The People

South Africa as a Multi-Ethnic Society

Author: Godfrey Mwakikagile

Paperback: 252 pages

Publisher: Continental Press (19 June 2010)

ISBN-10: 9987932231

ISBN-13: 9789987932238

Part III:

The People

ALTHOUGH South Africa is one of the largest countries in Africa in terms of area and population, it has one of the smallest numbers of ethnic groups – or tribes – on the entire continent.

To illustrate the point, here are two examples: The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a country of comparable size in terms of population, has about 200 ethnic groups; and Tanzania, which is bigger than Nigeria in terms of area but with only about a third of Nigeria's population – roughly 40 million – has about 130 ethnic groups.

By remarkable contrast, South Africa has fewer than 20. Yet it has the biggest population among all the countries of Southern Africa.

We are going to take a look at some of South Africa's ethnic groups to get a better understanding of this vibrant nation which is also, in many ways, the beacon of Africa and one of the most influential countries in the entire Third World.

South Africa has about 45 million people. About 31 million of them are black African, 5 million white, 3 million Coloured, and I million of Asian origin, mostly Indian.

South Africa's population also is one of the most complex and diverse in the entire world. And on the African continent, South Africa has the largest number of whites, people of mixed race, and those of Asian origin. No other country on the continent comes even close to that.

The black African population is divided into four major ethnic groups, quite often with overlapping identities in terms of culture among the major groups and others within each of those groups mainly because of their common origin and shared history.

The four main groups are the Nguni, the Sotho, the Shangaan-Tsonga, and the Venda.

There are many subgroups. The Zulu are the largest, and the Xhosa the second-largest. Both belong to the Nguni main group.

Among whites, Afrikaans constitute the largest group. They make up 60 per cent of the white population. The remaining 40 per cent are mainly of British descent, although there are other people of European origin who are included in this percentage but on a much smaller scale.

People of mixed race, collectively known as Coloureds, live mostly in the Northern Cape and Western cape Provinces. And most of the Indians live in KwaZulu-Natal. Afrikaners are concentrated in Gauteng and Free State, and most whites of British descent live in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces.

There are eleven official languages, as we learnt earlier: English, Afrikaans, Zulu, Xhosa, Tsonga, Tswana, Ndebele, Swazi, Venda, Sepedi, and Southern Sotho. They are different, yet many of them are related.

The people who belong to the Bantu linguistic family in South Africa migrated from the area of East and Central Africa which includes the Great Lakes region.

The Bantu people who migrated to South Africa from this region are collectively known as Nguni. And they are divided into two major groups: the Northern Nguni, and the Southern Nguni.

The Northern Nguni include the Zulu; the Swazi; and the Shangaan who are found on both sides of the South African-Mozambican border.

The Southern Nguni include the Xhosa who constitute the largest group in this Southern Nguni family. Other Southern Nguni groups include the Thembu and the Mpondo who are also subgroups of the Xhosa.

And four of South Africa's 11 official language are Nguni languages: isiZulu, isXhosa, isiNdebele, and siSwati. Each of these languages has regional variants and dialects which are often mutually intelligible.

The Nguni social structure was also different from that of other groups such as the Northern Sotho whose homesteads were consolidated into villages. Before the 19^th century, the Nguni did not have that. They had dispersed households, not villages.

And cattle were a very important part of their economy and social life. They also grew crops and did some hunting.

Their system of government revolved around small chiefdoms which were not united before the 18^th century. But the people were also free to leave and join another chiefdom or form their own if they were not satisfied with th leadership.

There were some larger chiefdoms which sometimes controlled smaller ones, but such control was limited and did not last for more than a generation or two. Probably the main reason they did not last long is that the people resented too much control and hated dictatorship, in spite of their great loyalty to a ruler who was good to them.

One of the most prominent Nguni groups that evolved through the years were the Zulu who still exist today as a powerful ethnic entity.

The Zulu, whose correct name is amaZulu according to themselves, believe that they are descended from a leader named Zulu who was born a Nguni chief in the Congo Basin area centuries ago.

In the 16^th century, they migrated south and eventually settled in the eastern part of South Africa, an area now known as KwaZulu-Natal.

When they arrived in South Africa, they came into contact with the San and adopted many of their customs. They also borrowed some words from the San and other linguistic features.

During the reign of Shaka, who was the leader of the Zulu nation from 1816 to 1828, the Zulu were the most powerful kingdom in South Africa and a formidable military force.

And they have remained an influential force in South African life throughout the nation's history.

The basic unit of Zulu society was imizi, a homestead consisting of an extended family. Obligations to the well-being of this social unit were determined by gender. Men were responsible for defending the family members, building homes, taking care of cattle, making farm implements as well as weapons. And women were responsible for growing and taking care of crops on land near the family compounds.

Zulu chiefs collected large amounts of tribute and taxes from their subjects and in many cases they became very wealthy. They also commanded large armies and invaded weaker chiefdoms, annexing them. Men who distinguished themselves in war enhanced their status and became leaders. Shaka, who was a warrior, is a typical example. He became a leader and built the Zulu empire. He began building the empire in 1817 but after his death less than 10 years later in 1828, the Zulu empire disintegrated.

However, the Zulu survived as a single ethnic entity, even if not under one leadership, and their common culture played a major role in holding the people together, as did their common history including pride in the Zulu empire that once reigned supreme over a vast expanse of territory in southern Africa. This ethnic consciousness among the Zulu is still very strong even today.

The Zulu are known throughout the world as formidable fighters, clearly demonstrated by their prowess in the wars against the British during the conquest of South Africa in the 19^th century during which they inflicted heavy casualties on the imperial forces, although they were eventually defeated.

They are also well-known for their bead-work and basketry as well as music.

They are mostly farmers and raise cattle. One of the most important crops they grow is maize, an integral part of their diet together with vegetables and meat.

The men and the boys take care of the cows, and till the land, while women do most of the planting and harvesting in addition to the responsibilities they have at home raising children and taking care of the household.

Although many Zulus are Christians, there are those who still adhere to their traditional religion. And even among some of those who practice Christianity, traditional religious beliefs still play a role in their lives, in varying degrees depending on individual and family interests.

Zulu traditional religion is based on the existence of a Supreme Being called Nkulunkulu. The Zulu also believe that the dead, ancestors in the spiritual realm, still play a major role in the afffairs of the living. Guidance is sought from them through divination, enabling the living to interact with the spirit world.

Divination is usually done by a woman endowed with powers beyond those of ordinary men and women. This is a sangoma and she plays a prominent role in the daily lives of the Zulu.

Almost any bad thing in life is attributed to forces beyond man's control, either witchcraft or offended spirits, but it is not beyond the intervention of the ancestors to intercede with the spirit world on behalf of the living and make life better for them.

Traditional religion was deeply entrenched in Zulu society for centuries and when Europeans introduced Christianity, the new faith did not find read acceptance among the Zulu and had difficulty gaining a foothold among them. And when it did, it was in syncretic form, with modification.

One of the most important figures in the history of the Zulu in terms of religion is Isaiah Shambe, considered a Zulu messiah, who merged Christianity with Zulu religion. He preached a form of Christianity which incorporated traditional religious beliefs into the new religion, a hybrid which found more acceptance among the Zulu than the teachings of Christianity introduced by Europeans did.

The Zulu also play a unique role in South Africa today. Although apartheid is now history, at least in the legal sense, and the all the people of South now have equal rights under the law, the Zulu have been a major opposition to the ruling African National Congress (ANC) since the end of white minority rule in 1994.

When the country was going through a transitional phase in the early 1990s, the Zulu demanded a federal form of government with extensive powers given to regional governments.

But they did not achieve their goal. However, they succeeded in defeating the African National Congress in elections in their home province, KwaZulu-Natal, and voted into office the opposition party, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) which is, for a ll practical purposes, a Zulu party.

Many Zulus are also opposed to the ruling African National Congress (ANC) because they see it as a Xhosa party. In fact, the most prominent leaders of the ANC have been Xhosa. They include Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki and his father Govan Mbeki, Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo, and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.

Other prominent Xhosas are Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe, leader of the Pan-Africanist Congeress (PAC); Steve Biko, Bishop Desmond Tutu, Chris Hani, Mariam Makeba, and Hugh Masekela.

But simply because most of the most prominent leaders of the African National Congress during the struggle against apartheid and after the end of white minority rule were Xhosa does not mean that the ANC is a Xhosa party, whose detractors sometimes disparagingly refer to as La Xhosa Nostra.

One of the reasons a large number of Xhosas emerged as leaders of national stature during the struggle against apartheid and some of them eventually became national leaders after the end of white minority rule is that they were involved in the trade union movement and other activist organisations in relatively higher numbers than members of of other ethnic groups.

The most prominent Zulu of national stature is Jacob Zuma who once served as vice president under President Thabo Mbeki and was later elected the national leader of the ruling party, the African National Congress, in December 2007, paving the way for him to become the president of South Africa in 2009.

He also had overwhelming support among his people, the Zulu, in spite of their misgivings with the ruling ANC and remained solidly behind the Zulu-dominated Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) led by Chief Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi, a leader determined to preserve Zulu identity on the basis of regional autonomy within the context of South Africa as a single political entity. As he states:

“My party is committed to a federation....Personally, I believe in self-determination, but in the context of one South Africa - so that my self-determination is based in this region, and with my people....The IFP (Inkatha Freedom Party) is here to put into practice what we preach.

All of our forebears contributed to what South Africa has become. That does not, however, mean that I must apologise to anyone for being born a Zulu, or for having that culture....

So long as the Zulu people are here, clearly I will still have a role to play in this country....

We have our own history, our own language, our own culture. But our destiny is also tied up with the destinies of other people - history has made us all South Africans.” - ( Chief Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi, in Mangosuthu Buthelezi Quotes).

The Zulu are very proud of their culture and traditions and speak one of the most well-known languages in Africa and in the entire world.

The Zulu language is spoken by 24 per cent of South Africa's population as the first language. It is spoken by 10 - 11 million people, the Zulu, who also constitute about 24 per cent of the country's population. There are Zulus who live in Swaziland and in Lesotho as well as in other countries but most of them live in South Africa.

Smaller numbers of Zulus also live in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Although the language is spoken mostly by the Zulu, about 50 per cent of the people in South Africa – including many immigrants and other foreigners – understand Zulu. Many of them also speak the language, some fluently.

Zulu belongs to the Nguni group and is a Bantu language like most in South Africa. And it shares a special characteristic and affinity with another language, Xhosa, which also belongs to the Nguni group and is a Bantu language like Zulu. The two languages – Zulu and Xhosa – are the only two languages in South Africa that are mutually understandable.

The correct name of the language among the Zulu themselves is isZulu, although non-Zulus usually and simply call it Zulu.

The Zulu language evolved through the centuries by incorporating many sounds from the San and from the Khoi who are acknowledged as the first inhabitants of South Africa before a wave of Bantu immigration from the north swept across the region and supplanted them.

The clicking consonants in the Zulu language are clear evidence of their origin from the San and from the Khoi languages.

South African English has also incorporated a number of Zulu words into its vocabulary. The words ubuntu (humanity) and indaba (conference) are some of the examples. Others words of Zulu origin used in South Africa and elsewhere are impala and mamba (the snake – black mamba or green mamba).

It is one of the most widely used languages in South Africa because many people say it is not difficult to learn and it is easily understood.

Its sister language, Xhosa, is the second most widely spoken language, after Zulu, among many black South Africans.

It is spoken by about 18 per cent of South Africa's population. That's about 8 million people, mostly Xhosa. They are usually known as amaXhosa in South Africa and wanted to identified that way as a people. And their language is known as isiXhosa.

The Xhosa are closely related to the Zulu and migrated from the same region of the Great Lakes region in East and central Africa as the Zulu and other Nguni-speaking people.

Some of the ancestors of the Xhosa today arrived in what is now the Eastern Cape Province before the 1400s. And others came later in the 1500s and 1600s.

When they encountered the Khoi in the eastern Cape, conflict ensued in some cases, leading to the elimination and even enslavement of some of the Khoisan speakers. But in general, the Khoi, also known as Khoikhoi, were absorbed and integrated into Xhosa society without any problems.

Most Xhosas were cattle herders or farmers. Some were hunters. Besides maize, sorghum was another impotant crop as it is still today among the Xhosa. They also grew tobacco. Men also earned a living n the fields of woodwork and ironwork.

Tradititionally, Xhosa homesteads were organised on the basis of family ties and were patrilineal. The lineal descendants together with other related groups constituted the basis of the Xhosa social structure.

The building blocks of Xhosa society were also responsible for ensuring the survival and continuation of their bloodline by making sacrifices to the ancestors, by helping each other, and by carefully arranging marriages with neighbouring clans or lineages.

They are a heterogeneous group who have absorbed other groups through the centuries. Some of the most prominent Xhosa groups are the Pondo, or Mpondo, and Thembu both of which have produced prominent figures in South African history. Nelson Mandela came from the Thembu royal family, and Oliver Tambo came from the Pondo group as did Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.

The name Xhosa has an interesting origin. It does not come from Xhosa but from the Khoisan language and it means “angry men.”

The Xhosa language is well-known for its click sound, a feature which make it difficult for many foreigners to learn although there are those who do. It has 15 different clicks, each with a different meaning.

There are other languages which also involve tongue-clicking, like Xhosa, and they are all of Khoisan origin. The Xhosa language is also representative of the South-western's Nguni family of languages and it's spoken everywhere in the Cape Province which is the native land of the Xhosa people.

There are also many Xhosas in the Western Cape Province and in Johannesburg and it's very common to hear them speak their language. There are also many Zulus in Johannesburg.

The Xhosa language is also spoken in Lesotho, Swaziland and Botswana, although in smaller numbers. And almost 45 per cent of all the people in South Africa speak Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele or Swati as their first language. The rest speak other Bantu languages as well as others including English and Afrikaans as their native language.

Although the term Xhosa is commonly used by outsiders to identify a Xhosa or the Xhosa people, the appropriate term to identify a Xhosa, or Xhosas, is to use the term amaXhosa. Any amaXhosa man or woman will tell you that's the right term to use.

Like all the other black South African groups, the Xhosa have been in South Africa for a long time.

They migrated south probably from what is today the southern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

They travelled through central Africa and further down along the east coast until they arrived in the eastern part of the Cape. They settled in South Africa before the 1500s long before the white man arrived.

The first people the Xhosa came into contact with in South Africa were Khoisan-speaking people: the San and the Khoi, so-called Bushmen and Hottentots.

A lot of intermingling including intermarriage took place between them through the years. One of the most enduring results of this interaction was in the area of language.

The Xhosa borrowed many words including pronunciation from the Khoisan languages, as did the Zulu and other Bantu groups who migrated to South Africa, and this influence is clearly evident even today in black South African languages.

The click sounds of Khoisan languages are common in Xhosa, Zulu and other Bantu languages in South Africa. It is an enduring legacy, and that is why it is only the southern Bantu languages which have these sounds.

You don't find such sounds, for example, in Nyanja or Chewa spoken in Malawi, or in Nyamwezi and Hehe or Sukuma which are some of the native languages spoken in Tanzania, or in Bemba, the main indigenous language spoken in Zambia.

Many Khoisan-speaking people were also absorbed by the dominant Bantu groups through the years and became an integral part of those groups; the Zulu and the Xhosa being the most prominent. In fact one of the Xhosa clans, Gqunkhwebe, is of Khoisan origin. The Xhosa have a number of clans.

And physical features of the San and the Khoi are clearly evident among many Xhosas because of the intermarriage which has taken place through the centuries. One of the best examples is Nelson Mandela who, especially in his advanced years, clearly showed he had some of the facial physical features identified with the San and the Khoi, so-called Bushmen and Hottentots; so did Walter Sisulu from his mother's side – his father, a railway worker, was a white man of British origin.

