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KWA ZULU NATAL Welcome to the KwaZulu Natal Known as the Zulu Kingdom Appropriately named "South Africa's Garden Province ", the lush and green province forms the east coast of South Africa from the Mozambique boundary southwards to Port Edward. Enticing, spectacular and fascinating, the province is a subtropical coastline, with savannah heading east towards majestic Drakensberg mountain range in the west. KwaZulu Natal's beaches are along the warm waters of the Indian Ocean, and are some of South Africa's most popular holiday spots. It is a multi-cultural showpiece destination. Kwa-Zulu Natal is also known as the Zulu Kingdom and has eight different destinations, each offering its own unqiue set of experiences. It is a kaleidoscope showing you natural wonders, ultra-modern facilities, fascinating glimpses of a multi-coloured people, a history rich in heroic deeds, bloody battles and ultimately reconciliation, and this is all set against a majestic backdrop of sun, sea, mountains and sky. Durban is a sophisticated cosmopolitan city of over three million people. A city where east meets west it is known as the home of Africa's best managed, busiest port. It is an exciting city in which to play, shop, experience the nightlife and relax. It is a city in which to do business also. The world-class International Convention Centre has hosted an historic line-up of events including conferences of a global scale. Also known as the playground of the Zulu Kingdom, there are so many things to keep you busy in Durban, such as a marine world, the wharf, the BAT centre, fine restaurants, entertainment and shopping, craft markets, beachfront stalls, theatres and clubs, township tours, nature sanctuaries and parks, the Botanical Gardens and so much more. You can sail, swim, run, play tennis or stroll along or relax on the sun-drenched beaches. Battlefields - Shaka, Winston Churchill, Mahatma Gandhi and General Louis Botha were all famous military strategists who walked through this place many years ago. Lone forts and small graveyards on these undulating landscapes with rocky outcrops make visible the secrets and sorrows of great battles, sighed and whispered by the wind. The Battlefield sites, historic towns and national monuments are testimony to the critical, blood-soaked conflicts which are the legacy of this place. Tours can be taken of the Battlesites, but if you wish to take on a more adventurous route you can go white-water rafting down the rapids of the mighty Tugela, sail on the Chelmsford Dam or hunt in the designated hunting reserves. This region offers all these pursuits. The elephant coast is a pristine eco-wonderland boasting 21 different ecological systems. Some of the world's highest natural dunes, brilliant coral reefs, fever tree and palm savannahs, papyrus swamps and rolling acacia bushveld can be found in this land of natural and cultural diversity. It is home to the Zulu and Tsonga people as well as the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park, declared South Africa's first World Heritage Site. Accommodation ranges from luxury game lodges to Zulu homestays and camping. The sea, lakes and beach provide more adventure. Scuba diving and snorkelling enable you to watch the 1200 different species of marine life abounding in these waters. And taking a turtle tours is a must. Angling is a great sport, whether from the 200 kilometers of unspoilt beach, on the lakes or the deep sea. While at sea you might even be lucky enough to spot a whale or two. Historical venues are the Ghost Mountains and Dingaan's grave. The Zulu and Tsonga people will share these places with you and tell you more about their history as well as their traditional way of life. The South Coast is a very popular holiday destination, with it's sub-tropical forests, blue lagoons, golden beaches, rocky coves, warm Indian Ocean and sunny weather. There are three beaches which have International 'Blue Flag' status, namely Ramsgate, Marina Beach and Lucien. The South Coast is also known to many as 'The Golf Coast' because of its nine excellent 18-hole golf course, two of white are rated amongst the top 12 in the country. The Umtamvuna Nature Reserv conserves plants found nowhere else in the world, and you can view 400 species of birds along this coastline. Scuba diving is a popular past time and you will find excellent diving areas at Aliwal Shoal and Protea Banks. You can also go abseiling in the Oribi Gorge. The scenery around here is absolutely breathtaking. The North Coast is also known as the Dolphin Coast and stretches from Zimbali to the mighty Tugela River. You will find the bottle nose dolphin frolicking in these waters close to shore, all year round. There are so many things to do here, such as dining at fine restaurants, partying at the nightclubs, taking a golf course or taking to the air in a microlight. You can stroll along the coast on horseback during low tide, or enjoy some angling. As for the history aficionados you will be interested to know that Shaka Zulu is buried at Kwa-Dukuza, and Albert Luthuli, the Nobel laureate, is buried nearby. You can visit historic battle sites such as the Ultimatum Tree, Ndondakusuka or Fort Pearson, or you can walk a 'muti' trail through the Harold Johnson Nature Reserve. The Zulu people are indigenous to this part of the land, but the North Coast is also home to a large Indian community. You will find Indian temples and you can sample their spicy food. Pietermaritzburg Midlands is home to quaint antique shops, markets, restaurants, art galleries, museums and a casino. This is where the annual Duzi Canoe Marathon starts, as is beginning and end for the Comrades Marathon. Take a picnic to the magnificent Howick Falls, or try your hand at some trout or bass fishing. For the more adventurous you can paraglide off Bulwer Mountain or slide across the canopy of Karkloof's indigenous forests. The Drakensberg Mountains are named by the Zulu 'Ukhahlamba' or the 'Barrier of Spears' and by the Dutch Voortrekkers 'The Dragon Mountain'. With their awe-inspiring basalt cliffs, snowcapped in winter, towering over riverine bush, lush yellowwood forests and cascading waterfalls, the Drakensberg Mountains form a massive barrier separating Kwa-Zulu Natal from the Kingdom of Lesotho. The only road access is via Sani Pass, which at the top boasts the highest pub on Africa, at 3000 metres above sea level. This 243 000 hectare mountainous region known as the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park, has been preserved and venerated for eons since the San people or bushmen roamed these slopes. These mountains combine sheer natural beauty with a wealth of biological diversity. Tens of thousands of paintings depicting the daily life of the bushmen can be found on the rock faces. In December 2000 the park received international recognition and was declared KwaZulu Natal's second World Heritage Site. The adventurous may try climbing it or abseiling, white water rafting or taking a helicopter ride to view the mountains from above. There are also hiking routes for the less adventurous where you can view the large variety of animals and plantlife. KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (/kwɑːˌzuːluː nəˈtɑːl/ , also referred to as KZN; nicknamed "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu ) and Natal Province were merged. It is located in the southeast of the country, with a long shoreline on the Indian Ocean and sharing borders with three other provinces and the countries of Mozambique , Eswatini and Lesotho . Its capital is Pietermaritzburg , and its largest city is Durban . It is the second-most populous province in South Africa, with slightly fewer residents than Gauteng . Two areas in KwaZulu-Natal have been declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites : the iSimangaliso Wetland Park and the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park . These areas are extremely scenic as well as important to the surrounding ecosystems. During the 1830s and early 1840s, the northern part of what is now KwaZulu-Natal was established as the Zulu Kingdom while the southern part was, briefly, the Boer Natalia Republic before becoming the British Colony of Natal in 1843. The Zulu Kingdom remained independent until 1879. KwaZulu-Natal is the birthplace of many notable figures in South Africa's history, such as Albert Luthuli , the first non-white and the first person from outside Europe and the Americas to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (1960); Pixley ka Isaka Seme , the founder of the African National Congress (ANC) and South Africa's first black lawyer; John Langalibalele Dube , the ANC's founding president; Harry Gwala , ANC member and anti-apartheid activist; Mac Maharaj , grammy award winning group Ladysmith Black Mambazo , grammy award winning DJ Black Coffee , ANC member, anti-apartheid activist and Little Rivonia Trial defendant ; Mangosuthu Buthelezi , the founder of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP); Anton Lembede , the founding president of the ANC Youth League ; Jacob Zuma , the former President of South Africa ; Bhambatha , a 19th-century Zulu chief who became an anti-apartheid icon; and Shaka Zulu . Geography A view of the Mngeni River valley near Howick Falls At around 92,100 km2 (35,600 sq mi) in area, KwaZulu-Natal is roughly the size of Portugal. It has three different geographic areas and is the eastern most province in the country. The lowland region along the Indian Ocean coast is extremely narrow in the south, widening in the northern part of the province, while the central Natal Midlands consists of an undulating hilly plateau rising toward the west. Two mountainous areas, the western Drakensberg Mountains and northern Lebombo Mountains form, respectively, a solid basalt wall rising over 3,000 m (9,800 ft) beside Lesotho border and low parallel ranges of ancient granite running southward from Eswatini. The area's largest river, the Tugela , flows west to east across the center of the province. The coastal regions typically have subtropical thickets and deeper ravines; steep slopes host some Afromontane Forest . The midlands have moist grasslands and isolated pockets of Afromontane Forest. The north has a primarily moist savanna habitat, whilst the Drakensberg region hosts mostly alpine grassland . The province contains rich areas of biodiversity of a range of flora and fauna. The iSimangaliso Wetland Park and the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park have been declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites . The iSimangaliso Wetland Park, along with uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park and Ndumo, are wetlands of international importance for migratory species and are designated as Ramsar sites . South Africa signed the 1971 Ramsar Convention to try to conserve and protect important wetlands because of their importance to habitats and numerous species. The former Eastern Cape enclave of the town of Umzimkulu and its hinterland have been incorporated into KwaZulu-Natal following the 12th amendment of the Constitution of South Africa . The amendment also made other changes to the southern border of the province. The northwesterly line of equal latitude and longitude traverses the province from the coast at Hibberdene (30°34′35″S 30°34′35″E ) to northeast Lesotho . The province became the first to include a portion of road that is made of partial plastic, the equivalent of nearly 40,000 recycled milk cartons. Climate Upland savannah near Pietermaritzburg Mangrove forest at the Umgeni River estuary in Durban KwaZulu-Natal has a varied yet verdant climate thanks to diverse, complex topography. Generally, the coast is subtropical with inland regions becoming progressively colder. Durban on the south coast has an annual rainfall of 1009 mm, with daytime maxima peaking from January to March at 28 °C (82 °F) with a minimum of 21 °C (70 °F), dropping to daytime highs from June to August of 23 °C (73 °F) with a minimum of 11 °C (52 °F). Temperature drops towards the hinterland, with Pietermaritzburg being similar in the summer, but much cooler in the winter. Ladysmith in the Tugela River Valley reaches 30 °C (86 °F) in the summer but may drop below freezing point on winter evenings. The Drakensberg can experience heavy winter snow, with light snow occasionally experienced on the highest peaks in summer. The Zululand north coast has the warmest climate and highest humidity, supporting many sugar cane farms around Pongola. Sports Sports Provincial sport teams Soccer African Warriors (Phuthaditjhaba ) Carara Kicks F.C. (Welkom ) Bloemfontein Celtic (Bloemfontein )(now has been sold) Free State Stars (Bethlehem ) Roses United Bloemfontein Young Tigers Rugby Cheetahs (Bloemfontein ) Currie Cup : Free State Cheetahs (Bloemfontein ) Griffons (Welkom ) Cricket Knights (Bloemfontein ) Borders KwaZulu-Natal borders the following areas of Mozambique, Eswatini and Lesotho: Maputo Province, Mozambique (far northeast) Lubombo District, Eswatini (northeast, east of Shiselweni) Shiselweni District, Eswatini (northeast, west of Lubombo) Mokhotlong District, Lesotho (southwest, north of Thaba-Tseka) Thaba-Tseka District, Lesotho (southwest, between Mokhotlong and Qacha's Nek) Qacha's Nek District, Lesotho (southwest, south of Thaba-Tseka) Domestically, it borders the following provinces: Mpumalanga (north) Free State (west) Eastern Cape (southwest) See also: Parks of KwaZulu-Natal , List of cities and towns in KwaZulu-Natal , and List of municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal The KwaZulu-Natal Province is divided into one metropolitan municipality and ten district municipalities . The district municipalities are in turn divided into 44 local municipalities . The local seat of each district municipality is given in parentheses: In 2012, the Ingonyama Trust owns 32% of the land in KwaZulu-Natal, in many municipalities. This amounts to about three million hectares, occupied by over 4 million people. The Zulu king is the chairman of the Trust. Metropolitan municipalities eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality (Durban ) District municipalities Amajuba District (Newcastle ) Newcastle Dannhauser eMadlangeni Uthukela District (Ladysmith ) Emnambithi/Ladysmith Indaka Umtshezi Okhahlamba Imbabazane Zululand District (Ulundi ) Ulundi Nongoma Abaqulusi uPhongolo eDumbe uMkhanyakude District (Mkuze ) Jozini Hlabisa Umhlabuyalingana Mtubatuba The Big 5 False Bay King Cetshwayo District (Richards Bay ) [formerly uThungulu] uMhlathuze Umlalazi Nkandla Mbonambi Ntambanana Mthonjaneni uMzinyathi District (Dundee ) Msinga Nqutu Umvoti Endumeni uMgungundlovu District (Pietermaritzburg ) Msunduzi uMshwathi uMngeni Richmond Mkhambathini Mpofana Impendle iLembe District (kwaDukuza ) KwaDukuza Ndwedwe Mandeni Maphumulo Ugu District (Port Shepstone ) Ray Nkonyeni uMdoni uMuziwabantu Umzumbe Harry Gwala District (Ixopo ) Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma Ubuhlebezwe Greater Kokstad Umzimkhulu Coastline A beach on the North Coast The coastline is dotted with small towns, many of which serve as seasonal recreational hubs. The climate of the coastal areas is humid and subtropical, comparable to southern Florida in the United States, but not quite as hot and rainy in the summer. As one moves further north up the coast towards the border of Mozambique, the climate becomes almost purely tropical. North of Durban is locally referred to as "The North Coast ", while south is "The South Coast ". The Kwazulu-Natal Tourist board includes towns such as Margate , Port Shepstone , Scottburgh and Port Edward in its definition of the South Coast, while Ballito , uMhlanga , Zimbali and Salt Rock are North Coast resort towns. San Lameer Resort Beaches of world-class quality are to be found along virtually every part of South Africa's eastern seaboard, with some of the least-developed gems found in the far southern and far northern ends of the province. Marina Beach (and its adjoining resort San Lameer) was recognised in 2002 as a Blue Flag beach . Some visitors come for the annual late autumn or early winter phenomenon on the KwaZulu-Natal coast of the "sardine run ". Referred to as "the greatest shoal on earth", the sardine run occurs when millions of sardines migrate from their spawning grounds south of the southern tip of Africa northward along the Eastern Cape coastline toward KwaZulu-Natal. They follow a route close inshore, often resulting in many fish washing up on beaches. The huge shoal of tiny fish can stretch for many kilometres; it is preyed upon by thousands of predators, including game fish , sharks , dolphins and seabirds . Usually, the shoals break up and the fish disappear into deeper water around Durban. Scientists have been unable to answer many questions surrounding this exceptional seasonal event. Interior The interior of the province consists largely of rolling hills from the Valley of a Thousand Hills to the Midlands . Their beauty has inspired literature. Alan Paton , in the novel Cry, the Beloved Country , wrote: There is a lovely road that runs from Ixopo into the hills. These hills are grass-covered and rolling, and they are lovely beyond any singing of it. The road climbs seven miles (11 km) into them, to Carisbrooke; and from there, if there is no mist, you look down on one of the fairest valleys of Africa. About you there is grass and bracken and you may hear the forlorn crying of the titihoya , one of the birds of the veld. Below you is the valley of the Umzimkulu , on its journey from the Drakensberg to the sea; and beyond and behind the river, great hill after great hill; and beyond and behind them, the mountains of Ingeli and Griqualand East . History Further information: Zulu Kingdom , Natalia Republic , Colony of Natal , Natal Province , and KwaZulu On Christmas Day 1497, Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama saw the coast of Natal and named the site after the Portuguese word for Christmas, Natal . The Nguni branch of the Bantu occupied this area from the early 1300s[10] The first European settlers, mostly British, established Port Natal , a trading post. They made almost no attempt to develop the interior, whose inhabitants had been decimated by the Zulu king, Shaka . The Afrikaner Voortrekkers entered the area via the Drakensberg passes in 1837. These Afrikaners defeated the Zulus at the Battle of Blood River in 1838 and thereafter established the Republic of Natal. Thus, the territory was once part of a short-lived Boer republic between 1839 and 1843 until its annexation by Britain. Many Afrikaner inhabitants left for the interior after the annexation and were replaced by immigrants, mainly from Britain. From 1860 onwards, increasing numbers of Indians, mainly Tamils ,[11] were brought in by the British mainly to work in the sugar plantations on the coast. The colony acquired Zululand (the area north of the Tugela River) after the Zulu War of 1879. The lands north of the Buffalo River were added in 1902. Boer forces entered the area during the South African War (1899 to 1902) – also known as the second Boer War – and laid siege to Ladysmith . They failed to build on their initial advantage and for three months the line between the opposing forces followed the course of the Tugela River . In 1910, the colony became a province of the Union of South Africa and in 1961 of the Republic of South Africa. When the homeland of KwaZulu, which means "Place of the Zulu" was re-incorporated into the Natal province after the end of apartheid in 1994, the province of Natal, which had existed between 1910 and 1994, was renamed KwaZulu-Natal. The province is home to the Zulu monarchy; the majority population speak Zulu . It is the only province in South Africa that has the name of its dominant ethnic group as part of its name. As with Eastern Cape , most White South Africans in KwaZulu-Natal are of British descent and less than a quarter of whites in the province are of Boer/Afrikaner descent.[12] [13] [14] Provincial coat of arms The lion and wildebeest supporters are symbols of, respectively, KwaZulu and Natal, the regions joined to create KwaZulu-Natal. Besides its importance as a symbol of the Zulu monarchy, the lion is also featured in the state emblems of the India and the United Kingdom which together represent the three largest people groups in KwaZulu-Natal and also represents the unity between them. The zig-zag stripe represents the Drakensberg which is green in summer, but snowcapped in winter and the star represents the Star of Bethlehem , due to Vasco da Gama naming the region "Natalia" (a reference to the birth of Christ) on Christmas Day in 1497. The strelitzia flower on the shield symbolizes the province's beauty, while the assegai and knobkierrie behind the shield represent protection and peace. The base of the crown element is a type of headdress traditionally worn by Zulu elders that represents wisdom and maturity; the element itself is a Zulu-style grass hut. The motto is Masisukume Sakhe, Zulu for "Let us stand up and build". Law and government Law and government The KwaZulu-Natal parliament building, located in Pietermaritzburg Provincial government KwaZulu-Natal's provincial government sits in Pietermaritzburg . The foundation stone of the new legislative building was laid on 21 June 1887, to commemorate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee . The building was completed two years later. On 25 April 1889, the Governor of Natal, Sir Arthur Havelock , opened the first Legislative Council session in the new building. This was the former site of St Mary's Church, built in the 1860s. The congregation built a new church in 1884 at the corner of Burger Street and Commercial Road. The old building was demolished in 1887 to provide space for the legislative complex. When governance was granted to Natal in 1893, the new Legislative Assembly took over the chamber used by the Legislative Council since 1889. Further extensions to the parliamentary building were made. The building was unoccupied until 1902, when it was used without being officially opened, due to the country's being engulfed in the Anglo-Boer war . The war forced the Legislative Assembly to move the venue of its sittings, as its chamber was used as a military hospital. The Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council buildings have both been protected as provincial landmarks . They formed a colonial Parliament of two houses: a Council of 11 nominated members and an Assembly of 37 elected members. The Natal Parliament was disbanded in 1910 when the Union of South Africa was formed, and the Assembly became the meeting place of the Natal Provincial Council. The council was disbanded in 1986. The Provincial Legislature consists of 80 members. Current composition Composition of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature The African National Congress (ANC) holds power in the provincial legislature, winning the province with a convincing overall majority in South Africa's 2019 elections . After the election, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) regained the title of the official opposition in the province. Zulu monarchy KwaZulu-Natal is the home to the Zulu monarch , currently King Misuzulu Zulu kaZwelithini. As of 2015, the king is provided a stipend of 54 million South African rands by the provincial governmentHe is also the chairman of the Ingonyama Trust , which controls 32% of the area of the province. Economy Sugar cane in Midlands South. KwaZulu-Natal has the second largest regional economy in the country after Gauteng . Durban is a rapidly growing urban area and is by most measures the busiest port in Africa. A good railway network links the city to other areas of Southern Africa. Sugar refining is Durban's main industry. Sheep, cattle, dairy, citrus fruits, corn , sorghum , cotton, bananas, and pineapples are also raised. There is an embryonic KwaZulu-Natal wine industry. Other industries (located mainly in and around Durban) include textile, clothing, chemicals , rubber, fertiliser , paper, vehicle assembly and food-processing plants, tanneries, and oil refineries. To the north, Newcastle is the province's industrial powerhouse, with Mittal Steel South Africa (previously ISPAT/ISCOR) and the Karbochem synthetic rubber plant dominating the economy. In 2002, Newcastle became the largest producer of chrome chemicals in Africa with the completion of a chrome-chemical plant, a joint-venture project between Karbochem and German manufacturing giant Bayer. Other large operations include a diamond-cutting works, various heavy engineering concerns, the Natal Portland Cement (NPC) slagment cement factory, and the Newcastle Cogeneration Plant (old Ingagane Power Station). This was recommissioned as Africa's first gas-fired power station by Independent Power Southern Africa (IPSA), and it supplies the Karbochem Plant with electricity. The textile industry is a major employer in the Newcastle area, with over 100 factories belonging to ethnic Taiwanese and Chinese industrialists. Maize, livestock and dairy farmers operate on the outskirts of the city. Coal is also mined in the Newcastle area. Offshore mining of heavy mineral sands including minerals with a concentration of significant economic importance at several locations, such as rutile , ilmenite and zircon are threatening the marine ecology of KwaZulu-Natal's coast, including the Tugela Banks; the fishing economy of the prawn and nurse fisheries are also threatened. Ecology tourism is increasingly important to the economy of KwaZulu-Natal. The area's rich biodiversity and efforts at conservation have been recognised. Tourists have come to see the iSimangaliso Wetland Park and the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park , declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites . These two major parks and that of Ndumo have wetlands of international importance listed as Ramsar sites for conservation. Civil society and politics Prominent civil society organisations based in the province of KwaZulu-Natal include: Abahlali baseMjondolo (shackdwellers') movement, the Diakonia Council of Churches, the Right2Know campaign, and the Unemployed People's Movement. Evictions and political controversy The government in KwaZulu Natal has been under sustained controversy for their eviction of shackdwellers and mistreatment by provincial police structures that has resulted in more than 200 arrests of Abahlali members in the first last three years of its existence and repeated police brutality in people's homes, in the streets and in detention. See also: Attack on Kennedy Road The attack on Kennedy Road informal settlement by an armed mob in 2009 in [Durban] put local and provincial government under sustained scrutiny. It was reported by members of the Abahlali baseMjondolo movement that the attackers were affiliated with the local branch of the African National Congress and it was claimed that the attack was carefully planned and sanctioned by the provincial police department. Academic research seems to confirm that the attackers self-identified as ANC members and that ANC leaders at Municipal and Provincial level later provided public sanction for the attack. See also: Marikana Land Occupation (Durban) Despite a court interdict, the eThekwini municipality, with the support of the provincial SAPS, repeatedly evicted shack dwellers in Durban's Cato Crest. The General Council of the Bar has also expressed concern over the evictions. Ecology Natal plum There are various game reserves found in the province; one notable example is Hluhluwe–Imfolozi Park , where the southern white rhinoceros was saved from extinction. In many of these larger reserves, large animals ranging from several antelope species to elephant , Cape buffalo and hippopotamus can be found. Predators include lions , leopards , and Cape wild dogs . The scaly yellowfish (Labeobarbus natalensis) is a fish found in the Tugela River system as well as in the Umzimkulu , Umfolozi and the Mgeni . It is a common endemic species in KwaZulu-Natal Province and it lives in different habitats between the Drakensberg foothills and the coastal lowlands. Carissa macrocarpa (Natal plum) is a shrub native to South Africa, where it is commonly called the "large num-num". In the Zulu language or isiZulu, as well as in the Bantu tribes of Uganda, it is known as the Amathungulu or umThungulu oBomvu. In Afrikaans, the fruit is called noem-noem. Education Universities The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) has five campuses in the province.[33] It was formed on 1 January 2004 after the merger between the University of Natal and the University of Durban-Westville .[34] Other universities are: University of Zululand Durban University of Technology Mangosuthu University of Technology University of South Africa Colleges AAA School of Advertising Berea College of Technology Berea Technical College CTU Training Solutions Central Technical College Damelin College Eduvos Ethekwini college ICESA Education iStudent MANCOSA Management and Leadership Academy Pax college Regent Business School Richfield Graduate institute of Technology Stadio institute of Higher Education (Embury institute for higher education) The Business School at Varsity College Oval International Education Sport Major sports events Comrades Marathon , an annual marathon run between Pietermaritzburg and Durban. Midmar Mile , a mile-long swimming race held annually at Midmar Dam . Dusi Canoe Marathon , an annual canoe marathon starting in Pietermaritzburg and ending in Durban. Durban July , South Africa's premier annual horse racing event at Greyville Racecourse, Durban. Mr Price Pro, a premier international surfing event at Durban during winter (previously known as the "Gunston 500"). Provincial sports teams Football (soccer) The South African Premier Soccer League (PSL) currently features the following teams from the province: AmaZulu , Golden Arrows and Royal AM (Durban) Thanda Royal Zulu (Richards Bay) Maritzburg United (Pietermaritzburg) Royal AM Durban Rugby union United Rugby Championship The Sharks Currie Cup Sharks BACK TO THE TOP OF THE PAGE

HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA South Africa has a rich and complex history that spans thousands of years. From the indigenous San and Khoi peoples to the arrival of European colonizers in the 17th century, the country has experienced significant social, political, and economic changes. The 20th century saw the rise of apartheid a system of institutionalized racial segregation and discrimination, was eventually dismantled in the 1990s with the release of Nelson Mandela and the establishment of a democratic government. Today, South Africa continues to grapple with issues of inequality, poverty, and social justice, while also celebrating its diverse cultural heritage and beauty. THE FIRST SETTLERS IN SOUTH AFRICA Modern humans have lived at the southern tip of Africa for more than 100 000 years and their ancestors for some 3,3 million years. Some 2 000 years ago, the Khoekhoen (the Hottentots of early European terminology) were pastoralists who had settled mostly along the coast, while the San (the Bushmen) were hunter-gatherers spread across the region. At this time, Bantu-speaking agropastoralists began arriving in southern Africa, spreading from the eastern lowlands to the Highveld. At several archaeological sites there is evidence of sophisticated political and material cultures. European contact The first European settlement in southern Africa was established by the Dutch East India Company in Table Bay (Cape Town) in 1652. Created to supply passing ships with fresh produce, the colony grew rapidly as Dutch farmers settled to grow crops. Shortly after the establishment of the colony, slaves were imported from East Africa, Madagascar and the East Indies. The first British Settlers, known as the 1820 Settlers, arrived in Algoa Bay (now Nelson Mandela Bay) on board 21 ships, the first being the Chapman. They numbered about 4 500 and included artisans, tradesmen, religious leaders, merchants, teachers, bookbinders, blacksmiths, discharged sailors and soldiers, professional men and farmers. Conflict From the 1770s, colonists came into contact and inevitable conflict with Bantu-speaking chiefdoms some 800 km east of Cape Town. A century of intermittent warfare ensued during which the colonists gained ascendancy over the isiXhosa-speaking chiefdoms. In 1795, the British occupied the Cape as a strategic base against the French, controlling the sea route to the East. In the 1820s, the celebrated Zulu leader, Shaka, established sway over a vast area of south-east Africa. As splinter Zulu groups conquered and absorbed communities in their path, the region experienced a fundamental disruption. Substantial states, such as Moshoeshoe’s Lesotho and other Sotho-Tswana chiefdoms were established. This temporary disruption of life on the Highveld served to facilitate the expansion northwards of the original Dutch settlers’ descendants, the Boer Voortrekkers, from the 1830s. Occupation In 1806, Britain reoccupied the Cape. As the colony prospered, the political rights of the various races were guaranteed, with slavery being abolished in 1838. Throughout the 1800s, the boundaries of European influence spread eastwards. From the port of Durban, Natal settlers pushed northwards, further and further into the land of the Zulu. From the mid-1800s, the Voortrekkers coalesced in two land-locked white-ruled republics, the South African Republic (Transvaal) and the Orange Free State. The mineral revolution South Africa’s diamond mining industry dates back to 1867, when diamonds were discovered near Kimberley in what is today known as the Northern Cape. The Kimberley diamond fields, and later discoveries in Gauteng, the Free State, and along the Atlantic coast, emerged as major sources of gem-quality diamonds, securing South Africa’s position as the world’s leading producer in the mid-twentieth century. Gold The discovery of the Witwatersrand goldfields in 1886 was a turning point in South Africa’s history. The demand for franchise rights for English-speaking immigrants working on the new goldfields was the pretext Britain used to go to war with the Transvaal and Orange Free State in 1899. The Anglo-Boer/South African War was the bloodiest, longest and most expensive war Britain engaged in between 1815 and 1915. It cost more than 200 million pounds and Britain lost more than 22 000 men. The Boers lost over 34 000 people and more than 15 000 black South Africans were killed. Union and opposition In 1910, the Union of South Africa was created out of the Cape, Natal, Transvaal and Free State. It was to be essentially a white union. Black opposition was inevitable, and the African National Congress (ANC) was founded in 1912 to protest the exclusion of black people from power. In 1921, the South African Communist Party was established at a time of heightened militancy. More discriminatory legislation was enacted. Meanwhile, Afrikaner nationalism, fuelled by job losses arising from a worldwide recession, was on the march. Reform Shaken by the scale of protest and opposition, the government embarked on a series of limited reforms in the early 1980s. In 1983, the Constitution was reformed to allow the coloured and Indian minorities limited participation in separate and subordinate houses of parliament. In 1986, the pass laws were scrapped. The international community strengthened its support for the anti-apartheid cause. Mass resistance increasingly challenged the apartheid State, which resorted to intensified repression accompanied by eventual recognition that apartheid could not be sustained. Apartheid's last days Afrikaner élite openly started to pronounce in favour of a more inclusive society, with a number of businesspeople, students and academic leaders meeting publicly and privately with the ANC in exile. Petty apartheid laws and symbols were openly challenged and eventually removed. Together with a sliding economy, increasing internal dissent and international pressure, these developments inevitably led to historic changes and the fall of apartheid. Democratic government South Africa held its first democratic election in April 1994 under an interim Constitution. The ANC emerged with a 62% majority. South Africa was divided into nine new provinces to replace the four existing provinces and 10 black homelands. In terms of the interim Constitution, the NP and Inkatha Freedom Party participated in a government of national unity under President Mandela, South Africa’s first democratically elected president. The second democratic election, in 1999, saw the ANC increasing its majority to a point just short of two-thirds of the total vote. In the April 2004 election, the ANC won the national vote with 69,68% and the celebration of 10 Years of Freedom attended by heads of state and government delegations from across the world. In 2008, Mr Kgalema Motlanthe became President following the recalling of President Thabo Mbeki. On 22 April 2009, South Africa held national and provincial elections with about 76% of registered voters casting their votes. Jacob Zuma was inaugurated as President of South Africa on 9 May 2009. The following year, a significant milestone for South Africa was the hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup TM. Municipal elections were held on 18 May 2011, electing new councils for all municipalities in the country. October 2011 saw Statistics South Africa conducting a comprehensive national census. The census, which analysed the country’s demographics, population distribution and access to services, average household size, income, migration, and mortality, was the third national population and housing count in post-apartheid South Africa. The exercise saw 156 000 field staff employed to count more than 14,6 million households. South Africa has continued to build on its international profile. On 1 January 2011, the country started its second term as a non-permanent member of the United Nations (UN) Security Council between 2011 and 2012, serving alongside the five permanent members, China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, as well as elected members Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Colombia, Gabon, Germany, India, Lebanon, Nigeria and Portugal. In 2011, as part of government’s commitment to secure a better quality of life for all, the National Planning Commission in The Presidency finalised the draft National Development Plan: Vision for 2030 . The plan is a step towards charting a new path for South Africa in dealing with the triple challenge of poverty, unemployment and inequality. On 8 January 2012, Africa’s oldest liberation movement, the ANC, celebrated 100 years of existence. This was a historic achievement, not only for the movement, but also for South Africa and the continent. In May 2012, the Square Array Kilometre (SKA) Organisation announced that the SKA Project would be shared between South Africa and Australia, with a majority share coming to South Africa. The full dish array and the dense aperture array will be built in Africa. In November 2012, South Africa was elected by the members of the UN General Assembly to the UN’s 47-member Economic and Social Council.. In December 2012, President Zuma was re-elected as the president of the ANC during the ruling party’s congress in Mangaung, Free State with Cyril Ramaphosa elected as the party’s deputy president. In July 2013, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, was appointed executive director of the UN Women Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women, and Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, was appointed director in the UN Development Programme’s Bureau for Development Policy.. On 5 December 2013, South Africa’s first democratically elected President and anti-apartheid icon Mandela died at the age of 95. Mr Mandela led South Africa’s transition from white-minority rule in the 1990s, after 27 years in prison for his political activities.. He had been receiving intensive medical care at home for a lung infection after spending three months in hospital. His body lay in state at the Union Buildings from 11 to 13 December. He was buried in his home town of Qunu in the Eastern Cape on 15 December 2013.. South Africa celebrated 20 Years of Freedom in 2014, which was a historic milestone for the country. The Twenty Year Review , which was released in 2013, and the National Planning Commission’s 2011 Diagnostic Report, highlight that poverty, inequality and unemployment continue to negatively affect the lives of many people. Despite progress in reducing rural poverty and increasing access to basic services in rural areas over the past 20 years, rural areas are still characterised by great poverty and inequality. As stated in the NDP, by 2030, South Africa’s rural communities must have better opportunities to participate fully in the economic, social and political life of the country. Government’s programme of radical economic transformation is about placing the economy on a qualitatively different path that ensures more rapid, sustainable growth, higher investment, increased employment, reduced inequality and deracialisation of the economy. The NDP sets a growth target of at least 5% a year, and emphasises measures to ensure that the benefits of growth are equitably shared.. South Africa’s fifth general elections were held on 7 May 2014. It was also the first time that South African expatriates were allowed to vote in a South African national election. The ANC won the National Assembly election (62,1%) and the official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) won 22,2% of the votes, while the newly formed Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) obtained 6,4% of the vote. The ANC also won eight of the nine provincial legislatures. The EFF obtained over 10% of the votes in Gauteng, Limpopo and North West, and beat the DA to second place in Limpopo and North West. In the other six provinces won by the ANC, the DA obtained second place. In the Western Cape, the only province not won by the ANC, the DA increased its majority from 51,5% to 59,4%.. In 2015, South Africa celebrated the 60th Anniversary of the Freedom Charter, which called for peace and friendship among nations. The 40th Anniversary of the 16 June 1976 Soweto Student Uprising was celebrated in 2016, along with the 20th Anniversary of the signing of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996 . The 2016 municipal elections were held on 3 August 2016. The ANC won 53,9% of the total vote, followed by the official opposition DA with 26,9% and the EFF with 8,2%. In 2017, South Africa celebrated five years since the launch of the National Development Plan, which outlines the goals to achieve the vision of a prosperous South Africa by tackling the triple challenge of unemployment, poverty and inequality by 2030.. South Africa celebrated the Centenary of the late Oliver Reginald Tambo in 2017, under the theme: “Life and Legacy of OR Tambo”. He was one of the key drivers of South Africa’s liberation and one of the founding fathers of the country’s constitutional democracy. At its 54th National Conference held at Nasrec in Soweto on 18 December 2017, the ANC elected Mr Ramaphosa as its president. Following the resignation of President Zuma in February 2018, Mr Ramaphosa was elected unopposed as the fifth President of democratic South Africa by the National Assembly on 15 February 2018. In 2018, South Africa celebrated the centenary of two Struggle stalwarts, Tata Mandela and Mama Albertina Nontsikelelo Sisulu. In 2019, South Africa celebrated 25 Years of Freedom. In May 2019, the country also held its sixth national and provincial elections. The ANC won 57,50% of the total vote, followed by the official opposition DA with 20,77% and the EFF with 10.79%. On 25 May 2019, Mr Ramaphosa was inaugurated as the sixth democratically elected President of South Africa. In a departure from the tradition of holding the inauguration at the Union Buildings, the event took place at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria. On 31 December 2019, the World Health Organization reported a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan City, China. ‘Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2’ (SARSCoV-2) was confirmed as the causative agent of what we now know as ‘Coronavirus Disease 2019’ (COVID-19). Since then, the virus has spread to more than 100 countries, including South Africa. On 15 March 2020, President Ramaphosa declared a national state of disaster, and announced measures such as immediate travel restrictions and the closure of schools from 18 March. The declaration of the National State of Disaster empowered government to take the measures that prevented many more people from becoming severely ill and saved countless lives. It also provided the legal basis for the introduction of the special R350 Social Relief of Distress Grant and the establishment of the COVID Temporary Employee/ Employer Relief Scheme, which provided wage support to millions of workers. On 17 March, the National Coronavirus Command Council was established to lead the nation’s plan to contain the spread and mitigate the negative impact of COVID-19. On 23 March, a 21-day national lockdown was announced, starting on 27 March 2020. President Ramaphosa announced that from 1 May 2020, a gradual and phased easing of the lockdown restrictions would begin. From 1 June, the national restrictions were lowered to Alert Level 3. The restrictions were lowered to alert Level 2 on 17 August 2020 and from 21 September 2020 restrictions were lowered to Alert Level 1. Government declared 2021 The Year of Charlotte Mannya-Maxeke under the theme: “The Year of Charlotte Mannya-Maxeke: Realising Women’s Equality”. She was a pioneer, activist, artist, intellectual, internationalist and visionary. On 1 November 2021, the country held its sixth Local Government Elections. The ANC won the majority seats in 161 municipal councils, followed by the DA in 13 municipalities and the IFP in 10 municipalities. A total of 66 municipal councils were hung – meaning that no party gained an outright majority in those councils. From the 9th to the 18th of July 2021, South Africa experienced civil unrest mainly in some parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, which left in its wake over 354 people dead. The Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector, led by then Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo (now Chief Justice), handed all its report to The Presidency in 2022. On 2 January 2022, a major fire broke out at the parliamentary complex housing the Parliament of South Africa in Cape Town. A suspect, Mr Zandile Made, was arrested and charged with arson. In April 2022, government lifted the National State of Disaster but retained “transitionary measures” for the following thirty days, which included the wearing of masks, limitations on gatherings and international travel. In June 2022, the Ministry of Health repealed the transitionary COVID-19 measures, including the wearing of masks, limitations on gatherings and international travel. In July 2022, Justice Mandisa Maya – the first woman to lead the Supreme Court of Appeal as Deputy President and President respectively – became the first woman to be appointed Deputy Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. President Ramaphosa appointed Maya in terms of Section 174(3) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996. On 20 August 2022, King Misuzulu ka Zwelithini was crowned as the new Zulu King at a ceremony held at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban. This was the first Zulu coronation since South Africa became a democracy in 1994. It followed the death of his father, King Goodwill Zwelithini, on 12 March 2021, aged 72. In November 2022, the Constitutional Court ordered the release of a Polish national, Mr Janusz Walus, on parole. In April 1993, Mr Walus assassinated Mr Chris Hani, the then General Secretary of the South African Communist Party and chief of staff of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the armed wing of the ANC. On 7 March 2023, Mr Paul Mashatile was sworn in as South Africa’s new Deputy President, following the resignation of former Deputy President David Mabuza, the latter who was first sworn in as Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa on 27 February 2018 and again on 30 May 2019 for the 6th democratic Administration. Mr Mashatile was elected as the Deputy President of the ANC in December 2022 during the ANC’s 55th national conference held at the Johannesburg Expo Centre in Nasrec. View More BACK TO THE TOP OF THE PAGE

South African films This is a chronology of major films produced in South Africa or by the South African film industry . There may be an overlap, particularly between South African and foreign films which are sometimes co-produced; the list should attempt to document films which are either South African produced or strongly associated with South African culture. Please see the detailed A-Z of films currently covered on Wikipedia at Category:South African films . Afrikaans Movies Afrikaans Movies Play Video Share Whole Channel This Video Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tumblr Copy Link Link Copied Search video... Now Playing The Millennium Menace (1999) (HD 1080p) 01:22:41 Play Video Now Playing Klein Karoo 2 ( Movie ) #Tim Theron #Leandie du Randt #Nicole Fortuin #Bennie Fourie 01:37:37 Play Video Now Playing Platteland Full Movie 02:01:29 Play Video 1911 The Great Kimberley Diamond Robbery Adventure English South Africa's first dramatic feature. 