Where We Work

United Through Sport works in South Africa. More specifically, we support the schools and disadvantaged communities of the Ibhayi townships and northern areas of Port Elizabeth. Much of the poverty here is due to the legacy of apartheid. Port Elizabeth is one of the largest cities in South Africa, situated in the Eastern Cape Province, just over 700km east of Cape Town. Port Elizbath, often shortened to PE and nicknamed ‘The Friendly City’, now forms part of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality which has a population of over 1.3 million. 

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa lies at the very southern tip of Africa, flanked by the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The country is almost five times the size of the UK and shares southern Africa with Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe. South Africa hosts a colourful mixture of people from a variety of descents. Thirty-four million are Black, five million White, three million Coloured (mixed race) and one million of Indian descent. The majority of Whites speak Afrikaans and the rest are from British roots. Traditionally there have been two major groupings of Blacks: the Nguni (Swazi, Zulu and Xhosa) and the Sotho (Tswana, Pedi and Basutho).

Despite a troubled past, South Africa has made huge strides in race-relations, and is also one of Africa's most industrious and economically successful nations. But thanks to a legacy of segregation and poverty, there are still huge disparities in wealth and employment. From 2008 figures, the South African Institute of Race Relations reported that over 50% of the Black population were unemployed, and that over 55% of that same community were under the poverty-line. These disparities have been aggravated by the rise in HIV/AIDS infections, the prevalence of which is estimated to run in excess of one-fifth of the population.

Sport in South Africa

While South Africa has many social and economic problems to address, the South African people still exude a strong sense of positivity. Sport plays an important part in this positive outlook, fuelled by the success of the South African rugby team in past World Cups, and by the impressive performances of the national cricket team in international Tests, and by FIFA awarding South Africa host of the Football World Cup in 2010, the first African nation to achieve this accolade. To support this constructive outlook, United Through Sport is committed to promoting sport, recreation, education and health in South Africa.

Country Facts

• Location: Southern Africa
• Border: Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zimbabwe
• Population: 43 Million
• Capital City: Pretoria
• Language: English and 10 other official languages, inc. Afrikaans and Zulu
• Climate: Mostly semiarid; subtropical east coast; sunny days; cool nights
• Coastline: 2,798 km (Atlantic and Indian Oceans)
• Religion: Christianity (68%), Islam (2%), Hindi (1.5%), other (28.5%)
• Government: Democratic Republic
• Currency: Rand
• Income per capita: $10,000 (UK figure is $36,600)
• Poverty: 50% of population living below poverty line