So, there has been a lot of intermingling, including intermarriage, through the centuries among the Xhosa, as has been the case with other African groups, but as a people the Xhosa have maintained their identity as a distinct group and without compromising their essence.

When whites first settled in the Cape Province in the middle of the 17^th century, the Xhosa were already living far inland and did not come into conflict with the white settlers until around 1770 when the Boers moved east – from the Cape in the west – towards Xhosaland.

Both the Boers and the Xhosa were stock-farmers and competition for land led to conflict between the two groups which culminated in a series of wars which went on for about 100 years.

As the colonial settlers became stronger, they started annexing land from the Xhosa. Annexation of land led to subjugation of the indigenous people – a policy pursued elsewhere with equally devastating results – and, by the middle of the nineteenth century, in the 1850s, almost all the land that had been inhabited by the Xhosa was under white control.

And during apartheid, the white government dominated by Afrikaners declared that the Xhosa would be confined to two homelands, or Bantustans, Ciskei and Transkei in what is now the Eastern Cape Province, a traditional Xhosa stronghold.

The Xhosa are closely related to the Zulu, the Swati, and the Ndebele; and so are their languages, of course. Their languages are mutually intelligible but they are considered to be separate languages mainly for cultural reasons because each group wants to maintain its unique identity.

There are political considerations as well, reinforced by ethnic pride and a sense of nationalism, derived from the fact that all these people separately constitute “nations,” as they indeed were before they were conquered by Europeans and brought under one control.

In terms of life style, the Xhosa are mainly farmers and cattle owners like most black African groups whose languages belong to the Bantu family.

They are also the most southern group of the Bantu immigrants from Central Africa.

The Xhosa also have a very rich culture.

As in most parts of Africa, men play a dominant role in Xhosa society. And a boy becomes a man when his father determines that he is ready to go to the "hut".

He is set apart for a period of up to 6 weeks in which he is circumcised and taught the traditions of his people. Teaching ancestor worship is an important part of this time. This is typically done between 12 and 18 years of age. After this time, he is free to get married.

Marriages are arranged by the families. The family of the boy approaches the family of the girl and begins "negotiations". The lobola, or bride price, must also be agreed upon. It is typically 10 cows or the equivalent in money.

The bride is “captured” by the groom's family and taken to live with them; a practice also traditionally common among the Nyakyusa of Tanzania.

Among the Xhosa, traditionally, after the bride has been “captured,” she and the groom are considered to be married. But if they are Christians, they go to the church for a two-day service in which one day is spent in the groom's village and the other in the bride's village.

Although Christianity and Western ways are no longer new among the Xhosa, ancestor worship still plays a very prominent role among the Xhosa.

Traditionally, hey believe the ancestors reward those who venerate them and punish those who neglect them. Many Xhosas mix ancestor worship with their Christian faith.

And there is a strong sense of loyalty among the people as members of the community or tribe. Most things are shared and those that have more are expected to share more. This is ubuntu.

The Xhosa are also well-known for their bead-work. Traditionally, their garments and ornamentation reflected the stages of a woman’s life: a certain headdress was worn by a newly married girl; a different style by one who had given birth to her first child, and so on.

And Xhosa men traditionally fulfilled the roles of warrior, hunter and stockman; while the women looked after the land and the crops.

The land was communally held and great emphasis was placed on giving according to need. Everything was shared, in bad times as well as good. And Xhosa families still routinely help one another with such tasks as hut-building, a practice also traditionally common among some of the other African tribes.

Among the Nyakyusa of Tanzania, it was common even in the 1950s and 1960s among some people for a man to ask other men to come and help him build a house and even till the land, after which they feasted, eating plenty of food and drinking locally brewed alcohol called ubwalwa.

Tilling the land collectively, called ndimila in Nyakyusa, was highly functional and productive. It is also part of ubundu, as the Nyakyusa call it, and what the Xhosa and others in South Africa call ubuntu.

Also, traditional religion is central to life among the Xhosa and is one of the most powerful forces binding the people together. Legends of the Xhosa play the same role, also reinforcing their identity.

Xhosa legends or folklore have a lot in common with those of the other black African groups of Nguni origin such as the Zulu and Swazi.

Acknowledgement and recognition of the presence and power of the departed ancestors as an integral part of the living and of a Supreme Being, are basic elements of belief among the Xhosa.

Bad things which happen in life including illness are attributed to evil forces of supernatural origin; for example, tokoloshe, a hairy and potentially malevolent goblin who attacks at night.

Other entities include the huge lightning bird called impundudu, and the gentle aBantu bomlambo, supernatural beings in human form whom the Xhosa believe live in rivers and in the sea and who are said to accept into their family human beings who perish in the water, for example, from drowning.

Interestingly enough, the word impundudu is almost identical to the word imbututu the Nyakyusa of Tanzania use for a very large black bird. The difference is that while impundudu among the Xhosa is a large supernatural bird, imbututu in Nyakyusaland is natural bird.

And the term imbututu - also mbututu depending on the context in which the term is used if you know the Nyakyusa language as I do - is also used as a plural term. There are many such birds and they flock together.

I saw the birds myself in the 1950s and 1960s in Rungwe District, the homeland of the Nyakyusa, in Mbeya region in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania.

They were very large black birds with red beaks and they flew low every evening from a village called Nkuju to another village called Mpumbuli where they landed in some bushes not far from a river called Lubalisi which runs through that village.

The birds landed on a patch of land about 50 yards behind the family houses owned by two neighbours, Elijah Mwakikagile and Elijah Nsumbwe in Mpumbuli village in an area called Kyimbila about 4 miles south of the town of Tukuyu, the district headquarters of Rungwe District.

I saw those birds many times in that area and they made a lot of deep, low-pitched noise, singing in unison. Compared to the singing, or chirping, of other birds, that of the mbututu was like bass guitar.

I don't know the origin of the term imbututu, or mbututu, among the Nyakyusa, but the fact that these were very large birds – just as the impundudu is among the Xhosa – and their Nyakyusa name is almost identical to the one used by the Xhosa to describe a mystical bird in their culture, raises interesting questions in terms of common origin of many black African groups and their traditional beliefs.

It's very much possible that the term imbututu among the Nyakyusa also once referred to a mystical bird with supernatural influence in their lives, and the large black birds with red beaks they call imbututu or mbututu and which do exist in real life, remind them of that.

And among the Xhosa this huge, mystical lightning bird they call impundudu is as real in their traditional religious beliefs as the real, physical imbututu is among the Nyakyusa.

Such beliefs, deeply rooted in traditional religion, are common even today among most African tribes, although modernisation – which is mostly identified as a Western phenomenon of which Christianity and Western values constitute an integral part – has had a significant impact on some Africans who now shun those beliefs. Some do so only publicly while they continue to practise them privately.

Still, there is no question that traditional beliefs remain very strong and are central to the lives of the vast majority of Africans including those who have come under Western influence. The Xhosa are just some of those people.

Others include members of different tribes in Tanzania, besides the Nyakyusa, whom I have also included in this work for comparative analysis. As Sosthenes Mwita, stated in his article in the Daily News, Dar es Salaam, Tanzaania, 17 June 2008, entitled, “Rukwa Famous for Bizarre Cultures and Uncanny Superstition”:

“Sumbawanga, the name of the administrative capital of Rukwa region, has an intriguing history. Though scanty and even hard to come by, available documentation dates back to 1914. Equally intriguing is the culture of the dominant tribe in Rukwa region – the Wafipa.

Before 1914 Sumbawanga was called 'Sumbu Wanga', which translates loosely to “discard your amulets” or “do not come here with fetishes of witchcraft,” in the dialect of the highly superstitious Wafipa of the time.

A history booklet shows that the general fear among the Wafipa at that time was that some strangers could be better-skilled witchdoctors or magicians who could commit heinous atrocities given the chance.

The settlement’s name appeared to warn strangers who had the temerity to come to 'Sumbu Wanga' against taking the ‘offensive and diabolical’ tools of their trade with them, lest they tangle with equally dangerous local magicians.

By 1929 the name of the settlement (Sumba Wanga) was adopted as the name of the administrative capital of the then Native African Authority. In 1950, the Ufipa District Council was installed.

However, as years rolled on, 'Sumbu Wanga' changed to Sumbawanga, the blame mainly coming from newcomers. By 1982 Sumbawanga town became a township through Act. No. 8 of the Local Government Authorities (LGAs).

The township had a population of 61,223 residents by then. Today, the Rukwa region has a population of 1,141,743 residents, going by the 2002 National Census and the forecast for last year was 1,349,749 people, according to National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) figures.

Major languages spoken in Rukwa region include; Kiswahili, Kifipa, Kimambwe, Kilungu, Kikonongo and Kinyamwanga. With the exception of Kiswahili, the other spoken languages are local vernacular. Other tribal settings in Rukwa include Wandende and Wapimbwe.

The main regional staple foods are mainly maize, rice and beans. In some parts of Lake Tanganyika and Lake Rukwa , cassava, fish and rice are the main source of food. Other food crops widely available include groundnuts, finger-millet and sweet potatoes.

The list of foods also includes round potatoes, sorghum, wheat and sugarcane. Meat is easily available from the pastoral communities that traditionally keep varieties of domestic animals such as cattle, goats, chicken, rabbits and pigeons. But rats and mice are also a favoured delicacy in some areas in Mpanda district.

The Wafipa, the largest tribal setting in Rukwa region, still have intriguing cultural norms and tenets of behaviour. Most Wafipa eat stiff porridge (ugali) cooked from finger-millet flour. Invariably, the ugali goes with beans or an occasional snack of rat or mouse meat popularly known as koe.

The Wafipa are hardworking farmers, who also grow maize, rice, groundnuts and sunflowers. Bumper harvests of maize and rice are a normal occurrence in Rukwa region. Nearly all Wafipa families use oxen-drawn ploughs to till the land.

Mr James Tuseko (71) an elderly man from the Wafipa tribe, says most households in his community raise an average of 12 head of cattle. However, most Wafipa, he says, do not drink milk. All milk is fed to dogs and house cats.

Among the Wafipa tribe, it is widely believed that witchcraft makers, mostly elderly men can make rain. The same miracle-makers can dispel or delay the onset of rain, according to Ms Wamweru Kataushanga, a rain-maker who has now laid down her tools.

The Wafipa are widely believed to be “very generous” people. However, some Wafipa men can be unforgiving if you steal or vandalize their property especially farm produce.

Wife-stealing is a cardinal sin that is punished heavily. An adulterous man who steals another man’s wife is, consequently, hit by a powerful thunderbolt. The ominous signs of such an attack start with an insignificant gathering of rain clouds.

The resulting drizzle is said to be accompanied by thunder strikes, one of which hits the “wife-thief” with pinpoint precision, killing him instantly. Normally, the victim of such harsh punishment is one who has defied repeated warnings from the aggrieved husband.

Such weird punishments are believed to be meted out most prevalently in Nkasi district. Mr Tuseko says the man who suffered a similar fate was a police officer who had annoyed village elders

Mr Tuseko says the officer made frequent unwelcome visits on the fringes of Sumbawanga where he harassed villagers demanding favours corruptly, exacting torture and making arbitrary arrests.

He was, consequently, struck by lightning as he watched a game of soccer at a stadium. The bizarre aspect in this attack was that although the victim was seated in the middle of a thick crowd of spectators, he was the only one who was singled out for death.

Those seated close to him suffered minor burns and recovered after a few days. The Wafipa have a delightful dance called nsimba.

Ms, Nakama Nachirima (64) a former dancer, says music tools comprise two or three pots that vary in size; three-legged stools (one for each pot), a whistle and small stringed bells that are worn round the ankles. The pots are placed on the ground upside down, resting on their lids. The stools are placed on top of each upended pot. Skilled music makers twitch the stools in such a way that their legs tap on the pots, producing a scintillating rhythmical sound.

Each pot produces a different melodious sound, depending on its size. Women, mostly in Kitenge or khanga uniform, shake their shoulders, nod their heads and stomp their feet on the ground in tempo to the rhythm. In the heat of the moment, men join the fray.

The Wadende, who inhabit a portion of Mpanda district, are another tribal setting who has confounding culture. The Wadende are largely hunters and gatherers. They mainly thrive on meat, fruits and honey.

The Cultural Officer for Sumbawanga Rural district, Mr James Chelelo, says the Wadende are blamed for game hunting. “They mainly target small hoofed animals such as antelopes and gazelles,” he says.

The Wadende live on the fringes of Katavi National Park where they hunt almost with impunity. Among the Wadende, each household owns a homemade gun. The Wadende are also skilled users of poison-tip arrows and spears.

According to Mr Chelelo, the Wadende till the land albeit at a small scale growing maize and beans but their consumption of stiff porridge (ugali) is minimal. They also happen to inhabit mineral rich land, thus, some are small-scale miners.

The Wadende are also skilled beekeepers. It is uncommon to find a Wandende household which does not have a pot or calabash full of honey. Rukwa region came into being in 1974 when parts of Mbeya and Tabora regions were split to form a new region.”

A lot of things the Wafipa and members of other tribes do in Tanzania – as well as in other parts of East, Central and Southern Africa – have striking similarities to what the people of black South African tribes do.

As in many other African tribes, the Xhosa in South Africa also have diviners.

A diviner plays many roles in Xhosa life besides being a traditional healer. A diviner also acts as an intermediary between the physical and the spirit world.

They are traditional doctors providing medicine, herbs and other traditional cures, for physical ailments. They also help people who suffer from mental and even provide psychological counseling in many areas. In Western medicine and health and mental care, diviner or traditional healer among the Xhosa and other African societies would be the equivalent of a conventional doctor, psychiatrist and psychologist – all rolled into one.

The diviners – or sangoma – among the Xhosa, the Zulu and many other black ethnic groups in southern Africa – are mostly women.

Among the Xhosa, they wear a shawl and headdress of fur most of the time. And they must undergo training under the guidance of a senior healer or healers before they start treating patients. It takes about five years working as an assistant to a diviner before you graduate and become one yourself.

Initiation rites differ in many ways between different African peoples. One of the most common practices among many groups is circumcision. But with increasing urbanisation many groups have abandoned circumcision even though some individuals are circumcised for their own reasons including health.

Initiation takes many forms. Among the Xhosa, the youths whiten their bodies and wear a white blanket or sheepskin to ward off evil. During the ceremonies, enlivened by energetic dances, they wear costumes made from reeds, and at the end of the lengthy initiation period – spent in isolation from the rest of the community – the specially-built huts in which the young men have been living are ceremoniously burned.

Like most Africans across the continent, the majority of the Xhosa continue to live in the traditional way, and their tribal customs and traditions have remained virtually intact for centuries; as has their life style. Traditional mud-brick huts without running water or electricity still dot the hillsides, personal wealth is still measured primarily in terms of how many cows a man owns, and initiation of the youth into manhood is still common. Young boys going through their coming-of-age ceremony are called abaKwetha.

Maize is the main part of their diet. But they also eat a variety of foods. In many Xhosa homes, meals are accompanied by a traditional beer called umquomboti.

Music also is very important in the lives of the Xhosa. Some of the most internationally renowned musicians and singers are Xhosa. They include Miriam Makeba and Hugh Masekela.

Many Xhosas sing and dance to traditional music. Also a wide range of acapella and gospel choirs give regular performances on different occasions not only in Xhosaland in the Eastern cape Province but also in other parts o the country. They include Amatombazana, Black Mambazo, Bomvana Mamas, the Peace Brothers, and the Phandalwazi community choir.

And as a people, the Xhosa have had profound on South Africa throughout the nation's history. And they played a major role in the struggle for freedom from white minority which black South Africans endured for more than three centuries.