1916 De Voortrekkers Harold Shaw Dick Cruickshanks , Goba Historical epic South Africa's Afrikaner The Birth of a Nation depicts Boer pioneers' northward expansion An Artist's Dream Denis Sanbry Dick Cruickshanks Romantic drama Animation 1919 Allan Quatermain Lisle Lucoque Ray Brown, George Taylor Adventure 1931 Sarie Marais Joseph Albrecht Billy Mathews Afrikaans First South African film with sound 1948 Die kaskenades van Dr. Kwak Pierre de Wet Pierre de Wet, Gert van den Bergh, Paula Styger ComedyAfrikaans 1949 African Jim Donald Swanson Daniel Adnewmah, Dolly Rathebe , The African Inkspots, Sam Maile, Dan Twala Kom saam, vanaand Afrikaans Sarie Marais Francis Coley Johann Nell, Helen Faul, Anna Cloete AfrikaansRemake of 1931 film of the same title 1950s Zonk! 1951 Alles sal Regkom Pierre de Wet Al Debbo Daar doer in die bosveld J amie Uys ComedyAfrikaans The Magic Garden Song of Africa 1952 Altyd in my drome Pierre de Wet Al Debbo Musical comedy Afrikaans 1955 Matieland! Pierre de WetSteyn de Jager, Wynona Cheyney, Frederik Burgers Romantic comedy Afrikaans 1956 Come Back, Africa Lionel Rogosin Bloke Modisane , Miriam Makeba DocumentaryEnglish, Fanakalo , Afrikaans , Zulu Die Wildeboere J.O.O. OlwagenRiaan Fouche, Valerie Ferreira Romantic comedy Afrikaans 1960s6 Doodkry is min Jamie Uys Jan Bruyns, Sann de Lange, Tommie Meyer Drama Afrikaans Written by Jamie Uys 1962 Lord Oom Piet Jamie Uys , Bob Courtney, Madeleine Usher Comedy English/Afrikaans 1963 The Anatomy of Apartheid Antony Thomas Documentary English Kimberley Jim Emil Nofal Jim Reeves , Madeleine Usher , Clive Parnell Musical comedy English Death Drums Along the River Lawrence Huntington Richard Todd , Marianne Koch , Albert Lieven Crime adventure English English-West German co-production by Harry Alan Towers 1965 Dingaka Jamie Uys Ken Gampu , Stanley Baker , Juliet Prowse , Bob Courtney Drama Afrikaans, English All the Way to Paris Jamie Uys Jamie Uys , Joe Stewardson , Emil Nofal ComedyEnglish Ride the High Wind / African Gold David Millin Darren McGavin , Maria Perschy Coast of Skeletons Robert Lynn Richard Todd , Dale Robertson , Heinz Drache Crime adventureEnglish-West German co-production by Harry Alan Towers Sandy the Seal Robert Lynn Marianne Koch , Heinz Drache Animal dramaEnglish-West German co-production by Harry Alan Towers The Second Sin David MillinGert van den Bergh , John Hayter, James WhiteActionEnglish The Naked Prey Cornel Wilde Cornel Wilde, Ken Gampu , Patrick Mynhardt Adventure English, Afrikaans , Nguni languages Co-produced with U.S. 1966 1967 Kruger Miljoen eIvan Hall Ge Korsten, James White, Bob Courtney Action, War Afrikaans, English maybe a musical as well??? After You, Comrade Jamie Uys Seven Against the Sun David Millin Gert van den Bergh, John Hayter, Brian O'Shaughnessy Drama, WarEnglish The Cape Town Affair Robert D. Webb Claire Trevor , James Brolin , Jacqueline Bisset Drama, Thriller EnglishRemake of 1953 film Pickup on South Street The Jackals Robert D. WebbVincent Price , Diana Ivarson, Robert Gunner Adventure, Western English Remake of 1948 film Yellow Sky 1968 Oupa for Sale Richard Daneel Arthur Swemmer, Bill Brewer, Wena Naudé ComedyAfrikans, English Die Ruiter in die nag (Rider in the Night) Jan Perold Johan van Heerden, Brian O'Shaughnessy, Willie van Rensburg Drama, War English, Afrikaans Dr Kalie I van Hall Siegfried Mynhardt, Willie de Groot, Wena Naudé English, Afrikaans Majuba: Heuwel van Duiwe David Millin Anthony James, Kerry Jordan, Reinet Maasdorp War English, Afrikaans 1969 Dirkie (Lost in the Desert) Jamie Uys Wynand Uys, Jamie Uys, Pieter Haup fleisch Adventure Afrikaans, English Danie Bosman: Die verhaal van die Grootste Komponis Elmo De Witt Franz Marx, Min Shaw, Siegfried Mynhardt Drama Music Afrikaans Writer was Gilbert Gibson and producer Tommie Meyer Geheim van Nantes Dirk de Villiers Pieter Hauptfleisch, Nic de Jager, Leonie Ross Drama, Romance Afrikaans Producer was Tommie Meyer and writer was AP du Plessis Katrina Jans Rautenbach Katinka Heyns , Jill Kirkland , Don Leonard Drama, RomanceEnglish, Afrikaans 1970s Satan's Harvest George Montgomery, Tippi Hedren, Matt Monro Action Lost in the Desert Jamie Uys Wynand Uys , Jamie Uys, Pieter Hauptfleisch Adventure English, Afrikaans VickiI van Hall Sandra Britz , Leonie Ross , Johan Esterhuizen Romance Afrikaans Filmed in South Africa - Durban , Margate ; Rhodesia Shangani Patrol David Millin Brian O'Shaughnessy , Will Hutchins War Filmed in Rhodesia Stop Exchange Howard Rennie Arthur Swemmer, Charles Vernon, Ian Yule Comedy English 1972 Kaptein Caprivi Albie Venter Will Sealie, Norman C. Smith, Ken Hare Adventure, War Afrikaans, English Leatherlip Stuart Pringle Tim Hughes, Evon de Meistre, Bill Brewer, Tony Jay, Richard Loring, Eben Nel Adventure English Pikkie Sias Odendaal Leonora Nel, Pietie Meyer, Gabriel Bayman Drama Afrikaans Producer was Tommie Meyer and writer Beverley Peirce Those Naughty Angels Neil Hetherington Family Adventure English 1973 Aanslag op Kaprivi I van Hall Will Sealie, Ken Hare, Jannie Hanzen War Afrikaans Mr Kingstreet's War John Saxon , Tippi Hedren War Die Voortrekkers David Millin History, War Afrikaans Snip en Rissiepit Elmo de Witt Rod Alexander, Rika Sennett, Pieter Haupt fleisch Drama, Romance Afrikaans 1974 Animals Are Beautiful People Jamie Uys Paddy O'Byrne Comedy-documentary English Boesman and Lena Ross Devenish Athol Fugard Dans van die Flamink Ivan Hall Rod Alexander , Gaby Gertz , Anele Jonker , Sandra Britz Afrikaans Dooie Duikers deel nie Marius Wyers Funeral for an Assassin Ivan Hall Vic Morrow Crime English Ongewenste Vreemdeling Pens en Pootjies Dirk de Villiers , Joe Stewardson Al Debbo , Marié du Toit , Don Leonard , Joe Stewardson ComedyAfrikaans No Gold for a Dead Diver Harald Reinl Horst Janson , Monika Lundi , Hans Hass Jr, Marius Weyers , Sandra Prinsloo Adventure English West German co-production 1975 Dingetjie is Dynamite Tobie Cronje Eendag op 'n Reëndag Jans Rautenbach Katinka Heyns, Regardt van den Bergh, Mees Xteen, Mrga van Rooy, Jana Cilliers Drama, Romance Afrikaans My Liedjie van Verlange Will Roberts Will Roberts, Barry Trengove, Zuna Viljoen, Nerina Ferreira, Sann de Lange Drama, Music Afrikaans Based on the radio serial by C.F. Beyers-Boshoff Vreemde Wêreld Jürgen Goslar Sandra Prinsloo , Marius Weyers , Wolfgang Kieling Thriller Afrikaans West German co-production 1976 e'Lollipop Muntu Ndebele , Norman Knox Springbok Tommie Meyer Eckard Rabe , Percy Sieff, Sybel Coetzee Drama Afrikaans Jan Scholtz was the writer Albino Jürgen Goslar Trevor Howard , Christopher Lee , James Faulkner , Sybil Danning , Horst Frank Thriller , War English Filmed in Rhodesia during the Rhodesian Bush War Killer Force Val Guest Telly Savalas , Peter Fonda , Christopher Lee , Maud Adams , O. J. Simpson Thriller English 1977 Karate Olympiad / Kill or Be Killed I van Hall James Ryan (actor) Tigers Don't Cry Peter Collinson Anthony Quinn , Simon Sabela [fr ], John Phillip Law Forty Days Franz MarxPiero von Arnim, Ben Kruger, Annelisa Weiland Comedy, Drama Funeral for an Assassin Ivan HallVic Morrow, Peter van Dissel, Gaby Getz Drama English, Afrikaans Night of the Puppets Daan Retief Zoli Marki, Anna Cloete, Leonie Ross Plekkie in die Son William Faure Jana Cilliers, Regardt van den Bergh, Eckard Rabe Drama Afrikaans Grensbasis 13 Elmo De Witt Danie Joubert War Based on the opening skirmishes of the South African Border War 1980s The Gods Must Be Crazy Jamie Uys N!xau , Sandra Prinsloo , Marius Weyers , Louw Verwey Comedy English, Afrikaans, Juǀʼhoan , Ungwatsi Kiepie en Kandas Jan Scholtz Marigolds in August Ross Devenish Winston Ntshona , John Kani , Athol Fugard Drama English Entered in 30th Berlin International Film Festival 1981 Kill and Kill Again Ivan Hall James Ryan , Anneline Kriel Martial arts film My Country My Hat David Bensusan Regardt van den Bergh Nommer Asseblief Henk Hugo 1983 Siener in die Suburbs Francois Swart Marius Weyers , Louis van Niekerk, Sandra Prinsloo DramaAfrikaans Funny People II Jamie Uys Wolhaarstories Bromley Cawood Leon Schuster Geel Trui vir 'n Wenner Franz Marx Ben Kruger , Ray Storm , Claudia Turgas , Deon van Zyl , Dulsie van den Bergh 1984 Flashpoint Africa Francis Megahy Gayle Hunnicutt , Siegfried Rauch , James Faulkner Adventure English Boetie Gaan Border Toe Regardt van den Bergh Arnold Vosloo , Eric Nobbs, Frank Dankert Comedy, War Afrikaans You're in the Movies Emil Nofal Alain D. Woolf, Alan Field, Hal Orlandini Comedy English, Afrikaans 1985 Boetie Op Manoeuvres Regardt van den BerghArnold Vosloo, Janie du Plessis, Ian RobertsComedy, WarAfrikaans, English Jantjie Kom Huis Toe Dirk de VilliersCedwyn JoelWarAfrikaansFirst direct-to-television film released by SABC King Solomon's Mines J. Lee Thompson Richard Chamberlain , Sharon Stone , Herbert Lom , John Rhys-Davies Master Harold...and the Boys Michael Lindsay-Hogg Matthew Broderick , John Kani , Zakes Mokae DramaWritten by Athol Fugard , adapted from his 1982 play of the same title Nag van Vrees Jim Murray , Stanley Roup Skating on Thin UysPieter-Dirk Uys Pieter-Dirk UysComedy Vyfster: Die Slot Sias Odendaal Patrick Mynhardt Wie Die Laaste Lag Koos Roets You Gotta Be Crazy Emil Nofal Bill Flynn , Amanda Forrow 1986 Jock of the Bushveld Gray Hofmeyr Jocelyn Broderick , Michael Brunner Family film; based on the novel Liewe Hemel Genis William Egan Mountain of Hell David Bensusan Outlaw of Gor John Cardos Place of Weeping Darrell Roodt You Must Be Joking! Elmo De Witt Rina Hugo , Carike Keuzenkamp , Kallie Knoetze , Janine Pretorius , Leon Schuster , Mike Schutte Hidden Camera 1987 Across the Rubicon Lionel FriedbergPieter-Dirk Uys DocumentaryEnglish An African Dream John SmallcombeKitty Aldridge, John Kani , Dominic Jephcott DramaEnglish Kill Slade Bruce MacFarlane Murphy's Fault Robert Smawley No Hard FeelingsCharles Norton Nukie Sias Odendal , Michael Pakleppa Glynis Johns, Steve Railsback, Ronald FranceEnglish Operation Hit Squad Tonie van der Merwe Platoon Leader Aaron Norris Tony Pierce, Robert F. Lyons, Michael DudikoffVietnam War dramaEnglish Die Posman Anthony Wilson Skeleton Coast John Cardos Ernest Borgnine , Robert Vaughn , Arnold Vosloo Mercenary war dramaEnglish Tenth of A Second Darrell Roodt Tusks Tara Erica Moore 'n Wereld Sonder Grense Frans Nel Scot Scott WarAfrikaansGarnered controversy for its depiction of the South African Border War White Ghost Beau Davis Action, Adventure, WarEnglish You Must Be Joking! Too Leon Schuster , Lizz Meiring Hidden Camera Saturday Night at the PalaceRobert DaviesBill Flynn, John Kani , Paul SlabolepszyDramaEnglish Vengeance CopsIvan HallChris du Toit, Helga van Wyk, Dawid van der WaltAction, Crime Shaka Zulu 1988 Alien from L.A. Albert Pyun Accidents Gidi Amir Action/Thriller Act of Piracy John "Bud" CardosGary Busey , Belinda Bauer, Ray Sharkey Any Man's Death A Private Life (Jack & Stella) Francis Gerard Bill Flynn, Jana Cilliers Fiela se Kind Katinka Heyns Shaleen Surtie-Richards , Dalene Matthee Laser Mission Robbie Simpson Last Samurai Paul Mayersburg Let the Music Be Frans Nel Love Me Leave Me Alan Birkinshaw , Charles Marriott Lucky Strikes Back Joe Stewardson Lucky Dube The Most Dangerous Woman Alive Chris Marnham Mapantsula Oliver SchmitzThomas Mogotlane, Marcel van Heerden, Thembi MtshaliCrime, DramaScreened at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival Nightslave John Parr Lynda Marshall, Dominique Moser, Denis SmithHorrorEnglish Options Camilo Vila Out on Bail Brian Hessler , Gordon Hessler Paradise Road (Traitors) Jan Scholtz Quest for Love Helen Nogueira Jana Cilliers, Sandra Prinsloo Red Scorpion Joseph Zito Dolph Lundgren , T. P. McKenna , M. Emmet Walsh ActionEnglish Space Mutiny David Winters Cameron Mitchell Sci Fi Considered one of the best spoofs on Mystery Science Theater 3000 [1] [2] Terminal Bliss Jordan Alan Thrilled to Death Chuck Vincent Van der Merwe P.I. Regardt van den Bergh Anneline Kriel , Regardt van den Bergh Whispers Robert Bergman You're Famous Yehuda Barkan Hidden Camera Israeli co-production The Zambezi Kid Denis Scully 1989 A Dry White Season Euzhan Palcy Donald Sutherland , Janet Suzman , Zakes Mokae DramaEnglish Africa Express Bruce McFarlanePatrick Dollaghan, Karen Mayo-Chandler, Russel SavadierEnglish Passing Through: Woni Spotts, The First Black Woman to Travel to Every Country and Continent (1989 film)Nolan DavisWoni SpottsEnglish The Emissary Jan Scholtz[3] Ted Le Plat, Terry Norton, Robert Vaughn , André Jacobs , Patrick Mynhardt , Hans Strydom , Ken Gampu , Brian O'Shaughnessy , and Peter Krummeck [3] [4] [5] [6] ThrillerEnglishMade entirely in South Africa. Killer Instinct David Lister Joanna Weinberg Lambarene Gray Hofmeyr The Gods Must Be Crazy II Jamie Uys Have You Seen Drum Recently? Jürgen Schadeberg Miriam Makeba The Native Who Caused all the Trouble Manie van Rensburg Odd Ball Hall Jackson Hunsicker Oh Schucks.... It's Schuster! Leon Schuster Leon Schuster Okavango (Wild Country) Wayne Crawford , Danie Odendaal , Percival Rubens On the Wire Elaine Proctor Prey for the Hunter John Parr That Englishwoman Dirk de Villiers Veronica Lang Voices in the Dark Vincent Cox Lucky Dube Warriors from Hell Ronnie Isaacs Windprints David Wicht Marius Weyers 1990s TitleDirectorCastGenreLanguageNotes 1990 Agter Elke Man Franz MarxSteve Hofmeyr , Dulcie van den Bergh , Illse Roos, Annelize van der RystDramaAfrikaansA follow-up film to the South African TV series of the same name Circles in a Forest Regardt van den Bergh Ian Bannen , Brion James , Joe Stewardson Drama Nag van die 19de Oh Shucks! Here Comes UNTAG Leon Schuster Leon Schuster 1991 A.W.O.L. The Angel, the Bicycle and the Chinaman's Finger American Kickboxer Frans NelJohn Barrett, Keith Vitali , Brad Morris, Gavin Hood , Ted Le PlatAction, DramaEnglish 1992 Jock of the Bushveld Road to Mecca Sarafina! Darrell Roodt Leleti Khumalo , Whoopi Goldberg , Miriam Makeba , John Kani English Sweet 'n Short Leon Schuster Leon Schuster 1993 Friends Elaine Proctor Entered into the 1993 Cannes Film Festival There's a Zulu On My Stoep Leon SchusterLeon Schuster To the Death Darrell Roodt John Barrett, Michel Qissi, Robert Whitehead, Michelle BestbierActionEnglishSequel to American Kickboxer 1994 Ipi TombiTommie Meyer Jan-Michael Vincent , Henry Cele , O'Neil JohnsonDrama, MusicEnglishMovie of musical written by Bertha Egnos and Gail Lakier Redemption: Kickboxer 5 Kristine PetersonMark Dacascos , James Ryan, Geoff Meed, Greg LatterActionEnglishFinal installment of the original Kickboxer franchise. 1995 Cry, The Beloved Country Darrell Roodt James Earl Jones , Richard Harris , Charles S. Dutton EnglishBased on novel of the same name by Alan Paton Soweto Green: This is a 'Tree' Story David Lister John Kani , L. Scott Caldwell , Sandra Prinsloo , Casper de Vries Comedy, RomanceEnglish, Zulu, Afrikaans 1996 Anna 1997 Danger Zone Billy Zane , Robert Downey Jr. US and CAN Jump the Gun Panic Mechanic Leon Schuster 1998 African Violet Paljas Katinka Heyns 5 MNET All-Africa Film Awards, South African submission to 70th Academy Award for Best Foreign Film The Sexy GirlsRussell ThompsonJamie Bartlet, Tina Schouw, Ivan Lucas, Denise Newman, Peter Butler, Sylvia Esau, Nazley EssopThrillerEnglishApollo Film Festival 2001: Best Feature Film 1999 Aces Africa After the Rain Ross KettlePaul Bettany, Louise Lombard, Ariyon BakareDrama, Romance Millennium Menace Leon SchusterLeon Schuster, Desmond DubeComedyEnglish, Afrikaans The Man Who Would Kill Kitchener François Verster DocumentaryBiography of Fritz Joubert Duquesne . 1999 NTVA Silver Stone & Stone Craft Award A Reasonable Man Gavin Hood Gavin Hood, Nigel Hawthorne , Janine EserCrime drama thriller 2000s Angels in a Cage Jeremy Crutchley , Sylvaine Strike Apostles of Civilised Vice Zackie Achmat Hijack Stories Oliver Schmitz Tony Kgoroge , Rapulana Seiphemo Screened at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival Inside Out Long Night's Journey into Day: South Africa's Search for Truth & Reconciliation Glory Glory Paul Johannsen , Steven Bauer , Amanda Donohoe , Gideon Emery , Ana Alexander 2001 Mr Bones Leon Schuster Leon Schuster, David Ramsey , Faizon Love , Robert Whitehead , Jane Benney ComedyHighest-grossing film in South Africa on release. Diamond Cut Diamond Darrell Roodt Gary Daniels , Nick Boraine , Gideon Emery 2002 Amandla!: A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony Documentary Promised Land The Sorcerer's Apprentice David Lister Robert Davi , Kelly Le Brock , Gideon Emery A Lion's Trail François VersterDocumentary 2003 Adrenaline Amandla!: A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony God Is AfricanAkin OmotosoDramaEnglish Red Water Charles Robert Carner Lou Diamond Phillips , Kristy Sawnson , Gideon Emery Stander Bronwen HughesThomas Jane, David O'Hara, Dexter Fletcher, Ashley Taylor, Marius WeyersAction, Biography, CrimeEnglish State of Denial Wooden Camera 2004 Boy called Twist Kim Engelbrecht Cape of Good Hope Mark Bamford Debbie Brown , Eriq Ebouaney , Nthathi Moshesh , Gideon Emery Drum Taye Diggs A Case of Murder Clive Morris Steve Hofmeyr , Candice Hillebrand , Gideon Emery , Anthony Fridjhon , Ben Kruger , Nicky Rebello , Ramalao Makhene Forgiveness Zane Meas , Arnold Vosloo , Quanita Adams Gums and Noses Craig FreimondComedyEnglish Max and Mona Oh Shucks, I'm Gatvol! Leon Schuster Leon Schuster, Alfred Ntombela , Gerry the Clown , Bill Flynn The Story of an African Farm David Lister Yesterday Darrell Roodt , Leleti Khumalo Nominated for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 77th Academy Awards Vadertjie Langbeen Hotel Rwanda Terry George Don Cheadle , Sophie Okonedo , Joaquin Phoenix History, DramaEnglish, French, KinyarwandaNominated for 3 Oscars, 18 wins & 38 nominations 2005 34 SouthMaganthrie PillayAz Abrahams, Rassol Hendriks, Ricardo Marnewick, LeeAnn Sayster, Marguerita Freeks, Stephan Roach, Oscar PetersenRoad MovieEnglish1st film to be directed by a black woman in South Africa. Opened at Pan African Film Festival, Sound Design by Albert Edmund Lord III EngagementCaroline Nicou Romantic comedy In My Country Mama Jack Leon Schuster Leon Schuster Red Dust Straight Outta BenoniTrevor ClarenceBrendan Jack, Gavin Williams, Colin Moss, Brett Goldin , Danny K ComedyEnglish The Flyer Revel FoxMarcel van Heerden, Ian Van Der Heyden, Craig Palm, Kim Engelbrecht Adventure, DramaEnglish Tsotsi Gavin Hood Presley Chweneyagae , Ian Roberts , Zola , Terry Pheto Afrikaans, English, Sotho, Tsotsitaal, Tswana, ZuluWon Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 78th Academy Awards U-Carmen eKhayelitsha Mark Dornford-May Won Golden Bear at the 55th Berlin International Film Festival 2006 Angels in the Dust Louise HogarthCon Cloete, Marion Cloete DocumentaryEnglish Bunny Chow J ohn Barker David Kibuuka, Kim Engelbrecht , Kagiso Lediga , Joey Yusef Rasdien, Jason Cope ComedyEnglishAlso billed as Bunny Chow Know Thyself and Bunny Chow: Know Thyself Don't Touch Number Ten Faith Like Potatoes Regardt van den Bergh Frank Rautenbach , Hamilton Dlamini Inspirational/Docu-Drama Son of Man Mark Dornford-May Running Riot Koos RoetsBill Flynn , Paul Slabolepszy Comedy Sekalli le Meokgo (Eng: Meokgo and the Stickfighter)Teboho MahlatsiMduduzi Mabaso, Terry PhetoDramaShort film 2007 Anner House Big Fellas Counting Headz: South Afrika's Sistaz in Hip Hop Vusi Magubane & Erin Offer Documentary Footskating 101 Ouma se Slim Kind Quinne Brown Poena is koning Tengers Michael Rix Animation 2008 50 Years! Of Love? Karin Slater , Steven Bartlo Documentary English Bakgat! Hansie Jerusalema Mr Bones 2: Back from the Past Gray Hofmeyer Leon SchusterComedyHighest-grossing film in South Africa on release. Skin Triomf Michael RaeburnLionel Newton, Vanessa Cooke, Eduan van Jaarsveldt, Paul LuckhoffDramaEnglish, AfrikaansBased on the novel by Marlene van Niekerk The World Unseen Shamim Sarif Lisa Ray , Sheetal Sheth Drama 2009 District 9 Neill Blomkamp Sharlto Copley Science fiction Nominated for Best Film at the 82nd Academy Awards Invictus Clint Eastwood Morgan Freeman , Matt Damon Drama non-fiction Jozi Shirley Adams Oliver Hermanus Denise Newman DramaEnglishReceived Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actress Award at the South African Film and Television Awards The Chameleon 2010s Bakgat! 2 The Cradock Four David ForbesMatthew Goniwe, Fort Calata, Sparrow Mkonto, Sicelo MhlauliDocumentaryA France-South Africa coproduction about the Cradock Four ; winner of best South African documentary at the 2010 Durban International Film Festival Egoli: Afrikaners is PlesierigBromley CawoodDavid Rees, Darren Kelfkens, Leandie du Randt , Christine Basson, Shaleen Surtie-Richards DramaEnglish, AfrikaansAlso known as Egoli: The Movie; based on the long-running South African TV show, Egoli: Place of Gold Five Roads to Freedom: From Apartheid to the World Cup Robin Benger & Jane Thandi Lipman Documentary I now pronounce you Black and White Oliver RodgerTyrel Meyer, Tina Jaxa, Nik RabinowitzComedy, RomanceEnglish JakhalsdansDarrell Roodt Theuns Jordaan, Elizma Theron, Janke Bruwer DramaAfrikaans Schuks Tshabalala's Survival Guide to South Africa Gray HofmeyrLeon Schuster, Alfred Ntombela, Sean Higgs ComedyEnglish, Afrikaans The Unforgiving Al OrrRyan Macquet, Craig Hawks, Claire OppermanHorrorEnglish Long StreetRevel FoxSannie Fox, Roberta Fox, David Butler LieflingBrian WebberLika Berning, Bobby van Jaarsveld, Elize Cawood MusicalAfrikaans Eternity Life, Above All Oliver Schmitz Drama Northern SothoWinner of Best Feature Film at the 5th annual South African Film and Television Awards Spud Donovan MarshJohn Cleese , Troye Sivan Comedy, DramaEnglish Visa/Vie Elan GamakerMélodie Abad, David Isaacs, Keren Tahor Comedy, RomanceFrench, English, Xhosa 2011 Beauty (Skoonheid) Oliver Hermanus Deon Lotz , Charlie Keegan DramaAfrikaans, EnglishCompeted in the Un Certain Regard at Cannes ; awarded Queer Palm at the Cannes Film Festival and Best Film at the 2012 South African Film and Television Awards The Bang Bang Club Steven Silver Taylor Kitsch , Ryan Phillippe , Malin Åkerman DramaEnglishco-produced with Canada Getroud Met RugbyAfrikaans How To Steal 2 Million Charlie VundlaJohn Kani , Hlubi Mboya, Menzi Ngubane, Terry Pheto , Rapulana Seiphemo The Imam and I Khalid ShamisDocumentaryEnglishPartly animated documentary about the director's maternal grandfather and anti-apartheid activist Imam Abdullah Haron LuckyAvie Luthra Sihle Dlamini, Jayashree Basavaraj DramaEnglish, Hindi, Zulu Man on GroundAkin OmotosoDramaEnglish, Zulu, Southern Sotho, Yoruba Mad CowMichael Wright, Michael J. RixEnglish Paradise Stop Jann Turner Rapulana Seiphemo, Kenneth Nkosi, Vusi KuneneComedyEnglish, Northern Sotho Night Drive Platteland Sean ElseAfrikaans 'n Saak van Geloof Diony KempenRobbie Wessels, Lelia Etsebeth, Riana NelDramaAfrikaans Skeem Timothy Greene Wandile Molebatsi, Kurt Schoonraad, Lilani Prinsen Comedy, CrimeEnglish State of ViolenceKhalo MatabaneFana Mokoena, Presley Chweneyagae, Neo NtlatlengDrama TokoloshKevin SinghGerald Beddeker, Willem Stephanus Beyers, Andrew DevadasHorrorEnglish Viva Riva! Djo Tunda Wa Munga Patsha Bay , Manie Malone, Diplome AmekindraDrama, ThrillerFrench, Lingala 2012 Adventures in Zambezia Wayne ThornleyJeremy Suarez , Abigail Breslin , Jeff Goldblum , Leonard Nimoy , Samuel L. Jackson Animation, Adventure, FamilyEnglishWon the Best South African Feature Film at the Durban International Film Festival in 2012. Won Best Animation at the South African Film and Television Awards and Best Animation at the 9th Africa Movie Academy Awards . Nominated for Best Music Score at 2013 South African Film and Television Awards and nominated for Best Music in an Animated Feature Production and best Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production at the 2013 Annie Awards in California. Safe House Daniel Espinosa Denzel Washington , Ryan Reynolds Action thriller filmEnglishAmerican made film entirely filmed and set in Cape Town. Dredd 3D Pete Travis Karl Urban , Lena Headey , Olivia Thirlby Combat CoppositesOliver RodgerRob van Vuuren , Siv Ngesi ComedyEnglish Semi SoetJoshua RousAnel Alexander, Nico Panagiotopoulos, Sandra VaughnRomanceAfrikaans Mad BuddiesGray HofmeyrLeon Schuster, Kenneth Nkosi, Alfred NtombelaComedy Otelo Burning Sara Blecher Jafta Mamabolo Thomas Gumede, Sihle XabaDramaEnglish, Zulu Material Craig FreimondRiaad Moosa , Vincent Ebrahim Comedy, DramaEnglish Agter Die LigteNicholas Costaras, Joe Niemand Afrikaans Pretville Klein Karoo Regardt van den BerghTim Theron, DonnaLee Roberts , Hykie BergRomanceAfrikaans, English Sleeper's WakeBarry BerkDeon Lotz ThrillerEnglish Die Wonderwerker Katinka HeynsElize Cawood, Marius Weyers, Anneke Weidemann BiographyAfrikaans Verraaiers (Traitors)Paul EilersGys de Villiers, Viljie Maritz, Andrew Thompson WarAfrikaans Wolwedans in die skemer Jozua MalherbeRolanda Marais, David Louw, Gérard Rudolf, Desiré Gardner, Lelia Etsebeth, Jacques Bessenger ThrillerAfrikaans 2013 Angel of the Skies Christopher-lee dos Santos Nick van der Bijl, Ryan Dittmann, Jason Glanville, Brad Backhouse, Lillie Claire, Adam Boys,War, DramaEnglishNominated for Best Wardrobe and Makeup at 2014 SAFTA awards. As Jy Sing André OdendaalBobby van Jaarsveld , Leah van Niekirk, Bok van Blerk , Karlien van Jaarsveld, Katlego Maboe Comedy, Drama, MusicalAfrikaans Die Ballade van Robbie de Wee Darrell Roodt Neil Sandilands, Marno van der Merwe DramaAfrikaans Fanie Fourie's Lobola Henk PretoriusEduan van Jaarsveldt, Zethu Dlomo, Jerry Mofokeng Comedy, RomanceZulu, English, Afrikaans Four Corners Ian Gabriel Brendon Daniels , Jezriel Skei, Lindiwe Matshikiza Crime, ThrillerAfrikaans, EnglishAlso known as Die Vier Hoeke iNumber Number Donovan MarshSdumo Mtshali, Presley Chweneyagae, Israel Makoe , Owen Sejake Action, Crime, DramaReceived Best Director, Best Screenwriter and Best Editor Awards at the 2015 South African Film and Television Awards . Also known as Avenged Khumba Anthony SilverstonJake T. Austin , Steve Buscemi , Loretta Devine , Laurence Fishburne , Richard E. Grant Animation, Adventure, FamilyEnglishWon Best Animation at the Zanzibar International Film Festival and at the Africa Movie Academy Awards . Won Best Music Composition of a Feature Film and Best Animation at the 2014 South African Film and Television Awards . Won Best Feature at the Annecy Animation Festival 2013 A Lucky ManGordon ClarkLevi du Plooy, Jarrid Geduld, Keenan ArrisonDocumentary Drama Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom Justin Chadwick Idris Elba , Naomie Harris , Tony Kgoroge History, DramaAfrikaans, English, XhosaNominated for Golden Globe Awards and Critics' Choice Awards Musiek vir die AgtergrondSalmon de JagerJohn-Henry Opperman, Lizelle de Klerk, Brümilda van Rensburg , Ian Roberts , Neil SandilandsDrama, Music, RomanceAfrikaans, English Of Good ReportJahmil X.T. QubekaMothusi Magano, Petronella TshumaThrillerAfrikaans[14] To the Power of AnneRobert Anthony HaynesAnne Power, Ryan Flynn, Wim VorsterEnglish Shotgun GarfunkelJohnny BarbuzanoBryan van Niekerk, Asher Mikkel Stoltz, Eduan van JaarsveldtEnglish Jimmy in PienkHanneke SchutteLouw Venter, Terence Bridget, Gys de Villiers, Tinarie van Wyk LootsComedyAfrikaans Spud 2: The Madness ContinuesDonovan MarshJohn Cleese , Troye Sivan Comedy, DramaEnglish Zulu Jérôme Salle Orlando Bloom , Forest Whitaker , Tanya van Graan CrimeEnglishco-produced with France 2014 Faan se TreinKoos RoetsWillie Esterhuizen, Deon Lotz , Marius Weyers , Cobus Rossouw, Anel Alexander DramaAfrikaans, English Hollywood in my HuisCorne van RooyenChristia Visser , Edwin van der Walt, Nicola HanekomComedy, Family, RomanceAfrikaans, English KonfettiZaheer Goodman-BhyatLouw Venter, Nico Panagio, Casey B. Dolan, Kim Engelbrecht, Casper de Vries Drama, ComedyAfrikaans, English Leading Lady Henk PretoriusKatie McGrath , Bok Van Blerk , Gil Bellows Romantic ComedyEnglish, Afrikaans Love the One You Love Jenna Cato Bass Francis Chouler , Nelson Das Neves, Chiedza Mhende Comedy, Drama, Mystery, RomanceEnglish, Xhosa Pad na jou hartJaco SmitIvan Botha , DonnaLee Roberts Adventure, RomanceAfrikaans Spud 3: Learning to FlyJohn BarkerJohn Cleese , Troye Sivan , Caspar Lee Comedy, DramaEnglish The Two of Us Ernest NkosiDramaZuluAlso known as Thina Sobabili: The Two of Us Die WindpompEtienne FourieRoland Reed, Leandie du Randt, Marga van Rooy, Ian Roberts , Etienne Fourie Drama, Fantasy, RomanceAfrikaans 2015 Abraham (2015 film) Jans RautenbachDJ Mouton, Chantel PhilipusDramaAfrikaansMusic Riku Lätti Assignment Laszlo BeneNick Boraine , Jonathan Pienaar, Sandi Schultz, David Dennis Drama, ThrillerEnglish AyandaSara BlecherFulu Mugovhani, Sihle Xaba DramaEnglish Bond of Blood Christopher-lee dos Santos Marno van der Merwe, Sarah Kozlowski, Damian BerryDrama, FaithEnglish Ballade vir 'n Enkeling Quentin KrogArmand Aucamp, Jacques Bessenger, Zak Hendrikz DramaAfrikaans Chappie Neill BlomkampHugh Jackman , Sigourney Weaver , Sharlto Copley , Dev Patel Action, Sci-Fi, ThrillerEnglish Dis ek, Anna Sara BlecherCharlene Brouwer, Marius Weyers , Nicola Hanekom, Izel Bezuidenhout, Morne VisserDramaAfrikaans Dis Koue Kos, SkatEtienne FourieSean Cameron Michael , Frank Opperman , Anna-Mart van der Merle, Deon Lotz Comedy, Drama, RomanceAfrikaans The Endless River Oliver Hermanus Nicolas Duvauchelle , Crystal-Donna Roberts , Darren Kelfkens, Denise NewmanDramaEnglishCo-produced with France Hear Me Move Scottnes L. SmithNyaniso Dzedze, Wandile Molebatsi, Makhaola Ndebele Drama The Jakes Are Missing Neal Sundstrom, Denny Y. Miller, FigjamMampho Brescia, Pop Jerrod, Mpho Sebeng, Jody Abrahams, Nomzamo Mbatha Comedy, RomanceEnglish Last Ones Out Howard FyvieGreg Kriek, Christia Visser, Tshamano SebeAdventure, Drama, ThrillerEnglish Necktie YouthSibs Shongwe-La MerBonko Cosmo Khoza, Sibs Shongwe-La Mer, Colleen Balchin DramaEnglish, Zulu, Afrikaans 'n Pawpaw Vir My Darling Koos RoetsDeon Lotz , Deirdre Wohlhuter, Jana Nortier ComedyAfrikaans Die Pro Andre VeltsEdwin van der Walt , Reine Swart DramaAfrikaansBased on a novel by Jeanne Goosen Somer SonClinton LubbeReynald Slabbert, Juanita de Villiers, Bok van Blerk, Hanna Grobert, Reine Swart Romantic ComedyAfrikaans Strikdas Stefan NieuwoudtLeandie du Randt, Gys de Villiers, Kaz McFadden ComedyAfrikaans Tell Me Sweet Something Akin OmotosoThomas Gumede, Maps Maponyane Romance, ComedyEnglish TreurgrondAndre FrauensteinSteve Hofmeyr , Erica Wessels , Shaleen Surtie-Richards DramaAfrikaans TrouvoeteDarrell Roodt Lika Berning, Bouwer Bosch, Charlie Bouguenon, Paul du Toit, Stefan Ludik RomanceAfrikaans While You Weren't LookingCatherine StewartTerence Bridgett, Tina Jaxa DramaEnglish, Xhosa, Afrikaans 2016 AlchemistDavid SikhosanaDramaEnglish Alison Uga Carlini Alison Botha, Christia