Cultural Highlights

South Africa

Languages

South Africa is a nation of vast cultural diversity and a population of over 47 million. The
country has 11 official languages which are as follows:

 Afrikaans (Afrikaans)
 English
 Ndebele (isiNdebele)
 Northern Sotho (Sesotho sa Leboa)
 Southern Sotho (Sesotho)
 Swati (siSwati)
 Tsonga (Xitsonga)
 Tswana (Setswana)
 Venda (Tshivenda)
 Xhosa (isiXhosa)
 Zulu (isiZulu).

English is the most commonly spoken language in official and commercial public life - but only
the fifth most spoken home language.

Other languages spoken in South Africa are the Khoi, Nama and San languages, sign language,
Arabic, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi, Portuguese, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telegu and Urdu.
South African English uses a lot of words and phrases from Afrikaans, isiZulu, Nama and other
African languages.

(Data source: Statistics South Africa)

Ethnic Groups

Until 1991, South African law divided the population into four major racial categories:

(1.) The Black Africans, of which the Nguni and Sotho groups account for 90% of the Black
population. Black population accounts 75% of the South Africa's entire population.

(2.) The Whites who account for about 13% of the population.

(3.) The Indians who account for around 3 % and

(4.) The Coloreds who are mixed White and Black descent and account for 9% of the population.

Although the South African law of racial categories has been abolished, many South Africans
still view themselves according to these categories.

The black population consists of several groups: Khoi-San, Xhosa, Zulu, Ndebele, Sotho,
Shangaan and Venda are a few of them. The biggest groups are Zulus (21 %), Xhosas (17 %) and
the Sotho (15%). Next smaller minorities are the Tswana, Venda, Ndebele, Swasi, and Pedi,
among others. The Khoi-Sans are originally hunter-gatherers who have inhabited the land for a
long time.

The policy of racial segregation favored the political and economic power for the white minority.
Until today, South Africa has to deal with the consequences of this disastrous policy. Large part
of the fast growing black majority lives in oppressive poverty in the outer districts of the cities
lacking sufficient sanitation, electricity and water. Many of the residents are illiterate. The
enormous poverty problem in South Africa is the major reason for the high crime rates.

The Whites are primarily descendants of Dutch, French, English, and German settlers who
arrived at the Cape in the late 17th. They are called Afrikaners and speak Afrikaans, a language
closely related to the Dutch language.

The province of Natal is also home to about one million Indians, whose forefathers came to
South Africa to work on the sugarcane plantations. They were brought by the British people in
the 19th century. Indians were among the exploited and among the exploiters.

Among the non-White peoples, the second largest group is the Colored community, 89% of
whom lived in the Cape Colony. Generally thought of as a mixed-race group, it loosely included
some Indians, Malays and native Africans. Like the Indians, the Colored are neither Black nor
White, and their intermediate position generated fears of being reduced to the status of the
Blacks. So-called colored, people of mixed race are mainly still living in the Cape region. They
originate from Dutch sailors inter-marrying with the Khoi-San in the 17th century.

Despite the many ethnic groups, Black and white people lead largely separate lives with few
points of contact. A national commission attempts to make people conscious about the crimes of
apartheid

Religion

Religion in South Africa has a wide variety with about 80% of the population following
Christian religion. Most of the Christians are Protestants. There are a number of South African
Christian churches and nearly 85% of the people are members of the church.

The religion in South Africa followed by the Khoisan people was very complicated. The people
of the remote areas of Botswana and Namibia still follow some of the Khoisan religious
practices.

Islam was introduced by the Cape Malay slaves of the Dutch settlers, Hinduism was introduced
by the indentured servants imported from the Indian subcontinent, and Buddhism was introduced
by both Indians and Chinese immigrants. The Bahá'í Faith was introduced in 1911 grew after
Bahá'ís from Canada, the United States and Germany settled in the country. Judaism in South
Africa came about some time before the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope, by the
participation of Jewish astronomers and cartographers in the Portuguese discovery of the sea-
route to India.