While the Zulu and the Xhosa constitute the two largest black African groups in South Africa, Afrikaners are the biggest group among South Africans of European descent. And their language evolved on African soil.

In fact, the majority of South African whites use Afrikaans as their first or second language. Even many blacks, including some leaders such as Nelson Mandela, speak Afrikaans.

Afrikaans is also widely spoken in Namibia and by a significant number of people in Botswana, Zimbabwe and other countries.

The name for the language, Afrikaans, is Dutch which means “African.” It is also the first language among Coloureds who are a product of intermarriage.

The intermarriage took place among many groups. Immigrants from Indonesia and other parts of Asia as well as Madagascar intermarried with the Dutch and members of black African groups - especially the Khoikoi in the beginning in the Cape Province and later with others - to produce a distinct group of people known as Coloureds with their own unique identity.

And they have closely identified themselves with the Dutch culture – the culture of Afrikaners including the Afrikaans language – more than anything else in South Africa.

In fact 90 per cent of the Coloureds speak Afrikaans as their first language, contrasted with 60 per cent of whites who also speak Dutch. Therefore there are more Coloureds who speak Afrikaans as their first language than whites do. And whites who speak this language are mostly of Dutch origin.

Although Afrikaans is of Dutch origin in many respects, it differs from Dutch in terms of grammar and vocabulary. It is, in fact, an African language in the sense that it was created on African soil, evolved on African soil, and has incorporated many words from black South African languages through the centuries.

The evolution of Afrikaans can be compared to that of Kiswahili, also known as Swahili, in some respects. Afrikaans is not a typical African language because a very large part of its vocabulary is of Dutch origin.

By remarkable contrast, Swahili is considered to be a “typical” African language because most of its vocabulary is African. Also its grammar and syntax is African. Yet, it is not a “typical” African language like Zulu or Shona or Kikuyu or Igbo or Yoruba or Ewe or Bemba because about 25 per cent to 30 per cent of its vocabulary is of Arabic origin.

Therefore it is also partly Semitic, just as Afrikaans – a language of Dutch origin – is partly African in terms of vocabulary, and in terms of evolution, of course.

Swahili also has borrowed a few words from Persian, Portuguese, Hindi, and German.

Arabic words in Kiswahili, or Swahili, include raisi (from rais), which means president; waziri (from wazir), meaning cabinet minister; kahawa (coffee), sigara (cigarette); rafiki (friend); numbers – sita (six), saba (seven), tisa (nine); alhamisi (Thursday), and many other words in different areas of life.

From Persian, Swahili has borrowed chai (tea), diwani (councillor), serikali (government), achari (pickle), and others.

Words of Portuguese origin in Swahili include meza (table) from the Portuguese word mesa; pesa (money) from peso; leso (handkerchief), gereza (prison); sarafu (currency – money), and others.

From English - shati (shirt), basi (bus), baiskeli ( bicycle), koti (coat), and so on.

German contributions include shule (school), hela (German coin) and others.

From Hindi, chapati and other words.

And that's not unusual for evolving languages to borrow words and even concepts from other cultures. English, the most widely spoken language in the world, has done the same thing. So has Afrikaans.

A very large part of the vocabulary of Afrikaans is of South-Hollandic Dutch origin. But Afrikaans also has many words from English, Khoi, San, Xhosa, Malay, Malagasy, Portuguese, French and German.

There are many other ethnic groups which are an integral part of South Africa.

One of the four major black ethnic groups in South Africa is the Venda; the other three being the Nguni (whose members include the Zulu and the Xhosa among others); the Shangaan-Tsonga; and the Sotho.

The Venda live mostly in Limpopo Province in the northern part of South Africa.

There are about one million Vendas and their language is also known as Luvenda, Tshivenda or simply Venda.

Their native land was once a Bantustan during the apartheid era in what was then the Transvaal Province before it became part of Limpopo Province after the end of white minority rule.

Although the vast majority of the Venda live in South Africa, a significant number of them also live in Zimbabwe just across the border. About 84,000 Vendas live in Zimbabwe, while the rest live in South Africa mostly in Limpopo Province. A significant number of them also live in the Northern Province.

As with most of the black South Africans, the Venda migrated south from the area of the Great Lakes region which includes the Congo.

They first settled in a mountainous area in the northern part of South Africa. The mountains in this part were later named Soutpansberg Mountains by the Dutch who ruled South Africa.

Their native land in this part – of South Africa and southern Zimbabwe – is a lush, mountainous and remote region; a factor that also explains why their culture, language, arts and crafts have remained virtually intact for centuries.

They have never been conquered by either the neighbouring tribes or the white settlers.

This is partly due to the remote country in which they live, and also because of the natural protection of the mountains to the south and east, with the Limpopo River shielding them to the north.

The Venda constructed permanent stone towns similar in style to Great Zimbabwe, which lies north of the Limpopo River over the border and is thought to have once been the capital of an empire that stretched across much of southern Africa – there is also a Venda minority in Zimbabwe.

The Venda built their first capital, D’zata, in that area and the ruins of this old settlement can still be seen today. The ruins are some of the most important historical treasures in South Africa.

The large walled city at Dzata was built in the 16^th century, and there was a rich trade in ivory and slaves with the Arabs and Portuguese who were beginning to establish mercantile routes in the area.

The Venda first established the Mapungubwe kingdom in the northern part of South Africa in the 800s A.D. And their first king was Shiriyadenga.

The Mapungubwe Kingdom extended from the Soutpansberg Mountains in the south and across the Limpopo River all the way to Matopo Hills in what is now southern Zimbabwe, centuries before the Ndebele migrated north from South Africa and settled in this region which is now also known as Matebeland and part of the republic of Zimbabwe.

The Mapungubwe Kingdom gradually declined from 1240, and the centre of power and trade in the region moved north to the Great Zimbabwe Kingdom.

But in spite of the kingdom's decline, the Venda culture maintained its vitality. For example, south of the Limpopo River in South Africa, Venda and Shona-Venda pottery styles developed in the 14^th and in the 15^th centuries together with other cultural developments.

And although there are no stone-walled ruins in Limpopo Province comparable in stature and size to those of Great Zimbabwe in the northeastern part of the Northern Province (also of South Africa) there is definitely a strong cultural link between the two.

There was also a lot of intermingling between the Venda and the Shona. From around 1400, waves of Shona-speaking migrants from modern Zimbabwe - known by the Venda as Thavatsindi - settled across the Lowveld in South Africa, becoming an integral part of the communities in this region.

The Venda are generally regarded as one of the last black groups to have entered the area south of the Limpopo River.

Venda culture has retained its identity through the centuries. But it is also an eclectic mixture. There are many elements from the cultures of East and Central Africa. It also has some characteristics of Nguni and Sotho cultures. For example, the Venda practice male circumcision, which is common among many Sotho but not among most Nguni peoples. They also don't eat pork, a prohbition common among the people along the East African coast especially among Muslims.

Also British anthropologists Godfrey Wilson and Monica Wilson found out in their studies in the 1930s and 1940s among the Venda and the Nyakyusa of Tanzania, what was then Tanganyika, and of Malawi (then known as Nyasaland) that they shared a number of cultural characteristics.

Such similarities may indicate a common origin or cultural interaction and exchanges between different African groups in the region.

The Venda language, TshiVenda or LuVenda, emerged as a distinct dialect in the 16^th century. And in the 20^th century, the TshiVenda vocabulary was similar to SeSotho. But its grammar shares similarities with Shona dialects which are spoken in Zimbabwe.

The Venda are also culturally closer to the Shona people of Zimbabwe than they are to any other South African group. Also, their language has a lot of similarities with Shona and Northern Sotho. It has also been influenced by the Nguni languages in some ways.

Venda culture has also been influenced by the Lemba, the black African Jews, who settled in the same region where the Venda live. The Jewish ancestors of the Lemba travelled from Yemen to what is now Tanzania and Mozambique before moving further south.

The beads they brought with them from these countries are still treasured to this day and are used in divination and other ceremonies. The Lemba are very good traders and artisans and are also famous for their metalwork and pottery, all of which has had significant influence on the Venda.

Another highly significant result of this interaction between the Lemba and the Venda is that many Vendas now also claim to have Semitic or Jewish roots. And that is because the Lemba have become an integral part of the Venda community, although it's a subgroup, within the larger community, which jealously guards its unique identity because of its Jewish heritage.

The Venda also prohibit their people from dealing with unclean animals such as pigs just as the Lemba do, and they don't eat pork just as the Lemba don't. Even the names of the two groups are similar: There's not much difference between Lemba and Venda. They sound basically the same.

The claim by the Lemba that they have a Jewish heritage has been validated by science, including DNA tests done by South Africa's National Health Laboratory Services and the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.

The scientists examined the Y chromosomes of the Lemba and found that 50 per cent were of Semitic origin, showing that the group originated in the Middle East around 1000 years ago.

Moreover, this particular type of chromosome found among the Lemba is a highly distinctive. It is the same chromosome found only in a hereditary Jewish priesthood sect known as the Cohanim. Inclusion into the sect was handed from father to son thus retaining the original Y chromosome, meaning that it is now scientifically proven that the Lemba, and therefore many Venda, are indeed descended from the ancient Israelites.

It has also been determined that the members of this sect of Jewish priests are descendanats of Aron, brother of Moses, in the Old Testament.

The Venda have also intermarried with the Tsonga, Lobedu, Zulu, Swazi and other people, all of whom have had significant influence on Venda culture.

Many of them also still practise polygamy and traditional religious beliefs in which departed ancestors play a central role.

Also traditionally, there is an important social division in Venda society between commoners, called vhasiwana, and the children of chiefs and their descendants who are known as vhakololo.

The Venda have a strong mystical tradition, and consider lakes and rivers to be sacred.

Water plays a very important part in the religious beliefs of the Venda and there are many sacred sites where the Venda consult their ancestral spirits.

In traditional religion, the Venda believe that water spirits known as zwidutwane live at the bottom of waterfalls. These supernatural beings are only half-visible. They have one eye, one leg, and one arm. And this highly symbolic and of great religious significance in traditional worship aamong the Venda.

One half of these beings can be seen in this world and the other half in the spirit world. And traditionally, the Venda take offerings of food to them because the zwidutwane can not grow anything under water, in spite of their supernatural powers.

One of the most sacred sites of the Venda is Lake Fundudzi. There are many mythsa dn legends about the lake. It is fed by the Mutale River yet does not appear to have an outlet. It is also said that you can sometimes hear the Tshikona song although no one appears to be there. Tshikona is a Venda national dance.

The Venda are well known for their wood-carving, which has spiritual significance, and believe that the rains are controlled by the Python God, which lives in Lake Fundudzi.

Lake Fundudzi is consequently considered a sacred site, and visitors must obtain permission from the lake’s resident priestess before approaching it.

In Venda folklore, the lake is home to huge python which is celebrated by young girls in the Venda fertility dance. The python is the god of fertility.

Lake Funduzi, in Thathe Vondo forest and surrounded by mountains, is also home to the mythical white crocodile; which might indeed have existed since the lake has many large crocodiles even today. And no-one is allowed to bathe or swim in the lake.

The Domba Python Dance is held one a year. An offering of beer is poured into the lake and as the final stage of their initiation into womanhood, Venda girls line up in a single file and dance in long winding lines like a snake.

The Domba is also very important in securing good rains for the following season.

Therefore one of the most important rituals among the Venda is Domba, a pre-marital initiation.

It is also the last one in the life of a Venda girl or boy. The chief formally announces the beginning of a Domba and preparations are made by the families for their girls to be ready and to prepare what’s necessary to attend the ceremony.

It is a rite of passage attended by both boys and girls who have previously attended other separate initiations for each gender, Vusha and Tshikanda for girls, and Murundu for boys when boys are also circumcised. The circumcision done during this rite was adopted from the North Sotho.

Only girls attend the Domba which has two main functions: teaching girls how to prepare themselves to become wives - birth planning, giving birth and child care, and how to treat a husband; and bringing fertility to the new generation of the tribe.

Many rituals are very special to the Venda and some of them are kept secret and not discussed with outsiders. But it is common knowledge that the python dance conducted at the female coming-of-age ceremony is usually where the chief chooses a wife.

Girls and boys dance fluidly, moving around like a snake, to the beat of a drum, while forming a chain by holding the forearm of the person in front.

And once a wife has been chosen, a number of courtship and grooming rituals take place during a period of a number of days.

The Tshikona is traditionally a male dance in which each player has a pipe made out of a special indigenous type of bamboo growing only in few places around Sibasa and Thohoyandou (which no longer exists). Each player has one note to play, which has to be played in turn, in such a way as to build a melody.

The Tshikona is a royal dance. Each ruler or chief has his own Tshikona band. Tshikona is played at various occasions for funerals, wedding or religious ceremonies. In many important ways, it is indeed the Venda national dance or music, especially to the Venda who are indigenous to South Africa.

The Tshigombela is a female dance usually performed by married women. It is a festive dance sometimes performed at the same time as Tshikona.

There is another type of dance, Tshifhasi, which is similar to Tshigombela but it's performed by young unmarried girls who are known as khomba.

Drums are are very important in Venda culture. And there are legends and symbols linked to them. Most sets of drums are kept in the homes of chiefs and headmen and comprise one ngoma, one thungwa, and two or three murumba.

Drums are often given personal names and are always played by women and girls except in during some dances involving religious rituals when men may play them.

The Venda are known to be very artistic and produce many fascinating arts and crafts, with sculpture being particularly well-represented. Whether using wood or stone, the artist carves away the surplus material to reveal the true form or spirit of the object hidden underneath.

All this is easily dismissed by many people, especially Westerners, who see it as sheer superstition and witchcraft. But to the Venda, it is highly significant and central to their life and identity as a people. And it common among other tribes as well.

The Venda remain close to their ancestors through ancestral worship, and their art serves as a link and as a conduit to the world of spirits. Witchcraft is not viewed as an evil practice but a means to establish contact with the spirit world, usually when seeking guidance from the departed ancestors who remain an integral part of the living in almost every conceivable way.

Many Vendas go to traditional healers who diagnose their illnesses and then provide cures for them in consultation with the spirits in another realm which, despite its nature as an invisible world, is always inetricably linked with the physical world.

Ailments are cured or alleviated, for example, by making sacrifices and offerings, such as a chicken, to the ancestors and to appease the spirits. Herbs also are an integral part of the entire healing process, administered to those who have all kinds of physical, mental and even spiritual problems.

The Venda have maintained a solid traditional way of life, of which they are immensely proud, and continue to do so in spite of Western influence and modernisation which has spread in many parts of South Africa.

In the rural areas, cattle ownership is synonymous with wealth, and the lifestyle revolves around agriculture. Male and female roles are clearly defined, with the men responsible for livestock, ploughing and the building of huts, while the women do most of the harvesting as well as all the domestic duties.

Polygamy is still common, and due to the prosperity of the farmland, fewer men leave the area to work in the mines than is the case with many other tribes. As a result, traditional life has changed little over the years.

The Venda language is Bantu like all the other Black African languages spoken in South Africa except the Khoisan languages of the Khoi and the San.

And like all Bantu languages, Tshivenda is part of the Niger-Congo family which covers a vast expanse of territory stretching from Senegal in West Africa all the way to Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa and to central and southern Africa.

The Venda are some of the African people who continue to conduct their “national” life – as a Venda community – in the traditional way.

They have Tshivenda tribal councils of chiefs and elders who meet to discuss matters concerning their community, a form of government which is a practical alternative to western forms of government many African societies have adopted all the way down to the grassroots level with undesirable results in many cases.

Music is also very important in the Venda way of life, not only for entertainment but because of its cultural and religious significance and as a form of kinship binding the people together as a cohesive entity. It is an integral part of daily life among the Venda, unlike in many African societies across the continent where many people don't value music very much or as much as some members of different ethnic groups do.

