NewsTracker Answers for week of Apr 20, 2015

Q: More than 300 people have been arrested in South Africa after a wave of violent attacks last week on immigrants from other parts of Africa. Where is South Africa?

Circle the area on this map


Q: Since white-minority rule ended in 1994, South Africa has attracted migrants from many African nations who are fleeing violence and poverty. Which major source of immigrants is on South Africa's border?

A. Malawi

B. Nigeria

C. Somalia

D. Zimbabwe


D. South Africa is bordered on the north by Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe; to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland; and within it lies Lesotho, which is surrounded by South African territory. Many of South Africa's 2 million to 5 million immigrants come from Zimbabwe, which has suffered from economic and human rights woes under the 35-year rule of Robert Mugabe.


Q: Zimbabwean immigrants were the hardest hit in the worst rioting in  Durban, South Africa’s third-biggest city. What is the largest city in South Africa?

A. Bloemfontein 

B. Cape Town

C. Johannesburg

D. Pretoria


C. With a city population of 4.4 million people and a metropolitan area population of 7.8 million people, Johannesburg is the nation's largest city. South Africa has three capital cities: Pretoria for the executive branch; Cape Town for the legislative; and Bloemfontein for the judicial.


Q: South African rioters accuse the immigrants of taking jobs. Officially, one in four South Africans are unemployed and some estimates put it as high as one in three. Also, South Africa's income inequality is second only to the enclave of . . .

A. Lesotho

B. Botswana

C. Mozambique

D. Zimbabwe


A. An enclave is a distinct territory, like Lesotho, which surrounded by a foreign territory, like South Africa. According the CIA World Factbook, South Africa has slightly less income inequality than Lesotho and slightly more than its neighbor Botswana.


Q: Goodwill Zwelithini, stoked the fires of the anti-immigrant rage by calling for foreigners to pack their bags and leave. He is the king of South Africa's largest ethnic group, the . . .

A. Afrikaans 

B. Zulu

C. Swazi

D. Dutch


B. The constitution makes the role of the King of the Zulu largely ceremonial, but he still wields considerable political power. Zulu is the first language spoken by 22.7 percent of South Africans, making it number one of the nation's 11 official languages.