Religion Adherents % (2001) Adherents (2007) % (2001)

(2001)
Christianity 35750641 79.77 29684861 73.52
Non religious 6767165 15.1
Other 3262428 8.08
 Baha’i Faith 283815 0.63 201883 0.50
Buddhism 12113 0.03
Islam 654064 1.46 585460 1.45
Undetermined 610974 1.36
Hinduism 551668 1.23 504707 1.25
African Traditional religion 125898 0.28 6056487 15
Judaism 75549 0.17 68640 0.17

During the apartheid era (1948 to 1990) church and state in South Africa were closely allied. The
Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) provided the moral and philosophical basis for Nationalist
apartheid policies, and many prominent government officials were members. This close
relationship between church and state meant that the DRC received favored treatment from the
government and that non-DRC members were excluded from many top positions within
government. This caused a religious apartheid whereby the DRC and other white Christian
churches enjoyed a privileged position over non-white Christian denominations and non-
Christian religions. With the beginning of the end of apartheid in 1990 and the transition to
democracy in 1994 came a decisive break from a history of religious discrimination and the close
church-state embrace.

Holidays and festivals

The peak business season falls around Christmas and New Year, when all the schools are on
holiday, the universities are out and many local people take their annual leave. Another major
peak is over Easter - when the schools are also on holiday and, once again, many people take
their leave so they can spend holidays with their children. A major advantage of peak season, of
course, is availability of special out of season deals.

The following are the official holidays and non working days in South Africa:

1 Jan New Year's Day 9 Aug National Women's Day

21 Mar Human Rights Day 10 Aug 'National Women's Day' observed
10 Apr Good Friday 24 Sep Heritage Day
13 Apr Family Day 16 Dec Day of Reconciliation
27 Apr Freedom Day 25 Dec Christmas Day
1 May Workers' Day 26 Dec Day of Goodwill
16 Jun Youth Day

The Public Holidays Act (Act No 36 of 1994) determines that whenever any public holiday falls
on a Sunday, the Monday following it will be a public holiday.

Hofstede’s Dimensions

The Hofstede’s dimensions provide as a good measure of the culture of a nation. The four basic
dimensions include – power distance, Individualism / Collectivism, Masculinity and uncertainty
avoidance. The following is the score for these dimensions from an international survey.

source:S

Source: www.itim.com

The above scores prove South Africa to be quite high on individualism and masculinity both of
which signify independence and importance to hard masculine characteristics. The other two
dimensions score a bit lower on comparison with these.

Time orientation
Time orientation plays a major role in determining a nation’s cultural differences. This is a major
source of potential conflict between two cultures. The Eurocentric in South Africa value time as
sequential where being late might disrupt entire day’s schedule. They believe that a person who
is not respecting time is lazy, unworthy and unserious. They view time as measurable and
controllable. The Afrocentric in South Africa follow the synchronous where punctuality does not
seem to be highly valued. They view time to be secondary to relationships and change and thus
in turn find it highly flexible.

Bangladesh

Languages

The official language is Bangla, also known as Bengali. It is the first language of more than 98
percent of the population. The language also composes of regional and urban dialects:

Chittagonian language: spoken in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and neighboring Myanmar by more
than 14 million people.

Sylheti language: spoken in the Sylhet region by more than 7 million people.

Many people in Bangladesh also speak English and Urdu. Bangladesh's Muslims frequently use
Arabic for religious purposes. Languages such as Burmese, Assamese and Farsi are also spoken
by smaller communities. Also there are various regional and tribal dialects such as Arakanese
language, Bishnupriya Manipuri etc.

Ethnic Groups

The Bangladeshi population is relatively homogenous and consists of about 98% ethnic Bengali
as well as various tribal groups, mostly in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and in the regions of
Mymensingh, Sylhet, and Rajshahi.

The Chakmas are the largest tribe of Bangladesh. The Chakmas are of mixed origin but reflect
more Bengali influence than any other tribe. The Marmas are of Burmese (Myanmar) ancestry.
Although several religions, including Islam, are represented among the Marmas, nearly all of the
Marmas are Buddhists. The Tipperas are nearly all Hindus and account for virtually the entire
Hindu population of the Chittagong Hills. The Mros are considered the original inhabitants of the
Chittagong Hills. They lived on hilltops and often fortified their villages. There are some other
tribal groups in other parts of the country. Santals are inhabitants of Rajshahi and Dinajpur.
Khasis, Garos, and Khajons in Mymensingh and Sylhet regions. Different tribal groups have
retained their own customs, traditions and life.

Religion

Muslims constitute 88 % of the population followed by Hindus who constitute 11 %. The
remainder of Bangladeshis practices other religions such as Buddhism and Christianity. Religion
has always been a strong part of identity, but this has varied at different times. Atheism is
extremely rare.

