Johannesburg Local Custom Tips by Jenniflower

The Ndebele are a related group, who live in the Northern Transvaal in strikingly painted houses.

They have very traditional beliefs and culture, especially in the rural areas of South Africa.

In the cities they have become more westernised, as their culture has intermingled with others.

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The Afrikaners have a very distinct culture of their own, from their dress to their art.

Today's rural communities are still quite conservative in most ways.

The majority of European (white) South Africans are of British extraction (like me and my husband!).

There is also a large and influential Jewish population and Indian minority.

The 'coloured' community has a very unique and 'colourful' culture all of their own :)

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South Africa'a artworld suffered greatly under Apartheid.

Artwork and song lyrics were flooded with anti-apartheid themes, and were forced underground.

To listen to one of these songs, or to own one of these paintings was evidence enough that you were a traitor and you could be thrown into prison!

The bulldozing of both District Six, a vibrant multicultural area in Cape Town, and Johannesburg’s Sophiatown, where internationally famous musicians learned their craft in an area once described as ’a skeleton with a permanent grin’ are two important examples of this... where communities were literally 'wiped out'.

Groups like Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Soweto String Quartet, Tree63, Johnny Clegg and Mango Groove have managed to bring South African sound to a worldwide (and appreciative!) audiance.

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One of the most exciting elements in South Africa is that it is in the continual process of reinventing itself, it's outlook and understanding of eachother.

Peoples’ attitudes have changed across the colour barrier and people have hope.

A new South African culture is being created, sans colour or one culture's tradition standing in the way and impeding positive development.

We still have a long way to go, but the progress that's been made since 1994 has been hugely significant! :)

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Many people call South Africa ‘The America of Africa’.

It represents only a small 3% of the continent’s total surface area, yet it accounts for 40% of all African industrial output, (Johannesburg 'Gauteng' accounting for 60% of South Africa's 40%).

There are many malls here of world class standards (5 star). It has more malls than other provinces, this is due to there being more money here.

Where I used to live (Randburg), there were about 10 BIG malls within half an hour from me. All top quality and greta to visit.

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Johannesburg is a middle-income, emerging market with an abundant supply of natural resources; well developed financial, legal, communications, energy, and transport sectors; and a stock exchange that ranks among the 10 largest in the world.

Her infrastructure is modern and efficient.

My friend Walt is a painter (we met at Art school), and he gets commissions all the time for Johannesburg landscapes.

Generally corporate commissions, this is proving popular!

His style is quite impressionistic, with not too much detail in these paintings - he generally paints with ALOT of details.

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