The Venda have music almost for every event in their lives. There is music for worship. There is music for sadness.

The Venda also have music for work as many people of other African tribes do; for example, the Nyakyusa in Tanzania and Malawi who are said to share many cultural values and traditions with the Venda, according to the works of British anthropologist Monica Wlison who conducted her studies among the Venda and the Nyakyusa and other tribes in the region in the 1930s.

I remember witnessing this among the Nyakyusa in Rungwe District in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania in the late 1950s and 1960s. Many of them used to sing when they were working on their farms.

Also after work, many Nyakyusa, especially men, celebrate by drinking and singing at tradtional drinking places where locally brewed alcohol – mostly from maize and other grains – is sold. The Venda also, after working all day n the fields like the Nyakyusa, relax with traditional music, a few drinks and dancing.

I also witnessed funerals among the Nyakyusa which went on for days and where there was a lot of mourning and chanting, and quite often invoking the names – hence spirits – of the ancestors.

The invocation of ancestral names and guidance is an integral part of many African cultures.

Drum beating also is an integral part of most of the music among the Venda. And a lot of their songs are usually murmured.

The Venda also have traditional meals just like other Africans do. And cooking is done the traditional way. The traditional meal among the Venda is Tshidzimba, a mixture of groundnuts, beans and maize or what's called mielie grains.

The term mielies, or mielie-meal, refers to maize. It's usually porridge and is a staple food among black South Africans. Another staple food among black South Africans is pearl millet.

The Ndebele are another Bantu ethnic group in South Africa who also live in southern Zimbabwe.

The Ndebele in Zimbabwe migrated from what is now KwaZulu-Natal Province in the 1830s. The fled from Zulu domination and encroachment by the Boers and established a new homeland in southern Zimbabwe. They are one of Zimbabwe's two ethnic groups – the other one is the Shona, the dominant group – and their homeland in southern Zimbabwe is known as Matebeleland.

They are members of the Nguni family of tribes. Altogether, the Nguni tribes constitute two thirds of South Africa's black population.

There are four Nguni groups: the Central Nguni, who are the Zulu-speaking people; the Southern Nguni, collectively identified as the Xhosa-speaking people; the Swazi people from Swaziland and adjacent areas; and the Ndebele of the Northern Province and Mpumalanga Province.

And there are some differences among the Ndebele themselves in South Africa, a product of historical, social and cultural circumstances.

The Ndebele in Limpopo Province as well as in the Northern Province and those in Mpumalanga Province have been separated not only by geography but also by differences in their languages and cultures.

The Ndebele in the Northern Province are mainly members of the BagaLanga and the BagaSeleka tribes who very much have adopted the language and the culture of their Sotho and Tswana neighbours in this province. In fact, their language is sometimes mistakenly identified as a dialect of Northern Sotho because of the grat influence of Northern Sotho on this language. The younger Ndebele mostly speak Northern Sotho and their Ndebele language is gradually becoming extinct.

There are three groups of the Ndebele: the Southern Ndebele in Gauteng and Mpumalanga provinces; the Northern Ndebele in Limpopo and Northern provinces; and the Ndebele in southern Zimbabwe where they are also known as Matebele.

Unlike the Northern Ndebele, the Southern Ndebele have retain their unique culture and identity as a people. And they still speak “pure” Ndebele unlike their northern cousins.

The Ndebele people first moved away from their cousins, the Zulu, in KwaZulu and settled in the hills of Gauteng near the nation's capital Pretoria.

They were therefore an offshoot of the Zulu nation and left KwaZulu, or Zululand, in the 1820s under the leadership of Mzilikazi. They had the same skills of warfare their cousins, the Zulu, had and used them effectively across the Highveld against the Sotho and the Tswana whom they conquered. The Sotho and the Tswana were already living on the Highveld when the Ndebele arrived.

But when they attacked the Bosotho who lived in the mountains of what is now Lesotho, the former British protectorate of Basutoland, they were beaten back and settled in Western Transvaal.

The Ndebele tribe grew rapidly because they absorbed the people they had conquered and made them an integral part of the Ndebele ethnic group.

By 1835, they expanded their field of operations and were launching raids across a vast expanse of territory which included Swaziland and Northern Trasvaal.

But the region where they had established their stronghold, the Highveld, attracted the attention of the Boers because it was very fertile. The Boers, known as Voortrekkers, started moving into the region in 1836 in order to establish farms. And they were determined to oust the Ndebele from this region.

They attacked the Ndebele, and a series of bloody conflicts ensued. The first conflicts proved disastrous for the Boers. Several columns of the Voortrekkers were wiped out by the Ndebele. Then Mzilikazi launched a full-scale attack on a Boer stronghold at Vegkop on the Highveld but with disastrous consequences.

The Ndebele were no match for the Boers in terms of firepower; in fact, they had no guns and fought the Boers using traditional weapons. They were routed. The Boers were also helped by two African groups, the Griqua and the Tswana. The Ndebele fled to Northern Transvaal. But the Boers were not done with them and, under the leadership of Andries Pretorius, they attacked the Ndebele near a place that was later named after him – Pretoria – and forced Mzilikazi to go further north. Mzilikazi led his people and crossed the Limpopo River into what is now Zimbabwe. The Ndebele settled in the southern-western part of the country where they still live today.

Although the majority of the Ndebele under Mzilikazi moved north and settled in Zimbabwe, a significant number of them stayed behind in South Africa in the area around Gauteng Province. These are the Southern Ndebele who are now part of Mpumlanaga Province.

And despite the strong ties the Ndebele in Zimbabwe – known as Matebele – have with their kith-and-kin in South Africa, there are still some differences between the two because of the separation and different environments. For example, the Matabele do not paint their huts geometric patterns or wear neck rings; these are unique to the South African Ndebele.

The Ndebele also had their own problems before the Boers arrived on the Highveld and forced them to migrate farther north. When they arrived there, the Highveld was already inhabited by the Sotho and the Tswana.

The area where they first settled after they left Zululand became part of what later came to be known as the Transvaal Province after the Dutch extended their rule from the Cape and took the land away from them and the other indigenous people.

The Ndebele who settled on the Highveld split again years later, just as they had broken away from the Zulu earlier when they left Zululand.

Some remained on the Highveld which later became part of Transvaal – so named by the Dutch – and now the Northern Province after the end of apartheid, and came to be known as the Northern Ndebele.

The other group moved east and south and settled in what is now Mpumalanga Province and came to known as the Southern Ndebele. But in spite of the split, both groups remained distinctly Ndebele.

Even conquest by the Dutch did not succeed in destroying the cultural identity and unity of the Ndebele as a people.

Also the social structures and institutions of the Ndebele were similar to those of the Zulu, their cousins. The authority over a tribe was vested in the tribal head known as ikozi who was assisted by an inner or family council called amaphakathi.

Wards, known as izilindi, were administered by ward heads. And the family groups within the wards were governed by the heads of the families.

The residential unit of each family was called umuzi The umuzi usually consisted of a family head known as umnumzana with his wife and unmarried children. If he had more than one wife, the umuzi was divided into two halves, a right and a left half, to accommodate the different wives.

An umuzi sometimes grew into a more complex dwelling unit when the head’s married sons and younger brothers joined the household.

Every sub-tribal group consisted of a number of patrilineal clans called izibongo. This meant that every clan consisted of a group of individuals who shared the same ancestor in the paternal line.

That was true in the case of the Ndebele as it was for the Zulu. And that is still the case today among the Ndebele and the Zulu who strictly follow their traditional way of life.

The lifestyle of the Ndebele, in terms of how individuals dress and portray themselves, has also persisted through the centuries. For example, Ndebele women traditionally adorned themselves with a variety of ornaments, each symbolising her status in society. After marriage, dresses became increasingly elaborate and spectacular.

In earlier times, the Ndebele wife would wear copper and brass rings around her arms, legs and neck, symbolising her bond and faithfulness to her husband, once her home was built for her.

She would only remove the rings after his death. The rings, called idzila, were believed to have strong ritual powers. Husbands used to provide their wives with rings; the richer the husband, the more rings the wife would wear.

Today, it is no longer common practice to wear these rings permanently but their cultural symbolism is still powerful in among the Ndebele and in Ndebele society.

In addition to the rings, married women also wore neck hoops made of grass called isigolwani twisted into a coil and covered in beads, particularly for ceremonial occasions.

Isigolwani are sometimes worn as neck-pieces and as leg and arm bands by newly-wed women whose husbands have not yet provided them with a home, or by girls of marriageable age after the completion of their initiation ceremony.

Married women also wore a five-fingered apron called ijogolo to mark the culmination of the marriage, which only takes place after the birth of the first child.

The marriage blanket called nguba worn by married women was decorated with bead-work to record significant events throughout the woman’s lifetime.

For example, long beaded strips signified that the woman’s son was undergoing the initiation ceremony and indicated that the woman had now attained a higher status in Ndebele society. It symbolised joy because her son had achieved manhood as well as the sorrow at losing him to the adult world.

A married woman always wore some form of head covering as a sign of respect for her husband. These ranged from a simple beaded headband or a knitted cap to elaborate beaded headdresses called amakubi.

Girls wore beaded aprons or beaded wraparound skirts from an early age. For rituals and ceremonies, Ndebele men adorned themselves with ornaments made for them by their wives.

Ndebele art has always been an important identifying characteristic of the Ndebele. Apart from its aesthetic appeal it has a cultural significance that serves to reinforce the distinctive Ndebele identity.

Ndebele artists also demonstrated a fascination with the linear quality of elements in their environment and this is depicted in their artwork. Painting was done freehand, without prior layouts, although the designs were planned beforehand.

The characteristic symmetry, proportion and straight edges of Ndebele decorations were done by hand without the help of rulers and squares. Ndebele women were responsible for painting the colourful and intricate patterns on the walls of their houses.

This presented the traditionally subordinate wife with an opportunity to express her individuality and sense of self-worth. Her innovativeness in the choice of colours and designs set her apart from her peer group. In some instances, the women also created sculptures to express themselves

The back and side walls of the house were often painted in earth colours and decorated with simple geometric shapes that were shaped with the fingers and outlined in black.

The most innovative and complex designs were painted, in the brightest colours, on the front walls of the house. The front wall that enclosed the courtyard in front of the house formed the gateway, izimpunjwana, and was given special care.

Windows provided a focal point for mural designs and their designs were not always symmetrical. Sometimes, make-believe windows are painted on the walls to create a focal point and also as a mechanism to relieve the geometric rigidity of the wall design. Simple borders painted in a dark colour,lined with white, accentuated less important windows in the inner courtyard and in outside walls.

Contemporary Ndebele artists make use of a wider variety of colours (blues, reds, greens and yellows) than traditional artists were able to, mainly because of their commercial availability.

Traditionally, muted earth colours, made from ground ochre, and different natural-coloured clays, in white, browns, pinks and yellows, were used. Black was derived from charcoal. Today, bright colours are the order of the day.

As Ndebele society became more westernised, the artists started reflecting this change of their society in their paintings. Another change is the addition of stylised representational forms to the typical tradtional abstract geometric designs. Many Ndebele artists have now also extended their artwork to the interior of houses. Ndebele artists also produce other crafts such as sleeping mats and isingolwani.

Isingolwani, colourful neck hoops, are made by winding grass into a hoop, binding it tightly with cotton and decorating it with beads. In order to preserve the grass and to enable the hoop to retain its shape and hardness, the hoop is boiled in sugar water and left in the hot sun for a few days. A further outstanding characteristic of the Ndebele is their bead-work.

Bead-work is intricate and time consuming and requires a deft hand and good eyesight.

This pastime has long been a social practice in which the women engaged after their chores were finished but today, many projects involve the production of these items for sale to the public.

Although bead-work plays a very important role in Ndebele culture, it is an endangered art that is dying slowly. Western influence has had quite an impact on the Ndebele in some respects, leading to the erosion of their culture in some respects.

Bead-work is a vital component of Ndebele culture and identity. The most visible function of beads is body adornment and decoration of objects including clothing and ceremonial items. But they are used for more than that.

The beads are worn almost exclusively by women. And their different bead-work and beaded garments serve to identify their status from childhood to adulthood.

Bead-work is also an integral part of Ndebele rituals and ceremonies. There are rituals and ceremonies for important events in family life including birth, initiation of the youth into adulthood, marriage, and death with funerals accompanied by special ceremonies.

Working on beads is an arduous task. A bride may work for two to three years on a piece of bead-work she intends to present to the family of her future husband. And the more impressive it is, the more she will be admired and respected by her relatives-in-law and the community.

Also a woman may spend months and even years on intricate bead-work which will be used to adorn funeral garments. Such bead-work has religious significance because of the strong belief among the Ndebele that the dead continue to live in the next world which is the realm of spirits.

This highly impressive skill vital for such intricate designs is taught by mothers and passed on from generation to generation, with the daughters serving as the repository of knowledge in this field.

Their artistry of bead-work also has other uses: the painting of huts in geometric patterns. It is women who usually paint the huts and they draw inspiration from the intricate bead-work they wear. Much of their bead-work has bright polygonal patterns. Also integrated into the art are depictions of modern influence. For example, paintings of cars and other items of modern convenience are also included.

In Ndebele culture, the initiation rite, symbolising the transition from childhood to adulthood, plays an important role. Initiation schools for both boys and girls are held every four years.

During the period of initiation, relatives and friends come from far and wide to join in the ceremonies and activities associated with initiation.

Boys are initiated as a group when they are about 18 years of age when a special regiment called indanga is set up and led by a boy of high social rank. Each regiment has a distinguishing name.

Among the Ndzundza tribe there is a cycle of 15 such regimental names, allocated successively, and among the Manala there is a cycle of 13 such names.

During initiation girls wear an array of colourful beaded hoops called izigolwani around their legs, arms, waist and neck. The girls are kept in isolation and are prepared and trained to become homemakers and matriarchs.

The coming-out ceremony marks the conclusion of the initiation school and the girls then wear stiff rectangular aprons called amaphephetu,beaded in geometric and often three-dimensional patterns, to celebrate the event.

After initiation, these aprons are replaced by stiff, square ones, made from hardened leather and adorned with bead-work.

Marriages were only concluded between members of different clans, that is between individuals who did not have the same clan name.

However, a man could marry a woman from the same family as his paternal grandmother.

The prospective bride was kept secluded for two weeks before the wedding in a specially made structure in her parents’ house, to shield her from men’s eyes.

When the bride emerged from her seclusion, she was wrapped in a blanket and covered by an umbrella that was held for her by a younger girl who also attended to her other needs.

On her marriage, the bride was given a marriage blanket, which she would, in time, adorn with bead-work, either added to the blanket’s outer surface or woven into the fabric.

After the wedding, the couple lived in the area belonging to the husband’s clan. Women retained the clan name of their fathers but children born of the marriage took their father’s clan name.

In traditional Ndebele society it was believed that illnesses were caused by an external force such as a spell or curse that was put on an individual. The power of a traditional healer was measured by his or her ability to defeat this force. Cures were either effected by medicines or by throwing bones.

All traditional medicine men and women called izangoma were mediums, able to contact ancestral spirits. Some present-day Ndebele still adhere to ancestral worship but many have subsequently become Christians and belong to the mainstream Christian churches or to one of the many local Africanised churches.

The language of the Ndebele people – who are also called amaNdebele and who call themselves that – is known as Ndebele or isiNdebele. And many people of other tribes in South Africa also speak Ndebele.

The Ndebele live in many parts of South Africa including Gauteng Province where their language and culture are clearly evident as in other areas of the country where they live in significant numbers.

There are more than half a million Ndebeles living in South Africa. Some Ndebeles also live in Botswana besides South Africa and Zimbabwe.

