South Africa

Pray for Africa

Prayer Points

  • For reconciliation among all races of South Africa.
  • That the whole Church may put the past behind them and demonstrate unity in Jesus.
  • For healing, hope, and support for those affected by HIV/AIDS.
  • For those who minister to slum-dwellers, that they will have God’s compassion.
  • That God will bring revival to South Africa.

LOCATION
Southern Africa, at the southern tip of the continent

POPULATION
55 436 360 (2017 est.)

RELIGION

Protestant 36.6% (Zionist Christian 11.1%, Pentecostal/Charismatic 8.2%

Methodist 6.8%

Dutch Reformed 6.7%, Anglican 3.8%)

Catholic 7.1%

Muslim 1.5%

other Christian 36%

other 2.3%

unspecified 1.4%

none 15.1% (2001 est.)

INTERNET USERS

28 580 290 (2017)

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
26,8% (2016 est.)

MISSIONARIES
Sent 8 000
Received 12 000

LEAST REACHED PEOPLE GROUPS
8

KEY CITIES

Bloemfontein

Population of city:

463 064

Urbanization Rate:

1.59% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

Majority religion in city:

Christianity

 

Cape Town

Population of city:

3 433 441

Urbanization Rate:

1.59% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

Majority religion in city:

Christianity

 

Durban

Population of city:

3 120 282

Urbanization Rate:

1.59% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

Majority religion in city:

Christianity

 

Johannesburg

Population of city:

2 026 469

Urbanization Rate:

1.59% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

Majority religion in city:

Christianity

 

Pretoria

Population of city:

1 619 438

Urbanization Rate:

1.59% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

Majority religion in city:

Christianity

 

Port Elizabeth

Population of city:

967 677

Urbanization Rate:

1.59% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

Majority religion in city:

Christianity

We Pray...

Lord God, we pray for reconciliation among all races of South Africa. We pray that the whole Church may put the sad conflicts of the past to rest and demonstrate the powerful reality of unity in Jesus.

Father, we pray for healing, hope, and support for those affected by HIV/AIDS. We also pray for missionaries who minister to slum-dwellers; that they will have Your compassion and insight to really touch their hearts.

Lord, we pray that you will bring revival to South Africa and that people will turn to You again, devoting their whole lives to You. Lord, we thank you for the opportunity South Africans have to testify of Your love to people from many different nations living in their country. We pray that Christians will make the sacrifices, take the risks and live out Christ’s love everywhere they go.

State of the Church

South Africa’s constitution provides for freedom of religion and it is regarded as one of the top 10 countries in the world with the least government interference in religious issues. While Christians still make up the majority of the population, other faiths are growing rapidly. The freedom of religion act has been used in recent times to build support for minority groups like Muslims and Hindus who use the law as a basis for protesting against seeming ’Christian discrimination and oppression’.

Overview

South Africa is characterized by its multi-ethnicity and diverse culture groups. Eleven official languages are recognised in the constitution. About 79.5 percent of the South African population is of black African ancestry, divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different indigenous languages. South Africa also contains the largest communities of European, Asian, and racially-mixed ancestry in Africa.

South Africa, with the third largest economy in Africa, is classified as an ‘upper-middle income’ economy by the World Bank. It is viewed as the ‘gateway to Africa’ for investors, and recently joined the BRIC nations in order to better economic growth on the continent. In spite of its economic strength, South Africa currently has the highest mortality rate in the world, with HIV/AIDS claiming thousands of lives. There are currently around 500 000 new infections every year and nearly two million AIDS orphans. About 14 percent of the population are infected. The impact of the AIDS-endemic is already devastating and will affect economy and demography in ways that are still to be seen and felt.

South Africa has a wide mix of religions and allows for people to practice these freely. Islam was introduced by the Cape Malay slaves of the Dutch settlers, Hinduism by servants imported from the Indian subcontinent, and Buddhism by Indian and Chinese immigrants. Judaism came to South Africa through the participation of Jewish astronomers and cartographers in the Portuguese discovery of the sea-route to India. The Bahai faith is relatively new to the country - it was introduced in 1911 by immigrants who practiced the religion.

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