The People of Southern Africa

Southern Africa information - tourism, culture, language, history, art, heritage, Bantu, San bushmen, Zulu, Nguni, Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele, Sotho, Tswana, Venda, Lemba, Shangaa-Tsonga.

South Africa is a splendid melting pot of different race, language, creed, culture, and colour groups. Many modern day groups lay claim to being related to the original southern Africans, but with discoveries of human occupation dating back some two and a half million years at Sterkfontein Caves in Gauteng, almost all groups would be able to lay claim to some form of common heritage.

It is generally accepted that in relatively modern history South Africa was originally populated by San hunter-gatherers. Some two thousand years ago many of these communities turned to pastoralism by acquiring live stock from Bantu-speaking people migrating south of the Limpopo River. The Nguni, made up of Swazi, Zulu, Xhosa and Ndebele moved into present day KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape whilst the Sotho and Tswana moved into central South Africa and the Venda, Lemba and Shangaa-Tsonga laid claim to the north.

The first permanent white settlers were the Dutch who arrived under the leadership of Jan van Riebeeck in 1652 to establish a trading station in the Cape. The number of white people expanded greatly in the 1800's with the arrival of large groupls of British settlers and later those seeking their fortunes on the mies. In the 1860's many Indian labourers were brought into work on the east coast's sugar plantations.

The ten main indigenous black groups of southern Africa today are San, Xhosa, Zulu, Ndebele, Venda, Tsonga, Basotho, Tswana, and Pedi and the Ntwana although many other sub-groups exist.

The Xhosa

Xhosa is a linguistic rather than ethnic term and it was the dialect spoken in what today is the mostly the Eastern Cape. These Xhosa-speaking people were also known as Cape Nguni and they were historically hunters, herdsman and subsistance farmers.

The Tsonga

A relatively small group that live close to the Kruger National Park in Mpumalanga and the Limpopo Province. The Tsonga were traders who migrated from present-day Mozambique in the early 1800's.

The San

The ancestors of the San were nomads who hunted animals and gathered plants. They were probably the earliest inhabitants of southern Africa, with archeological sites dating back 10 000 years containing artifacts that link them with present day San.

The Pedi

The Pedi are another group that were part of the Sotho speaking people and are also known as Northern Sotho. They populate areas within present day Mpumalanga and the Limpopo Province.

The Ntwana

This small and relatively unknown group of Tswana origin and Pedi influences, is concentrated around the chief village, Kwarrielaagte in Mpumalanga, which was a white farm that was purchased by them in 1903.

The Venda

Found mostly in the north of the Limpopo Province (although also found in south-eastern Zimbabwe). The Venda's origins come from an amalgamation of groups such as Khoisan, Nguni and the early Iron Age people and have historic links with the Great Zimbabwe Kingdom.

The Basotho

Today the main concentration of the Basotho live in Lesotho and the Free State although they used to live throughout the Highveld area. They are part of the larger Sotho structure and were fused together as a nation under chief Moshoeshoe in the 1800's when he successfully warded off Shaka's armies by defending themselves in the mountains of Lesotho.

The Tswana

Also part of the Sotho group, the Tswana historically lived on the Highveld with the Basotho and are now spread from the east of Northern Cape, southern Botswana, throughout the North West Province, Gauteng and northwest of the Limpopo Province. Today they are divided into many local chiefdoms whose size differ enormously