Visser, Zak Hendrikz, Francois Maree, De Klerk Oelofse Documentary, DramaEnglish Blood and Glory Sean ElseCharlotte Salt, Andre Jacobs, Josh Myers, Nick Cornwall, Greg Kriek, Deon Lotz Drama, WarAfrikaans, EnglishAlso known as Modder en Bloed Dora's Peace Konstandino Kalarytis Khabonina Qubeka , Danny Keogh , Hlubi Mboya , Ronnie Nyakale, Paballo Koza Action, Crime, DramaEnglish, Zulu Free State Salmon de JagerNicola Breytenbach, Andrew Govender, Leleti Khumalo , Deon Lotz , Mangesh Desai, Paul Ellers Drama, Family, RomanceAfrikaans, English Happiness is a Four-Letter Word Thabang MoleyaRomance, DramaEnglishBased on the Commonwealth Prize -winning novel by Nozizwe Cynthia Jele Jonathan: Die MovieSalmon de JagerRikus de Beer, Beáte Opperman, Paul Eilers, Brümilda van Rensburg ComedyAfrikaans Jou Romeo Andre WeltsRuan Wessels, Elani Dekker, Christopher van der Westhuizen, Row-Lean, Ruan Blum RomanceAfrikaans Kalushi Mandla DubeThabo Rametsi, Thabo Malema, Welile Nzuza Biography, Drama, ThrillerEnglishAlso known as Kalushi: The Story of Solomon Mahlangu Mignon "Mossie" van WykDarrell Roodt Erica Wessels, Paul du Toit, Deanre Reiners, Elzette Maarschalk, Tanika Fourie DramaAfrikaans Mrs. Right GuyAdze UgahDineo Moeketsi, Lehasa Moloi, Thapelo Mokoena, Tau Maserumule, Thando Thabethe RomanceEnglish My Father's War Craig GardnerEdwin van der Walt, Stian Bam, Erica Wessels, Fumani Shilubana DramaEnglish Nobody's Died Laughing Willem OelofsonPieter-Dirk Uys , Desmond Tutu , Vincent Ebrahim , Charlize Theron , F. W. de Klerk DocumentaryEnglishA documentary about the life of actor, comedian, and activist Pieter-Dirk Uys Noem My Skollie Daryne JoshuaDann-Jacques Mouton , Sandi SchultzDramaAfrikaansEnglish title: Call Me Thief Shepherds and Butchers Oliver Schmitz Steve Coogan , Andrea Riseborough , Robert Hobbs, Deon Lotz , Garion Dowds DramaEnglish, AfrikaansBased on the novel by Chris Marnewick Sink Brett Michael InnesAnel Alexander , Shoki Mokgapa, Jacques Bessenger, Amalia Uys , Asante Mabuza, Diaan Lawrenson DramaAfrikaansBased on the novel 'Rachel weeping' by Brett Michael Innes Sy Klink soos Lente Corne van RooyenAmalia Uys , Stiaan Smith, Bennie Fourie, James Cunningham, William Dunster, Bouwer BoschRomance, ComedyAfrikaans, English Twee Grade van Moord Gerrit SchoonhovenSandra Prinsloo , Marius Weyers , Shaleen Surtie-Richards DramaAfrikaans, English UitvluchtRegardt van den Bergh Albert Maritz, Carel Trichardt, Clara Joubert, Clyde Berning, Jill Levenberg , Stian Bam Drama, RomanceAfrikaans, English Vaya Akin Omotoso Warren Masemola, Harriet Manamela, Zimkhitha Nyoka, Phuti NakeneDramaZulu Verskietende Ster Darrell Roodt Hykie Berg, Deanre Reiners, Jana Strydom , Hannes van Wyk, Hanli Rolfes DramaAfrikaans Vir Altyd Jaco SmitLaré Birk, Ivan Botha , Elize Cawood, Nicky de Kock, Donnalee Roberts RomanceAfrikaans Vir die Voëls Quentin KrogSimoné Nortmann , Francois Jacobs, Lara Kinnear, Bennie Fourie, Elize Cawood, Neels van Jaarsveld, Nicola Hanekom RomanceAfrikaans The Whale CallerZola MasekoAmrainn Ismail-Essop, Sello Maake Ka-Ncube DramaEnglish Wonder Boy for President John Barker Kagiso Lediga , Ntosh Madlingzi, Tony Miyambo, Thishiwe Ziqubu ComedyEnglish Taking Earth Grant HumphreysRonan Quarmby, Brad Richards, Dick Sorenson, Marco Torlage and Barbara Harrison Sci FiEnglishProduced by Digital Forces, Grant Humphreys, Grant Knight , Michael Harrison 2017 AsinamaliMbongeni Ngena Drama, MusicalZuluAdapted from the play of the same name[16] Beyond the River Craig FreimondLemogang Tsipa, Grant Swanby, Israel Sipho Matseke Zulu , Emily Child DramaEnglish, Zulu BypassShane VermootenNatalie Becker , Hakeem Kae-Kazim , Greg Kriek, Deon Lotz ThrillerEnglish Catching FeelingsKagiso Lediga Kagiso Lediga , Pearl Thusi , Andrew Buckland, Akin Omotoso , Precious Makgaretsa Comedy, Drama, RomanceEnglish Finders KeepersMaynard KraakDalin Oliver, Neels Van Jaarsveld, Lise Slabber, Grant Swansby ComedyEnglish Five Fingers for Marseilles Michael MatthewsSesotho High Fantasy Jenna Bass Qondiswa James, Nala Khumalo, Francesca Varrie Michel, Liza Scholtz Comedy Hoener met die Rooi Skoene Koos RoetsLida Botha, Deon Lotz , Lizz Meiring, Dorette Potgieter Comedy, DramaAfrikaans Jagveld (English release title: Hunting Emma)Byron DavisLeandie du Randt, Neels van Jaarsveld, Tim TheronActionAfrikaans Johnny Is Nie Dood NieChristiaan Olwagen Rolanda Marais, Albert Pretorius, Ilana Cilliers, Ludwig Binge, Roelof Storm DramaAfrikaans Kalushi: The Story of Solomon MahlanguMandla DubeThabo Rametsi, Thabo Malema, Welile Ndzunza, Jafta Mamabolo, Louw Venter, Gcina Mhlophe, Fumani Shilubana, Pearl Thusi Biography, Drama, ThrillerEnglish Kampter reinLuhann JansenLouw Venter, Juanita de Villiers, Josias Moleele, Reine SwartComedyAfrikaans, English Keeping Up with the Kandasamys Jayan MoodleyJailoshini Naidoo , Maeshni Naicker, Mishqah Parthiephal , Madhushan Singh ComedyEnglishThe last film produced by Junaid Ahmed (together with Helena Spring) before his death in 2016. KrotoaRoberta DurrantCrystal-Donna Roberts , Armand Aucamp, Jacques Bessenger, Brendan Daniels, Deon Lotz DramaAfrikaans Liewe Kersfeesvader Etienne FourieMila Guy , Morné Visser, Adrienne Pearce , Milan Murray, Dean John Smith, Melt Sieberhagen, June van MerchDrama, ComedyAfrikaans The Little Kings Darrell James RoodtJustin Strydom, Jonathan Taylor, Lisa-Marie Schneider Drama, SportEnglish Meet the Radebes Simon MakwelaLuthuli Diamini, Mary Makhatho, Jolene Martin-Morgan, Nicholas NkunaDrama, ComedyEnglish Last Broken Darkness Christopher-lee dos Santos Sean Cameron Michael , Brandon Auret , Suraya Santos, Jonathan Pienaar , Brendan Murray, Ryan KrugerSci-fi, DramaEnglishWon best screenplay and best lead actor at Boston Sci Fi festival in 2017. Won best cinematography at South African Society of Cinematographers awards. ( SASC Visible spectrum gold award) in 2017. Nominated for best film, best sound design, best lead actress, best lead actor at 2020 South African indie film awards. Won best cinematography at 2020 South African indie film awards. Released theatrically in the USA in 2021 as 'Broken Darkness' by Vertical Entertainment . Oliver Tambo: Have You Heard from JohannesburgConnie Field DocumentaryEnglish Die Rebellie van Lafras VerweySimon BarnardTobie Cronjé, Chantell Phillipus, Cobus Visser, Albert Pretorius, Neels Van Jaarsveld, Lionel Newton DramaAfrikaansAlso known as Lafras Verwey She Is King Gersh KgamediKhabonina Qubeka, Aubrey Poo, Gugu Zulu, Khanyi Mbau, Mandisa Nduna MusicalEnglish Strike a Rock Aliki SaragasPrimose Sonti, Thumeka Magwangqana Documentary TessMeg RickardsChristia Visser, Nse Ikpe-Etim, Brendon Daniels , Dann-Jacques MoutonDramaAfrikaans Van Der MerweBruce LawleyRob van Vuuren , Chanelle de Jager, Reine Swart , Matthew Baldwin, Ian Roberts ComedyAfrikaans, English VaselinetjieCorné van RooyenMarguerite van Eeden , Nicole Bond, Shaleen Surtie-Richards , Royston Stoffels DramaAfrikaans, English Vuil WasgoedMorné du ToitBennie Fourie, Bouwer Bosch, Tim Theron, Nico Panagio, Stiaan SmithCrimeAfrikaans WinniePascale LamcheWinnie MandelaDocumentaryFor this film, Lamche won the Directing Award for World Cinema - Documentary at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival The Wound (Inxeba)John Trengove Nakhane Touré, Bongile Mantsai, Niza Jay Ncoyini, Thobani MseleniDramaXhosa, Afrikaans, English The Black Moses Moksh production (production company) | Trevor Shezi (director) TBADramaZulu, Afrikaans, English 2018 AyaKhalid EL-JelailatiDanica De La Rey, Richard Gau, Charlie Bouguenon, Keketso Montshiwa ThrillerEnglish Baby Mamas Stephina ZwaneSalamina Mosese, Kay Smith, Thembisa Mdoda, Dineo Ranaka ComedyEnglish Cut-Out Girls Nicola HanekomAtlanta Johnson, Keziah Gabriel, Cody Mountain, Meghan Oberholzer Drama, ThrillerEnglish Dominee TienieSalmon de JagerFrank Opperman, Henrietta Gryffenberg, Thapelo Makoena, Carel Nel, Deon Lotz Drama Ellen: The Ellen Pakkies Story Daryne JoshuaJill Levenberg , Jerrid Geduld, Elton Landrew, Clint BrinkDramaAfrikaans, EnglishAlso known as Ellen: The Story of Ellen Pakkies Farewell Ella Bella Lwazi Mvusi Jay Anstey, Sello Maake Ka-Ncube, Lionel Newton, Katlego Danke, Mary-Anne Barlow, Noluthando MejeDramaEnglish Frank & FearlessGray Hofmeyr Leon Schuster , Themba Ntuli, Kenneth Nkosi, Khanyi Mbau , Jennifer SteynComedy KanarieChristiaan OlwagenSchalk Bezuidenhout, Hannes Otto, Germandt Geldenhuys , Gérard Rudolf , Jacques Bessenger, Beer Adriaanse Drama, Musical, WarAfrikaansAlso known as Canary Mayfair Sara Blecher Ronak Patani, Rajesh Gopie, Wayne Van Rooyen, Jack Devnarain, Kelly-Eve Koopman, Ameera PatelAction, Crime, DramaEnglish Meerkat MaantuigHanneke SchutteAnchen du Plessis, Rika Sennett, Pierre van Pletzen, Themba Ntuli Drama, Science Fiction, FantasyAfrikaansAlso known as Meerkat Moonship Number 37 Nosipho DumisaIrshaad Ally, Monique Rockman, Ephraim Gordon, Danny Ross, Deon Lotz ThrillerAfrikaans RaaiselkindAndre VeltsDiaan Lawrenson, Deon Lotz , Anrich Herbst DramaAfrikaans The Recce Johannes Ferdinand Van ZylGreg Kriek, Christia Visser, Elsabé Daneel, Marius Weyers, Maurice Carpede Drama, WarAfrikaans, EnglishIdlewild International Film Festival 2019, Best Foreign Feature Drama, Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema, Best Actor - Feature Sew the Winter to My Skin Jahmil X. T. QubekaEzra Mabengeza, Kandyse McClure , Peter Kurth, Zolisa Xaluva, Bok Van Blerk Action, AdventureAfrikaans, English, Xhosa StroomopIvan BothaDonnaLee Roberts , Simoné Nortmann, Ilse Klink , Chanelle de Jager, Carla Classen, Armand AucampAction, AdventureAfrikaans, English Table Manners Leli MakiDiaan Lawrenson, Renate Stuurman, Neels Van Jaarsveld, Thabo Malema, Fiona Ramsey Comedy, DramaEnglish Thys & TrixQuentin KrogLeandie du Randt , Bouwer Bosch, Brendon Daniels Action, Adventure, ComedyAfrikaans The Tokoloshe Jerome PikwanePetronella Tshuma , Kwande Nkosi, Dawid Minaar, Harriet Manamela , Mandla Shongwe, Yule MasitengHorror, ThrillerEnglish, Zulu When Babies Don't Come Molatelo Mainetje-BossmanMolatelo Mainetje-BossmanDocumentary FeatureKhelobedu, English WonderlusJohan CronjeBeer Adriaanse, Marvin-Lee Beukes, Mila Guy, Edwin Van Der Walt, Simoné Nortmann Comedy, Drama, RomanceAfrikaans 2019 An Act of Defiance Jean van de VeldePeter Paul Muller, Antoinette Louw, Sello Motloung DramaEnglish Ander MensQuentin KrogBennie Fourie, Marlee van der Merwe, Frank Opperman, James BorthwickComedyAfrikaans Back of the Moon Angus GibsonRichard Lunkunku, Moneoa Moshesh, Lemogang Tsipa DramaZulu Bhai's Cafe Maynard KraakMehboob Bawa, Suraya Rose Santos, Siv Ngesi Romantic comedy, MusicalEnglishIn the style of Bollywood Buddha in Africa Nicole Schafer Enock Alu BiographyEnglish, Chinese Mandarin Deep End Eubulus TimothyCarishma Basday, Greg Kriek, Suraya-Rose Santos, Mahendra Raghunath, Robin SinghDrama, Romance, SportEnglish Fiela se Kind (2019)Brett Michael InnesZenobia Kloppers, Luca Bornman, Wayne Smith, Wayne van Rooyen, Cindy Swanepoel, Drikus Volschenk DramaAfrikaans Flatland Jenna Cato Bass Faith Baloyi, Nicole Fortuin , Izel Bezuidenhout DramaEnglish, Afrikaans Griekwastad Jozua MalherbeArnold Vosloo , Alex van Dyk, Tim Theron, Jody Abrahams Crime, DramaAfrikaansDramatisation of a true story The Harvesters Etienne Kallos Brent Vermeulen , Alex Van Dyk, Juliana Venter, Morne Visser DramaAfrikaans, EnglishOriginal title: Die Stropers Kandasamys: The Wedding Jayan MoodleyJailoshini Naidoo, Maeshni Naicker, Madhushan Singh, Mishqah ParthiephalRomance Kings of Mulberry Street Judy NaidooAaqil Hoosen, Shaan Nathoo, Neville Pillay, Rizelle Januk, Thiru NaidooComedyEnglish Knuckle CityJahmil X. T. QubekaBongile Mantsai, Thembekile Komani, Patrick Ndlovu, Faniswa Yisa, Siv Ngesi Drama, CrimeXhosaSouth Africa's entry for the 92nd Academy Awards (2020) in Best International Feature Film category[18] The Last Victims Maynard KraakSean Cameron Michael, Kurt Egelhof, Marno van der Merwe, Ashish Gangapersad, Jacobus Van Heerden, Mark Mulder Drama, Mystery, ThrillerEnglishInspired by true events film, has won 18 awards and 8 nominations around the world from 12 film festivals. The world Premiere was at Pan African Film Festival , Hollywood in 2019. Liewe LisaHendrik CronjeElani Dekker, Hendrik Cronje, Zane Meas, Barbara-Marie Immelman, Albert MaritzRomanceAfrikaans Love Lives HereNorman MaakeThando Thabethe, Lungile Radu, Andile Gumbi , Nomalanga Shozi, Zola NombonaRomanceEnglish Losing Lerato Sanele zuluConnie Chiume , Patrick Mofokeng , Ayanda Borotho , Tshimollo Modupe, Samela Tyelbooi and Kagiso Modupe Drama, Action, CrimeEnglish & AfrikaansNetflix film MatwetweKagiso LedigaAnastasia Augustus, Lungile Cindi, Mbeko Cindi, Karabo Dikolomela, Neo ErasmusAdventure, Comedy, DramaAlso known as Wizard Moffie Oliver Hermanus Kai Luke Brümmer , Ryan de Villiers Drama, Romance, WarAfrikaans, English The Seagull (Die Seemeeu)Christiaan OlwagenSandra Prinsloo , Marius Weyers , Gerben Kamper, Alyzzander Fourie, Deon Lotz DramaAfrikaans SkemersonPhilip RademeyerPietie Beyers, Elize Cawood, Anneke WeidemannDramaOriginal music score by Riku Lätti 8 ( The Soul Collector )Harold HölscherTshamano Sebe, Inge Beckmann, Garth Breytenbach, Keita LunaHorror, Fantasy, PeriodEnglish, TswanaOriginally entitled 8, British Horror Film Festival , UK.Best Feature Film, International Independent Film Awards, Best Narrative Feature, Seattle International Film Festival, Best Feature Film The Story of Racheltjie de BeerMatthys BoshoffStian Bam, Antoinette Louw, Marius Weyers , Sandra Prinsloo , Zonika de Vries DramaAfrikaans 3 Days to Go Bianca IsaacLeeanda Reddy , Lillette Dubey, Jailoshini Naidoo , Kajal Bagwandeen DramaEnglish Zulu Wedding Lineo SekeleoaneNondumiso Tembe, Darren Dewitt Henson, Carl Payne, Pallance Dladla RomanceEnglish 2020s Barakat Amy Jephta Vinette Ebrahim, Joey Rasdien, Mortimer Williams, Quanita Adams , Keeno Lee Hectormade Family dramaAfrikaans, EnglishFirst South African Muslim film My Father the Mover Julia JanschMthuthuzeli Stoan GalelaDocumentaryXhosaWinner of Best Documentary Short at 19th Annual Tribeca Film Festival Parable Beer AdriaanseJane de Wet , Michael Richard, Jay Hlatshwayo, Carla Classen, Thapelo Aphiri, Danny MeakerHorrorEnglishTV film RageJaco BouwerNicole Fortuin , Jane de Wet , Tristan de Beer, Carel Nel, Sihle Mnqwanzana, Shalima Mkongi, David ViviersHorrorAfrikaansTV film Stam Louw Venter Inge Beckmann, Gideon Lombard, Tarryn Wyngard, Niza Jay ThrillerAfrikaans Toorbos Rene van RooyenElani Dekker, Stiaan Smith, Ivan Abrahams, Ira Blanckenberg, Clare Marshall, Gretchen Ramsden DramaAfrikaansSouth Africa's entry for the 93rd Academy Awards (2021) in the Best International Feature Film category[18] Triggered Alastair OrrLiesl Ahlers, Reine Swart , Russell Crous, Cameron Scott, Steven John Ward, Suraya Rose Santos, Paige Bonnin, Kayla Privett, Michael Lawrence Potter Action, HorrorEnglish Die SMSMarshin CupidoChanelle de Jager, Lara Hattingh, Paul du Toit. Francois CoertzeThrillerFirst South African Feature Film directed by a director younger than 21 years old Vergeet My Nie Andre FeltsMarguerite van Eeden , Sean-Marco Vorster, Kenley Swart, Pietie Beyers, Amalia Uys, Fiona Ramsay RomanceAfrikaans, English 2021 Angeliena Uga Carlini Euodia Samson, Tshamano Sebe, Thapelo Mokoena , Colin Moss Comedy dramaEnglishNetflix film Briefly (Vlugtig)Marinus GubitzArno Greeff , Jane de Wet , Ernst van WykPsychological dramaAfrikaansFeature-length adaptation of the 2017 short film Daryn's GymBrett Michael InnesClifford Joshua Young, Carla Classen, Natasha Sutherland , Siv Ngesi , William Harding, Hlubi Mboya, Ayanda SeokaComedyEnglish, Xhosa Gaia Jaco BouwerMonique Rockman, Carel Nel, Alex van Dyk, Anthony Oseyemi HorrorEnglish, Afrikaans Glasshouse Kelsey Egan Jessica Alexander , Anja Taljaard, Hilton Pelser , Adrienne Pearce , Kitty Harris, Brent Vermeulen Dystopian, Sci-fi, ThrillerEnglish Good Life Bonnie RodiniErica Wessels, Sven Ruygrok, Jennifer Steyn , Michele Maxwell, Adam Neill, Leon Clingman, Joe Vaz, Danielle Cagnetta, Kiroshan Naidoo DramaEnglish Good Madam (Mlungu Wam)Jenna Cato Bass Chumisa Cosa, Nosipho Mtebe Thriller dramaEnglish, Xhosa I Am All Girls Donovan MarshErica Wessels, Hlubi Mboya , Deon Lotz , Mothusi Magano Mystery thrillerEnglishNetflix film Indemnity Travis Taute Jarrid Geduld , Gail Mabalane , Andre Jacobs, Louw Venter , Nicole Fortuin , Abdu Adams, Hlomla Dandala Action Kaalgat KarelMeg Rickards Christia Visser , Schalk Bezuidenhout Comedy, RomanceAfrikaans Little Big Mouth Gray Hofmeyr , Ziggy HofmeyrNay Maps, Amanda du-Pont , James Borthwick FamilyEnglishNetflix film Love, Lies and Hybrids Amanda LaneMeghan Oberholzer , Shamilla Miller , Alexander , RomanceEnglishTV film Umakoti WethuNozipho Nkelemba Fulu Mugovhani , Melusi Mbele, Kwanele Mthethwa, Duduzile Ngcobo DramaVenda, Zulu, EnglishShowmax film 2022 1960King Shaft, Michael MutomboZandile Madliwa, Sanda Shandu , Ivy Nkutha, Anele MatotiPeriod dramaEnglish African Moot Shameela Seedat DocumentaryEnglish, French, Portuguese, Swahili Amandla Nerina De Jager Lemogang Tsipa, Thabo Rametsi , I srael Matseke-Zulu DramaEnglish, Afrikaans, ZuluNetflix film Girl, Taken François Verster , Simon Wood DocumentaryEnglishIrish co-production Late Bloomer Amy Jephta Nicole Fortuin , Danny Ross, Monique Rockman, Tankiso Mamabolo, Kate PinchuckShowmax film Silverton Siege [20] Mandla Dube Noxolo Dlamini , Thabo Rametsi , Stefan Erasmus , Arnold Vosloo , Tumisho Masha , Michelle Mosalakae , Elani Dekker Action-thrillerEnglishNetflix film Sodium Day Riaz SolkerComing-of-age The Umbrella Men John Barker Jaques De Silva, Shamilla Miller , Keenan Arrison , Bronté Snell, Abduragman Adams, June van Merch, Kagiso Lediga , Joey Yusuf Rasdien Crime comedyEnglish, Afrikaans Wild is the Wind Fabian MedeaMothusi Magano , Frank Rautenbach , Chris Chameleon , Mona Monyane , Izel Bezuidenhout, Phoenix Baaitse, Deon Coetzee CrimeEnglishNetflix film You're My Favourite PlaceJahmil X.T. Qubeka Coming-of-age, road movieEnglish, XhosaAlso known as Valedictory 2023 The Honeymoon Bianca IsaacKajal Bagwandeen , Tumi Morake , Minnie Dlamini ComedyEnglish Kings of Mulberry Street: Let Love Reign Judy NaidooShaan Nathoo, Liam Dunpath, Hamish Kyd, Riyaad Nakooda, Kogie Naidoo, Kimberley Arthur FamilyEnglish 2024 Heart of the Hunter Mandla DubeBonko Khoza, Connie Ferguson , Tim Theron, Nicole Fortuin , Masasa Mbangeni, Sisanda Henna, Peter Butler, Deon Coetzee Netflix film See also List of Afrikaans-language films 1898 Pres. Paul Kruger filmed in front of his house in Pretoria, on his way to the council. 1916 De Voortrekkers (first Afrikaans film) 1931 Moedertjie (first full-length film with Afrikaans dialogue) Sarie Marais, musical (first South African film with sound) 1938 Bou van ’n Nasie, documentary (second film with Afrikaans dialogue) 1942 Lig van 'n Eeu, documentary 1944 Donker Spore, drama 1946 Geboortegrond, drama Die wildsboudjie, comedy Die Skerpioen, drama Pikkie se Erfenis, drama 1947 Pantoffelregering, comedy Simon Beyers, drama 1948 Die kaskenades van Dr. Kwak, comedy 1949 Sarie Marais, drama Kom saam, vanaand, musical (first musical in Afrikaans) 1950 Hier's ons weer, comedy 1951 Alles sal regkom, comedy Daar Doer in die Bosveld , comedy (first South African film in colour) 1952 Altyd in my drome, musical Hans-die-Skipper, drama Vyftig-vyftig, comedy Die Leeu van Punda Maria 1953 Inspan, adventure, drama 1954 ’n Plan is ’n Boerdery, romantic comedy Daar Doer in die Stad, drama, comedy 1955 Vadertjie

LIMPOPO "Northern Transvaal" redirects here. For the rugby union team, see Blue Bulls . For the cricket team previously called Northern Transvaal, see Northerns (cricket team) . Limpopo (/lɪmˈpoʊpoʊ/ ) is the northernmost province of South Africa . It is named after the Limpopo River , which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane , while the provincial legislature is situated in Lebowakgomo . The province is made up of three former homelands of Lebowa , Gazankulu and Venda and part of the former Transvaal province. The Limpopo province was established as one of nine provinces after the 1994 South African general election . The province's name was first "Northern Transvaal", later changed to "Northern Province" on 28 June 1995, with two other provinces. The name was later changed again in 2002 to the Limpopo Province. Limpopo is made up of three main ethnic groups: the Pedi , the Tsonga and the Venda . Traditional leaders and chiefs still form a strong backbone of the province's political landscape. Established in terms of the Limpopo House of Traditional Leaders Act, Act 5 of 2005, the Limpopo House of Traditional Leaders' main function is to advise the government and the legislature on matters related to custom, tradition, and culture, including developmental initiatives that affect rural communities. On 18 August 2017, Kgosi Malesela Dikgale was re-elected as the Chairperson of the Limpopo House of Traditional Leaders. Geography Sundown over one of the mountain ranges found in Limpopo. Limpopo Province shares international borders with districts and provinces of three countries: Botswana 's Central and Kgatleng districts to the west and northwest respectively, Zimbabwe 's Matabeleland South and Masvingo provinces to the north and northeast respectively, and Mozambique 's Gaza Province to the east. Limpopo is the link between South Africa and countries further afield in sub-Saharan Africa . On its southern edge, from east to west, it shares borders with the South African provinces of Mpumalanga , Gauteng , and North West . Its border with Gauteng includes that province's Johannesburg -Pretoria axis, the most industrialised metropolis on the continent. The province is central to regional, national, and international developing markets. Limpopo contains much of the Waterberg Biosphere , a massif of approximately 15,000 km2 (5,800 sq mi) which is the first region in the northern part of South Africa to be named a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve . Law and government Main article: Politics of Limpopo The current Premier of Limpopo Province is Stanley Mathabatha , representing the African National Congress . Municipalities Main article: List of municipalities in Limpopo Limpopo districts and local municipalities Limpopo Province is divided into five district municipalities . The district municipalities are in turn divided into 25 local municipalities : District municipalities Capricorn District Blouberg Lepele-Nkumpi Molemole Polokwane Mopani District Ba-Phalaborwa Greater Giyani Greater Letaba Greater Tzaneen Maruleng Sekhukhune District Elias Motsoaledi Ephraim Mogale Fetakgomo Tubatse Makhuduthamaga Vhembe District Makhado Musina Collins Chabane Thulamela Waterberg District Bela-Bela Lephalale Modimolle–Mookgophong Mogalakwena Thabazimbi Economy Man and his donkeys collecting wood in a rural area Limpopo has a total population of 6.015 Million with 1.641million Households., The province has a high Human Development Index (HDI) of 0.710, which is the third highest in South Africa. Agriculture The bushveld is beef cattle country, where extensive ranching operations are often supplemented by controlled hunting. About 80% of South Africa's game hunting industry is in Limpopo. Sunflowers , cotton , maize and peanuts are cultivated in the Bela-Bela and Modimolle areas. Modimolle is also known for its table grapes . An embryotic wine industry is growing in Limpopo. Tropical fruit, such as bananas , litchis , pineapples , mangoes and pawpaws , as well as a variety of nuts , are grown in the Tzaneen and Louis Trichardt areas. Tzaneen is also at the centre of extensive citrus , tea , and coffee plantations and a major forestry industry. Most of the farmers and households lack a water supply. Therefore, they drill their boreholes on their premises. Housing Most Limpopo residents live in rural areas; this has led to a new phenomenon of rural development, where the residents have invested in building lavish homes on their tribal land. Limpopo rural houses have been profiled by TV channels, lifestyle vloggers, social media influencers, and Africa's biggest facts brand, Africa Facts Zone. According to 96.2% of Limpopo live in formal housing, above the national average of 84.0%. This makes Limpopo the province with the highest percentage of people living in formal housing in South Africa. Mining Ajoite in quartz , from the Messina mine, Limpopo Province, South Africa. Scale at bottom is one inch, with a rule at one cm. Limpopo's rich mineral deposits include the platinum group metals, iron ore, chromium, high- and middle-grade coking coal , diamonds, antimony , phosphate , and copper, as well as mineral reserves like gold, emeralds, scheelite , magnetite , vermiculite , silicon , and mica . Commodities such as black granite , corundum , and feldspar are also found. Mining contributes to over a fifth of the provincial economy. Limpopo has the largest platinum deposit in South Africa. The Waterberg Coalfield , the eastern extension of Botswana 's Mmamabula coalfields, is estimated to contain 40% of South Africa's coal reserves. Tourism The Limpopo Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism has targeted the province as a preferred eco-tourism destination. Its Environment and Tourism Programme encompasses tourism, protected areas, and community environment development to achieve sustainable economic growth. While Limpopo is one of South Africa's poorest provinces, it is rich in wildlife, which gives it an advantage in attracting tourists. Both the private and public sectors are investing in tourism development. Near Modjadjiskloof , at Sunland Baobab farms, there is a large Baobab tree which has been fashioned into a relatively spacious pub. Transportation and communications The province has excellent road, rail, and air links. The N1 route from Johannesburg , which extends the length of the province, is the busiest overland route in Africa in terms of cross-border trade in raw materials and beneficiated goods. The port of Durban , South Africa's busiest, is served directly by the province, as are the ports of Richards Bay and Maputo . Polokwane International Airport is situated just north of Polokwane . Limpopo province contains approximately 56 airports and airstrips. Education The Department of Education is responsible for effecting quality education and training for all. The Department has to coordinate all professional development and support. Policies, systems, and procedures had to be developed. Educational institutions As of December 2020, 12.9% of the Limpopo population had attained some post-school qualifications. The following higher education institutions are found in Limpopo: University of Limpopo (Polokwane , Mankweng ) University of Venda (Thohoyandou ) Tshwane University of Technology (Polokwane Campus) Capricorn College for TVET (Seshego ) Capricorn College for TVET (Polokwane) Lephalale TVET College (Lephalale)[ Letaba TVET College (Tzaneen)[ Mopani South East TVET College (Phalaborwa) Sekhukhune TVET College (Motetema) Vhembe TVET College (Venda) Waterberg TVET College (Mokopane) Giyani Campus Of Nursing College Limpopo Province College of Nursing (Giyani Campus) Limpopo Province The Limpopo province is one of the nine provinces in South Africa . It is the northernmost province. Read more about South Africa’s 9 provinces here. Where Is the Limpopo Province of South Africa? The Limpopo province of South Africa borders Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Botswana. Some Facts About the Limpopo Province They named the Limpopo province after the Limpopo River that runs through the province. Its capital city is Polokwane, the only South African town bordering the Kruger National Park. The province covers 48,554 square miles or km and is South Africa’s fifth-largest province. The highest elevation in the province is 2,126 metres or 6,975 feet. Districts or Regions in The Limpopo Province The province has five regions: 1. Capricorn They named the Capricorn region after the Tropic of Capricorn. It is the region where the Bapedi people live. The region starts at the Ysterberg, along the Wolkberg and extends to the tropic of Capricorn in the north. This region is perfect for an overnight stop when travelling from Gauteng to other areas in the province. 