The Ndebele language is divided into two groups: Southern Ndebele and Northern Ndebele.

The people who speak Northern Ndebele live in and around Limpopo Province which was once known as Northern Transvaal.

Most of the people who belong to the Southern Ndebele group live in Mpumalanga and Gauteng provinces. Many of them also speak Zulu.

There are also a few words from Afrikaans and Northern Sotho (Sepedi) which have been incorporated into the Ndebele language.

And many young people, and even some older ones, who belong to the Northern Ndebele cultural and linguistic group also speak Northern Sotho which is the dominant language in Limpopo Province; it is also spoken in the North West Province. Northern Sotho is also known as Sepedi or Pedi, although Pedi is just one of the dialects of this language.

But the term Pedi has assumed greater significance and is used to identify the entire ethnic group of Northern Sotho.

Sotho speakers are the third-largest black African linguistic group in South Africa after the Zulu and the Xhosa. There are about 7 million of them.

About 5.6 million Sotho live in South Africa, and 1.9 million in the small country of Lesotho which is completely surrounded by South Africa.

The Sotho are divided into three sub-groups. One of them is the Northern Sotho, also called Pedi or BaPedi. And their language, of course, is Sepedi, also known as Pedi or Northern Sotho.

The other two are the Southern Sotho, and the Tswana also known as BaTswana.

Like all the other Bantu-speaking groups in South Africa, the Sotho migrated from the Great Lakes region of East and Central Africa about 500 years ago. They moved south in waves of migration during different periods. The last group among Sotho to move south was the Hurutse who settled in Northern Transvaal towards the beginning of the 16^th century.

It was this last Sotho group which eventually evolved into the Pedi.

Like most of the other black African groups in South Africa, the Sotho were traditionally farmers and cattle herders. They owned cattle, sheep and goats and grew maize, beans and other crops including tobacco. They were also well-known as craftsmen. They were renowned for their skills in metalworking, leatherworking as well as ivory and wood carving.

And like Nguni tribes, the Sotho also lived in small units under chiefs. But unlike the Nguni, the Sotho families lived collectively in villages and shared social and economic responsibilities for the entire community. Sotho villages were composed of wards, and each ward comprised members of more than one patrilineal descent group.

The position of chief was hereditary in Sotho society. And it was the chief who appointed the leaders of the wards whose homes were built around the chief's compound.

Sometimes, Sotho villages grew considerably and had thousands of people.

Their farms were usually some distance from the villages, and their clustered way of living – with many homes deliberately grouped together in villages – enabled them to defend themselves far better than they would have had they lived far apart from each other as members of other tribes did and still do. The consolidation of households into villages under the leadership of chiefs also enabled the leaders to effectively exercise control over their subjects.

The inhabitants of the villages were also divided into groups of men and women who were close in age. This is somewhat similar to what the Nyakyusa of Tanzania had: age villages. Young boys from the age of 13 would leave their parents' homes and start their own villages, get married, and build new communities.

The Sotho practice was not quite like that but the age-sets in their villages had specific responsibilities just as young Nyakyusa boys had a responsibility to establish their own villages and start families independent of their parents.

Among the Sotho, the men, depending on the age group to which they belonged, acquired skills in warfare and taking care of domestic animals especially cows; while women learnt how to take care of crops and fulfill a number of religious responsibilities.

Usually, a whole group of young men or women who were close in age moved from one task to the next, after mastering the skills, and the people in the village community marked this transition with celeberation involving rituals and sometimes an initiation ceremony, a practice honoured for generations.

Although both the Sotho and the Nguni have patrilineal descent, their marriage customs are different in some important respects.

Traditionally, the Sotho practise endogamous marriage, marrying within the group, and prefer marriage partners to whom they are related through patrilineal descent ties; while the Nguni – among them the Zulu, the Xhosa, the Ndebele and others – practise exogamous marriage and prohibit marrying anyone within the descent group.

The Sotho came under increasing pressure from white encroachment and were eventually overwhelmed just like all the other black African ethnic groups were. They lost most of their land, putting a severe strain on them; a far cry from what they were in the past before they were conquered by the white man.

Their society was originally a confederation of small chiefdoms which had been established before the 17^th century in what came to be known as Northern Transvaal, now the Northern Province.

The Pedi also suffered at the hands of the Ndebele and the Boers. In the 1830s, they were attacked by the Ndebele who were led by Mzilikazi and lost the war.

And during the second of the 19^th century, during and after the 1850s, they had a number of clashes with the Voortrekkers, the Boers who had moved north from Cape to found a new colony, the Transvaal. Later in the 1870s, they clashed with the British who had taken over the Transvaal from the Boers, becoming the new rulers.

And in spite of the crushing defeat they suffered under the Ndebele whose reign of terror under Mzilikazi spread throughout Northern Transvaal, wreaking havoc, the Pedi regrouped and survived as a people and as an ethnic entity of the Sotho.

Although the Pedi were of Sotho origin, their intermarriage with members of other tribes – whom they defeated in war - led to incorporation of many words and customs into Pedi language and culture from those tribes. The words which became part of the Pedi vocabulary came from the Venda, the Lovedu, and the Karanga of what is now Zimbabwe. Also many customs came from those tribes and were not of Sotho of origin.

The social and cultural life of the Pedi has been shaped by their traditions and customs for generations.

Traditionally, the Pedi live in round-shaped huts. The clay used to build the huts is mixed with cow dung to strengthen it. Cow dung is known as boloko in their language.

The practice of using cow dung mixed with clay is used by other African tribes in building houses. For example, the Nyakyusa of Tanzania also traditionally used cow dung, called ndope, mixed with clay, known as matope in Nyakyusa, to build their houses. Decoration of the houses was done by rolling a corn cob on the wet walls, creating a pattern.

Bt with modernisation, the practice has largely been abandoned by the Nyakyusa. However, there are those who still do that just as the Pedi do.

Among the Pedi, the roofing of their traditional round huts is made from a particular kind of grass called loala which is long and strong. Members of other African tribes do basically the same thing. The Nyakyusa also use grass, called ilisu, for roofing. Traditionally, the Nyakyusa build rectangular houses, not huts.

The Pedi have a variety of traditional foods. They include thophi made from maize mixed with a fruit called lerotse; and morogo wa dikgopana, which is cooked spinach that's shaped round and left in the sun to dry up. They also use milk and vegetables, among other foods.

The traditional religion of the Pedi involves intercession with the gods by departed ancestors who represent the living in the realm of spirits. They also have initiation rites for boys and girls in their transition from childhood to adulthood.

They also have a code of ethics which they enforce by ostracising or banishing from the village anyone who violates their culture.

The Pedi also have arranged marriages, with the elders choosing spouses for their sons and daughters. The bride's parents determine the dowry, usually cows but also money. The dowry is called bogadi.

Their culture also allows younger brothers to marry the widows of their dead elder brothers; a custom the Pedi justify by saying it's necessary in order to support the family and take care of the children.

And when a baby is born to a chief, the villagers go to the chief's residence, called moshate, to give presents to the child and wish the baby well. A few days after that, the chief's subordinates announce that a ceremony will be held on a certain day for the whole village. The villagers gather to sing, dance and feast on traditionally prepared food and drinks to celebrate the birth of the chief's child.

Singing and dancing is a very important part of Pedi culture. For example, the people sing when they have hard work to do in order to “finish” the job quickly and for encouragement. They also sing on other occasions.

The Sepedi language, or Northern Sotho, is also known as Sesotho sa Laboa. In South Africa, the language is spoken by more than 4.2 million people and most of them live in Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces. Sepedi is also spoken in Botswana by a few people.

Northern Sotho (Sepedi) is very closely related to the Setswana and Sesotho languages. The people themselves are closely related although there are some differences in culture and tradition. But even in these areas, there a lot of similarities among them.

These similarities also transcend national boundaries which were drawn by the Europeans when they conquered Africa.

The wedding ceremonies of the Sepedi have a lot of similarities with the wedding ceremonies of the members of many other African tribes; for example, the Nyakyusa of Tanzania and Malawi whom I have used for comparative study in this work which focuses on South Africa and its people.

Among the Sepedi, or Northern Sotho, the bride and the bridegroom's closest and senior family members get together to discuss the wedding including the dowry. The Nyakyusa of Tanzania and Malawi do basically the same thing.

The Sepedi (Northern Sotho) call dowry – lebola. The Nyakyusa call it lobola.

The Zulu and the Xhosa also call it lobola just like the Nyakyusa do. The Swazi call it lobolo.

They are all basically the same words, linguistically, and they all mean the same thing: dowry.

Also among the Sepedi and the Nyakyusa, it is usually the bride's parents who decide what kind of dowry should be demanded. Among the Nyakyusa, it is usually cows; and among the Sepedi, it is also usually livestock and even money or it can be anything.

Among the Zulu, the father and uncles of the bride decide what the dowry should be, and what items should be given to the bride's family as lobola.

If the bridegroom's parents refuse to “pay” that, the bride is not going to be given to the prospective husband by her parents. There will not be any wedding. But usually a compromise is reached and the bride is given away by her parents.

This is common practice among the Sepedi, the Nyakyusa and many other African tribes or ethnic groups in different parts of the continent.

A Sepedi wedding is usually held at the bride's or bridegroom's home. Among the Nyakyusa, traditionally, it is held at the bridegroom's home not at the home of the bride. So there are some differences, but not fundamental, and not in terms of formalities in general.

Also among the Sepedi, when the bride is dressed and ready for her wedding, she is required to go to the river and draw enough water and collect some firewood for the ceremony. The Nyakyusa don't do that.

After a Sepedi bride has collected enough water and firewood and has fulfilled other tasks on the day of the wedding, she's ready to walk to her future husband during the ceremony, while her grandmother sweeps the floor in front of her to “clear her way.”

The Nyakyusa don't do that, either, but the bride's mother and other female relatives are always there, at a Nyakyusa wedding, to “escort” the bride or their daughter, accompanied by akalulu, as the Nyakyusa call it, which is making joyous sounds at a high pitch and with the rapid movement of the tongue hitting the cheeks inside, back and forth, to accentuate the rhythm.

Such ululation by the women, which is an integral part of Nyakyusa culture, is common in other African societies as well.

Among the Sepedi, after the couple is married and the people at the wedding have congratulated them, a cow or a sheep is slaughtered and the meat is equally divided between the two families.

The Nyakyusa do basically the same thing but the food and the drinks brought to the wedding ceremony are consumed by the people who are at the wedding. And some of it is, of course, shared between the families of the bride and th bridegroom' which is not very much different from what the Sepedi (Northern Sotho) do in their culture at weddings.

After the wedding has formally taken place, the Sepedi celebrate with music, what they call kiba. And only men are allowed to dance to kiba music, a cultural restriction that is not imposed on the people in all African societies, although the Sepedi, or Northern Sotho, may not be unique in this regard.

One of the ethnic and linguistic groups which transcends national boundaries is Setswana.

The Tswana or BaTswana are inextricably linked with the Northern and Southern Sotho in terms of origin and are sometimes known as the Western Sotho. And their language is closely related to SeSotho or Sotho, which is Southern Sotho. In fact the two languages are mutually intelligible in most areas.

The Tswana migrated from East Africa around the same period when other people left the region and moved south, eventually settling in southern Africa.

There are about 4 million Tswana in the countries of southern Africa. About three million of them live in South Africa, and I million in Botswana. There are smaller numbers in other countries such as Lesotho, Namibia, and Zimbabwe.

In South Africa, many Tswanas live in the areas that once collectively constituted the Bantustan of Bhophuthatswana during apartheid. They also live in the neghbouring areas of the North-West Province and the Northern Cape Province. Many of them also live in cities and towns throughout South Africa but the majority of the Tswana live in the northeastern part of South Africa adjacent to their kith-and-kin, the Tswana, in the country of Botswana.

Bhophuthatswana was a patchwork of scattered territory – seven pieces of land – in the former South African provinces of Cape Province, Transvaal and Orange Free State. The capital Mmabatho was located in an area bordering Botswana. It was established to accommodate the Tswana in South Africa and had a population of about 1.8 million people in the late 1980s, more than 15 years after it was established as a homeland in 1971.

The population was about 70 per cent Tswana in the late eighties. The rest were other Sotho people as well as Xhosas, Zulus and Shangaan. And another 1.5 million BaTswana lived in different parts of South Africa besides Bhophuthatswana.

After apartheid ended, five of its enclaves became part of the North West Province; one part was integrated into the Free State Province, and the remaining enclave became part of Mpumalanga Province. And its capital Mmabatho became the capital of the North West Province.

And in spite of the integration of the enclaves into the new provinces, those areas remain Tswana strongholds because they were already the traditional homes of the Tswana even before the apartheid regime grouped them together to create the Bantustan of Bhophuthatswana.

The Tswana have had a turbulent history mainly because of the clashes they had with other African groups, especially the Ndebele on the Highveld, and with whites who moved into the same region to seize land from blacks indigenous to the region.

By the 19^th century, several Tswana groups were politically independent. But they were also loosely affiliated chiefdoms and clashed with the Boers many times when Afrikaner farmers demanded land in the northern part of Transvaal whee the Tswana lived.

And towards the end of the century, the Boers and the British seized almost all the land that belonged to the Tswana, forcing them to become migrant labourers working especially in the mines for very low pay.

The culture of the Tswana is closely related to the cultures of the Sotho, with whom they are related. They share a lot of similarities in language, customs, religion, social and political organisation, family life, and claim a common ancestor: Mogale.

But there are some notable differences. For example, Tswana chiefdoms were traditionally more stratified than those of the other Sotho – they are Sotho themselves - and of the Nguni groups such as the Zulu, the Ndebele, and the Xhosa.

The Tswana also had a highly complex legal system, with courts ranked from the lowest to the highest. Their legal system also included mediators. And those found guilty were given stiff punishment.

They also had very close working relationships with their neighbours, the Khoisan-speakers who were hunters and herdmen, with whom they conducted barter. As hunters, the Khoi provided the Tswana with meat and animal pelts and, in return, they got cattle from the Tswana. And they sometimes got dogs from the Khoi and used them for herding cattle.

The Setswana language is commonly known as Tswana. And it is the national language of Botswana because about 98 per cent of the people in Botswana are Tswana.

But the majority of the Tswana and speakers of Setswana live in South Africa. That is where the Tswana in Botswana came from.

The majority of the Setswana-speaking people in South Africa live in the Northern Cape Province which once was part of the Cape Colony. The Cape Colony was later remaned the Cape Province. And it was the largest among the four provinces which constituted South Africa during the era of white minority rule. The other provinces were Orange Free State, Transvaal, and Natal.

Internationally, there about 4 million Tswana speakers. Tswana speakers also live in Zimbabwe and Namibia. But they are all outnumbered by those who live in South Africa. Before the end of apartheid, the Tswana in South Africa were given their own homeland, Bophuthatswana, as an “independent” state by the apartheid regime.

Tswana is a Bantu language most closely related to Northern Sotho and Southern Sotho.

The Tswana people have a lot in common with other black South Africans and other Africans elsewhere on the continent in terms of culture.

Cattle are an integral part of life among the Tswana and cattle ownership symbolises wealth; the more cows you have, the wealthier you are. The same standard of measurement is applicable in other African cultures as well.

Also traditional healers known as sangoma, and music, play very important roles in the lives of the Tswana; common phenomena in other African societies.

The traditional religious belief of the Tswana acknowledges the existence of a Supreme Being. It is therefore monotheistic and predates the introduction of Christianity to Africa in its conception of one God.

Modimo is the “Great Spirit,” the great God, one God. And intercession by departed ancestors on behalf of the living is just a way to reach the Creator for his guidance and blessings in temporal life which includes spiritual growth.

