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| THE WESTERN CAPE |
| REGIONS |
| CAPE TOWN |
There is nowhere quite like Cape Town. It is in Africa, and of Africa, but yet so different. Perched between the ocean and the mountain, and with a national park as its heart, it's wild and wonderful. But it's also the oldest city in our country, and it has a cultural heritage spanning more than 300 years.
Between beautiful Cape Dutch homesteads, elegant Georgian townhouses, traditional dancers with painted faces performing in the city streets, the smell of spicy Malay cooking, the tang of a well-made wine, and the sound of the snoek horn advertising the wares of fish vendors, this city will fill your senses.
The bells of St George's Cathedral alternate with the plaintive tones of the muezzin calling the faithful to prayer. Visitors give a startled jump, and Capetonians calmly glance at their watches, when the noon gun booms above the city - a relic from the days of sail when sea captains had to check their chronometers. |
| BOLAND |
The Breede River Valley offers magnificent scenery.
The crisp, clear mountain streams are in stark contrast to their rugged surroundings.
Tourism information:
023 347 6411
Robertson is the perfect place for vines, roses, and racehorses.
It has a pleasant, moderate climate, and warm, welcoming people.
Tourism information: 023 626 4437
Montagu guards the gateway to the Klein Karoo, while spouting healing, natural hot springs.
Tourism information: 023 614 2471
Ceres is both romantically and appropriately named after the Roman Goddess of fertility. The area gives rise to the most fertile deciduous producing soil in the Western Cape.
Tourism information: 023 316 1287
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| GARDEN ROUTE |
Knysna's natural heritage is woven around the indigenous forest - as lush and cool as any in the world. It has a lagoon, beaches, and the greenest mountainsides.
Tourism information:
044 382 5510
Oudtshoorn was home to the ostrich feather boom during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
This simple opulence is reflected in the "feather palaces" dating back to the same time. The town is also home to the Cango Caves, which are ranked with the wonders of the world.
Tourism information:
044 279 2532
Mossel bay is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as having the second most temperate climate in the world. This coastal town offers some of the best surfing spots and the most delectable seafood cuisine.
Tourism information:
044 691 2202
Wilderness is a romantic seaside resort at the mouth of the Touw and Kaaimans rivers. It boasts vast stretches of unspoilt beaches riddled with waterways that embrace the Wilderness Lagoon.
Tourism information:
044 877 0045
Plettenberg Bay is a destination that lies along a bay so lovely that it was named Bahia Formosa, meaning beautiful bay, by the first Portuguese explorers. It boasts 18km of gleaming white beaches, lining both sides of this magical town.
Tourism information:
044 5334065
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| KAROO |
Matjiesfontein is a tiny piece of Victorian England and is said to be the most haunted place in the Great Karoo. It has a rich history peppered with romance, magic, and even murder.
Tourism information:
023 561 3011
Merveville is a tiny, typically old-world Karoo town set in the middle of the vast plains of the region.
Tourism information: 023 415 1488
Prince Albert is a small gem with a superb climate and breath-taking night skies. The sky is higher than you have ever seen it, and the landscapes stretch far wider than any lens can capture. The changing colours of the mountains, the mystery and magic of the tiny Karoo plants and animals, and the infinity of stars make this town every filmmaker's dream.
Tourism information: 23 5411366
Nelspoort used to be a famous sanatorium, and has mind-bending Stone
Age sites and fine examples of San rock art.
Tourism information: 023 416 1648 |
| OVERBERG |
Villiersdorp was founded in 1843. Her still, silent beauty has earned her the honorary title of Sleeping Beauty.
Tourism information: 028 840 0169
Caledon is the definition of small town beauty. The wind sweeps down from the vine-clad mountains in swirling celebration of the culture and history of this magnificent little town.
Tourism information: 028 212 1511
Greyton is the ultimate country experience, and it should be mentioned that there is nothing grey about it. Here huge oaks line tranquil lanes and traditional cottages have delightful country gardens.
Tourism information: 028 254 9414
Swellendam is the place to go in pursuit of 18th century architecture. The charming village lies in the foothills of the Langeberg Mountain, just across the road from a vast national park sporting all kinds of wildlife.
Tourism information: 028 514 2770
Gansbaai is a stunning stretch of rugged coastline with unspoiled, wild beaches, and the only fresh water caves on Africa's coast.
Tourism information: 028 384 1439
L'Agulhas is the southernmost town in Africa. There is a small hill behind the cinematic lighthouse that offers panoramic views of the point where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet.
Tourism information: 028 424 2584
Hermanus offers some of the best whale-watching in the world. Its secluded rock-protected caves and long stretches of beach are a sun-worshippers dream.
Tourism information:
028 312 2629 |
| WEST COAST |
Yzerfontein, Darling, and Hopefield are the untouched triplets of the West Coast. Their skin is as white as the sea is blue, and their summer dresses are painted with flowers of every colour.
Tourism information:Yzerfontein 022 451 2366
Langebaan is situated in the West Coast National Park, with the Mediterranean at her heart. Staring into the ocean, if you look far enough to your right, you will see Greece. The villas, hotels, harbour, casino, shops, and church of Club Myknos have been built to mirror the Greek Island of the same name - and the likeness will confuse even the most seasoned traveller.
Tourism information:022 772 1515
Saldanha Bay is situated on the largest natural bay in South Africa, making it a paradise for water sports and fishermen - and of course us when we need to shoot a large still body of water with quaint boats, cobbled streets, and magnificent sunsets.
Tourism information:022 714 2088
The Cederberg wilderness area has a rugged landscape of deep valleys and high, alien rock formations.