2. Maponi It is primarily the Vatsonga people who live in the Maponi region. The region is also called the Valley of Elephants. The Maponi region includes the northern part of the Drakensberg. 3. Sekhukhuni The Sekhukhuni region’s name is from King Skhukhune, who was the king of the Bapedi people in the 18th century. This region has many farms producing grapes, maize, cotton and sweet potatoes. Currently, the Bapedi and Ndebele people live here. 4. Vhembe The Vhavenda and Vatsonga people live in the Vhembe region. Visitors can see many baobab trees, abundant wildlife and bird life in this region. The Soutpansberg mountain is part of this region. 5. Waterberg The Waterberg region is the largest region of the Limpopo province. It contains the Waterberg mountain range and has natural beauty and diverse landscapes. Most of the region forms part of conservation efforts, especially for white rhinos and elephants. The Batswana people live here. Cities and Towns in The Limpopo Province The main towns in the Limpopo Province include: Haenertsburg Bela-Bela Hoedspruit Lephalale Louis Trichardt Modimolle (previous name: Nylstroom) Mokopane (previous name: Potgietersrus) Mookgophong (previous name: Naboomspruit) Musina Phalaborwa Thabazimbi Thohoyandou Tzaneen Vaalwater Sports Sports Association football : Polokwane was one of South Africa's host cities for the 2010 FIFA World Cup , with matches being played at the Peter Mokaba Stadium . Football clubs in the province include Real Rovers, Silver Stars, Black Leopards, Polokwane City, Baroka, Ria Stars, and Dynamos. Rugby union : Limpopo has no provincial rugby team of its own; it is represented in the domestic Currie Cup by the Pretoria -based Blue Bulls . The Blue Bulls also operate a Super Rugby franchise, known simply as the Bulls . Limpopo nonetheless produces its share of top players. Most notably, the two most-capped forwards in the history of the country's national team , John Smit and Victor Matfield , are both natives of Polokwane. Basketball : The province is home to Limpopo Pride , a professional team that plays in South Africa's top basketball division, the Basketball National League . Demographics The population of Limpopo consists of several ethnic groups distinguished by culture, language, and race. 97.3% of the population is Black , 2.4% is White , 0.2% is Coloured , and 0.1% is Indian /Asian . The province has the smallest percentage and second smallest total number of White South Africans in the country. However, there are several localities with a White majority, notably Hoedspruit and Modimolle . It also has the highest Black percentage out of all the provinces. The Northern Sotho people comprise the largest percentage of the population, 52% of the province. The Tsonga people comprise about 24.0% of the province; the Tsonga also comprise about 11.5% of Mpumalanga province since the southern part of their homeland, Gazankulu , was cut off from Limpopo and allocated to Mpumalanga. The Venda make up about 16.7%. Afrikaners make up the majority of Limpopo's White population, about 95,000 people; English -speaking Whites number just over 20,000. Vhembe district has the smallest share of White people in Limpopo, about 5,000 total. In contrast, the Waterberg district has the largest share of Whites, with more than 60,000 Whites residing there. Coloureds and Asians /Indians make up a tiny percentage of the province's total population. HIV / AIDS At 18.5% (2007), Limpopo has a relatively high incidence of HIV compared to other South African provinces. Cases rose from 14.5% to 21.5% between 2001 and 2005, with a slight fall between 2005 and 2007. However, as at 2019, the Limpopo province HIV stats sat at (13.2%) which is one of the lowest in comparison with other provinces in South Africa. BACK TO THE TOP OF THE PAGE

THE BOEREVOLK Boers (/bʊərz/ BOORZ ; Afrikaans : Boere; [ˈbuːrə] ) are the descendants of the proto Afrikaans -speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled the Dutch Cape Colony , which the United Kingdom incorporated into the British Empire in 1806. The name of the group is derived from Trekboer then later "boer", which means "farmer" in Dutch and Afrikaans. In addition, the term Boeren also applied to those who left the Cape Colony during the 19th century to colonise the Orange Free State , and the Transvaal (together known as the Boer Republics ), and to a lesser extent Natal . They emigrated from the Cape to live beyond the reach of the British colonial administration, with their reasons for doing so primarily being the new Anglophone common law system being introduced into the Cape and the British abolition of slavery in 1833. The term Afrikaners or Afrikaans people is generally used in modern-day South Africa for the white Afrikaans-speaking population of South Africa (the largest group of White South Africans ) encompassing the descendants of both the Boers, and the Cape Dutch who did not embark on the Great Trek . European colonists Flag of the Dutch East India Company The Dutch East India Company (Dutch : Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie; VOC) was formed in the Dutch Republic in 1602, and at this time the Dutch had entered the competition for the colonial and imperial trade of commerce in Southeast Asia. The end of the Thirty Years' War in 1648 saw European soldiers and refugees widely dispersed across Europe. Immigrants from Germany, Scandinavia, and Switzerland traveled to the Netherlands in the hope of finding employment with the VOC. During the same year, one of their ships was stranded in Table Bay near what would eventually become Cape Town , and the shipwrecked crew had to forage for themselves on shore for several months. They were so impressed with the natural resources of the country that on their return to the Dutch Republic, they represented to the VOC directors the advantages to be had for the Dutch Eastern trade from a properly provided and fortified station at the Cape. As a result, the VOC sent a Dutch expedition in 1652 led by Jan van Riebeek , who constructed a fort and laid out vegetable gardens at Table Bay and took control over Cape Town, which he governed for a decade. Free Burghers Main article: Free Burghers VOC favoured the idea of freemen at the Cape and many workers of VOC requested to be discharged in order to become free burghers (citizens). As a result, Jan van Riebeek approved the notion on favourable conditions and earmarked two areas near the Liesbeek River for farming purposes in 1657. The two areas which were allocated to the freemen, for agricultural purposes, were named Groeneveld and Dutch Garden. These areas were separated by the Amstel River (Liesbeek River). Nine of the best applicants were selected to use the land for agricultural purposes. The freemen or free burghers as they were afterwards termed, thus became subjects of VOC and were no longer its servants. In 1671, the Dutch first purchased land from the indigenous Khoikhoi beyond the limits of the fort built by Van Riebeek; this marked the development of the Colony proper . As the result of the investigations of a 1685 commissioner, the government worked to recruit a greater variety of immigrants to develop a stable community. They formed part of the class of vrijlieden, also known as vrijburgers ('free citizens'), former VOC employees who remained at the Cape after serving their contracts. A large number of vrijburgers became independent farmers and applied for grants of land, as well as loans of seed and tools, from VOC administration. Dutch free immigrants VOC authorities had been endeavouring to induce gardeners and small farmers to emigrate from Europe to South Africa, but with little success. They were only able to attract a few families through tales of wealth, but the Cape had little charm in comparison. In October 1670, however, the Chamber of Amsterdam announced that a few families were willing to leave for the Cape and Mauritius during the following December. Among the new names of burghers at this time are Jacob and Dirk van Niekerk, Johannes van As, Francois Villion, Jacob Brouwer, Jan van Eden, Hermanus Potgieter, Albertus Gildenhuis, and Jacobus van den Berg. French Huguenots During 1688–1689, the colony was greatly strengthened by the arrival of nearly two hundred French Huguenots , who were political refugees from the religious wars in France following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes . They joined colonies at Stellenbosch , Drakenstein , Franschhoek and Paarl .[12] The influence of the Huguenots on the character of the colonists was marked, leading to the VOC directing in 1701 that only Dutch should be taught in schools. This resulted in the Huguenots assimilating by the middle of the 18th century, with a loss in the use and knowledge of French . The colony gradually spread eastwards, and in 1754 land as far as Algoa Bay was included in the colony. At this time the European colonists numbered eight to ten thousand. They possessed numerous slaves, grew wheat in sufficient quantity to make it a commodity crop for export, and were famed for the good quality of their wines . But their chief wealth was in cattle. They enjoyed considerable prosperity. Through the latter half of the 17th and the whole of the 18th century, troubles arose between the colonists and the government as the VOC administration was despotic . Its policies were not directed at development of the colony, but to profit the VOC. The VOC closed the colony against free immigration, kept the whole of the trade in its own hands, combined the administrative, legislative and judicial powers in one body, prescribed to the farmers the nature of the crops they were to grow, demanded a large part of their produce as a kind of tax, and made other exactions. Trekboers Main article: Trekboers This section needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message ) From time to time, indentured VOC servants were endowed with the right of freeburghers but the VOC retained the power to compel them to return into its service whenever they deemed it necessary. This right to force into servitude those who might incur the displeasure of the governor or other high officers was not only exercised with reference to the individuals themselves; it was claimed by the government to be applicable to their children as well. The tyranny caused many to feel desperate and to flee from oppression, even before the 1700 trekking began. In 1780, Joachim van Plettenberg , the governor, proclaimed the Sneeuberge to be the northern boundary of the colony, expressing "the anxious hope that no more extension should take place, and with heavy penalties forbidding the rambling peasants to wander beyond". In 1789, so strong had feelings amongst the burghers become that delegates were sent from the Cape to interview the authorities at Amsterdam . After this deputation, some nominal reforms were granted. Descending from the Sneeuberge, a scene near Graaff-Reinet , by Burchell Passing Cradock Pass, Outeniqua Mountains , by Charles Collier Michell An aquatint by Samuel Daniell of Trekboers making camp Trekboers crossing the Karoo by Charles Davidson Bell It was largely to escape oppression that the farmers trekked farther and farther from the seat of government. VOC, to control the emigrants, established a magistracy at Swellendam in 1745 and another at Graaff Reinet in 1786. The Gamtoos River had been declared, c. 1740, the eastern frontier of the colony but it was soon passed. In 1780, however, the Dutch, to avoid collision with the Bantu peoples , agreed with them to make the Great Fish River the common boundary. In 1795 the heavily taxed burghers of the frontier districts, who were afforded no protection against the Bantus, expelled the VOC officials, and set up independent governments at Swellendam and Graaff Reinet. The trekboers of the 19th century[who? ] were the lineal descendants of the trekboers of the 18th century. The end of the 19th century saw a revival of the same tyrannical monopolist policy as that in the VOC government in the Transvaal . If the formula, "In all things political, purely despotic; in all things commercial, purely monopolist", was true of the VOC government in the 18th century, it was equally true of Kruger 's government in the latter part of the 19th.[citation needed ][clarification needed ] The underlying fact which made the trek possible is that the Dutch-descended colonists in the eastern and northeastern parts of the colony were not cultivators of the soil, but of purely pastoral and nomadic habits, ever ready to seek new pastures for their flocks and herds, possessing no special affection for any particular locality. These people, thinly scattered over a wide territory, had lived for so long with little restraint from the law that when, in 1815, by the institution of "Commissions of Circuit", justice was brought nearer to their homes, various offences were brought to light, the remedying of which caused much resentment. The Dutch-descended colonists in the eastern and northeastern parts of the colony, as a result of the Great Trek , had removed themselves from governmental rule and become widely spread out. However, the institution of "Commissions of Circuit" in 1815 allowed the prosecution of crimes, with offences committed by the trekboers—notably including many against people they had enslaved—seeing justice. These prosecutions were very unpopular amongst the trekkers and were seen as interfering with their rights over the enslaved people they viewed as their property. Invasion of the Cape Colony Main article: Invasion of the Cape Colony The Invasion of the Cape Colony was a British military expedition launched in 1795 against the Dutch Cape Colony at the Cape of Good Hope . The Netherlands had fallen under the revolutionary government of France and a British force under General Sir James Henry Craig was sent to Cape Town to secure the colony from the French for the Prince of Orange , a refugee in England. The governor of Cape Town at first refused to obey the instructions from the Prince, but when the British proceeded to land troops to take possession anyway, he capitulated. His action was hastened by the fact that the Khoikhoi , escaping from their former enslavers, flocked to the British standard. The burghers of Graaff Reinet did not surrender until a force had been sent against them; in 1799 and again in 1801 they rose in revolt. In February 1803, as a result of the peace of Amiens (February 1803), the colony was handed over to the Batavian Republic which introduced many reforms, as had the British during their eight years' rule. One of the first acts of General Craig had been to abolish torture in the administration of justice. The country still remained essentially Dutch, and few British citizens were attracted to it. Its cost to the British exchequer during this period was £ 16,000,000.[citation needed ] The Batavian Republic entertained very liberal views as to the administration of the country, but had little opportunity to enact them. When the War of the Third Coalition broke out in 1803, a British force was once again sent to the Cape. After an engagement (January 1806) on the shores of Table Bay, the Dutch garrison of Castle of Good Hope surrendered to the British under Sir David Baird , and in the 1814 Anglo-Dutch treaty the colony was ceded outright by The Netherlands to the British crown . At that time the colony extended to the line of mountains guarding the vast central plateau, then called Bushmansland (after a name for the San people ), and had an area of about 120000 sq km and a population of some 60000, of whom 27000 were whites, 17000 free Khoikhoi and the rest enslaved people, mostly non-indigenous blacks and Malays. Dislike of British rule Although the colony was fairly prosperous, many of the Dutch farmers were as dissatisfied with British rule as they had been with that of the VOC, though their grounds for complaint were not the same. In 1792, Moravian missions had been established which targeted the Khoikhoi, and in 1799 the London Missionary Society began work among both Khoikhoi and the Bantu peoples. The missionaries' championing of Khoikhoi grievances caused much dissatisfaction among the majority of the Dutch colonists, whose views temporarily prevailed, for in 1812 an ordinance was issued which empowered magistrates to bind Khoikhoi children as apprentices under conditions which differed little from slavery . Simultaneously, the movement for the abolition of slavery was gaining strength in England, and the missionaries appealed from the colonists to the mother country. Slachter's Nek A farmer named Frederick Bezuidenhout refused to obey a summons issued on the complaint of a Khoikhoi, and, firing on the party sent to arrest him, was killed by the return fire. This caused a small rebellion in 1815, known as Slachters Nek , described as "the most insane attempt ever made by a set of men to wage war against their sovereign" by Henry Cloete. Upon its suppression, five ringleaders were publicly hanged at the spot where they had sworn to expel "the English tyrants". The feeling[clarification needed ] caused by the hanging of these men was deepened by the circumstances of the execution, as the scaffold on which the rebels were simultaneously hanged broke down from their united weight and the men were afterwards hanged one by one. An ordinance was passed in 1827, abolishing the old Dutch courts of landdrost and heemraden (resident magistrates being substituted) and establishing that henceforth all legal proceedings should be conducted in English. The granting in 1828, as a result of the representations of the missionaries, of equal rights with whites to the Khoikhoi and other free coloured people, the imposition (1830) of heavy penalties for harsh treatment of enslaved people, and finally the emancipation of the enslaved people in 1834, were measures which combined to aggravate the farmers' dislike of government. Moreover, what the Boers viewed as the inadequate compensation for the freeing of the slaves, and the suspicions engendered by the method of payment, caused much resentment; and in 1835 the farmers again removed themselves to unknown country to escape the government. While emigration beyond the colonial border had been continuous for 150 years, it now took on larger proportions.[citation needed ] Cape Frontier Wars (1779–1879) Main article: Xhosa Wars Map of the Cape Colony in 1809, early British rule The migration of the trekboers from the Cape Colony into the Eastern Cape parts of South Africa, where the native Xhosa people had established settlements, gave rise to a series of conflicts between the Boers and the Xhosas. In 1775 the Cape government established a boundary between the trekboers and the Xhosas at the Bushmans and Upper Fish Rivers. The Boers and Xhosas ignored the boundary, with both groups establishing homes on either side of the frontier. Governor van Plettenberg attempted to persuade both groups to respect the boundary line without success. The Xhosas were accused of stealing cattle and in 1779 a series of skirmishes erupted along the border which initiated the 1st Frontier War. The frontier remained unstable, resulting in the outbreak of the 2nd Frontier War in 1789. Raids carried out by Boers and Xhosas on both sides of the boundary caused much friction in the area which resulted in several groups being drawn into the conflict. In 1795, the British invasion of the Cape Colony resulted in a change of government. After the government takeover the British began to draw up policies with regards to the frontier resulting in a Boer rebellion in Graaff-Reinet . The policies caused the Khoisan tribes to join some Xhosa chiefs in attacks against British forces during the 3rd Frontier War (1799–1803). Peace was restored to the area when the British, under the Treaty of Amiens , returned the Cape Colony to the Dutch Batavian Republic in 1803. In January 1806 during a second invasion, the British reoccupied the colony after the Battle of Blaauwberg . Tensions in the Zuurveld led the colonial administration and Boer colonists to expel many of the Xhosa tribes from the area, initiating the 4th Frontier War in 1811. Conflicts between the Xhosas on the frontier led to the 5th Frontier War in 1819. The Xhosas, due to dissatisfaction with vacillating government policies regarding where they were permitted to live, undertook large-scale cattle thefts on the frontier. The Cape government responded with several military expeditions. In 1834 a large Xhosa force moved into the Cape territory, which began the 6th Frontier War. Additional fortifications were built by the government and mounted patrols were not well received by the Xhosas, who continued with raids on farms during the 7th Frontier War (1846–1847). The 8th (1850–1853) and 9th Frontier Wars (1877–1878) continued at the same pace as their predecessors. Eventually the Xhosas were defeated and the territories were brought under British control. Great Trek Main article: Great Trek A map charting the routes of the largest trekking parties during the first wave of the Great Trek (1835–1840) along with key battles and events. The Great Trek occurred between 1835 and the early 1840s. During that period some 12,000 to 14,000 Boers (including women and children), impatient with British rule, emigrated from Cape Colony into the great plains beyond the Orange River , and across them again into Natal and the vastness of the Zoutspansberg , in the northern part of the Transvaal. Those Trekboers who occupied the eastern Cape were semi-nomadic. A significant number in the eastern Cape frontier later became Grensboere ('border farmers') who were the direct ancestors of the Voortrekkers . The Boers addressed several correspondence to the British Colonial Government before leaving the Cape Colony as reasons for their departure. Piet Retief , one of the leaders of the Boers during the time, addressed a letter to the government on 22 January 1837 in Grahamstown stating that the Boers did not see any prospect for peace or happiness for their children in a country with such internal commotions. Retief further complained about the severe financial losses which they felt had resulted from the laws of the British administration. While there was financial compensation for the freeing of the people they had enslaved, the Boers found it to be inadequate. They also felt that the English church system was incompatible with the Dutch Reformed Church . By this time the Boers had already formed a separate code of laws in preparation for the great trek and were aware of the dangerous territory they were about to enter. Retief concluded his letter with "We quit this colony under the full assurance that the English Government has nothing more to require of us, and will allow us to govern ourselves without its interference in future" Anglo-Boer wars Main articles: First Boer War and Second Boer War Boer family traveling by covered wagon circa 1900 Following the British annexation of the Transvaal in 1877, Paul Kruger was a key figure in organizing a Boer resistance which led to expulsion of the British from the Transvaal. The Boers then fought the Second Boer War in the late 19th and early 20th century against the British in order to ensure the republics of the Transvaal (the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek ) and the Orange Free State , remaining independent, ultimately capitulating in 1902. Boer War diaspora See also: Boer War diaspora After the Second Boer War, a Boer diaspora occurred. Starting in 1903, the largest group emigrated to the Patagonia region of Argentina and to Brazil . Another group emigrated to the British colony of Kenya , from where most returned to South Africa during the 1930s, while a third group under the leadership of General Ben Viljoen emigrated to Mexico and to New Mexico and Texas in the southwestern United States. 1914 Boer Revolt Main article: Maritz Rebellion The Maritz Rebellion (also known as the Boer Revolt, the Five Shilling Rebellion or the Third Boer War) occurred in 1914 at the start of World War I , in which men who supported the re-creation of the Boer republics rose up against the government of the Union of South Africa because they did not want to side with the British against the German Empire so soon after the war with the British.[citation needed ] Many Boers had German ancestry and many members of the government were themselves former Boer military leaders who had fought with the Maritz rebels against the British in the Second Boer War. The rebellion was put down by Louis Botha and Jan Smuts , and the ringleaders received heavy fines and terms of imprisonment. One, Jopie Fourie , an officer in the Union Defence Force , was convicted for treason when he refused to take up arms alongside the British, and was executed by the South African government in 1914. Characteristics Language Main article: Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic language spoken widely in South Africa and Namibia , and to a lesser extent in Botswana and Zimbabwe . It evolved from the Dutch vernacular of South Holland (Hollandic dialect ) spoken by the mainly Dutch colonists of what is now South Africa, where it gradually began to develop distinguishing characteristics in the course of the 18th century. Hence, it is a daughter language of Dutch, and was previously referred to as Cape Dutch (also used to refer collectively to the early Cape colonists ) or kitchen Dutch (a derogatory term used in its earlier days). However, it is also variously (although incorrectly) described as a creole or as a partially creolised language.