Assignment 4

Cultural Information Paper

Your Name (First M. Last)

School or Institution Name (University at Place or Town, State)

.

Cultural Information Paper

Introduction

South Africa is culturally, racially and economically diverse which makes it one of those places of which everyone should learn about before moving there. Along with every one of the groups containing its own vibrancy and culture, it is home to 11 different languages depending upon where the individuals are living in the country. However, the moment it comes to the official language of South Africa, it is none other than the English. There is a huge majority of people in South Africans who still live in rural areas where cultural values and norms are still an integral part of society (Lewis, 2017). But the rapidly increasing urbanization and technological advancement in far off areas of the country have led the nation towards a decline in cultural traditions. Native languages are being dominated and replaced by foreign language. The culture of South Africa is not too much heterogeneous where several cultural have a look in accordance with every region.

.South Africa is considered to be the home to approximately 55-56 million people which belongs to various different cultures, origin religion and speak different languages. The major part of the population is made up of Bantu-speaking people and African people (almost 35 million people).

Foreigners in South Africa

With the world rapidly becoming culturally and ethnically diverse in nature, many people are moving to foreign countries to work and study and event settle permanently (Schierup, 2016). South Africa has been a tourist attraction for the past decade but with the increase in industrialization, a vast majority of people from different part of the world are moving there to work.

Working in South Africa

South Africa is called the rainbow nation due to its multiculturalism, South Africa welcomes international professionals with the skills to fill the gaps in the market. Like many other parts of the world, unemployment rates in South Africa is high, and native Africans are preferred for skilled and unskilled labor. On the other hand, when it comes to the shortage in the industry, highly skilled professionals are encouraged. Foreigner investors are highly encouraged to start new businesses in South Africa and bring wealth and labor into the country. But for an international job holder in South Africa, it becomes quite challenging.

Things to know before moving to South Africa

Majority of people throughout the globe looks at South Africa as a place that offers white collar job opportunities and due to this reason, it has become home to many foreigners seeking employment. Many people do not realize that there are certain laws applied to employers and employees which should be followed strictly(Schierup, 2016). According to the official press of BCEA, it is illegal for an employer to employ a foreigner without an authorized work permit. Every firm requires a valid authorization to legally employ any foreigner.

Minimum Working Conditions

According to the report published by BCEA, the minimum conditions for working is applicable for all employees and employers but there is an exception for "soldiers and spies" and for the volunteers who work for charity. All the regulation regarding working hours is being done by BCEA. Similarly, BCEA is also responsible for the record keeping, leaves, remuneration, job termination and prohibition of child and forced labor.

Salary

In South Africa, no minimum wages are fixed to any employers. However for certain sector and industries minimum wages are set. There lies a difference in salary level with the accordance with the job position and in each sector, there is a variation or difference of wages. Wages also vary according to the geographical locations and in this case, for the urban areas, there is a higher minimum but the lower minimum for the rural areas. However, there is a debate on higher forums of the government to make possible the national minimum wages by social partners.

Maximum Working Week

There are many rules set and maintained by the BCEA for total working hours and overtime for the employees who earn below the earnings level or standard of BCEA. The collective agreements are being made between bargaining councils and sectoral determinations to regulate working hour. According to rules and regulations of the government, no worker should be on duty for more than $% hours a week and in case of five days of working the maximum limit of working hours is 9 hours per day. In all cases, the maximum limit regarding working hours is 12 hours per day and no one is allowed to violate this limit.

Holidays

Rules and regulations set by the BCEA allowed the workers to have a minimum of 20 days leave with pay if they work twenty-four hours or more than that in one month. According to the rules payment or wages of annual leave should be with the accordance with normal remuneration of the workers. BCEA rules allow the staff to have a leave based on twenty-one days minimum and this rule is limited for the workers spending at least 24 hours or more duty timing per month. In every firm, the wages for the annual leave should be according to the normal remuneration.

Living Cost in South Africa

Before moving to a new place, and calculating the living cost and setting a budget according to the salary of an individual is the first thing everybody thinks of. There are several concerns over the issues related to the cost for the purpose of living in South Africa. In the world's fast-growing economy, everyone is worried about how they're going to better their lifestyle. The lifestyle of a person depends on how much each earns.

Housing Cost

Finding a well-furnished house the first task in settling in. there are two options when choosing a place to live in. An individual can either rent a property or own a house. Renting and buying a property in South Africa depends upon the place/city an individual is living in. Renting or owning a house in urban areas are much costly as compared to rural areas.