The majority of Bangladeshis are Muslim. However, most still very much mix this with pre-
Islam folk traditions. Bangladeshis identify with the folk traditions of Bengali culture. This
includes belief in shamanism and the powers of fakirs (Muslim holy men who are exorcists and
faith healers), ojhaa (shamins with magical healing powers), and Bauls (religious mendicants and
wandering musicians).  There is a strong tradition of music, dance, and literature that includes
classical devotions of Hindu and Muslim music.

Holidays and Festivals

Islam defines many of the festivals in Bangaldesh. These include two Eids (one after Ramadan
and one after the Hajj) Shab-e-Qadr (the night of power), Milad un-Nabi (birth date  of the
Prophet Muhammad) and Shab-e-Barat (the night of the fortune).
Hindu influences festivals include Durga Puja and Kali Puja (community worshipping of
Goddess Durga and Kali).On the whole an entire community participates in each other's religious
ceremonies.

The following are the public holidays in Bangladesh:

Date Calendar English name Description

Eid ul-Fitr
1 Muslim festival marking the end of the month of
Islamic (Festival of
Shawwal Ramadan
Fastbreaking)

10 Dhul Islamic Eid ul-Adha Muslim festival of sacrifice

Hijja (Festival of
 Sacrifice)

Buddha's Birthday
Asharh Bengali Buddhist festival on the month of Asharh
(Vesak)

21 Language Martyrs' This day commemorates the struggle for the Bengali
Gregorian
February Day language in 1952.

This day marks the official declaration of Bangladesh,

26 March Gregorian Independence Day
and the start of the Bangladesh Liberation War.

1
Bangla New
Boishakh Bengali Festival marking the start of the Bengali year.
Year's Day
14 April

1 May Gregorian May Day This day marks the solidarity of workers worldwide.

This day marks the birth date of Baghaban Shree

Krishna
Varies Bengali Krishna in Hindu religion all over Bangladesh and
Janmashtami
East India.

This day marks the victory of Ma Durga over evil

power of Mahishasura, and also departure of Durga
Varies Bengali Vijaya Dasami
from earth for 1 year. Usually observed all over the
Bangladesh and specially Calcutta.

16 Commemorates the surrender of the Pakistani army to

Gregorian Victory Day
December the Mukti Bahini

25
Gregorian Christmas Day This day marks Jesus Christ's birthday.
December

Hofstede’s Dimensions

The Hofstede’s dimensions provide as a good measure of the culture of a nation. The four basic
dimensions include – power distance, Individualism / Collectivism, Masculinity and uncertainty
avoidance. The following is the score for these dimensions from an international survey.

Time Orientation
Professor Geert Hofstede has developed a fifth dimension called Long-Term Orientation for his
country-specific model that differentiates cultural values and behaviors. Long-Term Orientation
is essential to understanding the mindsets of business negotiators from different countries,
especially when international trade negotiations are time-sensitive. Cultures with high Long-
Term Orientation scores value thrift and perseverance toward slow results. People are respected
for their willingness to subordinate themselves for a purpose. Bangladesh in a global survey
scored 40 which is around 11.1% lower than the global average thus ranking 11 among the
nations surveyed.

The Entry Mode

The mode through which we plan to enter Bangladesh is mainly partnerships or alliances. This
mode was chosen due to the fact that it is an initial step into Bangladesh where a joining with an
established player will help establish the business in a better manner. The organization gains
from the local partner’s intellectual capital on competitive conditions, culture, language, political
systems, and business systems. It provides mitigation of the risks through sharing those risks
with ones partner(s). The firm can take advantage of the expertise in the local expertise.

The company with whom we plan to establish a partnership is Citycell which already has an
established market in Bangladesh.

Citycell (Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Limited) is the first mobile communications company of
Bangladesh. It is the only CDMA network operator in the country. The company is growing at a
significant growth rate such as its customer base grew by 137% in 2008 from that of two years
ago. Citycell is currently owned by Singtel with 45% stake and the rest 55% owned by Pacific
Group and Far East Telecom.

By the end of 2007 Citycell had refurbished its old brand identity and introduced a new logo and
corporate identity; the new logo is very reminiscent of the old logo. However the slogan has
remained unchanged "because we care". As of July, 2008 Citycell has 1.67 million subscribers