[n 1] The term is ultimately derived from Dutch Afrikaans-Hollands meaning African Dutch. Culture Painting depicting the Bullock wagons moving over the billowy plains, 2 January 1860 The desire to wander, known as trekgees, was a notable characteristic of the Boers. It figured prominently in the late 17th century when the Trekboers began to inhabit the northern and eastern Cape frontiers, again during the Great Trek when the Voortrekkers left the eastern Cape en masse, and after the major republics were established during the Thirstland ('Dorsland') Trek. One such trekker described the impetus for emigrating as, "a drifting spirit was in our hearts, and we ourselves could not understand it. We just sold our farms and set out northwestwards to find a new home". A rustic characteristic and tradition was developed quite early on as Boer society was born on the frontiers of white colonisation and on the outskirts of Western civilisation. The Boer quest for independence manifested in a tradition of declaring republics, which predates the arrival of the British; when the British arrived, Boer republics had already been declared and were in rebellion from the VOC. Beliefs The Boers of the frontier were known for their independent spirit, resourcefulness, hardiness, and self-sufficiency, whose political notions verged on anarchy but had begun to be influenced by republicanism. The Boers had cut their ties to Europe as they emerged from the Trekboer group. The Boers possessed a distinct Protestant culture , and the majority of Boers and their descendants were members of a Reformed Church . The Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk ('Dutch Reformed Church') was the national Church of the South African Republic (1852–1902). The Orange Free State (1854–1902) was named after the Protestant House of Orange in the Netherlands . The Calvinist influence, in such fundamental Calvinist doctrines such as unconditional predestination and divine providence , remains present in a minority of Boer culture, who see their role in society as abiding by the national laws and accepting calamity and hardship as part of their Christian duty. Many Boers have since converted denominations and are now members of Baptist , Charismatic , Pentecostal or Lutheran Churches . Modern usage During recent times, mainly during the apartheid reform and post-1994 eras, some white Afrikaans -speaking people, mainly with conservative political views, and of Trekboer and Voortrekker descent, have chosen to be called Boere, rather than Afrikaners, to distinguish their identity. They believe that many people of Voortrekker descent were not assimilated into what they see as the Cape -based Afrikaner identity. They suggest that this developed after the Second Anglo-Boer War and the subsequent establishment of the Union of South Africa in 1910. Some Boer nationalists have asserted that they do not identify as a right-wing element of the political spectrum. They contend that the Boers of the South African Republic and Orange Free State republics were recognised as a separate people or cultural group under international law by the Sand River Convention (which created the South African Republic in 1852), the Bloemfontein Convention (which created the Orange Free State Republic in 1854), the Pretoria Convention (which re-established the independence of the South African Republic 1881), the London Convention (which granted the full independence to the South African Republic in 1884), and the Vereeniging Peace Treaty , which formally ended the Second Anglo-Boer War on 31 May 1902. Others contend, however, that these treaties dealt only with agreements between governmental entities and do not imply the recognition of a Boer cultural identity per se. The supporters of these views feel that the Afrikaner label was used from the 1930s onwards as a means of politically unifying the white Afrikaans speakers of the Western Cape with those of Trekboer and Voortrekker descent in the north of South Africa, where the Boer Republics were established. Since the Anglo-Boer war, the term Boerevolk ('farmer people') was rarely used in the 20th century by the various regimes because of the effort to assimilate the Boerevolk with the Afrikaners. A portion of those who are the descendants of the Boerevolk have reasserted use of this designation. The supporters of the Boer designation view the term Afrikaner as an artificial political label which usurped their history and culture, turning Boer achievements into Afrikaner achievements. They feel that the Western-Cape based Afrikaners – whose ancestors did not trek eastwards or northwards – took advantage of the republican Boers' destitution following the Anglo-Boer War. At that time, the Afrikaners attempted to assimilate the Boers into the new politically based cultural label. In contemporary South Africa, Boer and Afrikaner have often been used interchangeably.[dubious – discuss ] Afrikaner directly translated means African, and thus refers to all Afrikaans-speaking people in Africa who have their origins in the Cape Colony founded by Jan Van Riebeeck. Boer is a specific group within the larger Afrikaans-speaking population. During apartheid, Boer was used by opponents of apartheid in various contexts, referring to institutional structures such as the National Party , or to specific groups of people, such as members of the Police Force (colloquially known as Boere) and Army , Afrikaners, or white South Africans generally. This usage is often viewed as pejorative in contemporary South Africa. Politics Boere-Vryheidsbeweging Boerestaat Party Freedom Front Plus Front National Herstigte Nasionale Party National Conservative Party of South Africa Education The Movement for Christian-National Education is a federation of 47 Calvinist private schools, primarily in the Free State and the Transvaal, committed to educating Boer children from grade 0 through to 12. Media Some local radio stations promote the ideals of those who identify with the Boer people, like Radio Rosestad 100.6 FM (in Bloemfontein), Overvaal Stereo and Radio Pretoria . An internet-based radio station, Boerevolk Radio , promotes Boer separatism. Territories See also: Volkstaat Territorial areas in the form of a Boerestaat ('Boer State') are being developed as colonies exclusively for Boers/Afrikaners, notably Orania in the Northern Cape and Kleinfontein near Pretoria . Notable Boers Voortrekker leaders Sarel Cilliers Andries Hendrik Potgieter Andries Pretorius Piet Retief Great trek Racheltjie de Beer Dirkie Uys Marthinus Jacobus Oosthuizen Participants in the Second Anglo-Boer War Koos de la Rey , general; regarded as being one of the great military leaders of the Second Anglo-Boer War Danie Theron , soldier Christiaan Rudolf de Wet , general Siener van Rensburg , considered a prophet by some Politicians Louis Botha , first prime minister of South Africa (1910–1919) and former Boer general Petrus Jacobus Joubert , general and cabinet member of the Transvaal Republic Paul Kruger , president of the Transvaal Republic Martinus Theunis Steyn , 6th State President of the Orange Free State Spies Robey Leibbrandt Fritz Joubert Duquesne , Boer captain known as the Black Panther who served in the Second Boer War Persecution Since the early 2000s, South African farmers, including many Boers, have faced a wave of violent attacks in rural areas, often involving extreme brutality such as torture and murder. These incidents, which have drawn international attention, have led many within the Boer community to fear for their safety. Some have emigrated to countries like Australia, while others have invested in private security measures to protect their families and property. The ongoing attacks remain a significant concern for South Africa's rural communities. In modern fiction The history of the Cape Colony and the Boers in South Africa is covered at length in the 1980 novel The Covenant by American author James A. Michener. The Boers appear as a civilization in the 'Scramble to Africa' scenario in Civilization V: Brave New World . Paul Kruger leads the civilization during the scenario. The Boers' unique unit is the foreign volunteer. See also Boerboel Boerehaat Boer goat Boer music Settler colonialism South African farm attacks Transvaal civil war Transvaal Colony BACK TO THE TOP OF THE PAGE

PANARAMA GALLERY Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria Found right in the heart of Pretoria, locals will tell you that Loftus Versfeld Stadium IS itself the beating heart of Pretoria! Home to the Blue Bulls, a passionate rugby team, with hundreds of thousands of local rugby supporters who regularly bring the stadium alive all dressed in the iconic blue jersy of the Blue Bulls. Outside Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Tshwane Art Gallery at Riverbend Croc Farm in Margate Art Gallery at Riverbend Croc Farm Riverbend Art Gallery was opened by the late Dennis Cominos the then mayor of Margate on the 17th August 1984. Riverbend Art Gallery is home to works by many of South Africa’s finest artists including, Dino Paravano, Titta Fasciotti, Rob Wareing, Rob McIntosh, John Smith, Kobus Kotze, Peter Hall, Louis Audie, Richard Rennie, Coral Spenser, Isabel Le Roux, Marc Poisson, Tony De Freitas and many others. Union Buildings sunset in Tshwane Union Buildings in Pretoria The Union Buildings in Pretoria are home to the form the official seat of the South African government and also house the offices of the President of South Africa, and have always been central to South African history. It is here that Nelson Mandela became the state President in 1994, changing the face of South Africa. The beautiful gardens around the Union Buildings are very well maintained, and offer a lovely garden park to stroll through and relax. http://www.360cities.net/image/unionsunset Ou Raadsaal elevated in Tshwane Ou Raadsaal The Ou Raadsaal (old Council Chamber), served as the first parliament of South Africa. The building was designed by Sytze Wopke Wierda in a classical style of Greek and Roman architecture. Originally supposed to be two storeys high, president Paul Kruger insisted a 3rd storey added so that it would not be shorter than the nearby hotel. The Ou Raadsaal building was restored in 1962, when the British Coat of arms over the entrance was replaced by the South African Republic’s coat of arms, a replica of the one originally sculpted by Anton van Wouw. After many years of planning and research, the Raadsaal was once again restored in 1992, in an effort to return it to its former glory. Voortrekker Monument North Roof in Tshwane The great grey colossus of the massive Voortrekker Monument can be seen from all directions as you approach Pretoria. Built in honour of the Voortrekkers (Pioneers), who left the Cape Colony in their thousands between 1835 and 1854. The Voortrekker Monument is the biggest monument in Africa, and is a nature reserve. The Voortrekk Monument's dimentions are 40 meters wide, by 40 meters wide, by 40 meters high. A Cube. The cornerstone was laid by Mrs. J.C. Muller (granddaughter of Andries Pretorius), Mrs. K.F. Ackerman (great granddaugther of Hendrik Potgieter), and Mrs. J.C. Preller (great granddaughter of Piet Retief) on 16 December 1938. Eleven years later the Monument was inaugurated on 16 December 1949. The total cost for the construction of the Monument came to £359,600, of which the state contributed the most.Additional funds were obtained through donations, special stamp sales, commemorative envelopes, souvenirs and publications.This image was taken on the north east side of the roof, 60 meters above the ground. Camera was mounted on a 4.5 meter high pole. Full Virtual Tour of the Voortrekker Monument. Elephants at Hapoor Dam in Addo Elephant Park in South Africa Addo Elephant Park in Port Elizabeth We recently visited the Addo Elephant Park in Port Elizabeth, home to hundreds of African Elephant. We parked the car at Hapoor Dam for about 2 hours, and sat watching these magnificent animals coming down to the dam to drink, cool down, and play! In this 360 degree panoramic photo you can get an idea of how close these elephants were to us, and how big they are. Enjoy! Voortrekker Monument Hall of Heroes in Tshwane The Hall of Heroes is the main central hall of the Voortrekker Monument. It is a high domed hall, 25x25x41 metres, with marble floors and an impressive marble frieze (92 metres long and 2,3 metres high), depicting historical scenes from the Great Trek. Four huge arched windows made from yellow Belgian glass flank the hall and give the impression that the area is a revered place, like a temple. Below the Hall of Heroes is the Cenotaph Hall, and museum. Full Virtual Tour of the Voortrekker Monument. Chain Ladder on Amphitheatre Hike in the Drakensberg in South Africa The Point Hotel in Mossel Bay We recently had the pleasure of staying at The Point Hotel Mossel Bay for a few nights while photographing a number of Virtual Tours in the Mossel Bay area (more on that over the next few months). This Hotel Virtual Tour of The Point Hotel shows its wonderful location, situated right on the point of the natural bay of Mossel Bay, below the St Blaize lighthouse, and right on the rocks! Looking out your hotel suite, one almost feels like you are on a ship! Sentinel View of Amphitheatre in the Drakensberg Mountains in South Africa http://www.360cities.net/image/sentinel-view-of-amphitheatre-in-the-drakensberg-mountains-south-africa The Union Buildings The Union Buildings (Afrikaans: Uniegebou) form the official seat of the South African Government and also house the offices of the President of South Africa. The imposing buildings are located in Pretoria, atop Meintjeskop at the northern end of Arcadia, close to historic Church Square. The large gardens of the Buildings are nestled between Government Avenue, Vermeulen Street East, Church Street, the R104 and Blackwood Street. Fairview Avenue is a closed road through which only officials can enter the Union Buildings. Though not in the centre of Pretoria, the Union Buildings occupy the highest point of Pretoria, and constitute a South African national heritage site. The Buildings are one of the centres of political life in South Africa; "The Buildings" and "Arcadia" have become metonyms for the South African government. It has become an iconic landmark of Pretoria and South Africa in general, and is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the city and an emblem of democracy. The Buildings are the location of presidential inaugurations. Architecture The eastern wing of The Union Buildings represents the English population of South Africa These buildings, built from light sandstone , were designed by the architect Sir Herbert Baker in the English monumental style and are 285 m long. They have a semi-circular shape, with the two wings at the sides, this serves to represent the union of a formerly divided people.The clock chimes are identical to those of Big Ben in London. The east and west wings, as well as the twin-domed towers, represent two languages, English and Afrikaans, and the inner court was designed and built to symbolise the Union of South Africa. These buildings are considered by many to be the architect's greatest achievement and a South African architectural masterpiece. The Nelson Mandela statue in Sandton City's Nelson Mandela Square was commissioned originally to stand on the spot where Nelson Mandela gave his inaugural address. The building was sited on a disused quarry, which now makes up the amphitheatre. The matching statues on top of the domed towers are Atlas, holding up the world, sculpted by Abraham Broadbent. The statue on the domed rostrum in the amphitheatre between the wings is Mercury, a mythic Roman messenger and a god of trade, sculpted by George Ness. The closest suburb to the Union Buildings is Arcadia, which means "Playground of Gods". Pretoria has the second largest number of embassies in the world, after Washington, D.C., most of which are located in or near Arcadia. View from the gardens The design of each level differs, and therefore each stone had to be individually cut. The Architectural styles of the building ranges from the lower levels' Edwardian style to the top levels' Cape Dutch design with shutters on the windows. The windows from bottom to top are elongated and become shorter towards the top floor. This is to give the illusion of height. The Union Buildings are the site of presidential inaugurations. The official offices of the president are on the left-hand side of the Union Buildings, and the South African national flag is flown on the left-hand side if the president is in office. The Buildings are divided into three sections; the left offices, amphitheatre, and right offices. All are 95 metres in length. Each offices block contains three inner courtyards providing light and air to the offices. Each block has a basement and three floors above ground. The central curved building behind the colonnade houses the committee rooms, a library and conference rooms while the basement contains the kitchen, dining rooms and lounges. The interior is treated in the Cape Dutch style: carved teak fanlights, heavy doors, dark ceiling beams contrasting with white plaster walls and heavy wood furniture. BACK TO THE TOP OF THE PAGE

The best safaris in South Africa South Africa's best safari parks, and some hidden gems Kruger is South Africa’s most celebrated safari park , and deservedly so. Kruger and the surrounding private reserves are home to all of southern Africa’s iconic mammal species, including the endangered African wild dog. Its varied habitats support more than 500 bird species and many of the private reserves offer top quality specialised photo safaris. But a park as good and easy to visit as Kruger attracts a lot of visitors, and in high season the main routes can be busy. The highly-developed park doesn’t always feel that wild in places. If this sounds off-putting, fear not: head to northern Kruger for wild beauty, smaller crowds and a palpable sense of adventure. You may have to work a little harder for your sightings up here, but that’s because the animals are less habituated to vehicles. In other words, it feels like a safari of yesteryear. Oh, and the birdlife is exceptional in the north, with species you just don’t find elsewhere in the park. Another way to avoid the Kruger crowds is by visiting one of the superb private reserves that fringe the park itself, where limited numbers and no self-drives keep things peaceful. At a glance Destinations Kruger National Park Activity Safari Physical Level Easy Season January - December Kwazulu-Natal is South Africa’s cultural heartland, an essential immersion for those seeking to understand this glorious country in all its complexity. Networks of private reserves, plus big-ticket Hluhluwe-iMfolozi range across habitats and landscapes that are quintessentially South African. Second only to Kruger National Park, the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park is a nearly thousand square kilometre slab of wilderness surrounded by private game reserves. With its soaring hills and mountains, Hluhluwe-iMfolozi is scenically much more inspiring than the sometimes drab scrub-scape of Kruger. It is thanks to an innovative and wildly successful breeding programme here that the southern white rhino exists at all, and rhinos from Hluhluwe-iMfolozi have been used to re-populate parks and reserves across southern Africa. Today, it would be a rare game drive that didn’t bump into at least one of these prehistoric looking creatures. Elephants are common as are buffalo, zebra, giraffe and wildebeest. Much harder to find are the big cats. Hluhluwe-iMfolozi is easily accessible and has great facilities for people on all budgets. This makes it a good family-safari destination, but it also means it’s the most popular park in KwaZulu-Natal and during the holidays it can get very busy with holidaying locals. At a glance Destinations Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park Activity Safari Physical Level Easy Season January - December Madikwe Game Reserve I’ve never quite understood why Madikwe isn’t mentioned in the same breath as Kruger and South Africa’s other elite parks. Then again, I like it that way: whenever I visit, it’s never crowded. All of the big cats are here, as are elephants, rhinos, buffalo – I once saw rhino, elephant and buffalo all sharing the same waterhole. I’ve also seen African wild dog, two bull giraffes fighting, and lions on the hunt, all on the same afternoon game drive. Madikwe is unusual in that it is owned by the state in partnership with local communities and the private sector. However, it is run in the same manner as one of the exclusive private game reserves. There are no self-drive safaris here and only people staying in one of the upmarket (but slightly more affordable than normal) lodges are allowed into the reserve. This gives the reserve, which has been formed out of old farm and ranch land, a real air of tranquillity and the wildlife obviously appreciate this as well. With lower prices than somewhere like Sabi Sands in the Kruger region, but with a similar exclusive vibe, Madikwe suits those who want all the advantages of a prime private reserve but who don’t have quite enough cash to splash out on those big names. The mix of accommodation is just about right, too, with an affordable choice and a handful of perfectly placed luxury options. At a glance Destinations North West Province Activity Safari Physical Level Easy Season January - December Tswalu Kalahari Private Reserve Claiming to be South Africa’s largest private reserve, Tswalu, in Northern Cape, is a shining example of what can be done when conservation and tourism combines. Built around a model of sustainability, the reserve takes a holistic approach to conservation with deep ties to the local community. And with, at last count, 85 mammal and 264 bird species, the Kalahari wildlife is magnificent, with everything from black-maned Kalahari lions, oryx and meerkats to brown hyenas, African wild dogs and pangolins. At a glance Destinations The Kalahari Activity Safari Physical Level Easy Season January - December Phinda Game Reserve Of all the private reserves of KwaZulu-Natal, it’s Phinda that most rivals Sabi Sands and the other world-famous reserves that fringe Kruger. With its winning combination of attractive scenery, large numbers of mammals (including all the big five), more than 400 bird species, stupendously beautiful accommodation and a real sense of exclusivity, a range of exciting visitor activities and a forward-looking conservation and community programme, it’s easy to see how it garners endless accolades. I'd say this is perhaps the best place in South Africa to see the cheetah, and sightings here are consistently excellent. And to combine safari with marine wildlife watching, visit the Sodwana coast which rivals the Great Barrier Reef for marine birds. Fabulous accommodation adds to the appeal, visitor numbers are far fewer than in the Kruger reserves. A stay here doesn’t come cheap and you can only enter the reserve as a guest of one of the six very upmarket lodges. But if your budget stretches to it then, in our opinion, Phinda is one of the very best places for a short safari and you’re almost guaranteed to see all the flagship animals. At a glance Destinations Kwazulu-Natal Activity Safari Physical Level Easy Season January - December Timbavati Private Game Reserve By Anthony Ham Sabi Sands and Mala Mala may get all the attention among the private reserves west of Kruger. And make no mistake: both offer world-class wildlife experiences. But for something a little more low-key, I always choose Timbavati, where my wildlife sightings have always been exceptional and intense. There’s no fence between Timbavati and the national park, visiting here is like a concentrated version of the best of Kruger without the hype. A good mix of accommodation also makes it a touch more affordable than the others. At a glance Destinations Kruger National Park Activity Safari Physical Level Easy Season January - December Kwandwe Game Reserve By Anthony Ham This 220-sq-km reserve is larger than most in the eastern Cape, and yet has just two small lodges in which to stay: overcrowding at wildlife sightings just doesn’t happen here. I’ve often had big cat and rhino sightings to myself here; the rhinos in particular seem oblivious to vehicles and I’ve been so close, I could have leaned out to touch them. And I just love the night drives: there’s nothing quite like seeing a porcupine waddling along a night road, confusing the hell out of lions. At a glance Destinations Eastern Cape Activity Safari Physical Level Easy Season January - December Sabi Sabi Game Reserve By Stuart Butler A collection of former rangelands, Sabi Sabi is the discerning (and very well-heeled) safari goer’s choice. This stupendous reserve has all the wildlife drama and beauty that is to be expected of the Sabi Sands area, but the whole package is just that much more luxurious and exclusive than most of the other Sabi Sands camps and reserves (and let’s face it, you’re hardly slumming it in any of them). With just four uber up-market but radically different places to stay, and traversing rights given to only one outside lodge, Sabi Sabi is exclusivity redefined. At a glance Destinations Sabi Sands Game Reserve Activity Safari Physical Level Easy Season January - December Is going on safari dangerous? Is going on safari dangerous? If you spend time on the Internet, then you may have come across videos of safari attacks on humans by animals. You may even have read or heard grizzly stories about tourists killed in African safaris. Of course, this can raise concerns about ticking off this bucket list adventure. Feeling concerned or fearful about safety on safari is natural. After all, you’d be venturing into the vast wilderness (likely with companions), where dangerous beasts roam free, and there have been accidents. That being said, the experience isn’t nearly as hazardous as some would have you believe. Is Going on Safari Dangerous? Whenever human beings expose themselves to wild, unrestrained animals in nature, there will always be an element of danger. This is partly what makes safari expeditions exciting. However, on safaris in Africa , game reserves take every precaution to ensure the safety of guests during game drives and walks. The key to remaining safe on game drives and safari walks is to listen to your safari guide. This is of great importance, as not following instructions can result in accidents and injuries. Respect your surroundings and the fact that you are