9 Surprising Facts You Didn't Know About South Africa

2. South Africa’s constitution was one of the first in the world to allow gay marriage and ban any discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

Also, its section on children’s rights has higher standards than the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

South Africa’s constitution is also unique because it focuses on both negative and positive rights. Unlike many countries that focus exclusively on what can’t be done, South Africa also focuses on what can. For example, the constitution includes the right to “make decisions concerning reproduction,” “form a political party,” or “form and join a trade union.” South Africa is also one of the few countries to include socio-economic rights in its Constitution, including the right to access food, water, housing, health care, social security and education.

3. Because of this, the constitution has been acknowledged repeatedly as one of the best constitutions in the world.

Legal scholar Cass Sunstein called it “the most admirable constitution in the history of the world.” Supreme Court Justice Ruth Ginsberg also told the New York Times, “I would not look to the U.S. Constitution, if I were drafting a Constitution in the year 2012. I might look at the Constitution of South Africa.” She went on to say that South Africa’s constitution was “a deliberate attempt to have a fundamental instrument of government that embraced basic human rights.”

4. It’s accomplished several of the world’s most monumental surgeries.

In 1967, Dr. Christiaan Barnard performed the world’s first human heart transplant at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town. They are now the the third most common organ transplant operation in the United States. Dr. Barnard and his medical team also helped develop heterotopic, or “piggy-back,” heart transplants and helped advance medical knowledge of organ donation, brain death, and donor heart preservation.

Then, just this year, doctors in Cape Town performed the world’s first penis replacement surgery.

5. It has the highest commercial bridge bungee jump in the world.

Over 700 feet!

6. It’s also home to the largest wine cellar in the world.

The 22-hectares KWV Cellars in Paarl.

7. South Africa’s Constitutional Court has set many world precedents for justice and openness.

First, the country chose to build the new constitutional court at the former site of Number Four, the Old Fort prison in Braamfontein area of Johannesburg. The decision was made intentionally to remind current judges of the memories of the South Africa’s past, and to transform a space known for its lack of freedom to a place that symbolized democracy.

Unlike many other courts around the world, South Africa’s is also open to the public at all times. Some of the court’s design — including glass in the foyer and a narrow line of windows by the justice’s desks — are also meant to symbolize the the transperency of the court’s proceedings.

South Africa is also one of few countries that requires each judge to employ at least one clerk from a foreign country. This ensures that court decisions at least consider foreign perspectives and are informed of international opinions.

8. The judges in South Africa’s Constitutional Court are also the only judges in the world who sit at eye-level to the lawyers and audience.

They do this to create no sense of hierarchy between the judges and everyday citizens.

9. It’s the first country in the world to provide full-protection status for the Great White Shark.

South Africa did this in 1991. The US, Australia, Namibia and others followed South Africa’s lead later.