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Assist International in South Africa:
South Africa is a middle-income, emerging market with an abundant supply of natural resources; well-developed financial, legal, communications, energy, and transport sectors; a stock exchange that ranks among the 10 largest in the world; and a modern infrastructure supporting an efficient distribution of goods to major urban centers throughout the region.
However, growth has not been strong enough to lower South Africa's high unemployment rate, and daunting economic problems remain from the apartheid era -- especially poverty and lack of economic empowerment among the disadvantaged groups. South African economic policy is fiscally conservative but pragmatic focusing on targeting inflation and liberalizing trade as means to increase job growth and household income.
Education is in transition. Under the apartheid system schools were segregated, and the quantity and quality of education varied significantly across racial groups. Since the abolition of apartheid, violent crime and organized criminal activity are at high levels and are a grave concern.
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Area: 470,462 sq. mi.
Capital: Administrative: Pretoria; Legislative: Cape Town; Judicial: Bloemfontein
Population: 46.6 million
Government: Parliamentary democracy
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