in the wild. Do this and you will enjoy a safe, unforgettable experience. Do Animals Attack Safari Vehicles? Wild animals rarely attack or even approach or acknowledge safari vehicles. They are used to the traffic of safari-goers and have adapted to seeing them outdoors. When animals do approach the trucks, it usually because they are seeking shade or camouflage for prey that they are stalking for food. Now, is going on safari dangerous? It can be, but it seldom is. Safari trucks and tourists are scenery to bush animals, and safari game rangers are experienced and well trained. Should an animal approach, then your driver will tell you how to behave (close windows, sit, stand, etc.) and interact with it. An African rhino doing his thing as safari tourists look on. What Is the Safari Death Rate? It is quite difficult to find information related to fatal safari incidents. This is because all deaths caused by wild animals in Africa are categorised into one group. The deaths that do occur normally do not involve tourists, though. They involve locals and villagers while farming and going about their daily lives. Deaths that have occurred while on safari are very few, so few that they do not even feature on country statistics for safari destinations. Every year, millions of people go safariing in Africa . On average, perhaps one tourist dies as a result of harmful interactions with wild animals in the bushveld. What Is the Most Dangerous Animal on Safaris? Lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos, hippos and buffalo… You’ll encounter them all in Africa, depending on when and where you go, and they can all be dangerous. The biggest threat to your health and life, however, is not a member of the Big Five or some other large creature. Rather, it is the pesky mosquito. Although the tiny mosquito looks far less impressive than Africa’s many sizeable beasts, it can be extremely dangerous. Mozzies carry many potentially deadly diseases, including malaria. The good news is that the risk of contraction is miniscule. Moreover, bites can be prevented if you know what to wear on safari . The most deadly animal (insect) in Africa, the mosquito! Is It Safe to Go on Safari? So then, is going on safari dangerous or is it safe to go on a safari in Africa? African safaris, if you plan well and follow the rules, are not only safe but also incredibly enjoyable. It’s an experience you won’t soon forget, and statistically, you are much safer on safari than you are driving to work in the mornings. Is Going on Safari Dangerous? Every safari has an element of danger; that's what makes it exciting. While many of the animals you'll encounter can be dangerous , the four that you really have to watch out for are—elephant, lion, buffalo , and hippo (add crocodiles to that list if you're near water). Most safari operators and guides at the various lodges and game reserves will stress basic precautions you need to take while game viewing. It will also help if you follow basic safari etiquette. If you are on safari in smaller, more remote game parks or encounter wildlife outside of game parks, here are some general rules to follow: If You Are in a Vehicle Always stay in your car. When driving in a game park remain in your vehicle. Only get out at designated "hides" and follow the rules that will be posted. There have been several fatalities that occurred because a hapless tourist has wandered out of their vehicle, camera in hand, to get a closer shot of an elephant or lion. It may sound silly, but it happens. Don't stand up or stick anything out of the car. Many safari vehicles are open-topped, and the wildlife is generally accustomed to these. But, if you stand up or wave something around on the side, some animals will get annoyed and consequently aggressive. You also have to remember that poaching is rife in many areas, and anything that looks like a gun can trigger a very nasty response from a wild animal. Drive slowly and carefully. During the wet season, the grass can get quite high, and it's not always possible to tell when a large buffalo or elephant will decide to step into the middle of the road. Remember, you have to stop if this happens. Buffalos and elephants are not in the least bit afraid or impressed by you or your car. Keep your windows up. If you are in a car with windows, it's better to keep them closed. You could end up being harassed by baboons as you drive through the more popular game parks. They are so habituated to cars they are not afraid to leap upon them and dent the roof. You don't want one inside your vehicle. If You Are on Foot If you are on a walking safari, you will no doubt be briefed on safety by your guides. But, there are times when you'll be walking in Africa and encounter wildlife without a guide. You could run into elephants even in the middle of town. Baboons are also a menace in many places and a lot larger than you think. Here are some basic tips if you encounter wildlife eye to eye: Try and stay downwind from the animal. If the animal catches your scent, it will know you are there, and you have no idea whether this will make it angry or afraid. If an animal you approach looks hostile, make sure you are not in the way of its escape route. Give the animal a clear birth and don't make any noise to aggravate the situation further. Walk away slowly. If you encounter an animal that doesn't like your presence move back slowly and quietly. More Tips Avoid swimming in rivers or lakes unless you are absolutely sure there are no hippos or crocodiles. Hippos are the most dangerous of all the big animals. They feed on the banks of the river, and if they sense danger will charge and attack whatever lies in their path in order to get back to the safety of the water. If you are camping out in the open, always make sure you have something covering you even if it's just a mosquito net. Hyenas like to check out camps for leftover food and are especially attracted to protruding objects, so keep your feet and nose inside that tent or net. Always wear boots and socks when walking around the bush. There are plenty of venomous snakes and scorpions around that could bite you. Don't walk around at night in areas where you know there is wildlife present that can be potentially harmful to you. That includes the beaches and around lakes where hippos graze between tents on a camping safari. Also, be careful in towns. Hyenas wander around freely in the capital city of Lilongwe in Malawi, so always be cautious. DANGERS ON SAFARI TOURS - 5 Most Dangerous Spiders In South Africa To Know If you’re wondering about dangerous spiders in South Africa, then wonder no more. This guide to the eight-legged critters in the home of the safari plains and the surf-washed beaches of J-Bay has you covered. It’s got info on five of the deadliest and most fearsome crawlies around, with details on what they look like and what you can do to avoid them. The good news is that there has never been an official case of a human fatality from a spider bite in South Africa. Nope, not one! There are regularly reports of dogs and cats and other domestic pets falling prey to the venomous arachnids listed below, but, for the most parts, us homo sapiens don’t have to worry too much. Of course, it pays to be wary and aware, since a whole bunch of the spiders in South Africa do possess venom or bites that can cause pain and complications. At the very least, there’s a chance that an attack from one of these guys will ruin that once-in-a-lifetime adventure down the stunning Garden Route, the wild lands of Kruger, or the wine fields of Stellenbosch. So, whiz up before you go, folks… Table of Contents Blue-footed baboon spider (Idiothele mira) Photo by Unsplash The blue-footed baboon spider is a classic tarantula-style spider. It’s relatively common across South Africa, known to live right around the state of KwaZulu-Natal and surrounding regions. Capable of growing to around 30mm, they aren’t the largest of their genus but are also nothing minuscule. As the name suggests, they have distinctly blue feet. Yep, the ends of the legs glow a dull, cobalt-style blue from the penultimate segment to where they meet the floor. There’s also a clear black line running down the central part of the abdomen. Largely nocturnal, these guys prefer to live in heavily to lightly wooded areas. They’ll conceal themselves in the undergrowth, under large rocks or rotting tree trunks, creating protective nests that can pierce nearly 30cm beneath the surface of the earth in some cases. Blue-footed baboon spiders – like most types of baboon spiders in South Africa – are far more active in the summer months, which is their main mating season, so expect to spot more in the wild between November and March. Most people believe that this type of spider does have some sort of venom, however a lack of studies into the blue-footed baboon spider means that it’s still an unknown quantity. What is for certain is that there are definite risks to their population numbers, mainly thanks to the boom in demand for them from exotic pet owners and habitat destruction on account of climate change. King baboon spider (Pelinobius muticus) Photo by Federico Faccipieri/Unsplash If you thought that the blue-footed baboon spider was bad, just wait until you meet the royal version! In fact, the king baboon spider is a totally different genus of spider to the plain old baboon spider – this one comes from the Pelinobius tree of crawlies, while the one listed above hails from the Idiothele group. Nope, that means very little to us either! What we do understand is that this one is a tarantula! Yep, a proper tarantula! King baboon spiders live all across East Africa and are more common in hotter countries closer to the middle of the continent. As such, they are regularly found in Kenya and Tanzania . They were first described in those parts by the European entomologist Ferdinand Karsch way back in the 1880s, who was known as documenter of arachnids across much of Africa, but also the Pacific and even Germany. Anyway…back to the king baboon. Capable of hitting a leg span of over 20cm (nearly 8 inches) in total, these critters are pretty hefty. They have the trademark, multi-segment leg of a tarantula, only they don’t have noticeable urticating hairs that can be used to attack. Instead, king baboons will vibrate their bodies to create a warning sound to fend off potential victims, before choosing to rush in and bite. The bite itself is no walk in the park. It’s venomous and moderately so to humans. No deaths have been recorded to date on account of the king baboon spider, though scientists believe some have a venom that’s powerful enough to cause both localized and holistic symptoms for over 40 hours! The other thing to note about these guys is that they’re VERY temperamental. Anyone who’s ever owned one as a pet will tell you that they are moody and quick to get defensive. Black widow (Latrodectus) Photo by Jonatan Lewczuk/Unsplash The black widow isn’t just one of the most dangerous spiders in South Africa, it’s also one of the most dangerous spiders around the whole world. Mhmm, today, the feared Latrodectus brand of arachnid can be found all over the globe. It’s known to reside on the islands of Japan and the mainland of the Americas, throughout Europe and much of Asia. It’s also here in the land of safari parks and shark-swimming coves… The main type of black widow found in SA is the Latrodectus indistinctus. Are you sitting down? Good. These guys have garnered themselves a rep for being one of the most venomous types of black widow on the planet. They can cause severe and prolonged symptoms in human victims, including – but not limited to – slurred speech, out of control blood pressure, muscle cramps, sweating and fever, and breathing difficulties. Yikes! Hard to spot, the Latrodectus indistinctus are rarely more than 16mm across. The women are the dangerous ones, but also the largest of the bunch (males only make it to 5mm across on average). You can identify them thanks to their jet-black, matte coloring and clear red markings that span out from the center of the underside. The only saving grace here is that they are known to be shy and non-confrontational, often preferring to play dead than bite. Violin spider (Sicariidae) Don’t confuse the South African violin spider with the spider of the same name that dominates over in the southern USA. Both are potentially dangerous to humans, but they are very different. While the latter is known for its violin-shaped body, this one’s got a distinctly bulbous thorax and a smaller head. Its coloring ranges from dusky black and grey to a light blueish color, while there are some specimens with bold reddish and ruddy markings striking down the back. Predominant in the northern highland parts of the country, they mainly live between the Kruger National Park and the borderlands with Botswana, covering a whole cut-out of the nation north of Pretoria and Johannesburg. Unfortunately for would-be safari goers, that’s one of the most coveted places to go spotting the Big Five game! The South African violin spider is known to have a strong neurotoxic and cytotoxic venom. That means it can cause some serious harm to human victims in the form of necrosis of the flesh and even interference with the nervous system. The good news is that they tend to like living in wilder parts of the nation, in forests and caves, rarely straying into built-up areas. What’s more, they are known to be particularly shy and will always try to avoid confrontation. Rain spider (Palystes superciliosus) Photo by Nathan Dumlao/Unsplash Behold one of the largest species of spider in South Africa: The rain spider. Named for their habit of entering human homes just before the rains come, these guys regularly inspire fear in the populations of SA because of their sheer dimensions. They can grow to have a full body span of nearly 50mm, which is made up of elongated legs and limbs, along with a bulbous lower thorax colored in beige and darker brown hues. They’re often mistaken for tarantulas but are actually a sub-member of the huntsman family. The rain spider is so big that it’s known to prey on small lizards and geckos around the Western Cape and Eastern Cape of South Africa. In fact, they are also known as the lizard-eating spider in those parts. Most active in the summer months, rain spiders will mate in November, as evidenced by the appearance of their unique egg sacs around the countryside – look out for the large bundles of silken web suspended between bushes and trees. You don’t want to get too close, as the more-aggressive females of the species are often nearby and ready to pounce to defend their young. Although rain spiders aren’t known to be venomous, they are known to be confrontational. What’s more, they are so big that they can often do physical damage to humans if they decide to attack. It’s rarely more than localized tissue rupturing with some bleeding, but it could require medical attention. Dangerous spiders in South Africa – our conclusion This list homes in on just five of the most dangerous spiders in South Africa. Its aim? To showcase the arachnids that could pose a potential threat when you go to explore the penguin-spotted beaches of the Garden Route or the lion-stalked hinterlands around Kruger. Don’t be too put off by the thought of being attacked by a black widow or tarantula here, though – there have, to date, been zero recorded cases of death from spider bite in these parts. SPIDERS in South Africa! Many people are terrified of spiders and find them extremely creepy. This is unfortunate because not only are most spiders completely harmless, they benefit our environment by controlling the insect population. In fact, without spiders, our food supply would be in serious jeopardy. Before we begin, I want you to know that the list below is just a fraction of the spiders in South Africa. Because of the sheer number of these arachnids, it would be impossible to cover them all. For example, some estimates claim over 50,000 kinds of spiders on the planet (and the list is still growing)! Brown Widow Latrodectus geometricus Also known as the brown widow, brown button spider, grey widow, brown, black widow, home button spider, or geometric button spider. Identifying Characteristics: The coloring is mottled tan and brown with black accent markings. On the sides of the abdomen, there are three diagonal stripes. This species has an hourglass similar to the black widow, but it’s often orange or yellow. The striped legs are usually dark brown or black with light yellow bands. The Brown Widow employs a neurotoxic venom, causing pain, muscle rigidity, vomiting, and sweating. However, while deadly to their prey, the bites of the Brown Widow are often much less harmful to humans than the infamous Black Widow. Females create webs in isolated, safe locations near houses and branch-heavy woods. Brown Widows frequently choose empty containers like buckets, planters, mailboxes, and entryway corners. So, checking these places thoroughly before disturbing them is a good idea! One of the easiest ways to identify these spiders in South Africa is to look for their egg sacs. They have pointy protrusions and are frequently referred to as “fluffy” or “spiky” in appearance. Common Rain Spider Palystes superciliosus Identifying Characteristics: The upper parts are tawny brown and covered in hair. Females’ legs can reach 110 mm (4.3 in). They have yellow and brown banding on the undersides, and their body length ranges from 15 to 36 mm (0.5-1.4 in). Males are smaller in size but have longer legs. The Common Rain Spider is part of the genus known as Huntsman Spiders due to their speed and method of hunting. Instead of weaving webs, these arachnids hunt for insects found in plants and foliage. Additionally, before it rains, they frequently enter houses where they prey on geckos or lizards, thus the common name. The females defend their egg sacs aggressively, and humans are frequently bitten during breeding seasons. When threatened, the Common Rain Spider raises its legs to intimidate predators. They also release toxins when they bite. Thankfully, their venom isn’t very dangerous for humans, but it does cause burning and swelling. Despite their fearsome appearance, Common Rain Spiders have a very unusual predator – the Pompilid Wasp. These wasps paralyze Rain Spiders with their bite and then drag them to their nests. They lay their eggs on the paralyzed spider and close the nest, and the small larvae feed on the paralyzed Rain Spider as they grow up. Gray Wall Jumping Spider Menemerus bivittatus Identifying Characteristics: This species has a flattened torso and short, thick, greyish-white hair. Tufts of dark brown hair grow close to the eyes. The male has a brownish-white stripe on each side of the abdomen and a black dorsal stripe. The female has a larger abdomen and is typically lighter brown. In addition, her abdomen is rimmed with broad black stripes that come together at the end. Both sexes are about 9 mm (0.3 in) long, but males are usually slightly smaller. The Gray Wall Jumping Spider is native to South Africa but has since spread throughout the world. It frequently appears on the exterior of buildings or tree trunks in gardens. Instead of weaving a web around their prey, the Gray Wall Jumping spider stalks the prey before springing on it to attack. Their wide eyes and visual acuity allow them to easily focus on objects and distinguish between different colors. And, using their exceptional jumping ability, they can seize their prey in the blink of an eye. Southern Baboon Spiders Subfamily Harpactirinae Note: Baboon spiders are a subfamily of tarantulas broadly present on the African continent. Around nine genera and over one hundred species are present in South Africa. This section gives general information on the entire group. Identifying Characteristics: This species reaches a maximum length of 15 cm (5.9 in), including the legs. Their coloring varies from light brown to dark brown or black. Some species can also have grey, beige, orange, or light yellow colors. Hair covers the legs and body. Southern Baboon Spiders are members of the Tarantula family. These ground-dwelling spiders use their fangs and chelicerae (pincer-like mouth appendages) to dig burrows that they line with silk. Their natural habitats are savanna forests, arid scrublands, and grasslands. They are vicious hunters, preying on insects, small rodents, reptiles, and just about anything else they can take down. Baboon Spiders lift their front legs to appear bigger and more intimidating when disturbed or threatened. If the threat continues, they will bite and release venom. The fangs of a Baboon Spider can be more than a centimeter long! As you can imagine, a bite from one can be very painful, and their venom can cause localized swelling. However, it doesn’t pose a major health concern to humans. With around 150 described species of scorpions in southern Africa (and new species still being described) scorpion identification is no easy task. All scorpions are venomous, however, stings from a number of species are mild and are not of medical importance. They may be painful for a few hours but are not potentially life-threatening. There are several old and incorrect stories about scorpions and scorpion identification. One such story is that only black scorpions are dangerous. There is no rule of thumb for determining whether a scorpion is dangerous or not based on colour alone. Highly venomous scorpions come in a variety of colours ranging from black, brown, yellow, light brown, orange and a mixture of all of the above. Another story is based on the size of the scorpion, with many people incorrectly telling us that smaller scorpions are far more venomous than larger scorpions. The size of a scorpion makes little difference as to how dangerous it is. A baby Thicktail Scorpion of a few centimetres long will deliver a painful and potentially dangerous sting compared to the mild prick delivered from a large (up to 20cm) Rock Scorpion. The main rule for identifying potentially dangerous scorpions is based on the size of their tail in relation to the size of their pincers: those with thick tails and small pincers being far more venomous than those with a thin tail and large pincers. The genus Parabuthus (A) is known as our Thicktail Scorpions and some of them are considered potentially deadly in southern Africa. There are two species that are potentially life-threatening and the other species may deliver a painful sting. Note the ratio of small pincers to thick tail in Parabuthus. Nomads (Hottentota sp.) and Pygmy-thicktails (Afrolychus sp.) are not represented on this chart as they are not commonly encountered in Southern Africa. These two genera are small scorpions and are not life-threatening but have a nasty venom that causes intense pain. The genus Uroplectes (B) are known as Lesser-thicktails or bark scorpions. These are generally small scorpions of a couple of centimetres in length. They too have thick tails and small pincers and a sting from one of these may be very painful, although not life-threatening. The Burrowers (C) and Creepers (D) are made up of three genera: Opistophthalmus (C) and Opisthacanthus and Cheloctonus (D). These genera have large pincers and medium to small tails. The pain from the sting of these scorpions can be compared to that of a bee sting. They can also pinch pretty hard with their large pincers. The Plain Pygmy-thicktails in the genus Pseudolychus (E) are small scorpions that usually live in leaf litter and are commonly encountered in houses, especially in Gauteng. The sting burns for a few minutes and then fades away and is less than a wasp sting in pain. Lastly, we get the Rock Scorpions (F) in the genus Hadogenes. These large scorpions often exceed 20cm in length and are gentle giants, their sting is barely noticeable. It is comparable to the thorns of an Acacia tree, where there is a slight tingling feeling and then becomes itchy. If the scorpion is upset however, those pincers give a good pinch! The two potentially life-threatening species in southern Africa are: The Rough Thicktail Scorpion (Parabuthus granulatus) is one of the largest scorpions in the region, reaching 18 cm in length with the tail extended. Individuals can be black in colour, dark brown or yellow, sometimes with lighter legs and a darker back segment. It occupies karoo and bushveld habitat on the drier western side of the country, occurring in the Western Cape, Northern Cape, North-west and Limpopo in South Africa. It occurs throughout Namibia and Botswana, extending into western Zimbabwe. It has one of the largest distributions of the Thicktail Scorpions and overlaps with a number of other species. It is therefore often confused with the Cape and Transvaal Thicktail Scorpions. This is the most venomous scorpion in southern Africa and accounts for a few fatalities every year. There is an effective antivenom for the sting of this species. On lab tests, this species is three times as venomous as the Transvaal Thicktail Scorpion (Müller et al. 2012). Bergman (1997) showed that of the ten Rough Thicktail Scorpion stings they examined, 30% were severe. The Transvaal Thicktail Scorpion (Parabuthus transvaalicus) is a large scorpion in southern Africa reaching a length of around 15cm with the tail extended. It is dark brown to black in colour, often with lighter pincers. It occupies bushveld habitat and can be found under rocks, logs and other debris. It often ventures into houses and can also be found under outdoor lights at night, hunting insects and other prey. It occurs from north of the Magaliesberg into Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the North West province and north into south-eastern Botswana and southern Zimbabwe as well as parts of Mozambique. It is often confused with the Rough Thick-tail Scorpion as their size and colour can be similar. The venom is medically important and antivenom is effective for stings. Excessive sweating and ptosis (drooping of the eyelids) are common symptoms of envenomation. Bergman (1997) showed that of the 184 Transvaal Thicktail Scorpion stings they examined, 10% were severe. In the recorded stings, deaths have occurred, taking between 12 hours and six days. The Cape Thicktail Scorpion (Parabuthus capensis) is a medium-sized scorpion of around 10cm with the tail extended. They are usually a pale orange or yellow in colour, often with a darker last segment of the tail. Pitch black individuals are common around Lambert’s Bay on the west coast. This species is known from the Western and Northern Cape provinces, usually sheltering under rocks and logs. It is easily confused with the Rough Thicktail Scorpion and the Drab Thicktail Scorpion. The venom of this species causes intense pain and generally isn’t considered life-threatening, although