Executive Travel: Johannesburg
Vital Statistics
06/01/2005

Eleven years after the end of apartheid, Johannesburg, South Africa’s largest city, reflects many of the country’s positive changes, particularly the vastly improved business climate. New construction is booming, manufacturing and logistics hubs are expanding and a high-speed rail line is up and running. While South Africa’s seat of government remains at nearby Pretoria, Johannesburg is the center of the country’s thriving banking sector and home to the country’s stock exchange. Most of the nation’s domestic and multinational corporate headquarters are based here.

Currency: The rand. The rand is also accepted in Swaziland, Namibia and Lesotho, and is increasingly accepted in Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

Telephone Code: Country code: 27; Johannesburg city code: 11. When making a call within South Africa, include the city code and add a 0 before the code—011.

Directory Inquiries: 1023

Electricity: 22-/230V, AC and sockets take round-pin plugs.

Operating an Automobile: English-language foreign licenses are valid in South Africa for up to six months. International driving permits are also recognized. Traffic flows on the left side of the street.
However, Johannesburg also suffers from many of the nation’s lingering ills. Crime is perhaps the gravest issue for travelers. The rates of some of the most serious felonies such as murder, rape and kidnapping have either risen or remained stable since the end of apartheid in 1994. There were 729 murders in Johannesburg between April 2003 and March 2004; Chicago, a city with a comparable population, recorded 445 murders in 2004. Other offenses, such as assault and robbery, have increased markedly in the past decade. Most of these crimes, however, occur in the poor black townships rather than in the affluent white suburbs.

In the years following the end of apartheid, many Joburg whites fled the city to seek refuge in suburbs such as Sandton and Rosebank—or left the country entirely. At one point in the late 1990s, with the economy sinking and unemployment soaring, an average of 67 South Africans were murdered daily. Many businesses and residents abandoned Johannesburg’s downtown. The commercial locus resettled 12 miles to the north, in the area around Sandton (see maps, pages 76, 77), which has a new convention center and the city’s best hotels, restaurants and shopping. Many cultural landmarks remain downtown, and talk of rejuvenating the area continues.

Primary Industries
South Africa’s rich natural resources allowed the apartheid government to hold out for years against the tide of international sanctions. Despite the lack of foreign investment and imports, South Africa was able nonetheless to develop industries and build a modern commercial infrastructure. Ingenuity played a central role. For example, the country made up for its lack of oil by pioneering the conversion of coal into oil. South Africa today aggressively courts foreign direct investment.

With rich supplies of minerals and gems, including gold and diamonds, mining has always been a mainstay. South Africa is the world’s largest producer of manganese, chromium and vanadium. While South Africa holds 40 percent of the world’s gold reserves, the declining price of gold (due to the number of countries moving their currencies off the gold standard) has prompted the country to reduce its dependence on extraction industries in favor of manufacturing.

Most major multinational vehicle manufacturers operate plants in South Africa, either in the Eastern Cape province or in the Gauteng Automotive Cluster in Johannesburg. Other major manufacturing sectors include chemicals, textiles, electronics and IT, metals and foodstuffs.
 
Tourism is another growth industry, and further development of the more remote game reserves holds the promise of additional jobs.
South Africa has been producing wine since the Dutch East India Co. set up a victualing station in 1652. The main wine-producing region (known as the winelands) is the area north of Cape Town, which has also been developed as a tourist destination. Exports have exploded since sanctions ended. Today South Africa produces 3 percent of the world’s wine.

Political Scene
The Republic of South Africa held its first post-apartheid elections in 1994, electing Nelson Mandela president. Mandela served one five-year term; Thabo Mbeki succeeded him.

South Africa’s bicameral parliament consists of a 400-seat National Assembly, elected by popular vote, and a 90-seat National Council of Provinces, to which each of the country’s nine provincial legislatures elects 10 members for five-year terms. While seven different political parties are represented in the Assembly, the African National Congress holds 66 percent of the seats. Of the other six parties, none holds more than 9 percent. Pretoria is the capital of South Africa, but the legislature sits in Cape Town and the judicial branch is in Bloemfontein.

The South African government faces significant political and social challenges: crime, unemployment and the need to improve education, housing and health care. Some 5 million South Africans have HIV, and the death rate from AIDS is rising. Initiatives that require businesses to reflect the country’s racial makeup have helped create a fledgling black middle class, but economic empowerment programs have caused much of the new wealth to be concentrated among a small number of black businesspeople.

Demographics
Population: South Africa had a population of 42.7 million in 2004, of which 75.2 percent were black, 13.6 percent were white, 8.6 percent were colored and 2.6 percent were Indian. 
Language: There are 11 official languages, including Afrikaans, English and several African languages.
Literacy: 86.4 percent of those over the age of 15 can read and write.
Religion: 68 percent are Christian, 28.5 percent have indigenous beliefs, 2 percent are Muslim, 1.5 percent are Hindu.

Population of Johannesburg
2000     2,857,508
2001     2,883,226
2002     2,909,175
2003     2,935,357
2004     2,961,775
2005     2,986,228 (projected)

Sources: State of the Cities Report 2004, Cities Network, and Integrated Development Plan 2003/4, City of Johannesburg, The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 2004

Public Holidays
Jan. 1    New Year’s Day
March 21    Human Rights Day
Good Friday
Easter
Easter Monday/Family Day
April 27     Freedom Day
May 2     Workers’ Day
June 16     Youth Day
Aug. 9     Women’s Day
Sept. 24     Heritage Day
Dec. 16     Reconciliation Day
Dec. 25     Christmas Day
Dec. 26     Day of Goodwill

Economic
Gross Domestic Product 
(billions of rand)
1999     814
2000    922
2001     1,020
2002     1,165
2003    1,251
2004    1,374
Source: Statistics South Africa (www.statssa.gov.za)

Foreign Direct Investment
(millions of dollars)
1999     1,502
2000     888
2001     6,789
2002     757
2003     762
Source: United Nations World Investment Report 2004

Unemployment Rate (percent)
2000     25.8
2001     29.5
2002     30.5
2003     28.4
2004     27.8 (as of March 2004)
Source: Statistics South Africa

Inflation (percent)
1999     5.2
2000     5.4
2001     5.7
2002     9.2
2003     5.8
2004    3.7 (through November)
Source: South African Reserve Bank