Flag Coat of arms
Motto: “ǃke e: ǀxarra ǁke” (ǀXam) “Unity in diversity”      Capital Pretoria (executive)[3] Cape Town (legislative)[3] Bloemfontein (judicial)[3] Largest city Johannesburg[2] Official languages 12 languages[4][5] Afrikaans English Ndebele Sepedi Sesotho Setswana South African Sign Language Swazi Tshivenda Xhosa Xitsonga Zulu Languages with special status[4]     Ethnic groups (2022[6]) 81.4% Black 8.2% Coloured 7.3% White 2.7% Indian or Asian 0.4% other Religion (2022)[7] 85.3% Christianity 7.8% traditional faiths 3.1% no religion 1.6% Islam 1.1% Hinduism 1.1% other Demonym(s) South African Government Unitary parliamentary republic with an executive presidency • President Cyril Ramaphosa • Deputy President Paul Mashatile • Speaker of the National Assembly Thoko Didiza • Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane • Chief Justice Mandisa Maya Legislature Parliament • Upper house National Council of Provinces • Lower house National Assembly         Independence from the United Kingdom • Union 31 May 1910 • Statute of Westminster 11 December 1931 • Republic 31 May 1961 • Current constitution 4 February 1997 Area • Total 1,221,037 km2 (471,445 sq mi) (24th) • Water (%) 0.380 Population • 2022 census 62,027,503[8] (23rd) • Density 50.8/km2 (131.6/sq mi) (169th) GDP (PPP) 2024 estimate • Total $993.75 billion[9] (32nd) • Per capita $15,720[9] (95th) GDP (nominal) 2024 estimate • Total $403.75 billion[9] (38th) • Per capita $6,380[9] (98th)         Gini (2014)  63.0[10] very high inequality HDI (2022)  0.717[11] high (110th) Currency South African rand (ZAR) Time zone UTC+2 (SAST)