existence in, say, Australia, the United Kingdom or the
United States. If a large proportion of them act on their
words and if a wholesale emigration indeed takes place
within a few years, South Africa will be in a dramatic
situation, firstly because a wealth of know-how will leave
the country and, secondly, because there will still be a back
log in the standards of education for blacks. If the
prediction proves true and a brain drain does occur, the
expectation is that South Africa will sink further into the
mire of economic problems. But there are also positive sig
nals. In January this year, for example, a report published
by a leading investment group put South Africa in the top
five of the world's emerging markets. The criteria on which
the investment group based its verdict were low financial
vulnerability, and good valuations, earnings and liquidity.
VAST
South Africa officially has a population of 38 million, of
whom some 32 million are black. Johannesburg/Randberg
has an estimated 8 million inhabitants. Johannesburg can
hardly be described as just a city. It is so vast that a journey
from one end to the other covers fifty kilometres. To the
outside world Soweto (South Western Town), the
Johannesburg township in which the black population live,
is perhaps the best known name. For dozens of years oppo
sition grew here to the apartheid regime and this led to
riots on many occasions. Soweto has millions of inhabi
tants. Their exact number cannot be given with certainty,
as Soweto is a self-contained community where statistics
do not count.
Johannesburg cannot really be described as a city with
an outstandingly bustling nightlife. The big distances make
it impossible to hop from one bar to the next. And the on-
premise sector in the city is not what you would call 'alive'.
There are a few bars and restaurants, but not really a lot by
comparison with the number of inhabitants. People prefer
to get together at home, especially at weekends when it's
time for the barbecue or, as the South Africans call it, the
weekend braai. And beer of course is an essential accom
paniment.
The weekend braai is a regular event, as summers in
South Africa are generally long and fine: sunny, warm and
- as far as Johannesburg is concerned - not humid. The
situation is different in the port of Durban, where there is a
very high humidity level. Not surprisingly, the high sum
mer temperatures mean that beer consumption peaks in
the summer months of November and December. The
period around Christmas also gives an extra boost to sales.
But the summer of 1998/1999 was definitely not one to
write home about. Prolonged rainfall in November and
December had a negative impact on beer consumption in
the standard segment. The winter, when minimum tempe
ratures are around zero at night but can reach between
15 and 20 degrees Celsius in the daytime, is the preferred
season for drinking liquor, especially whisky.
Distances in South Africa are enormous. From the port
of Durban to Johannesburg, which South Africans refer to in
short as 'Joburg', it is 600 kilometres as the crow flies. The
distance between Joburg and Cape Town is as much as
1,500 kilometres. The country's infrastructure is first-rate:
the roads are in good condition, though long-haul transport
of a container of beer from Cape Town to Johannesburg is
costly.
The country is enormous in size and has a number of
national parks which you can spend many days touring.
South Africa's best-known game park is the Kruger National
Park, twice the size of the Netherlands, and a formidable
tourist attraction thanks to the African wildlife that you
can see there in its natural environment: elephants,
giraffes, zebras - all the animals we normally see in docu
mentaries on television. Because of the country's natural
beauty and its new image, tourism is booming in South
Africa.
PREMIUM
There are three words that best describe the South African
beer market: South African Breweries. This brewing group
is arguably the nation's top company and is, to put it mild
ly, a dominant player. In this country, where SAB holds
97.5% of the market, no other brewery would venture to
invest in a new brewing operation or in building up a new
brand. SAB's most familiar brand is Castle Lager, a pilsener
with 5% alcohol. Castle is an institution in the South
African beer world.
With a volume of 25 million hectolitres, the South
African beer market is enormous and it is growing by 1%
per year on average. The tendency that is apparent in so
many other countries can also be seen in South Africa: the
premium segment is growing faster than the total beer
market: in 1998 it grew by as much as 50%. That growth is
due in part to the growth of Heineken and Amstel and to a
major influx of new imported beers. In the meantime the
number of imported beers has declined considerably again
because of the unfavourable exchange rate of the Rand
against the dollar and also because the beers found too
little consumer acceptance.
Per capita consumption is estimated at 57 litres a year.
That figure is even higher if you include the enormous
quantities of sorghum beer that are brewed in the town
ships. The sorghum beer market is approaching volumes
comparable to the clear beer market. Sorghum is a type of
grain that is used in a number of African countries as a sub-