The other Sothos – Southern and Northern – also worship Modimo in their traditional religion.

The departed ancestors are called balimo and they are honoured at ritual feasts. Misfortune including sickness is bound to occur if you incur the wrath of the ancestors, balimo, who are the ones who can seeking blessings from Modimo for the living.

The Southern Sotho are a heterogeneous group and were once united in the 1830s under the highly efficient leadership of King Moshoeshoe who also had a reputation as a skilled diplomat. He was originally a local chief but became king after uniting various ethnic groups under his leadership to maintain and secure their freedom and resist Zulu encroachment.

Moshoeshoe united people of different ethnic groups who had fled from invasions by the Zulu under Shaka and sough sanctuary in the mountains of what is now the country of Lesotho. They included groups of Sotho speakers and the Nguni, all of whom had been uprooted by the mfecane.

Some of the fleeing groups established ties with the San who lived just west of Moshoeshoe's kingdom. The ties led to a lasting relationship and cultural exchanges which are clearly evident even today in the language of Southern Sotho which uses click sounds unlike Northern Sotho. The clicks came from the Khoisan languages and have been incorporated into the languages of other black African groups in South Africa including the Xhosa and the Zulu.

During apartheid, the Southern Sotho were given the tiny homeland of QwaQwa in the early seventies located in the eastern part of the former South African province of the Orange Free State bordering Lesotho in pursuit of the government's policy of racial separation. About 200,000 Southern Sotho lived in the homeland during the 1980s. And after apartheid ended, the Bantustan was incorporated into the Free State Province.

The language of Southern Sotho, which is closely related to Setswana and is twin to Northern Sotho, is also known as Suto, Souto, Sisutho and Suthu.

Although Southern Sotho, Northern Sotho and Setswana are closely related, they are still considered to be separate languages.

Southern Sotho is also the main language spoken in the country of Lesotho, and most of the people in Lesotho are Southern Sotho.

It is one of the two official languages – the other one being English – in Lesotho and is spoken by more than 90 per cent of the people in this country which is entirely surrounded by South Africa.

Southern Sotho is also spoken by some people in Botswana, Namibia and Zambia.

And in South Africa, the majority of the Southern Sotho live in the Free State Province which borders Lesotho on the west. Also a significant number of them live in other provinces, especially in towns and cities.

As in all African cultures, respect for elders is extremely important among the Sotho. And in Southern Sotho language, the words for father and mother – ntate and mme, respectively – are also used to address elders including non-relatives and strangers, and not just one's parents and relatives, to show respect for them.

Traditionally, the Sotho have always valued arranged marriages, a practice that was common among many other African tribes including the Nyakyusa of Tanzania and Malawi - but many young men and women now have more freedom to marry whom they choose.

The traditional way of life is centred on villages ruled by chiefs. And livestock, especially cattle, and farming are the most important sectors of the economy in the Sotho traditional society. Main crops include maize and sorghum.

The Sotho have initiation rites for boys and girls. They are critical in the traditional way of life and ensure passaged from childhood to adulthood.

During the initiation period, boys are required to stay in a secluded place away from the village. They are circumcised, taught traditional praise songs, and the proper way to be men and husbands as well as to be responsible members of the community. They also learn tribal traditions dealing with initiation.

At the end of the initiation period, ceremonies are held during which the newly initiated called makolwane, who are now no longer “boys” but responsible adults, sing the praise songs they composed when they were going through initiation.

The Sotho believe that a man who has not been initiated is not a full adult and still belongs in the same category as “boys,” even not quite so in the literal sense. Few men, if any, want to subject themselves to such indignity.

For the girls, who are called bole when they are going through initiation, the rite of passage involves seclusion. But the huts in which they are kept are much closer to the villages than those for boys are.

The girls wear masks and smear their bodies with a chalky white substance and are sometimes seen near the homes of their relatives, singing and dancing, and asking for presents.

After the seclusion period is over, the newly initiated, who are now no longer girls and are called litswejane, anoint themselves with red ochre and wear traditional skirts. But they don't undergo circumcision during initiation as boys do.

Among the Southern Sotho in Lesotho, initiation for boys or young men took another dimension when they incorporated one aspect of modernisation into it. For Sotho men who worked in the mines, the period they spent as mine workers was once considered as a rite of passage into adulthood.

Ethnic ties among the Sotho are very strong; so is adherence to customs and traditions demonstrated, for example, by the way funerals are conducted. When a person dies, the whole community gets involved in the funeral. Friends and relatives give speeches at the graveside before the burial takes place, honouring the deceased and bidding him or farewell, and adult men take turns shovelling soil into the grave.

After the burial, all those who attended the ceremony go as a group to wash their hands. There may even be funeral feast in the end.

Ubuntu is also one of the strongest characteristics of traditional Sotho society. The hungry, including strangers, are never left alone. Even the poorest feel morally bound to share what little they have with someone who comes to their door. That is ubuntu, one of the most important principles in traditional African society. It is a philosophy and a way of life.

Although arranged marriages have been an integral part of the Sotho way of life for generations, if not for centuries, most young men and women nowadays marry the person they want to marry. Before then, arranged marriages extended even to children. A girl could be betrothed in childhood - when she did not even the slightest idea of what marriage meant.

As in most traditional African societies, a man is th head of the family. Women take care of the crops and responsible for bringing up children.

Family responsibilities are based on gender but the Southern Sotho differ somewhat from their kith-and-kin, the Pedi or Northern Sotho in some respects. For example, the Northern Sotho are much more stricter than the Southern Sotho in maintaining separate living spaces for men and women.

Polygamy is still practised, especially for those who can afford it. And when conducted in the traditional way, marriages are arranged by transferring dowry, called bohadi, from the bridegroom's family to that of the bride. And after marriage has taken place, a woman is expected to leave her family to go and live with the family of her husband. It is now their – especially the husband's – full responsibility to take care of her.

Traditionally, the Sotho have a unique way of maintaining kinship through the generations. A person is allowed to marry a cousin - ngwana wa rangoane - who is a member of the same clan.

In terms of traditional attire, the Southern Sotho – in Lesotho for example – are known for their brightly coloured blankets.

They don't make them but buy them from modern shops in towns. And the blankets keep them warm during winter, especially in mountainous Lesotho, a country located high up in the Drakensberg Mountains.

The most important part of their diet is maize. They also eat a variety of meat and vegetables. Milk is often drunk in soured form, a common practice among other tribes including the Xhosa and the Zulu, and the Nyakyusa in Tanzania. The Nyakyusa call “milk” - ulukama or lukama, depending on the context in which the word is used.

Music also is a very important part of Sotho culture. While in many societies people sing as individuals, among the Sotho a strong emphasis is placed on singing in groups. And dancing is usually accompanied by hand clapping.

The Southern Sotho have produced one of the earliest and most distinguished writers in African literature. His name was Thomas Mofolo and one of his first novels in a South African language was Chaka published in early part of the 20^th century. It is still read today and has been translated into many languages.

The Sotho are also known for their bead-work, pottery making and weaving, traditional skills which have been handed down through the generations and which remain one of the most important aspects of many traditional African societies.

Many items, for example, baskets, sleeping mats and beer containers, are still woven by hand from grass materials and are common among the Sotho in Lesotho and South Africa.

The Southern Sotho have been greatly influenced by other cultures in some very important ways. One of those areas is language.

The Sotho language, which is one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, has been influenced by Khoisan languages and uses click consonants in some words, a feature adopted from Khoisan languages and not found in typical Bantu languages.

The Sotho have played a significant role in the history of South Africa and Lesotho and are one of the most well-known ethnic groups in the entire region of Southern Africa.

Another Nguni group which settled in South Africa centuries ago in the Swazi. And their language, Swati, is one of the 11 national languages of South Africa. It is also spoken in neighbouring Swaziland where the Swazi constitute the majority of the population.

There are more than 1.6 Swazis in southern Africa. About 900,000 of them live in the small country of Swaziland which borders South Africa. And the rest live in South Africa especially in KaNgwane, adjacent to Swaziland, which was designated as their homeland by the apartheid regime.

The Swazi migrated from east-central Africa in the 15^th and 16^th centuries together with the Xhosa and the Zulu and settled in the southern part of the continent.

They were part of the Nguni wave of migration from the north and after they crossed the Limpopo River, they settled in southern part of Tongaland in what is now Mozambique in the late 1600s.

After 200 years, the Swazi moved into the region on the Pongola River where they lived in close proximity to the Ndwandwe people who were Zulu.

Later on, land shortage and other problems sparked a conflict between the two groups, forcing the Swazis to migrate to the central area of what later became the country of Swaziland.

From that central region, they continued to expand their territory and jurisdiction by conquering numerous small Sotho and other Nguni groups.

The area they claimed was twice the size of modern Swaziland. Many Swazis also settled in South Africa.

Many Swazis who were forced out of South Africa by the Zulu went even further north, together with some Zulu clans who also had been uprooted by Shaka's successors, and established control over some tribes in regions which later became the countries of Nyasaland, Southern Rhodesia and Northern Rhodesia, now renamed Malawi, Zimbabwe and Zambia.

The name Swazi comes from the name of their ruler, King Mswati, and simply means the people of Mswati. As a people they are also called BaSwazi.

Traditionally, the Swazi are subsistence farmers and cattle herders – they also own goats but mostly cattle – but a significant number of them are part of the urban economy because of modernisation.

The Swazi way of life is essentially traditional in most fundamental respects including religion. Most of them are Chrsitian but probably the majority of Swazis, even many Christians, still consult traditional healers.

A significant number of them have adopted Western ways and embraced modernisation. Still, even among these, traditional values and customs play a major role in their lives.

The extended family, an integral part of the social fabric remains strong, and many people still believe in polygamy even if they have embraced Christianity.

Traditional music and dance are an integral part of Swazi culture. The Swazi are also known for praise-singing. They compose praise-songs for their king, for their chiefs and other prominent people they want to honour. The Swazi also have music for marriage, harvest, funerals and other important events.

Some of the most important ceremonies among the Swazi in Swaziland are inkwala and umhlanga. Both are traditional dances with great cultural significance.

Inkwala is a “Festival of the Fruits” ceremony. It's held in the latter part of December and continues into January in the following year.

It is the most sacred, and most important, ceremony among the Swazi and all the people, especially male, converge at the royal kraal for several weeks of traditional dancing where they are joined by the king.

It is an annual ceremony lasting three weeks that unites the inhabitants of Swaziland in order to gain blessings from ancestors. This important event also serves the purpose of renewing the kingship of the nation and commencing the harvesting season.

Inkwala involves sacred and secret ceremonies whose details are kept secret to protect their integrity.

The ceremony is also very important to the Swazi who live in South Africa as much as all the other traditional Swazi ceremonies are, regardless of where they performed because of the identity of the Swazi as one people.

Umhlanga is the “reed dance.” It's held in late August or early September.

The “reed dance” has been an integral part of the traditional way of life for a very long time and it's held in August or early September because of the weather. It's warm and sunny. This is also the period when the reed has matured.

Up to 30,000 maidens congregate and dance for the public. They come from all parts of Swaziland to participate in the dance. The dance is also highly significant among the Swazi in South Africa because of the ethnic and cultural bonds the people share. They are all Swazi.

The reed dance is also performed by the Zulu in KwaZulu-Natal Province. In fact, the term umhlanga is both Zulu and Swazi and refers to the common reed.

The tradition of the reed dance was to encourage young women to abstain from sexual activities and preserve their virginity until they were mature enough to get married. It also prepares the girls for marriage.

During their stay at the camps before the actual dance, they are given certain tasks to perform in groups. There is a lot of group work involved and, because of that, the girls also get the chance to improve their communication skills which will help them in solving some of the problems they will face in marriage.

There are also elder women at the camps who advise the girls on marriage-related subjects and on how to handle themselves in a dignified manner.

The night after the girls arrive at the camps and after they have eaten supper, they girls walk to a place where they are pick the reed.

It is a long distance from the camps and the trip may take the whole night. But this is also an opportunity for the girls to share their life experiences with one another as they walk the long distance.

When they arrive at the place where they are to get the reeds, each girl may pick about ten reeds.

On the next day, after breakfast, the girls put on their traditional attire.

The whole celebration takes five days. And the actual dance takes place on the last day.

And the “reed dance,” umhlanga, is the second most important ceremony among the Swazi; it's also the mosr colourful. It's for single young women who perform this dance. The “reed dance” is highly significant in its symbolism as a way of paying homeage to the King and to the Queen Mother.

The highest traditional political, economic and ritual powers are shared between a hereditary male ruler, the king, and his mother, the Queen Mother. The dominant institution is aristocracy, and many national officials are drawn from dominant clans, although a balance is somewhat maintained in central and local government between the aristocratic institution and representative democracy.

There are other traditional dances including sibhaka which is performed by men in different parts of the country.

The Swazi in South Africa share the same culture with their kith-and-kin in Swaziland.

Men are classified by age groups. The age groups are re-organised every five to seven years. Each age group has its rown responsibilities according to tradition and customs. Traditionally, the Swazi also have a reputation as warriors.

Marriage is conducted in the traditional way but can not take place unless the bridegroom's family has paid dowry, called lobola, to the bride's family. Traditional wedding is called umtsimba. The Nyakyusa of Tanzania call “wedding” - ubwegi. In Swahili, it's called harusi.

Among the Swazi, the wedding ceremony is conducted in stages.

Traditionally, the bride and her relatives go to the bridegroom's homestead usually on Friday evening. On Saturday morning, members of the bridal party sit by a nearby river and eat some meat, mainly cow or goat, offered by the brigegroom's family. And in the afternoon, a traditional dance takes place on the premises of the bridegroom's homestead.

On Sunday morning, the bride, with her female relatives, stabs the ground with a spear in the man's cattle kraal, and later she is smeared with red ochre. The smearing is the high point of marriage. No woman can be smeared twice. Then the bride presents gifts to her husband and his relatives.

Polygamy is still practised, although there are those who don't support it for religious and individual reasons. Even Christians practise polygamy except those who believe it's against Biblical teachings and prefer monogamous marriage.

Funerals also have their own rituals. People who attend funerals are considered to be “contaminated” by death. One month after the funeral, the people meet again to wash away the “contamination.”

Traditional worship entails invocation of the power of the spirits, although the Swazi have always believed in God as the Supreme Being and the Creator even before the introduction of Christianity.

Therefore, the fundamental difference between the two is not whether or not the Swazi – as well as other Africans who practice traditional religions – believe in the existence of a Supreme Being, who is the one and only, but how they approach Divinity and seek help and guidance from the Creator.

They go through ancestral spirits who intercede with the supernatural on their behalf. The departed ancestors are also given offerings which include sacrifices such as slaughtering cows in order to get some help and guidance from them.

Traditional healers are still common among the Swazi. There are those who use traditional herbs and home-made medicines to provide cures. These are traditional doctors. In Swazi a traditional doctor is called inyanga; a term not very much different from unganga in Nyakyusa language, and mganga in Swahili.

A sangoma, usually a woman, is a diviner who communicates with ancestral spirits and the spirit world to provide solutions to a variety of problems including physical and mental illnesses and social maladies including bad luck and other misfortunes.

And umtsakatsi is a witch or a wizard who uses magic to harm or kill people. In Nyakyusa language, a witch or a wizard is called undosi or ndosi; in Swahili – mchawi.

The Swati language is also known as Sewati, Swazi, or isiSwazi. The last term, isiSwazi, is used officially to identify the language. It is also the term used by the Swazi themselves to identify their language.

Swati, or isiSwazi is related to Ndebele, Xhosa and Zulu, and to someone who does not know or understand the language, it is impossible to distinguish it from the other three languages.