It is most famous for its weathered sandstone formations that take on bizarre shapes.
Tourism information:027 482 2024
Clanwilliam is situated on one of South Africa's most spectacular dams. Just outside the town is the Pakhuis Pass, which is the gateway to a traditional Monrovian mission village.
Tourism information:027 482 2024
Piketberg is a moody village set in the slopes of a mountain, amongst wheat fields, vineyards, and Fynbos.
Tourism information: 022 913 2063
Porterville is a picturesque village akin to any small, forested American town. All that's missing is Lassie, or perhaps the Blair Witch?
Tourism information: 022 931 3732 |
| SOUTH AFRICA |
South Africa occupies the southern tip of Africa, its long coastline stretching more than 2 500km from the desert border with Namibia on the Atlantic coast, southwards around the tip of Africa, and then north to the border with subtropical Mozambique on the Indian Ocean.
The country is divided into nine provinces - Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, North West, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, and Limpopo. The low-lying coastal zone is narrow for much of that distance, soon giving way to a mountainous escarpment that separates it from the high inland plateau. In some places, notably the province of KwaZulu-Natal in the east, a greater distance separates the coast from the escarpment.
The great inland Karoo plateau, where rocky hills and mountains rise from sparsely populated scrubland, is very dry, and gets more so as it blends with the Kalahari Desert in the North-West. In contrast, the eastern coastline is lush and well watered, a stranger to frost. The southern coast, part of which is known as the Garden Route, is rather less tropical but also green, as is the Cape of Good Hope - the latter especially in winter. This south-western corner of the country has a Mediterranean climate, with wet winters and hot, dry summers. Its most famous climatic characteristic is its wind, which blows intermittently virtually all year round, either from the south-east or the north-west. |
| CLIMATE |
Because South Africa lies in the southern hemisphere, the seasons are the reverse of those in the northern hemisphere - the benefit of course, being that international filmmakers can make use of our gorgeous weather when their countries are rainy and grey.
The subtropical location at 34 south, just below the Tropic of Cancer, accounts for the warm, temperate conditions so typical of South Africa. The country also falls squarely within the subtropical belt of high pressure, making it dry with an abundance of sunshine. Cape Town is the only capital city in South Africa that experiences its highest average rainfall in winter.
Cape Town's Mediterranean climate is one of the most pleasant in the world. The long summer has its peak between December and February, with temperatures averaging around 28 C. The prevailing wind during summer and autumn is generally known as the South Easter, or Cape Doctor. It subsides during February and March - possibly making them the best months of the summer season.
The winter season peaks during June and July, but of late the rainy days have reduced in number and Cape Town winters often produce perfect summery days. As a result, winter in Cape Town has become known as the "secret season" |
| TIME |
South Africa is a single time zone, and has no daylight saving. South African Standard Time is:
- two hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time
- seven hours ahead of USA Eastern Standard Time
- eight hours behind Australian Eastern Time
- one hour ahead of Central European Winter Time
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| PEOPLE |
While more than three-quarters of South Africa's population is African, or black, this category is neither culturally nor linguistically homogenous. Nine of the country's 11 official languages are African, reflecting a variety of tribal and cultural groupings which nonetheless have a great deal in common in terms of background, culture, and descent.
Black Africans include: the Nguni people, comprising the Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele and Swazi; the Sotho-Tswana people, comprising the Southern, Northern and Western Sotho (Tswana); the Tsonga; and the Venda.
South Africa's white population descends largely from the colonial immigrants of the late 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries - Dutch, German, French-Huguenot, and British. Linguistically, it is divided into Afrikaans speaking and English-speaking groups, although many small communities that have immigrated over the last century retain the use of other languages.
The label "coloured" is a contentious one, but still used for people of mixed race descended from slaves brought in from East and central Africa, the indigenous Khoisan who lived in the Cape at the time, indigenous Africans, and whites. The majority speak Afrikaans. Khoisan is a term used to describe two separate groups, physically similar in being light-skinned and small in stature. The Khoi, who were called Hottentots by the Europeans, were pastoralists and were effectively annihilated; the San, called Bushmen by the Europeans, were hunter-gatherers. A small San population still lives in South Africa.
The majority of South Africa's Asian population is Indian in origin, many of them descended from indentured workers brought to work on the sugar plantations of the eastern coastal area, then known as Natal, in the 19th century. They are largely English speaking, although many also retain the languages of their origins. There is also a significant group of Chinese South Africans. |
| INVESTING IN SOUTH AFRICA |
South Africa is the economic powerhouse of Africa, with a gross domestic product (GDP) four times that of its Southern African neighbours combined, and comprising around 25% of the entire continent's GDP. The country leads the continent in industrial output (40% of total output), mineral production (45%), and generates most of Africa's electricity (over 50%).
In the last few years, government has reduced the budget deficit, lowered taxes, and contained inflation, achieving economic stability not seen for 40 years. The economy has been in an upward phase of the business cycle since 1999 - the longest period of economic expansion in the country's recorded history.
Since the political reforms of 1994, South Africa's economy has been undergoing structural transformation, with the implementation of macroeconomic policies aimed at promoting domestic competitiveness, growth and employment, and by increasing the economy's outward orientation.
In 2004 we were rated the most competitive economy in the sub-Saharan region and the most attractive country in Africa to invest in, by the World Economic Forum's annual Global Competitiveness Index.
South Africa is one of the most sophisticated and promising emerging markets in the world, offering a unique combination of a highly developed first world economic infrastructure and a vibrant emerging market economy. It is also one of the most advanced and productive economies in Africa. |
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