Arts and culture, according to the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP), embrace custom, tradition, belief, religion, language, crafts, and all the art forms, such as music, dance, the visual arts, films, threatre, and written and oral literature. Furthermore, the programme regards art and culture as permeating all aspects of life - social, economic, business and industrial - and is a crucial component for developing South Africa's human resources.
New Year's Day - January 1
Human Rights Day - March 21
Good Friday - Friday before Easter Sunday
Family Day - Day after Easter Sunday
Freedom Day - April 27
Workers' Day - May 1
Youth Day - June 16
National Women's Day - August 9
Heritage Day - September 24
Day of Reconciliation - December 16
Christmas Day - December 25
Goodwill Day - December 26
If any of these days falls on a Sunday, the following Monday becomes a public holiday.
The heterogeneous nature of South Africa's population has given rise to a cross-pollination of cultures, which manifests in languages, the arts and religions.
Language is recognised throughout the world as one of the basic rights of an individual. To cater for South Africa's diverse peoples, the 1993 Constitution provides that 11 languages are now official languages at national level, namely Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, Sesotho sa Leboa (Northern Sotho), Sesotho (Southern Sotho), siSwati, Xitsonga, Setswana, Tshivenda, isiXhosa, and isiZulu.
A Ministry of Arts and Culture was established in 1994 and a new government department put in place to take over the functions previously handled by the Department of National Education. Also included in the portfolio are the functions relating to science and technology. The new department is known as the Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology. In August 1994, the Ministry established an Arts and Culture Task Group (Actag). The Main purpose of Actag is to make the arts accessible to all South Africans.
For art-lovers in South Africa, the month of July has become synonymous with the National Arts Festival. Each year the festival is staged for a few days in mid-winter in Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape. The festival has grown across cultural, social and political borders to become an important shaping influence on South African arts and culture.
There are two established theatrical traditions in South Africa: the African tradition which developed over centuries and the European tradition which was introduced into the African culture two-and-a-half centuries ago. Recently, a new hybrid tradition has developed, containing elements of the two older ones. The developing contemporary tradition has been influenced by the European tradition. The new tradition is, however, anchored in the performance form of the African tradition and displays its characteristics with interesting, popular urban variations.
Recent years have seen remarkable and far-reaching shifts in the South African music world. Although there is still a clear polarisation between European music, on the one hand, and African-based ethnic music, on the other, there are signs that a process of mutual understanding and acceptance has started. Music in which there is a fusion of the two styles has also been gaining popularity. This vibrant new music is performed by groups such as the Soweto String Quartet, Ladysmith Black Mamboaso, Mango Groove and PJ Powers (Thandeka).
Dance has always formed an integral part of the African lifestyle - it is part of the hunt, of waging war, courting, marriage, initiation and work. Foreign dance traditions have, however, also blossomed. the development of the South African dance tradition over the last two decades cannot be separated from the tradition of performance and protest theatre, with its mixture of song, movement and dance.
The protest musical has established certain styles of dancing and stage techniques, namely the toyi-toyi (struggle dance of the people), the mapantsula (township jive), the isicatamiya (a choir tradition from the mines and men's hostels) and Zulu dances.
The history of South African fine arts dates from the Stone Age when rock artists decorated the walls of their dwellings with murals depicting subjects from their environment. More than 3000 sites containing rock at have been discovered in South Africa.
Apart from township artists, there are artists who now also experiment with contemporary, foreign art styles. Landscapes remain an important theme for South African artists, but ecological degradation of the planet has caused some artists to concentrate, for the first time, on certain environmental issues.
The wide linguistic spectrum is one of the reasons why no encompassing history of South African literature which traces the development of the different forms of literature and their interaction, has yet been written. However, the variety of works constituting the entire literary canon of the past 300 years can hardly be ignored, because it reflects the South African experience as a whole.
The past three decades have seen an increase in the number of African language publications, but the oral heritage continues to infuse written literature with its world view, choice of subject matter, themes, structure, style and character devices.
Two factors hampered the development of a South African film culture; first, the South African film industry was long dependent on European and America products and, second, since the inception of a subsidy scheme in the late fifties, the Government and the business sector together have manipulated the South African film industry. However, a South African Film and Television Trust and a Television Foundation was established in 1994 to help budding television and film producers. The trust is funded jointly by the Government and private enterprise, and aims to help with the financing of the industry and developing it in the wider context.
South Africa has a richly varied architectural heritage, to which all the cultural groups in the history of the country have contributed; simple shelters made from branches and grass used by the Koisan; the different types of mud and grass huts or rural African people; the plain dwellings of early cattle-farming pioneers; roof-houses, wattle-and-daub huts, later followed by thatched roof structures with white-washed walls and gables; the striking architecture of rural towns; the functional and attractive styles of the Malay Quarter in Cape Town; the ornate Cape Dutch houses, and high-rise buildings dating back to World War II.
South Africa is well enhanced with a variety of museums including the South African Art Gallery in Cape Town, the Transvaal Museum in Pretoria, the National English Literature Museum in Grahamstown, the Afrikaanse Taalmomument (language museum) at Paarl, and the South African National Museum of Military History in Johannesburg. As a result of their history of research and exhibitions, museums are a major source of material evidence of the history, culture and national heritage of the nation.
It can safely be said that most South Africans are religiously beliefs play an important role in public affairs. Some 80 percent of the population in South Africa professes the Christian faith. Other major religious groups are Hindus, Muslims and Jews. A sizable minority of South Africa's population has no religious affiliation.
Freedom of worship is guaranteed by the Constitution and official
policy is one of non-interference in religious practices.
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