Even many people who are familiar with isiSwazi, and with the other three languages, can be easily confused when trying to identify the language because of the strong similarities these language have.

The language has four dialects. And one of the dialects which is spoken in the “deep south” - of South Africa - is highly influenced by Zulu and is not considered to be proper siSwati.

The Swazi are indigenous to South Africa but many of them migrated north and established a new home which later came be known as the country of Swaziland.

And there are strong ties between the people of both countries.

Although Swaziland is predominantly Swazi, Zulus also constitute a significant segment of the country's population. And some of the most prominent South Africans have genealogical ties to Swaziland. They include Miriam Makeba whose mother was a Swazi sangoma from Swaziland, and her father a Xhosa indigenous to South Africa.

One of the most well-known and most honoured traditions among the Swazi is the reed dance, an eight-day festival held normally in the last days of August and the first few days of September for all single women. During this highly significant and symbolic cultural event among the Swazi, all unmarried women dance for the Queen Mother and hand over the reeds that have been specially cut for the occasion.

The significance of this ceremony is chastity. It is intended to “protect the women's chastity” and to honour the Queen Mother.

On the last day of the ceremony, the king has some cows slaughtered for a festive occasion during which the women have plenty to eat and even take some of the meat back home with them.

Another major ethnic group in South Africa is the Tsonga.

Historical records by the Portuguese show that when they arrived in the area that came to be known as Mozambique, the Tsonga were already living there in the central and southern parts of that region in the early 1500s.

They were isolated, compared to the way other people lived, and lived peacefully in different settlements here and there without a collective identity. They shared some customs but not a well-organised political structure.

Each Tsonga group occupied its own territory and was named after a a dominant patrilineage.

Their solitary, peaceful life ended when members of other groups fleeing from Shaka's military subjugation in what is now KwaZulu-Natal fled north during the mfecane upheaval (1815 - 1840) and entered Tsonga country.

It was an invasion for which the Tsonga were not prepared and they ended up being conquered and dominated by the new comers from the south.

The Nguni group – from the south in KwaZulu – which was the most influential and the strongest after conquering the Tsonga was the Ndwandwe. It was also known as Shangaan under the leadership of Soshangane.

The Shangaan were a mixture of Nguni - who include the Swazi, Zulu, Ndebele and Xhosa - and Tsonga speakers whom Soshangane conquered and subjugated. The Tsonga speakers included the Ronga, Ndzawu, Shona, Chopi tribes, and their destiny changed after they were conquered by the Zulu led by Soshangane.

Soshangane was a Zulu military leader who established his command over a large Tsonga population in the northern Transvaal in the mid-nineteenth century and continued his conquests farther north. The descendants of some of the conquered populations are known as the Shangaan, or Tsonga-Shangaan.

The first Tsonga-speakers arrived in the former Transvaal in the 1700s, and some Tsonga-Shangaan trace their ancestry to the Zulu warriors who subjugated the armies in the region, while others claim descent from the conquered chiefdoms.

After Soshangane conquered the Tsonga, he made the adoption of Zulu and other Nguni customs mandatory. Also, young Tsonga men were conscripted into the army and taught Zulu military tactics. And he insisted that the Tsonga must learn the Zulu language.

But the Tsonga and the Zulu languages remain separate and are mutually unintelligible in some areas.

The real name in KwaZulu region of the people who invaded and conquered the Tsonga was Ngoni, or Angoni, a tribe whose members migrated as far north as what is now Tanzania. They were related to the Zulu, as they still are today, and live in a number of countries including Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, and Tanzania.

In fact, the first vice president of Tanganyika – renamed Tanzania in 1964 – after the country won independence from Britain in December 1961 under the leadership of Julius Nyerere was a Ngoni. His name was Rashidi Kawawa. The Ngoni settled in Songea, southern Tanzania, in the 1830s – 1850s, and Kawawa himself came from Songea.

The Ngoni who settled in Mozambique were also known as Angoni or Amashangana, named after their leader Soshangane, and built the Gaza kingdom in the southern part of the country. He named the kingdom after his grandfather and Gaza Province today in Mozambique took its name from that kingdom.

Some of the Tsonga fled Mozambique and settled in what is now the Northern Province in South Africa. Others settled in what later came to be known as Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces.

In the 18^th century, the ancestors of the Tsonga lived in small, independent chiefdoms, sometimes numbering a few thousand people.

They earned a living as hunters in the area which includes what is today known as Kruger National Park. They also lived on fish caught in the rivers in the area where they settled.

Even today, one of the largest groups of the Tsonga still live near Kruger National Park.

The Tsonga-Shangaan homeland, Gazankulu, was carved out of northern Transvaal Province during the 1960s and was granted self-governing status in 1973.

The homeland economy depended largely on gold and on a small manufacturing sector.

Only an estimated 500,000 people - less than half the Tsonga-Shangaan population of South Africa - ever lived there, however. Many others joined the throngs of township residents around urban centers, especially Johannesburg and Pretoria.

Gazankulu later became part of Limpopo Province after the end of white minority rule in April 1994. The Tsonga constitute 23 per cent of the population in the province and are the second-largest group after the Northern Sotho who make up almost 60 per cent.

Traditionally, the Tsonga also had other means of subsistence besides fishing and hunting. They owned goats and chickens, and crop cultivation was also important in their lives. The main crops were maize, cassava, millet, and sorghum. Men cleared the land while women planted and took care of the crops.

Cattle were relatively rare in their economies, probably because their coastal lowland habitat was tsetse-fly infested.

Today, the Tsonga have a mixed economy and live as farmers and livestock owners. Women work on the farms taking of food crops, while some men grow cash crops.

By the 18^th century, most Tsonga were organised into several small and independent chiefdoms. And they had a unique system of inheritance under which inheritance was by brothers instead of sons.

It was a defining feature of the Tsonga social system, common in many parts of central Africa but rare among other South African ethnic groups of which the Tsonga were and still are one of them.

Traditionally, their village life was simple. Each Tsonga family had its own homestead composed of a few houses and a kraal, surrounded by the fields and grazing areas.

Even today, their social organisation revolves around the village. They live in scatered villages and each village is occupied by members who have a common patrilineal descent.

Also succession and inheritance are patrilineal. They still practise polygamy and a marriage is sealed only after dowry, usually in the form of cows, has been paid.

The extended family is a form of insurance against disaster and other forms of hardship. And the family's livestock is apportioned among the wives for their support and for eventual inheritance by the children of each household. Widows are supported by males of the dead husband’s lineage on his father's side since such obligations are patrilineal.

Traditionally, the Tsonga were ruled by chiefs who exercised considerable authority over their people. And the position of chief was hereditary but subject to approval by a council of elders.

The chief had many responsibilities. They included allocating of land, approving traditional ceremonies involving rituals such as initiation rites, invocation of ancestral guidance and intervention to get rain, and celebrating harvests, among other duties.

He also played the role of mediator in disputes and presided over judicial proceedings.

Traditionally, a Tsonga homestead unit consisted of a large family: a husband, his wife or wives, their children and the families of their married sons.

At first, a married son would stay in his father’s homestead but as the son got more wives, he would move out and establish his own homestead.

The sons would usually extend their father’s homestead or build next to it. Over time this practice resulted in the formation of clans.

As heads of their families, husbands were treated with great respect by their wives and children. But wives also played important roles, subordinate to their husbands, and were assigned - in extended families – based on their seniority in marriage. The first wife had the highest rank and was accorded respect by junior wives.

Her children also enjoyed higher ranking because of her status as the senior wife; a practice similar to those in different African tribes including the Nyakyusa of Tanzania who also practised polygamy. Authority among wives was also based on seniority among the Nyakyusa, although their children were not necessarily accorded that status, even though such seniority was implied in their case.

The children of the Tsonga played gender roles, just as children in other African tribes do, with the boys being taught by their fathers what to do and playing manly roles such as looking after cattle and goats; while girls were taught at an early age how to be responsible women and followed in the footsteps of their mothers learning how to cook and do other things they were expected to do as women, especially household duties.

Although the family constitutes the basic unit in Tsonga society, the social structure is more complex than that.

The smallest social unit is the ‘nuclear family’ consisting of a woman with her own hut and cooking area, her husband and their children.

In polygamous families, each mother and children constitute a family unit independent of the others although they all together make up one large family under one leadership: the husband.

And when the sons of an extended family marry, a new homestead called muti is established. It is made up of the husband, his wives, their unmarried children and the families of their married sons.

Also there are different social units in the Tsonga traditional society. There are family units as already mentioned; then there are lineages called nyimba. The lineages are patrilineal – the father's side – and consist of persons who are lineal descendants and can prove that they are indeed descended from the same ancestors.

The lineages of the people who are related are grouped together to form clans called xivongo made up of all persons who have a common ancestor.

The Tsonga social organisation is determined by tribal identity and affiliation. The people of a particular tribe have a chief called hosi, and they live in a specific tribal area called tiko ra hosi.

The traditional religion of the Tsonga was based on the belief in one God who created the world and everything in it. It was a belief in the Supreme Being. But it was complemented by a belief in the indispensable role of the ancestors as intercessors on behalf of the living.

And although a large number of the Tsonga today are Christian, many them still practise traditional religion which entails constant attention to the propitiation of ancestral spirits. Even among many Tsonga Chrstians, illness and other misfortunes are usually attributed to the breaking of a taboo, to the anger of an ancestor, or to sorcery, just as they are among non-Christians.

Traditional healers also had very important functions in Tsonga society as they still do today. A traditional healer is called nanga and provides guidance in consultation with the ancestors. A nanga also performs and directs rituals in times of crisis for individuals and for the community.

The term nanga is similar to the term the Nyakyusa of Tanzania and Malawi use to describe a person who plays the same role.

A traditional doctor among the Nyakyusa who uses herbs and consults spirits for guidance in providing healing of the sick is called nganga. The Swahili term for that is mganga which is also used to describe someone who practises modern medicine.

The Nyakyusa term nganga also refers to modern doctors as much as it does to a traditional healer. The plural form in Nyakyusa is baganga, and in Swahili it's waganga.

But the similarities between what the Nyakyusa call nganga – or what in Swahili is mganga – and what the Tsonga call nanga are striking, linguistically, and in terms of social function and the role the traditional healer plays across the spectrum.

The Tsonga believed that man was a physical and spiritual entity but with two separate identities or bodies: the physical and the spiritual, independent of each other, yet inextricably linked and constituting a single entity, with two added attributes: moya and ndzuti.

The physical body is called mmiri in tsonga language, a term similar to umbili or mbili in Nyakyusa language, and mwili in Swahili, all of which mean the same thing: physical body.

Among the Tsonga, what they call moya was associated with the spirit, entered the body at birth and left it at death to join the ancestors. This is similar to a soul in Christian teachings.

Ndzuti reflected human characteristics. Upon death, in the spirit world, it left the body. This meant that the spirit of the dead was imbued with the individual and human characteristics of the person.

Inherent in this concept is not only the belief in life after death but also that the dead retain very strong links with the living. Passing over into the spirit world was an extremely important transition in the lives of the Tsonga as individuals and as a people.

Death was also taken very seriously because of its impact on the family of the departed and on the entire community.

Shortly after death, the members of the family performed a welcoming ceremony to facilitate the passage of the dead person into the spirit world.

The death of a member of the family also caused all the other members in the homestead to become unclean and they all had to go through ritual cleansing ceremonies. These ceremonies were performed at different times of the day over the next few months.

During religious ceremonies the family gathered together at a special area to pay homage to the ancestral spirits. Food and drink was offered to the ancestors to thank them for providing for the people.

Requests were also made to the spirits to intercede in specific situations to solve problems. For more general purposes, the spirits could be approached in a more informal way through prayer.

The existence of both good and evil spirits was a critical component of the Tsonga religious beliefs and traditional way of life.

Good spirits brought rain and caused good things to happen; while evil spirits, controlled by sorcerers, caused great harm to the community. Illness or persistent bad luck usually indicated the presence of evil spirits called baloyi but occasional illness was accepted as part and parcel of everyday life.

If a problem persists, whether it's an illness or bad luck, then divine powers must be invoked with the help of traditional healers known as tin’anga.

They consult the ancestral spirits by “throwing” the bones which are called tinholo, shells or other artefacts and are “able” to determine the cause of the bad luck and suggest ways in which to get rid of the cause.

Traditional healers, also combine magic and the knowledge of medicinal plants called mirhi to help and bless the community.

Those who use magic for evil purposes are called valoyi, and what they do is called vuloyi.

The Nyakyusa of Tanzania have a concept similar to that but the term balosi in Nyakyusa language, which is very close to the term baloyi in the Tsonga language, refers to people who practise witchcraft to harm people and have spiritual powers - though evil - ordinary people don't have.

Therefore balosi in Nyakyusa means “sorcerers.” The singular term for that in Nyakyusa is nlosi. And “witchcraft” in Nyakyusa is called bulosi. And they are similar to valoyi and vuloyi in Tsonga; so is the term mlozi in some African languages, meaning “sorcerer” or “witchdoctor.”

However, among the Tsonga, if the illness was serious or the cycle of bad luck persisted, a cure had to be found through divination.

The diviner consulted the ancestral spirits by “throwing” the bones, shells or other artefacts and was thus able to determine the cause of the bad luck and suggest ways in which to get rid of the “cause.”

Also in Tsonga traditional religion, some spirits or ancestors are believed to live in certain sacred places where ancient chiefs have been buried. Each clan has several of these burial grounds.

The ancestors are propitiated by prayers and offerings which range from beer to animal sacrifices such as cows. The Sangoma, on behalf of the community, makes offerings in times of trouble or in cases of illness, and on special occasions.

Great care is taken to please the ancestors, as restless ancestors can cause trouble. Children are named after their ancestors to ensure continuity in the family.

According to the Tsonga, there exists a strong relationship between the creation - ntumbuloko - and a supernatural power called Tilo.

Tilo refers to a vaguely described superior being, who created mankind, but it also refers to the heavens which are the home of this being whose conception by the Tsonga approximates the conception of the Divine among Christians.

The Tsonga also have a great tradition of story telling. Stories are told by the grandmother or an elder woman in the family who is respected as the transmitter of old stories which also serve as a repository of knowledge and wisdom reflecting the life, history, customs and traditions of the people.

They are also known for their traditional music and musical instruments unique to their ethnic group.

The Shangaan–Tsonga people have developed a number of musical instruments which include fayi, a small, stubby wooden flute which produces a breathless, raspy, but haunting sound, and is often played by young herd boys; and the xitende, a long thin bow tied on each end by a taut leather thong or wire which runs across a gourd.

The xitende was often used to alleviate boredom on long journeys. The journeys covered long distances, and the people walked, usually on bare feet as some of them still do today in many parts of the rural areas.

Shangaan–Tsonga male dancers have also traditionally performed muchongolo, a dance which celebrates the role of women in society, war victories, and ritual ceremonies which have always been so important to Tsonga identity as a collective entity.

The Tsonga today constitute a diverse community as an ethnic group or entity and include the Shangaan, the Thonga, and the Tonga – a group not related to the another Tonga group nearby in the north, as well as other smaller groups.

In the mid-1990s, there were about 1.5 million Tsongas in South Africa, and at least 4.5 million in Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

In South Africa, they live mostly in the northeastern part of the country; in Mozambique, in the southern part, and in Zimbabwe in the eastern and southern areas. Also a small number of Shangaans live in Swaziland.

The terms Tsonga and Shangaan are sometimes used interchangeably but Shangaan is quite often used as a synonym for Tsonga.

The Tsonga is a broadly used term encompassing three sub-groups: the Ronga, the Tswa, and the Tsonga also known as Shangaan, a name derived from the Zulu military ruler Soshangane who conquered and ruled the Tsonga. And the three groups are very similar in almost every respect, from language to culture and life style, and merged to create a single ethnic identity.

