Railways and roads

The railway system, which serves all the major cities, most smaller towns, and many rural areas, is almost entirely owned and operated through the Transnetpublic corporation, although parts of Transnet are gradually being privatized. A narrowgauge of 3 feet 6 inches (107 cm) was adopted in the 1870s to lower the cost of construction in mountainous terrain. More than four-fifths of the network of more than 19,000 miles (31,000 km) of track is electrified, and the system has been computerized since 1980. Coal and iron ore, among other products, are transported on these lines. Long-distance passenger services have declined, but many commuters use train services in all the major urban centers. TheGautrain, based in Gauteng province, is the first high-speed train to operate in South Africa as well as on the African continent. One branch, running between theJohannesburg financial district and nearby O.R. Tambo International Airport, was inaugurated in 2010. Service along the main route—fromPretoria to Johannesburg, with stops in between—began a year later. The luxuriousBlue Train—which primarily runs the 1,000 miles (1,600 km) between Pretoria, Johannesburg, and Cape Town—and the surviving steam-operated services are popular tourist attractions.

The road network contains some 185,000 miles (300,000 km) of roads, ranging from rural unpaved stretches to multilane freeways; about two-fifths of the roads are paved. Most towns are connected by two-lane highways; multilane freeway systems extend around the four major urban areas, but, over long distances, only Johannesburg and Durban are connected by such a highway. Most of the responsibility for maintaining and regulating roads falls to the different levels of government, but some long-distance roads have been transferred to the private sector and transformed into toll roads. In the 1990s the government instigated significant public-privateinitiatives to develop a transport corridor fromGauteng acrossMpumalanga to Maputo inMozambique and other corridors in major urban areas.

Air transport and shipping

Inland air services, both passenger and freight, are operated by the state-ownedSouth African Airways and by an increasing number of private competitors. Air services connect all major cities. South African Airways and many foreign carriers fly between South Africa and all neighboring countries; international service extends worldwide. O.R. Tambo International Airport near Johannesburg is the main hub of the country’s air transport both domestically and internationally, while the airports atCape Town andDurban play increasingly important roles as international destinations.

All South African ports are owned and operated by South African Ports Operations and National Ports Authority, subsidiaries of Transnet. Durban, which serves most ofKwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, and northern Free State, is the major port.Gqeberha, Cape Town, andEast London (the only river port in South Africa) handle mixed traffic for their immediatehinterlands and more-distant locations. All these ports handle goods traveling to and from other African countries, includingZimbabwe,Zambia, and theDemocratic Republic of the Congo. Maputo, the port closest to Johannesburg, serves many areas of the northern provinces. Newer ports have also been developed at such places as Richards Bay, which handles exports of coal on the north coast of KwaZulu-Natal, and in the excellent natural harbor atSaldanha Bay north of Cape Town, from which iron ore is exported.

Telecommunications

Telecommunications systems are rather well developed, but their distribution is highly uneven. Many areas in South Africa still do not have basic telephone service. A program has been under way since the mid-1990s to vastly increase the number of telephone lines. Severalcell phone companies provide coverage to many parts of the country. Internet connections exist in the major cities, and South Africa has one of the highest degrees of Internet connectivity in Africa. Telkom, the state telecommunications company, was partially privatized at the beginning of the 21st century.

Constitutions through the 1980s

The 1909South Africa Act served as the country’s constitution until 1961. When South Africa officially became a republic in 1961, a constitution was finally written. In addition to providing for the already established positions of president andprime minister, the constitution gaveColoureds and Asians somevoting rights. A new constitution waspromulgated in 1984. The bicameral parliament was replaced by a tricameral system that created a House of Assembly for whites, a House of Representatives for Coloureds, and a House of Delegates for Indians. The Black majority was given few political rights in either constitution.

The 1996 constitution

The 1996 constitution’s preamble points to the injustices of South Africa’s past and defines the republic as asovereign democratic state founded on the principles of human dignity, nonracialism and nonsexism, and the achievement of equality and advancement ofhuman rights and freedoms. Another of the guiding principles, that of “cooperative government,” emphasizes the distinctiveness, interdependence, and interrelationship of the national, provincial, and local spheres of government. The constitution established the bicameral nationalParliament. The lower house, orNational Assembly,comprises 350 to 400 members who are directly elected to a five-year term throughproportional representation. TheNational Council of Provinces, which replaced the Senate as the upper house, is made up of 10-member delegations (each with six permanent and four special members, including the provincial premier) chosen by each of the provincial assemblies. For most votes each delegation casts a single vote. Thepresident, elected from among the members of theNational Assembly by that body, is the head of state; as the national executive, the president presides over a cabinet that includes a deputy president and a member whom the presidentdesignates as the “leader of government business” in the assembly.