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There are several large shopping centers in and around the city. Among them Sandton City, Eastgate and the Rosebank Shopping Complex stock a variety of goods, including curios and up-market clothing. The Oriental Plaza in Fordsburg covers 16 city blocks and specializes in Eastern and Western merchandise. Arts and crafts brochures on Johannesburg, Pretoria and the surrounding areas are available from the Johannesburg Metropolitan Tourism Association.

The Tswaing Crater Museum is situated to the northwest of Pretoria. It is an example of the new way in which the aspects of a museum are being combined with cultural development in order to support the aims of the RDP. The development of this museum was recently given a R1 million boost from the Ministry of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology. The money will assist the museum in its program of employment and income growth for the surrounding communities of Winterveld and Soshanguve.

South African sportsmen and women continue to excel on the playing fields of the world and at home, establishing new world and South African records and scoring remarkable feats. One of the reasons is probably South Africa's ideal climate which permits all forms of outdoor sport and recreation to be enjoyed virtually throughout the year in most parts of the country. Rugby, tennis, field hockey, soccer, cricket, squash, badminton, golf, surfing, sailing, running, athletics, sky diving, cycling, triathlons are some of the participation sports.

The history of South African fine arts dates from the Stone Age when rock artists decorated the walls of their natural dwellings with murals depicting subjects from their environment. More than 3 000 sites containing rock art have been discovered in South Africa.

The first Western artists in the country were explorers, writers of chronicles and topographical reporters: their sketches were a practical rather than creative medium. Nevertheless their work has become a treasure of African, although not necessarily notable for its artistic merit.

In its fifth year, Arts Alive International Festival is an established event on the cultural calendar. The festival is synonymous with the annual concentration of talent from around the world which, mixed together with the best that this country has to offer, makes for an event which provides entertainment, development opportunities and anticipates new directions. As a Metropolitan Festival engaging a diverse audience, Arts Alive is visible in various parts of the greater city as it emerges around events and places such as Jazz on the Lake, Soweto, Alexandra and Newtown Cultural Precinct. Its message is arts and culture is alive and living in Johannesburg.

At nightfall, you discover a world that's fantastically exciting. There are several varieties of revue clubs, nightclubs and discos.

South Africa's official national anthem incorporates five languages and is a prayer for the country together with a poetic description of the land, ending on a high inspirational note. The new anthem has eight lines each of Nkosi Sikeleli Afrika (Xhosa, Zulu and Sotho) and Die Stem (Afrikaans and English).

Our South Africa Travelogue "A woman with flowers in her hand suddenly bolted from the crowd and ran up to us! It was wonderful to finally meet Alien (pronounced "All-Leen") the woman I'd come to be such good friends with over the past three years of exchanging email, videos and phone calls. This first encounter with South African hospitality was only the beginning. I have never met such a friendly group of people as these Afrikaners. And amid the group of friends who we were finally getting to meet was another who'd visited us here in the US last Spring, Andre Maritz. It was a great reunion! " -Susan and Gary Coffey

Arold's Africa Adventure

Wee Keng Hor

The Sunday Times
Weekly newspaper covering politics, sports, and current affairs, and analysis.