Do you know the capital of South Africa?

by Jun Kuzuya
(Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan)

I think South Africa was the most focused-upon country in the world last year. The reason is very simple: the FIFA World Cup soccer tournament was held there. So my image of South Africa was the country which hosted the FIFA World Cup soccer tournament and which often experiences crime.

But I came to think that South Africa is an interesting country after I researched about it to write this story. So I'd like to report about the capital of South Africa.

Do you know the capital of South Africa?

Maybe, you guess Johannesburg or Cape Town. Johannesburg is the biggest city in South Africa, and it's called the economic center of the African Continent. But it's not the capital of South Africa. Cape Town is correct; this city is the capital of South Africa. But this answer is not enough, because actually, South Africa has two more capitals.

In other words, South Africa has three capitals. So Cape Town is just one of those 3 capitals in South Africa. And the other capitals are Bloemfontein and Pretoria.

The reason why there are three capitals in South Africa is based on the separation of the three powers (legislation, justice, administration). That is to say, South Africa wants to make the whereabouts of them clear. In doing so, the government can conduct politics clearly.

So the government of South Africa decentralized the important functions into three cities. Cape Town administers the legislation, Bloemfontein administers the justice, and Pretoria administers the administration. When I learned that for the first time, I felt that it was very amazing and interesting!

So we can see South Africa as a country which takes into consideration the whereabouts of power. Through this research, I learned about various South African cultures and how they differ from Japan. So my image of South Africa was changed. I think South Africa is a very interesting country!