One in three South Africans don’t know that the earth revolves around the sun, according to a test with 10 basic science questions, Rapport said.<\/p>\n
The average South African only cracked half of the questions<\/strong>, put to 1,000 people via Media24’s online Forum24.<\/p>\n The 2,200 Americans who answered the same questions by the National Science Foundation got 6.5 out of 10.<\/p>\n South Africans were worst at the question: “Antibiotics kill viruses and bacteria, true or false?” with only 28% knowing the answer – white English speakers faring best at this question (56%).<\/p>\n South Africans did best on the true or false statement: “The centre of the earth is very hot” (78%).<\/p>\n On the question of whether man evolved from animals, 49% said yes, 41% no and 10% said they did not know.<\/p>\n Dr George Claassen, a science journalism lecturer at Stellenbosch University said a weak knowledge of basic science is not a joke; it can kill people and lead to exploitation through quackery.<\/p>\n South Africa\u2019s most violent city<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n South Africa in 2030<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n South Africa\u2019s critical skills shortage<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nMore on South Africa<\/h3>\n