South African Culture in Communication

By: Baby Amelia A. P. / 101 11 004

This paper will give you further explanation about the South African way of communication.

Table of Contents Introduction The Rainbow Nation The Languages The Communication Style South African Business Etiquette The Business Meetings Networking Greeting, Titles and Business Cards Negotiation Meetings and Greetings Behaviors and Manners Table Manner Personal space and Touching Conclusion References 9 10 6 7 7 7 8 5 6 6 2 2 3 4 5

Introduction

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South Africa is located on the southern tip of Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the west, and the Indian Ocean in the south and east. And the capital city is Pretoria. South Africa is one of the most diverse and interesting countries in the world. Tourists flock to South Africa for its natural beauty, wildlife and sunshine. South Africas immensely varied terrain supports a rich diversity of animals, birds, and plant-life and offers an incomparable range of experience. South Africa is an ethnically diverse national with the largest white, Indians, and racially-mixed communities in Africa. South-Afrikaans speaks nine official recognized languages and many more dialects. The economy of South Africa is the largest and best developed on the continent, with modern infrastructure throughout the country. The population in South Africa is consisting of approximately 45 million of South Africans itself, nearly 31 million black, 5 million white Afrikaners (descended from Dutch, French and German settlers who speak Afrikaans), 1 million Indian and 3 million colored. The Rainbow Nation South Africa is often referred to as the Rainbow Nation, a term coined by Archbisop Desmond Tutu and later adopted by then President Nelson Mandela . Mandela used the term Rainbow Nation as a metaphor to describe the countrys cultural diversity. South Africa is one of the most multicultural countries in the world, and in urban areas especially there are many different ethnic groups that will make up the population. The Languages They use more than 5 languages, depending on their ethnics. The languages are: Afrikaans, English, Xhosa, Zulu, Sesotho, Setswana and Swati. Therefore, the most common languages that being used by South Africans is Afrikaans and English. Officially, Afrikaans languages are the
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youngest language in the world. By nearly the 20th century, Afrikaans had developed from Dutch, French and other influences into fully-fledged languages with its own dictionary. Some of the daily phrases: Hoe gaan dit? = how are you? Dit gaan goed, dankie = I am fine, thank you. Eks goed, dankie! = I am good, thank you. Baie dankie = thank you very much. En jy? = and you? Plesier = youre welcome or my pleasure. Wat is jou naam? = what is your name? Geniet die dag = have a nice day! Some vocabularies in Afrikaans Languages are even similar to Indonesian Languages: 1. Kamer = kamar. 2. Koelkas = kulkas. In my opinion, because South Africa is a rainbow nation in which there are many people from different country live together in South Africa, so that their languages are also influencing each other.

The Communication Styles Generally, there are significant differences in communication styles in South Africa depending upon the individuals cultural heritage. For most English-speaking South Africans, pride in their heritage tends to create
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more reserved and conservative manner of communication that aims to avoid conflict. In comparison, those of an Afrikaners background are frequently described as having more direct and explicit approach to communication, where the goal is to be forthright and honest. This means that they will often not hesitate to say no to others in public. It is important to be aware of the contrast in styles of communications. In daily conversations, when you talk to other people, there might be a time when both speakers are stop speaking, or lets say silence during the conversation, it symbolizes that the situation has become uncomfortable and problematic. In terms of greeting, the styles are also varying depending on the ethnic heritage of the South African. For example, English-speaking South Africans tend to adopt a polite and formal manner of address. While Black South Africans are generally less informal and more personal when greeting those they do not know. The common initial gestures in communication are offering a handshake. When a male meet a new female friend, it is advised to wait for the woman to offer their hand first. Most of the South Africans do not want to argue or disagree with strangers, so they will either ignore to your question or give you a noncommitted answer. When South Africans were talking about something interesting, there tends to be a decent amount of touching arms, shoulders and hands when they were interacting. They also give more expression and imitation of sounds and facial movements when an exciting story is being told. The Gestures of South African are quite common in every place. The common one is thumbs up. Thumbs up is very common for saying well done or saying everything is okay, it is a positive gesture. The unique one is placing both hands together with fingers pointing up means thank you. And also it is polite to say bless you when someone sneezes.

