaZulu-Natal handles the greatest volume of sea-going tra� c of all South African ports

• The Richards Bay Port in KwaZulu-Natal can handle a total of 1 782 ships with a gross tonnage of 65 994 515 in a year

• The Port Elizabeth Port in the Eastern Cape handled 11 755 469 tonnes, including containers, during the fi scal year 2005/2006

• The Cape Town Port in the Western Cape competes with Alexandria for recognition as the most famous port in Africa

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