Why Is South Africa Known As The “Rainbow Nation”?
By Chris Owusu-Barfi
The Republic of South Africa, usually called South Africa for short, is a country located at the southernmost point of Africa. The name South Africa was derived from the country’s geographical location on the map of Africa. The country has a population of over 60 million. The country has three capital cities, with each capital being the head of a branch of government (executive, judicial and legislative). Pretoria being the capital of the executive branch, Bloemfontein being the capital of the judicial branch, and Cape Town being the capital of the legislative branch. The largest and most popular city is Johannesburg. 80% of the population are black South Africans, while the remaining 20% are made up of European (White South Africans), Asian (Indian South Africans and Chinese South Africans), and multiracial (Colored South Africans) ancestry.
The multiethnic society of South Africa has a wide range of cultures, languages, and religions. Its constitution recognizes eleven official languages, the fourth-highest number in the world. The eleven official languages are Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, Swati, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu, Afrikaans, and English, which is the primary language used in parliamentary and state discourse, though all official languages are equal in legal status.
The term Rainbow Nation was coined by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and later used by Nelson Mandela to signify the multicultural diversity of the country and the unity of various cultural, racial or ethnic groups in the country during the post-apartheid era (after 1994) compared to the earlier divisiveness based on skin color. Also, the South African flag has six rainbow-like colors on it.
The term Rainbow Nation used by the nation of South Africa is different from the traditional significance of “hope”, “the beauty after the storm”, “a pot of gold”, “good fortune” and “bright future”, but it is used due to the nation’s identity as one people despite their skin color, language, culture or beliefs.
Ngiyabonga (Zulu),
Ngiyabonga (Ndebele),
Enkosi (Xhosa),
Ndi a livhuwa (Venda),
Wazviita (Shona),
Dankie (Afrikaans),
Thank you (English).