Doing Business in South Africa

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South African Business Etiquette (The Dos and The Donts) DO include the deadline dates in contrast, because the South African firm commitments are not often made. So, small thing is very important, too. DO maintain eye-contact all the time, especially when you met new people in the business that youre going to work with. For South African, direct eye-contact can build trust. DO dress appropriately, especially for the initial meetings.
DO greet everyone in the room, starting with the most senior. DONT raise your voice or interrupting while your business

colleagues are still speaking. It may affect the personal relationship and may interpret as an insult.
DONT show impatience while making a decision. Forcing

deadlines or rushing deals may not work well to the South African as they are reasonably slow and protracted. The Business Meetings
1. Use initial meetings to build a personal rapport and to establish trust

in you and your business. Note that it will be difficult to schedule meetings from mid-December to mid-January or the two weeks surrounding Easter, as there are prime holiday periods.
2. South Africans are passionate about their work and have a can do

attitude when it comes to facing challenges and resolving problems. 3. Dont waste time by beating around the bush when resolving problems South Africans really appreciate honesty and directness.

Networking

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1. The South African business community is built on and maintained by networks, so it is important to build strong relationships and solid reputation. 2. Most businessman are looking for long-term business relationships, so try to not to concentrate on short term aims. 3. Although the country leans towards egalitarianism, business people are still respect their senior executives, and those with position, power or influence. 4. For the most part, South Africans want to maintain harmonious working relationships, but they are not afraid of confrontation where they feel it is appropriate. 5. Most South Africans, regardless of ethnicity, prefer face-to-face meetings to more impersonal communication mediums such as email, letter, or telephone. Greetings, titles, and Business Cards 1. It is best to address people using their professional title or Mr./Mrs. And last name. 2. There is no set protocol with the giving and receiving of business cards, but it is always advisable to treat the card with respect. Negotiations 1. It is important to remain calm during the negotiation process. 2. Avoid interrupting your South African counterpart as it can be seen as rude or overly eager.
3. Decisions tend to be made from the top down and can take a while to

be reached. 4. South Africans prefer a win-win situation.

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Daily Habits
Meetings and Greetings 1. There are several greeting styles in South Africa depending upon the ethnic heritage of the person you are meeting. However, as a foreigner, a simple handshake, with eye contact and smile, is fine. 2. Always address people using their surname.
3. When invited to South Africans home, it is good to practice to take a

simple gift of chocolates or wine to the host. South African is really appreciating those kinds of things.

Behaviors and Manners 1. Gift giving is not the norm of the business. 2. Do not present gifts with the left hand.
3. Use either both hands and the right hand when giving a present. 4. It is impolite to point at someone with your index finger in South

Africa. That action may be interpreted as a personal challenge or threat. Table Manner 1. Dont leave food on your plate when youre done eating. 2. Cross your knife and fork to indicate that youre still eating. 3. Place your knife and fork closely together next to your plate to indicate that you are done eating.

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Personal Space and Touching 1. Personal usually stand and speak close to one another. 2. Families do a lot of activities together and interact closely; however there is somewhat of a little distance that is placed between opposite sexes and this is out of respect. For example a father and daughter might not hold hands and hug and kiss as much as a mother and daughter. 3. Business colleagues do practice giving each other the appropriate arms length space to avoids being uncomfortable and fit in with the rest of the business practices abroad.

Conclusion
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I have some friends that originally from Port Elizabeth, South Africa. They are very friendly, and open to new people who want to know them, but of course you have to be as friendly as they are. We often share stories and experiences, and also culture. They are very respect to their friends. For example, if I send them an email, they will reply it as soon as possible. I never found that they didnt reply my email. They are great friends. Afrikaner is mostly white-Africans and speaks English. Afrikaner who speaks English is mostly more to the point. Therefore, the Black Afrikaans is tend to speak slower, and not direct to the main point. There are many races in and these races behave quite differently in how they greet each other. However the standard form of greeting is a handshake. The majority of the people are Black South African, but there are also colored South African because they are mixed of race. I found out that black Afrikaner is more expressive in terms of communication compare to the white Afrikaner. I can see that from their way of writing email with a lot of emoticons and expression words. When doing business in South Africa, if your company is not known there, it is important to find a local associate who can introduce you to business people and recommended approaches, places to go, and give you some background of the business in South Africa. In conclusion, based on my point of view, South Africans people are very open to a new culture and new relationship with other people from different culture. They are very happy to answer all the things about their hometown, and they are very proud to be South Africans because of the rich culture there. South Africans are also really close to their families, relatives and friends.

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References http://www.mapsofworld.com/south-africa/society/people.html http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/south-africacountry-profile.html CIA worldfact book 2007, CommunicAid, Jodie R. Gorrill, M. A. http://grammargraph.wordpress.com/2010/06/09/african-spaces-in-cultureand-communication-implications-for-education/

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