South Africa brought into the Union

[Vedran]

In the weeks following the Arctican occupation of South Africa and the creation of a joint protectorate spanning Namibia, southern Angola, Botswana, and Zimbabwe, the military presence in South Africa has become less of an occupation force, transitioning into a permanent military presence...a permanent military presence meant to provide security for the region once it was inevitable annexed into the Union, as was indicated in an announcement at the time of occupation.

Since that announcement, civilian administration has been built up and existing institutions restored. Not to prewar levels, but enough to create a functioning government establishment. White Cross volunteers along with military engineers and countless Arctican construction companies have been cleaning up the radiation in Bloemfontein and Pretoria as well as working to rebuild these two cities that were almost completely demolished in nuclear attacks in February.

Residential and a small number of commercial establishments have been built so far. As of July 2011, the population of Pretoria was 56,000. The population of Bloemfontein was 35,000. It is predicted that it will take years for the cities to return to even half of their prewar population, but they may never return to their former status. On the other hand, 95% of the former area of Pretoria and 80% of the former area of Bloemfontein has been declared to be free of lingering radiation at harmful levels. Cleanup efforts will continue, but as it stands, Johannesburg is the de facto administrative center of South Africa and retains its status as a major financial center.

After weeks of preparations, the National Congress in Antananarivo has voted to bring South Africa into the Union as an integral state with a vote of 77 affirmative, 12 negative, and 11 abstentions. President of the Congress, Laurence Olivier, issued a statement.

"It is the will of the National Congress, as duly elected representatives of the people of Arctica, on this day July 24, 2011 of the Common Era, that the following jurisdictions be brought into the Union as an integral state with all the rights and responsibilities thereof: Gauteng, Eastern Cape, Western Cape, Northern Cape, North West, Free State. They will join the provinces of Mpumalanga and Limpopo to form the United Republic of South Africa. Its capital will be Johannesburg. The URSA will join the Federal Republic of Madagascar, the United Republic of Mozambique, the United Republic of Malawi, and the United Republic of Zambia as the fifth integrated state of the Union of Arctica.

Furthermore, Lesotho will join the Union as the Semi-Autonomous Territory of Lesotho. Swaziland, formerly part of the same province as Limpopo and Mpumalanga, will become its own Semi-Autonomous Territory. These two will join the Indian Ocean Territory as the second and third Semi-Autonomous Territories of the Union of Arctica, respectively.

With these territorial additions, the approximate population of the Union is 110 million men, women, and children. The current legislative system of the Union," and Mr. Olivier seemed to sigh silently at this point, "is based on one seat in the national congress for every 100,000 citizens in a given province. With the new population, this is not practical. In anticipation for the annexation of South Africa, a referendum was held among the population to decide a new quota. The number of 100,000 has been eschewed in favor of 400,000 population per national legislative seat. This leaves the National Congress with 275 projected members. Elections will begin shortly.

In closing, the central government of the Union will do its best to cooperate with regional and local administration to ensure a smooth transition."