It is very difficult to determine the population of the Shangaan with accuracy partly because of the confusion that arises from the use of the terms Shangaan and Tsonga. The Tsonga are the larger group among the Shangaan. But it is also a sub-group of the Shangaan, and the term Tsonga is often used to identify the whole group of the Shangaan.

The Tsonga really comprise a number of groups which include the Shangaan, the Thonga, the Tonga as well as a number of smaller groups.

Today, the Shangaan live in areas mainly between the Kruger National Park and the Drakensberg Mountains in South Africa's Mpumalanga and Northern Provinces.

But what are called Shangaan did not exist as an ethnic group until the Zulu under the leadership of Soshangane entered Tsonga land and imposed his authority on the Tsonga people.

During the mfecane and ensuing upheaval of the nineteenth century, most Tsonga chiefdoms moved inland. Some successfully maintained their independence from the Zulu, while others were conquered by Zulu warriors even after they had fled

And their language, Tsonga also known as xiTsonga, is another language which transcends national boundaries. It is spoken in many parts of southern Africa – and not just in South Africa – mostly by the Shangaan.

Besides South Africa, the language is also spoken in Mozambique, Swaziland, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe.

It is spoken by more than 1.6 million people in South Africa's Limpopo, Gauteng and Mpumalanga provinces; 4.5 million in Mozambique; 100,000 in Zimbabwe, and by about 20,000 in Swaziland.

There are also Tsonga speakers in Botswana, Malawi and Zambia but in smaller numbers.

Limpopo Province has the largest number of Shangaans in South Africa. And it borders Mozambique where the Shangaan originated, in Gaza Province, before spreading to other parts of southern Africa.

And the term xiTsonga refers to the Tsonga language spoken in South Africa. It is basically the same language, but there are some differences between the xiTsonga which is spoken in South Africa and the Tsonga that is spoken in Mozambique as well as in other parts of southern Africa.

And although in South Africa the language is spoken mostly in Limpopo Province, as well as in Gauteng and Mpumalanga, it is not uncommon to find the Shangaan in places as far south as KwaZulu-Natal Province speaking their language, xiTsonga.

There are other indigenous Africans in South Africa who are not of Bantu stock. They are the Khoi, or Khoikhoi, and the San. They are the oldest inhabitants in the country.

The Khoi are closely related to the San, so-called Bushmen, and have lived in South Africa, especially in what became the Cape Colony then Cape Province, for at least about 2,000 years.

Archaeological evidence shows that they entered South Africa from what is now the northern part of Botswana.

They avoided the Kalahari desert by going west and then travelling south along the coast all the way down to the Cape. That is where the first white settlers, the Dutch, encountered them centuries later.

They also took another route by travelling southeast. They entered the Highveld and went further down to the southern coast.

The Khoikhoi were named Hottentots by the Dutch settlers.

It is a derogatory term and even gives that impression right away just by the way it sounds.

And it is no more complimentary than the term Bushmen is and which was also first used by Europeans to describe another indigenous group of people, the San, who like the Khoi, still carry the burden of stereotypes about them - even among other Africans - probably more than most African groups with the possible exception of the Pygmies.

Their migration south may have started even farther north beyond what is now Botswana, possibly in what is Tanzania today where there are groups of people, the Hadzapi and the Sandawi, who are related to the Khoi and the San.

The Hadzapi still speak a San language. And the Sandawi language is a Khoisan language related to the Khoi family.

Khoisan languages are indigenous to southern and eastern Africa which are unique because of their clicks.

When the Khoi arrived in the Cape region, they encountered the San, the original inhabitants, and intermarried with them. Then Bantu groups arrived centuries later.

The Khoi were forced off their land and driven into arid and other inhospitable areas, first by the Bantu, then later by white settlers who also enslaved them.

But in spite of all that, they also intermarried with the Bantu - later with white settlers - and even became an integral part of some black African ethnic groups such as the Xhosa. In fact, Khoi influence among the Xhosa is clearly evident, for example, in terms of vocabulary. The name Xhosa itself is of Khoisan origin.

In fact, both the Xhosa and the Zulu adopted Khoisan clicks which is one of the most distinctive characteristics of their languages. The Zulu language, like Xhosa and other black African languages in South Africa, also has a number of words which are of Khoisan origin.

The Khoi and the San share physical and linguistic characteristics. But they are distinct groups in terms of culture and other aspects. The San are usually identified as hunter-gatherers, while the Khoi are pastoralists as well as farmers.

Genetic evidence also suggests that the San may be the oldest people in the world; they are definitely one of the oldest, together with the Khoi, and a few others.

And although they still exist as a group, the San of South Africa have through the generations been absorbed into the general population of Bantu ethnic groups, as have the Khoi.

All the South African ethnic and racial groups we have looked at here have their own cultures even if many of them are related, as they indeed are. And they all have their own languages they use in their daily lives more than any other language.

But, although South Africa has 11 official languages, English is the dominant language in national life.

It is also the dominant in the lives of millions of South Africans of all races including those who don't even speak English as the first language.

That is because it is the commercial language. It is also the language of administration and is spoken throughout the country. Even the government itself conducts business in English. It is also the medium of instruction in schools across the country.

Other languages are taught in school. They are also used in different schools where appropriate. But all students learn English. Without English, they can't go far in life in terms of education and employment as well as interaction with other people of different backgrounds and nationalities.

In fact, South Africa is one of the most multicultural countries in the world. In almost all the urban centres of South Africa are people of different ethnic groups and races, from within the country itself, as well as many others including foreigners. They have different backgrounds and cultures, as well as values, and speak different languages.

Yet they are able to live together in this racial and cultural mix, in the rainbow nation, although not without problems as the xenophobic attacks on black African immigrants – by black South Africans through the years since the end of apartheid – tragically demonstrates.

Also the abominable institution of apartheid played a big role in reinforcing racial and cultural differences some of which could have been overcome had racial integration been allowed. But because the policy of apartheid was based on the separation of the races, many cultural differences in South Africa also closely correspond to racial identities. In many cases, each racial group still lives in its own world.

And the most oppressed racial group during apartheid, black Africans, not only live in the rural areas in vast numbers without access to social amenities and other benefits of the modern world; they also remain the most impoverished racial group, a legacy of apartheid which will take many years to overcome, if at all.

But, in spite of all that, an increasing number of blacks are increasingly urbanised and have adopted Western lifestyles – to the detriment of their African identity – and usually speak English and Afrikaans, the two dominant white languages in South Africa, without which upward mobility may be very difficult and even impossible in some cases.

So, in a very tragic way, black Africans sometimes have to abandon their traditional ways of life and become “Europeanised” in order to make progress in a country whose economy is still dominated by whites.

You have to master their languages, English and Afrikaans, and even adopted European lifestyles and values in order to prosper and be socially accepted by those who hold your fate in their hands: whites who control and manipulate the levers of power in the economic arena where apartheid still exists in many fundamental ways.

And although cultural differences between whites and blacks are more pronounced, there are also significant differences among blacks themselves; for example between speakers of the Nguni languages – which are Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele, Swazi and Tsonga – and those who speak Sotho languages which include Tswana, Sotho (also known as Southern Sotho), Northern Sotho, and Venda. Yet, they are all black black Africans who share many similarities. And many urban blacks speak several black African – or indigenous – languages and mingle easily with members of other groups.

One of the most widely spoken African languages is Zulu which has become the lingua franca in the Johannesburg area, even more so after the end of apartheid which witnessed an influx of black Africans into this metropolis on an unprecedented scale.

But the influx also has had unintended consequences: high crime rates, and xenophobia directed against black African immigrants from other parts of the continent.

The majority of black South Africans are Chrsitians and are mainly members of the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches as well as the black Zion Christian Church. There are other denominations as well, including Methodist, Seventh-Day Adventist and others to which other black Africans belong.

But traditional beliefs are still strong even among those who are Chrsitian. And many of them consult a sangoma, a traditional healer who provides divination, counselling, and traditional medicine including herbs which have been used by Africans for centuries to deal with all kinds of maladies including mental illness.

A session with a sangoma also involves invocation of ancestral spirits for guidance, protection, and intercession with the divine on behalf of the living.

White South Africans are also predominantly Christian and their values and lifestyles are not very much different from those of other whites in Western Europe, North America and Australia and New Zealand.

The majority of Afrikaners belong to the Dutch Reformed Church which is based on Calvinist teachings. And most whites of British origin are members of the Anglican Church, although some of them belong to the Roman Catholic Church.

Other whites in significant numbers including Portuguese and Greeks. There are also whites of other nationalities who have immigrated to South Africa.

Non-black Christians include Lebanese Arabs and Coloureds.

Culturally, Coloureds are much closer to whites, especially Afrikaners, than they are to black Africans in spite of the discrimination they suffered under the Afrikaner-dominated apartheid regime. But they did not suffer as much as blacks did, and they have the same religious beliefs as Afrikaners do and belong to the Dutch Reformed Church more than any other denomination. And they speak Afrikaans, the language of the Afrikaners.

But there is a small number of Coloureds, known as Cape Malays, especially in the Western Cape Province, who are Muslim.

There are also Jews in significant numbers in South Africa. And they are some of the most successful people in the country; an achievement that is also attributed to their status as whites which has been an asset for other whites in the country, Afrikaners and those of British descent as well as others, enabling them to prosper in a way black people could only dream of.

Another group of South Africans, those of Asian origin – mostly Indian – have been able to preserve their cultural heritage and racial identity from the time their ancestors first arrived in South Africa, mainly as indentured servants brought by the British, and continue to be one of the most homogeneous groups in the country.

They are very clannish – an euphemism for racist on many contexts – like their kith-and-kin in East Africa and elsewhere and hardly intermingle with blacks just as most of them don't in Kenya, Tanzania and other parts of the continent and beyond.

In terms of religious beliefs, they are mostly Hindu or Muslim. They also speak English in a country where this language is quite often a passport to success. Indian languages such as Tamil, Hindi, Telegu and Gujerati are also spoken in their communities.

There are also small communities of Chinese and Japanese in South Africa. But the Chinese community has grown through the decades because of the increasing number of immigrants from China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

There are more than 200,000 ethnic Chinese who live in South Africa. And in 2008, the High Court of South Africa ruled that Chinese South Africans were to be reclassified as black people so that they could benefit from government policies aimed at ending white domination in the private sector.

The Chinese Association of South Africa took the government to court, saying its members had been discriminated against.

The association said their members often failed to qualify for business contracts and job promotions because they were regarded as whites.

The association said Chinese South Africans had faced widespread discrimination during the years of apartheid when they had been classified as people of mixed race, and Chinese activists said they also fought against against apartheid but when apartheid ended, they continued to face discrimination.

The South African parliament passed laws, the Broad-Based Economic Empowerment and the Employment Equity Acts, designed to eradicate the legacy of apartheid which left many black people impoverished.

The new laws give people classed as blacks, Indians and coloureds (mixed-race) employment and other economic benefits over other racial groups.

The Black Economic Employment concept was initiated by the governing ANC to help previously disadvantaged individuals - to start their own businesses or become part of existing companies - thus redressing the country's historic inequalities.

And the ruling by the high court in 2008 provides clarity for corporations in South Africa on the rights of their Chinese staff - who were declared "coloured" under apartheid but are as white today.

The ruling also clearly shows that, in spite of the achievements in many areas of life since the end of white minority rule, the legacy of apartheid persists, and with terrible consequences. For example, a study released in May 2008 showed that white South Africans still earn around 450 per cent more than their black counterparts, 14 years after the end of apartheid.

In other words, apartheid still exists in the economic arena, making political power blacks have won virtually meaningless in many fundamental respects in their lives in this rainbow nation.

And increasing migration by a very large number of blacks from the rural areas to the towns and cities across the nation since the end of apartheid has not helped to end economic inequality between blacks and whites. Equality in the economic arena remains an elusive dream and will probably remain so for many years to come.

But urban centres continue to be powerful magnets luring untold numbers of people from the rural areas in pursuit of better life in a country which, potentially, offers more economic opportunities – in its cities and towns – than any other African country.

In fact, South Africa is the most urbanised country on the African continent. But this kind of economic and social transformation also has unintended consequences.

While urbanisation of the society has brought some benefits in terms of modernisation, it has also disrupted the traditional way of life among many urban dwellers, leading to the erosion of traditional values and customs and beliefs which have been central to the well-being of Africans for centuries.

Not all urban dwellers who migrated to towns and cities from the rural areas have lost their traditional values and customs. But many of them have been subjected to the stresses and strains of urban life and modernisation – threatening their identities – they otherwise would not have been subjected to, had they been brought up or continued to live in the rural areas where their roots are, and without which they would not have their true identity as an African people.

Although South Africa is the most urbanised country on the continent, the majority of black Africans still live in the rural areas.

And among whites, it is Afrikaner farmers who live in the rural areas more than any other people of European descent in South Africa including fellow Afrikaners. Besides the farmers, the rest of the Afrikaners and other whites live in towns and cities across the country.

Most of these white farmers are very conservative. And many of them still espouse racist views even after the end of apartheid.

But they have also accepted, grudgingly, the fact that they can not turn back the clock and that history is not on their side regardless of how much they continue to espouse the doctrine of white supremacy.

Theirs is an accommodation to a harsh reality they can not do anything about. They are resigned to fate even if nothing is going to change their beliefs about the races. Many of them will die believing they are better than blacks and other non-whites almost in every conceivable way, as “ordained” by God.

Many people of all races who live in the towns and cities across the nation have an outlook towards life which has been very much shaped by their exposure to the world and other cultures many people in the rural areas are not accustomed to.

They live on the fast lane, and in the limelight. And they are “sophisticated” because of their way of life and knowledge of the world. It is a way of life, and an attitude, that fosters materialistic values.

They are not necessarily less spiritualistic than the country dwellers; nor are they necessarily arrogant because they live in the towns and cities. But many of them are.

And those who feel and think that way also tend to think that they are better than the people who live in the villages and in other parts of the rural areas.

This attitude is also reinforced by a belief, a common belief, among millions of people in the rural areas – where they are trapped in poverty – that life in the cities is better, glamorous, with magnificent bounties one can only dream of in the villages.

There is also competition even among the urban dwellers of different cities and towns.

Many of those who live in Johannesburg, the largest and most developed city in South Africa and on the entire continent, may feel that they are on top of the rest – if not the world; and that the people in other cities are not in their league.

That may indeed be the case, from their perspective. But others may feel the same way. It's not uncommon to find Capetonians who feel that life in Cape Town is better than life in Johannesburg and anywhere else in the country.

In fact, many Capetonians are said to have a “superior attitude” which some people may see as arrogance.

But they are no exception.

Such attitudes are an integral part of national life, a cultural phenomenon one should expect in a multicultural society such as South Africa where the people, even when they co-exist, are bound to differ and clash because they are different for different reasons even if they are all members of the same society and constitute one nation.

It's always a major challenge to unite people under one leadership and have them share and articulate a common vision when they have such different backgrounds, customs and beliefs as they do in South Africa.

It is an exercise in social engineering few countries have successfully completed even under committed leadership. And South Africa still has a long way to go.

But South Africa also is a nation which is a union in diversity, giving full expression to many separate identities while at the same time fostering a single identity that transcends the differences within.

South Africa is a land of contrasts, not only in its landscape but also in its people; a phenomenon not peculiar to this rainbow nation.

However, some of these differences have also bred intolerance in a country that has been hailed, because of its triumph over apartheid without retribution, as a model for tolerance.

South Africa as a Multi-Ethnic Society

Author: Godfrey Mwakikagile

Paperback: 252 pages

Publisher: Continental Press (19 June 2010)

ISBN-10: 9987932231

ISBN-13: 9789987932238