South Africa (WOD)

South Africa is a state in southern Africa.

Overview[]

South Africa is a country located on the southern tip of the African continent and marked by several different ecosystems. Kruger National Park, an inland safari destination, is full of large animals. The Western Cape province has beaches, lush wineries near Stellenbosch and Paarl, rugged hills at the Cape of Good Hope, forests and lagoons along the Tuinroete (Garden Route) and Cape Town, which sits at the foot of Table Mountain, with a flat top.

Locations[]

Vampire: The Masquerade[]

South Africa is known for its diamond and gold industries, both of which have flourished and turned the country into a booming urban nation. Large cities with expansive ghettos surround the mines from which these resources were and are drawn. The Kimberly Diamond Mine remains the largest man-made hole in the world: a great gaping wound on the face of the earth. One family, the Delarians, holds the rights to and earns the profits from this, the most productive diamond mine in the world. For over a century, South Africa and its citizens provided a center of culture and wealth to Europeans and Kindred hoping to rub elbows with the richest folk in the world. Then, political upheavals crashed the party.

The abolishment of apartheid in 1994 caused an economic crisis in South Africa. The Johannesburg stock market crashed the following day, as many European-held companies pulled out or sold their stock. Riots in the streets amassed a body count in the thousands. This struggle affected the Kindred as well; war between white Ventrue and black Brujah and Gangrel tore across the cities and "homelands," and the Sabbat used the opportunity to gain a foothold in the region. To this day, tensions remain high and most white citizens have moved away, leaving behind their businesses and their homes. Much to the dismay of the locals, these citizens also took their money. The Kimberley Diamond Mine and its surrounding area has become a militarized zone, protected by walls and armed guards. The Delarians have thus far refused to leave their family jeweIs behind or to share with the new black government. There has been some talk of a military strike aimed at Kimberley, but so far nothing has been executed.^{[Note 1]}

A quarter-century after the fact, in the still-strong remains of the post-apartheid mining industry far to the country's northeast, the Anarch gang Bloody Qhawe fights back against mortal coal and diamond barons, protecting the common miners in exchange for a tithe of blood.

Starting in the very early 2020s, the Cult of the Nephilim, a hedonistic cult that worships the legacy and descendants of the Toreador Methuselah Michael, seeks to bring about the rebirth of Michael's Dream. To this end, they seek to create a new utopia for Members in South Africa, using Johannesburg as the main headquarters and a possible model for other areas. Outside of Johannesburg, a number of cells of the Cult of Shalim have also recently cropped up across the country.

Changeling: The Dreaming[]

South Africa is a part of the Realm of Seasons, one of the exceedingly rare High Kingdoms of the fae. Completely encircling the country of Lesotho, the Realm's current de facto 'capital', South Africa is home to the core of what gives the Realm its identity, from the brightest stars of the region's native Dreamer cultures to the great flowering trail of the Namaqualand to the sacred neutral ground of Table Mountain and its Inanimae guardians.

Gallery[]

References[]

WOD: A World of Darkness Second Edition, p. 117
VTM: Camarilla (book)
VTM: Anarch, p. 87-88
VTM: Cults of the Blood Gods, p. 87, 110-111
CTD: Changeling: The Dreaming 20th Anniversary Player's Guide, p. 82-84

↑ Although they may potentially be explained away as 'Gothic-Punk' variations on the World of Darkness' South Africa, the description of the country's recent history by American author Angel Leigh McCoy only 2 years after the fact does present numerous discrepancies that drastically differ from the country's real-life history without ever indicating that they are to be taken at anything other than face value. The inaccuracies are kept on this article for the sake of maintaining an honest description of official World of Darkness material, but readers should nevertheless make a note of the false information presented and attempt to separate it from their understanding of real-world politics and history. The description of Apartheid's abolishment (as marked by the 1994 election of President Nelson Mandela) as having overnight effects as described is a wild oversimplification: The process of the Apartheid government's negotiations with activist groups to begin the system's dissolution began shortly after President F.W. de Klerk's election in 1989, and the description of 1994 as the 'end of Apartheid' is mainly used as a simplified marking point by historians. To extend the matter further, a significant amount of legislature surrounding the dismantling of Apartheid-affiliated institutions carried on past 1994 with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which investigated and provided rulings on such matters until 1998, which would have been ongoing at the time of the release of A World of Darkness Second Edition in late 1996. Furthermore, much of the description of foreign investors and businesses pulling their support from South Africa obfuscates the fact that by the time of Apartheid's abolishment, most of this withdrawal had already occurred. The vast majority of withdrawal was done as a form of boycott during prior decades due to economic sanctions by overseas governments against the continued institution of Apartheid as government policy, especially during the notably hardline administration of P.W. Botha in the 1980s. As an example, one of the largest instances of withdrawal occurred as a result of the United States of America's Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act, introduced in 1986, a full decade before the release of A World of Darkness Second Edition. These sanctions were one of the driving factors that led to the subsequent de Klerk administration swiftly beginning talks to end Apartheid. After the end of Apartheid, the sanctions were lifted, and the country's annual economic growth almost immediately doubled and has remained at that heightened level for the past three decades, with the country's GDP tripling from 1994 to 2011 and (as of 2025) currently holding at more than double what it was at the end of Apartheid. Finally, although being published only 2 years after the official abolishment of Apartheid would have given McCoy limited information regarding the long-term ramifications of the new government's institution, what is presented in her material is a gross misrepresentation of even the short-term effects. Although mass-emigrations did occur, the majority of the country's white population (approximately 80% as of 2005, and much more as of 1996) did not at any point move away the country, and remained in ownership of their homes and businesses well into the administration of the post-Apartheid ANC, and the results of those who did emigrate was primarily in terms of a lack of a skilled workforce rather than 'taking their money with them'. Indeed, most descriptions of racial relations post Apartheid as 'tense' or 'on the brink of spilling over' are wildly speculatory on the part of sensationalist foreign media: Most internal conflict within the country has to do with its economic class disparity and is treated as such, and post-Apartheid racism has predominantly come in the form of systemic injustices carried out by the government in a similar (though drastically lessened) manner to its pre-Apartheid equivalent. There is, as of present, no evidence to suggest that any sort of wide-scale racially-motivated domestic conflict is likely to occur within the next several decades, and any statements claiming otherwise is primarily sourced from foreign pro-Apartheid think tanks. Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F._W._de_Klerk#Negotiations_toward_universal_suffrage | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth_and_Reconciliation_Commission_(South_Africa)#Creation_and_mandate | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._W._Botha#Apartheid_government | https://www.macrotrends.net/global-metrics/countries/zaf/south-africa/gdp-gross-domestic-product#:~:text=South%20Africa%20gdp%20for%202023,a%2013.11%25%20decline%20from%202019. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_South_Africans#Diaspora_and_emigration | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism_in_South_Africa#Post-Apartheid_racism

