In Cape Town, Afrikaans, English and Xhosa (isiXhosa) are spoken primarily. These are only a few of the local languages, though. South Africa has a lot offical languages, including Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, isiXhosa, isiZulu, Sepedi (also known as Sesotho sa Leboa), Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga and South African Sign Language, or S.A.S.L. How many languages did you count?
In South Africa, people use the rand, or South African rand. You can write it with an R or as Z.A.R., which stands for South African (Z.A.) rand (R). For example, R20 or 20 Z.A.R. both mean 20 rand. Fun fact! There are five kinds of South African paper money: R10, R20, R50, R100, and R200. Each one has a picture of Nelson Mandela on the front to honor South Africa’s first democratic president. Nelson Mandela was a man who helped change history, not just in South Africa, but around the world!
The cost of water deepends where you go. On the University of Cape Town campus, you can get a 750 mL 25.3 oz. bottle of water for R17 (17 rand), which traslates to $0.98. But at your local Checkers supermarket, you can get a bottle with 1.5 L / 50.72 oz.