Apartments

Cape Town

Johannesburg

Pretoria

Durban

Inside the city, one bedroom.

R10 694

R6 972

R4 777

R4 680

Outside the City

R6 952

R5 462

R4 553

R5 060

Inside the city, three bedroom apartment.

R21 667

R14 096

R8 501

R8 464

Outside of city

R13 782

R10 763

R10 033

R10 269

An average House Price

Durban

R2 609 105

Pretoria

R2 094 306

Johannesburg

R2 789 979

Cape Town

R9 059 041

Utilities

Utilities are the basic needs of a household. The common utilities for a household are water, gas, electricity.

Water

Charges or rates of the water in the country are somehow straightforward where the people pay the charges of water on per kilolitre basis (1000 liters). In this case, the payment goes on the increase with an increase in usage. Similarly, there are tariffs on the basis of the property values in different regions.

:

Cape Town.

Johannesburg.

Pretoria.

Durban.

Due to the above-mentioned reasons, the trends show a decline in the usage of more water. Further, there have been many droughts in many regions of the country. In this regard the recent example is the Cape Town. .

Electricity

In the case of prices of electricity, there is a similarity with water prices and calculation is based on the utilization. Further, there is a similarity regarding the charges of electricity which are different in different areas of the country.

Johannesburg.

Durban.

Cape Town.

Internet

In South Africa, there is a variety of internet services leaving a huge choice for the users. The prices and standards of service vary from city to city.

Some of the major ISPs are:

Web Africa.

Afrihost.

Telkom.

MWEB.

Transport

There is a huge system of transport for the public of South Africa but it lacks advancement that’s why it is known as outdated. As such, many South Africans choose to drive where they need to be and the availability of old and new vehicles is easy because of hundreds of online dealership facilities.

Following is a list of a couple of prices for new cars to start research with:

Audi A3 Sedan – From R459 900

Alfa Romeo Giulietta – From R319 900

Ford Focus – From R256 300

Kia Rio Sedan – From R224 995

Honda Jazz – From R211 900

Hyundai Grand i10 – From R149 900

Fuel and Insurance

In case of any road accident, the people in South African drivers are covered by third party insurance under the facilitation of RAF. The matter of fact is that the RAF does not, however, cover all claims that may increase as the results of an accident. The individuals can shop around for insurance providers on Hippo.co.za. The site is helpful in the provision of car insurance guide and assistance to make sense of auto insurance in the country. In case if fuel anyone can be keeping him updated on prices by checking the AA’s site regularly.

Petrol

Reef Price Litre

Coast Price Litre

LRP (Lead Replacement Petrol)

R 13.90

R 13.63

Unleaded 95

R 14.12

R 13.63

Unleaded 93

R 13.90

R 13.49

Diesel

R 12.60

R 12.21

Groceries

The number is an incredible site to check normal grocery costs in South Africa. The individuals will discover costs for a wide range of things, from eggs, cheddar and chicken bosoms to drain, hamburger, and tomatoes. The site gives them a chance to look South Africa and enables them to likewise seek by city or do city correlations.

Conclusion

It is concluded that a large number of South Africans still live in rural areas where cultural traditions are still a part of society. However, due to the rapid change in urbanization, the country seems to grow at a faster rate. One of the main reason why South Africa is quite suitable in terms of globalization is the official language which is being used in the country. English is undoubtedly the most understandable language by almost every state which makes it easier to become the mode of communication among people from different states. It has been observed that the foreigner investors are highly encouraged to start new businesses in South Africa and bring wealth and labor into the country. When it comes to the wages of employees, there are many variations with the accordance with the geographical locations or areas with a higher least for the urban and lower least for rural areas.

The total hours of working may not exceed the maximum limit which is 12 hours a day in South Africa. It must be considered that collective agreements are being made between bargaining councils and sectoral determinations to regulate working hour. There is no doubt that renting and buying a property in South Africa tends to depend upon the place or the city in which an individual is living. Each city has its own pricing scheme, and the prices vary from city to city based on the type of area. In case of the utilities in South Africa, the prices are seemed to be quite fair.

References

Lewis, O. (2017). The culture of poverty. In Poor Jews (pp. 9-25). Routledge.

Olaniyan, T. (2018). African Literature.

Schierup, C. U. (2016). Under the rainbow: Migration, precarity and people power in post-apartheid South Africa. Critical Sociology, 42(7-8), 1051-1068.