[1] Although they may potentially be explained away as 'Gothic-Punk' variations on the World of Darkness' South Africa, the description of the country's recent history by American author Angel Leigh McCoy only 2 years after the fact does present numerous discrepancies that drastically differ from the country's real-life history without ever indicating that they are to be taken at anything other than face value. The inaccuracies are kept on this article for the sake of maintaining an honest description of official World of Darkness material, but readers should nevertheless make a note of the false information presented and attempt to separate it from their understanding of real-world politics and history. The description of Apartheid's abolishment (as marked by the 1994 election of President Nelson Mandela) as having overnight effects as described is a wild oversimplification: The process of the Apartheid government's negotiations with activist groups to begin the system's dissolution began shortly after President F.W. de Klerk's election in 1989, and the description of 1994 as the 'end of Apartheid' is mainly used as a simplified marking point by historians. To extend the matter further, a significant amount of legislature surrounding the dismantling of Apartheid-affiliated institutions carried on past 1994 with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which investigated and provided rulings on such matters until 1998, which would have been ongoing at the time of the release of A World of Darkness Second Edition in late 1996. Furthermore, much of the description of foreign investors and businesses pulling their support from South Africa obfuscates the fact that by the time of Apartheid's abolishment, most of this withdrawal had already occurred. The vast majority of withdrawal was done as a form of boycott during prior decades due to economic sanctions by overseas governments against the continued institution of Apartheid as government policy, especially during the notably hardline administration of P.W. Botha in the 1980s. As an example, one of the largest instances of withdrawal occurred as a result of the United States of America's Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act, introduced in 1986, a full decade before the release of A World of Darkness Second Edition. These sanctions were one of the driving factors that led to the subsequent de Klerk administration swiftly beginning talks to end Apartheid. After the end of Apartheid, the sanctions were lifted, and the country's annual economic growth almost immediately doubled and has remained at that heightened level for the past three decades, with the country's GDP tripling from 1994 to 2011 and (as of 2025) currently holding at more than double what it was at the end of Apartheid. Finally, although being published only 2 years after the official abolishment of Apartheid would have given McCoy limited information regarding the long-term ramifications of the new government's institution, what is presented in her material is a gross misrepresentation of even the short-term effects. Although mass-emigrations did occur, the majority of the country's white population (approximately 80% as of 2005, and much more as of 1996) did not at any point move away the country, and remained in ownership of their homes and businesses well into the administration of the post-Apartheid ANC, and the results of those who did emigrate was primarily in terms of a lack of a skilled workforce rather than 'taking their money with them'. Indeed, most descriptions of racial relations post Apartheid as 'tense' or 'on the brink of spilling over' are wildly speculatory on the part of sensationalist foreign media: Most internal conflict within the country has to do with its economic class disparity and is treated as such, and post-Apartheid racism has predominantly come in the form of systemic injustices carried out by the government in a similar (though drastically lessened) manner to its pre-Apartheid equivalent. There is, as of present, no evidence to suggest that any sort of wide-scale racially-motivated domestic conflict is likely to occur within the next several decades, and any statements claiming otherwise is primarily sourced from foreign pro-Apartheid think tanks. Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F._W._de_Klerk#Negotiations_toward_universal_suffrage | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth_and_Reconciliation_Commission_(South_Africa)#Creation_and_mandate | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._W._Botha#Apartheid_government | https://www.macrotrends.net/global-metrics/countries/zaf/south-africa/gdp-gross-domestic-product#:~:text=South%20Africa%20gdp%20for%202023,a%2013.11%25%20decline%20from%202019. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_South_Africans#Diaspora_and_emigration | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism_in_South_Africa#Post-Apartheid_racism

[Note 1]