there is one unconfirmed death by this species mentioned in Müller et al. (2012). As far as we know, antivenom is not effective against the sting of this species. Most southern African scorpions are not life-threatening to humans. Only the Thicktail Scorpions (Parabuthus sp.) are considered dangerous, and of the 22 species of Thicktail Scorpions, only two have accounted for confirmed human fatalities. Most victims are stung on the foot between sundown and midnight. Most stings happen outside, although a number have been reported in houses, especially with the Transvaal Thicktail Scorpion and Lesser-thicktail scorpions, which often enter houses and may hide in bags or clothes (Müller, 2012). Scorpion stings are immediately painful. This pain may last from a few minutes to hours or even days depending on the species. Local paraesthesia (pins and needles) is often experienced. There is usually very little swelling and often the sting site is difficult to locate (Müller, 1993). In stings from Thicktails, hyperaesthesia (sensitivity of the skin) is often experienced with the nerves being hypersensitised. This results in the victim experiencing pain if the skin is touched or if ice is placed on the sting site. Victims also talk of a feeling of vibration of the skin similar to an electric current (Müller, 2012). The venom of the Thicktail Scorpions is a neurotoxic venom that affects potassium and sodium channels in the cells of the body. This may cause hyperexcitability of certain muscles and often results in jerks and twitches of the body as well as tremors and spasms of muscles, especially in the face. Children are often excessively restless. Other symptoms include extreme pain at the site of the sting that may spread throughout the body. Excess salivation, a slow heart rate, high blood pressure and gastric distension (enlargement of the stomach which may cause abdominal pain) is also noted. Muscle weakness often follows, and victims may struggle to walk, or walk as if they are drunk. Bulbar paralysis causes the victim to struggle to swallow, reduces the gag reflex and may restrict the ability to pronounce words. The final symptom, and most dangerous, is difficulty with breathing which may lead to respiratory failure. In stings to children where the species is not known, it is advisable to monitor the child for at least 12 hours (Müller, 1993; Müller, 2012). Symptoms are directly related to the size of the victim, the amount of venom injected and the physical health of the victim. Unfortunately, children and the elderly are often at a higher risk and may show symptoms rapidly (within one to two hours), whereas in healthy adults, symptoms may be delayed for up to 8 hours (Müller, 1993). Pain killers are not recommended as they are often ineffective against scorpion venom and may reduce the breathing rate of the victim (Müller, 1993). In hospitals, they may inject local anaesthetic around the sting site to help with pain control (Müller, 2012). In severe cases, 10 - 20 ml of SAVP Scorpion antivenom is delivered via an intravenous drip. An additional 10 ml is advisable if there are no improvements after six hours. Respiratory support is vital during these times. Patients who receive antivenom and treatment in a hospital generally make a full recovery within a few days. Patients who do not receive antivenom may take up to seven days to recover (Bergman, 1997). In the event of a sting from any of the above three species: Try get a photo of the scorpion (this can be sent to ASI for identification) Get the victim to a hospital as soon as possible. Immobilize the affected limb to slow the spread of venom. If the victim stops breathing, apply artificial respiration or use a bag valve mask reserve. Call the Poison Information Centre helpline 0861 555 777 DO NOT: Apply a tourniquet Cut or suck the wound Use ice or very hot water Give the victim anything to eat or drink (especially not alcohol) Apply electric shock Inject antivenom randomly (antivenom, if required must be administered by a trained medical professional) “Antihistamines are very commonly given, these have no beneficial effect and should be discouraged” Bergman, 1997. Opioid painkillers such as pethidine and morphine are ineffective and create a low breathing rate in the patient which may cause respiratory distress. Check out or range of great quality scorpion torches here. How to avoid scorpion stings: Scorpions are nocturnal and caution should be taken when out and about at night. Wear closed shoes when outside at night. Use a scorpion torch when out a night (scorpions fluoresce under ultraviolet light and are easy to see at night) Be cautious when collecting firewood as many species hide under branches or bark. Be careful when packing up tents, as scorpions like to hide underneath them. Shake out shoes before putting them on. We have a number of links on our website that can assist with the quick identification of common scorpions for each province: Eastern Cape Free State Gauteng KwaZulu - Natal Limpopo Mpumalanga North West Province Northern Cape Western Cape You can also make use of the scorpion information on our free app, ASI Snakes. As well as our free downloadable poster on the Common Scorpions of Southern Africa . Prolific Big 5 Game Viewing Encountering Africa’s iconic Big 5 (elephant, rhino, lion, leopard and buffalo) is a major item on any safari goer’s bucket list. Kruger National Park is one of the very few places on earth where you’re able to tick off all five in one day. A Trip for Every Traveller Multi-generational broods will love the Kruger National Park’s variety of family-friendly accommodation. Couples will find the perfect trip to celebrate a special occasion, and adventure seekers will relish in a plethora of outdoor activities. Sabi Sands Game Reserve Home to several of Africa's famous safari brands including Singita, Londolozi, MalaMala and the eponymous Sabi Sabi, this reserve features the most exclusive and luxurious safari accommodation in South Africa. Not only is this private reserve a pioneer of the luxury safari concept, but it also delivers the best Big 5 game viewing in all of Africa. Thornybush Game Reserve Sharing a fenceless border with the equally famous Timbavati Game Reserve, Thornybush Private Game Reserve is 11 500 hectares of prime big game habitat: open savannah woodland with patches of tangled thicket and thorny scrub. Game viewing in the reserve ranks as some of the best in Southern Africa, and visitors to Thornybush are virtually guaranteed to encounter the Big 5. Highlights Phenomenal game viewing Guided nature walks to experience the intricacies of the African bush Your whole safari experience can be tailored to meet photographic safari desires Rare species of wildlife including the Pangolin Kapama Game Reserve Easily accessible from nearby Hoedspruit Airport, Kapama is 13 000 hectares (32 000 acres) of open woodland and tangled riverine forest. Besides Big 5 game viewing, guests at Kapama's lodges can enjoy hot-air balloon flights and sleep-outs under the stars. Highlights Dream honeymoons with private plunge pools, romantic dining and spa treatments Adventurous walking safaris Ideal for first time travellers Up-close sightings of the Big Five all year round KRUGER NATIONAL PARK Where nearly 2 million hectares of unrivaled diversity of life forms fuses with historical and archaeological sights – this is real Africa. The world-renowned Kruger National Park offers a wildlife experience that ranks with the best in Africa. Truly the flagship of the South African National Parks, this enormous and magnificent park is one of the most popular public-entry game parks in the world. Few visitors leave South Africa without visiting the Kruger National Park or one of the private reserves along its borders but it is also frequented by locals in their own vehicles, as you can drive yourself around and stay overnight in one of the many public rest camps . There are also a few exclusive private lodges that have been granted concessions within the Kruger National Park. Kruger has 12 main rest camps, 5 bushveld camps, 2 bush lodges and 4 satellite camps. The world-renowned Kruger National Park offers a wildlife experience that ranks with the best in Africa. Established in 1898 to protect the wildlife of the South African Lowveld, this national park is unrivalled in the diversity of its life forms and a world leader in advanced environmental management techniques and policies. Kruger is home to an impressive number of species: 336 trees, 49 fish, 34 amphibians, 114 reptiles, 507 birds and 147 mammals. Man’s interaction with the lowveld environment over many centuries – from bushman rock paintings to majestic archaeological sites like Masorini and Thulamela – is very evident in the Kruger National Park. These treasures represent the cultures, persons and events that played a role in the history of the Kruger National Park and are conserved along with the park’s natural assets. BACK TO THE TOP OF THE PAGE

Safari Tours The Ultimate Family Getaway Family vacations are meant to be a time when loved ones connect and deepen their bond through shared experiences and memories – and there’s no better place than in one of Africa’s sought-after destinations. The continent offers a fantastic array of family accommodation with plenty of outdoor fun and age-appropriate activities for families travelling with kids, teens or even grandparents. South Africa is one of the world’s most varied holiday destinations. From the classic safari country of Kruger National Park to the stately ‘mother city’ of Cape Town; from the snow-sprinkled heights of the Drakensberg to the parched red dunescapes of the Kalahari; from the gorgeous Winelands around Stellenbosch to the idyllic beaches of the Garden Route – South Africa is a true all-rounder that attracts more than its fair share of repeat visitors. It is also the most affordable and well equipped of African safari destinations, particularly well suited to family holidays, to those seeking a malaria-free holiday, to dedicated foodies and wine-lovers, and for combining a foray into Big Five country with a beach holiday and/or city break. This whirlwind luxury South Africa safari tour sees you explore Kruger National Park and the Greater Kruger region, with time in Makalali Private Conservancy. As one of Africa’s largest and most popular wildlife-watching destinations, Kruger is as vast as it is diverse. Here, you'll have the chance to spot Africa's Big Five (leopard, lion, elephant, buffalo and rhino) as well as many other big game favorite species on morning and evening game drives, as well as on other safari activities. Join the 3-day Kruger National Park safari from Cape Town and get a chance to get close to the Big 5. With pick-up and drop-off from your Cape Town hotel and return domestic flights from Cape Town, this is the best Big 5 safari from Cape Town. The majestic Kruger National Park allows you to see wildlife in its fauna and flora and offers the best opportunity to come close to Africa's predators and other mammals. Click Here Wild Life Videos Wild Life Videos South Africa and Africa South Africa has a large variety of wildlife, including snakes, birds, plains animals, and predators. The country has 299 species of mammals and 858 species of birds. The Cape Buffalo The Cape Buffalo, also known as the African Buffalo,is a powerful animal that has few natural enemies. Their power and size means that they are very much able to defend themselves. They have been known to kill lions, hyena, humans, and other wild predators.Because of this they have taken their place in the African big five, elephants, lions, Cape Buffalo,rhinoceroses, and leopards.The big five are known to be some of the most dangerous and aggressive animals in Africa. Another African name for the Cape Buffalo is Black Death, because of their colour and their aggressive behavior. The African Oryx Gazella also known as Gemsbuck or Gemsbok are African plains animals that travel in groups of 10-45. The Gemsbuck's groups are set up with a dominant male and in most cases a few dominant females. Male's horns are straight and pointed at the tip. Because of this they have been known to impale attacking lions. Females horns can be the same but sometimes they are curved backward. *There are two different varieties of Gemsbok, the southern and the northern. The southern variety have longer horns and the northern have black fringed ears. The Northern Gemsbok are rarely seen in South Africa. A Greater Kudu Bull The Kudu are split into two different groups, Greater Kudu and Lesser Kudu. The Greater Kudu are regularly found in South Africa. Like the Gemsbok, Kudu are African antelope. They are fast and stealthy. They are a brown-grey color with white stripes that go down the center of their body. For those two facts their African name is Grey Ghost. The males have tall spiraling horns, females regularly have no horns. Kudu are peaceful and are normally not dangerous. Leopards Leopards are the most reclusive of the Big Cats.They are opportunistic hunters and will prey upon smaller mammals and rodents when other food sources are unavailable.The diet of leopards consists primarily of ungulates such as Thomson's Gazelles.Leopards have relatively small physical builds in comparison to lions and therefore choose to hunt nocturnally to prevent the possibility of confrontation. In order to protect themselves and preserve their kills,leopards have developed exceptional climbing skills, allowing them to scale trees quickly often with a carcass. Cheetahs have often been confused with leopards on sight and vice versa, but the cheetah's lean profile and eye markings make it easily distinguishable. Wildlife and South Africa Wildlife and South Africa Play Video Share Whole Channel This Video Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tumblr Copy Link Link Copied Search video... Now Playing Südafrika: Kapstadt, Safari und Garden Route mit Sarazar | ARD Reisen 29:32 Play Video Now Playing South Africa - Country of hope | Travelvideo 02:44 Play Video Now Playing Most Amazing Kruger National Park Wildlife Sightings of 2022 10:51 Play Video Wildlife Animal History Wildlife Animal History SPRINGBOK / SPRINGBUCK The springbok (Afrikaans and Dutch: spring = jump; bok = antelope or goat) (Antidorcas marsupialis) is a medium-sized brown and white gazelle that stands about 70 to 90 cm (28 to 35 in) high. Springbok males weigh between 33 and 50 kg (73 and 110 lb) and the females between 25 and 40 kg (55 and 88 lb). They can reach running speeds of up to 90 km/h (56 mph),to 96 km/h (60 mph) and can leap 4 m(13 feet) into the air and can long jump of up to 15 m (50 feet). Springbok inhabit the dry inland areas of south and southwestern Africa. Their range extends from the northwestern part of South Africa through the Kalahari desert into Namibia and Botswana. Springbok occur in numbers of up to 2,500,000 in South Africa;it is the most plentiful antelope. They used to be very common, forming some of the largest herds of mammals ever documented, but their numbers have diminished significantly since the 19th century due to hunting and fences from farms blocking their migratory routes. In South Africa springbok inhabit the vast grasslands of the Free State and the open shrublands of the greater and smaller Karoo. They inhabit most of Namibia ; the grasslands of the south, the Kalahari desert to the east,the dry riverbeds of the northern bushveld of the Windhoek region as well as the harsh Namib Desert on the West Coast. In Botswana they mostly live in the Kalahari Desert in the southwestern and central parts of the country. KUDU Greater kudus have a narrow body with long legs, and their coats can range from brown/bluish-grey to reddish-brown. They possess between 4–12 vertical white stripes along their torso. The head tends to be darker in colour than the rest of the body, and exhibits a small white chevron which runs between the eyes. Male greater kudus tend to be much larger than the females, and vocalize much more, utilizing low grunts, clucks, humming, and gasping. The males also have large manes running along their throats, and large horns with two and a half twists, which, were they to be straightened, would reach an average length of 120 cm (47 in), with the record being 187.64 cm (73.87 in). They diverge slightly as they slant back from the head. The horns do not begin to grow until the male is between the age of 6–12 months, twisting once at around 2 years of age, and not reaching the full two and a half twists until they are 6 years old; occasionally they may even have 3 full turns. Males weigh 190–270 kg (420–600 lb), with a maximum of 315 kg (690 lb), and stand about 180 cm (71 in) tall at the shoulder. The body length is 185–245 cm (6.07–8.04 ft). The tail is 30–55 cm (12–22 in) long. The ears of the greater kudu are large and round. Females weigh 120–210 kg (260–460 lb) and on average stand 120 cm (47 in) tall at the shoulder; they are hornless, without a beard or nose markings. ELAND Giant eland are typically between 220–290 cm (7.2–9.5 ft) in length, stand approximately 150 to 175 cm (4.9 to 5.74 ft) at the shoulder, and weigh 440–900 kg (970–2,000 lb). Despite its common name, it is of very similar size to the common eland. The smooth coat is reddish-brown to chestnut, usually darker in males than females, with several well-defined vertical white stripes on the torso. A crest of short black hair extends down the neck to the middle of the back, and is especially prominent on the shoulders. The slender legs are slightly lighter on their inner surfaces, with black and white markings just above the hooves. There are large black spots on the upper forelegs. The bridge of the nose is charcoal black, and there is a thin, indistinct tan-coloured chevron between the eyes. The lips are white, along with several dots along the jaw-line. A pendulous dewlap, larger in males then females, originates from between the jowls and hangs to the upper chest, with a fringe of hair on its edge. The tail is long, and ends with a dark tuft of hair. Both sexes have tightly spiralled horns, which are relatively straight. In males the horns form a wide "V" and can grow to 120 cm (3.9 ft) in length, slightly longer than on females. HYENAS Hyenas or Hyaenas are the animals of the family of suborder feliforms of the Carnivora. It is the fourth smallest biological family in the Carnivora (consisting of four species), and one of the smallest in the mammalia. Despite their low diversity, hyenas are unique and vital components to most African and some Asian ecosystems. Although phylogenetically close to felines and viverrids, hyenas are behaviourally and morphologically similar to canines in several aspects (see Convergent evolution); both hyenas and canines are non-arboreal, cursorial hunters that catch prey with their teeth rather than claws. Both eat food quickly and may store it, and their calloused feet with large, blunt, non-retractable nails are adapted for running and making sharp turns. However, the hyenas' grooming, scent marking, defecating habits, mating and parental behaviour are consistent with the behaviour of other feliforms.Although long reputed to be cowardly scavengers, hyenas, especially spotted hyenas, kill as much as 95% of the food they eat, and have been known to drive off leopards or lionesses from their kills. Hyenas are primarily nocturnal animals, but may venture from their lairs in the early morning hours. With the exception of the highly social spotted hyena, hyenas are generally not gregarious animals, though they may live in family groups and congregate at kills. Hyenas first arose in Eurasia during the Miocene period from viverrid-like ancestors, and developed into two distinct branches; the lightly built dog-like hyenas and the robust bone-crushing hyenas. Although the dog-like hyenas thrived 15 million years ago (with one taxon having colonised North America), they died out after a change in climate along with the arrival of canids into Eurasia. Of the dog-like hyena lineage, only the insectivorous aardwolf survived, while the bone-crushing hyenas (whose extant members are the spotted, brown and striped hyena) became the undisputed top scavengers of Eurasia and Africa. Hyenas feature prominently in the folklore and mythology of human cultures with which they are sympatric. Hyenas are mostly viewed with fear and contempt, as well as being associated with witchcraft, as their body parts are used as ingredients in traditional medicine. Among the beliefs held by some cultures, hyenas are thought to influence people’s spirits, rob graves, and steal livestock and children BLUE WILDE BEEST The blue wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus), also called the common wildebeest or the white-bearded wildebeest, is a large antelope and one of two species of wildebeest. It grows to 115–145 cm shoulder height and attains a body mass of 168–274 kg. They range the open plains, bushveld, and dry woodlands of Southern and East Africa, living for more than twenty years. The male is highly territorial, using scent markings and other devices to protect his domain. The largest population is in the Serengeti, numbering over one million animals. They are a major prey item for lions, hyenas, and crocodiles. It has a beefy muscular front-heavy appearance with a distinctive robust muzzle, it strides with relatively slender legs and moves gracefully and quietly most of the time, belying the reputation for stampeding in herds; however the stampeding characteristic may sometimes be observed. Blue wildebeest are found in open and bush-covered savanna in south and east Africa, thriving in areas that are neither too wet nor too arid. They can be found in places that vary from overgrazed areas with dense bush to open woodland floodplains. Wildebeests prefer the bushveld and grasslands of the southern savanna.The terrestrial biome designations for these preferred habitats are savanna, grassland, open forest and scrub forest. PLAINS ZEBRA The plains zebra (Equus quagga, formerly Equus burchelli), also known as the common zebra or Burchell's zebra, is the most common and geographically widespread species of zebra.It ranges from the south of Ethiopia through East Africa to as far south as Angola and eastern South Africa. The plains zebra remains common in game reserves, but is threatened by human activities such as hunting for its meat and hide, as well as competition with livestock and encroachment by farming on much of its habitat. The Plains zebra and perhaps the mountain zebra belong to the subgenus Hippotigris, but Grévy's zebra is the sole species of subgenus Dolichohippus. The latter resembles an ass, while the former two are more horse-like. All three belong to the genus Equus along with other living equids. Recent phylogenetic evidence suggests that Grévy's zebras (and perhaps also mountain zebras) are with asses and donkeys in a separate lineage from the Plains zebra. In areas where Plains zebras are sympatric with Grévy's zebras, it is not unusual to find them in the same herds and fertile hybrids occur. In captivity, Plains zebras have been crossed with mountain zebras. The hybrid foals lacked a dewlap and resembled the plains zebra apart from their larger ears and their hindquarters pattern. CHEETAH The cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is a large-sized feline (family Felidae) inhabiting most of Africa and parts of the Middle East. It is the only extant member of the genus Acinonyx. The cheetah achieves by far the fastest land speed of any living animal—between 112 and 120 km/h (70 and 75 mph) in short bursts covering distances up to 500 m (1,600 ft), and has the ability to accelerate from 0 to over 100 km/h (62 mph) in three seconds. This cat is also notable for modifications in the species' paws. It is one of the only felids with semi-retractable claws, and with pads that, by their scope, disallow gripping.Thus, cheetahs cannot climb upright trees, although they are generally capable of reaching easily accessible branches. The cheetah has unusually low genetic variability. This is accompanied by a very low sperm count, motility, and deformed flagella.Skin grafts between unrelated cheetahs illustrate the former point in that there is no rejection of the donor skin. It is thought that the species went through a prolonged period of inbreeding following a genetic bottleneck during the last ice age. This suggests that genetic monomorphism did not prevent the cheetah from flourishing across two continents for thousands of years. The cheetah likely evolved in Africa during the Miocene epoch (26 million to 7.5 million years ago), before migrating to Asia. Recent research has placed the last common ancestor of all existing populations as living in Asia 11 million years ago, which may lead to revision and refinement of existing ideas about cheetah evolution. IMPALA Impala range between 75 and 95 cm (30 and 37 in) tall. Average mass for a male impala is 40 to 80 kg (88 to 180 lb), while females weigh about 30 to 50 kg (66 to 110 lb). They are normally reddish-brown in color (hence the Afrikaans name of "Rooibok"), have lighter flanks and white underbellies with a characteristic "M" marking on the rear. Males, referred to as rams, have lyre-shaped horns, which can reach up to 90 centimeters in length. Females, referred to as ewes, have no horns. The black impala, found in very few places in Africa, is an extremely rare type. A recessive gene causes the black colouration in these animals. Impalas are an ecotone species "living in light woodland with little undergrowth and grassland of low to medium height". They have an irregular distribution due to dependence relatively flat lands with good soil drainage and water.While they stay to water in the dry season, they can go weeks without drinking if there is enough green fodder. Impalas are adaptable foragers. They usually switch between grazing and browsing depending on the season. During wet seasons when grasses are freshthey graze. During dry seasons it browses foliage, shoots, forbs and seeds. It may switch between grazing and browsing depending on the habitat. Leopards, cheetahs, lions and wild dogs prey on impala. Impala, as well as other small- to medium-sized African antelopes, have a special dental arrangement on the front lower jaw similar to the toothcomb seen in strepsirrhine primates, which is used during grooming to comb the fur and remove ectoparasites. LIONS The lion (Panthera leo) is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg (550 lb) in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger. Wild lions currently exist in Sub-Saharan Africa and in Asia with an endangered remnant population in Gir Forest National Park in India, having disappeared from North Africa and Southwest Asia in historic times. Until the late Pleistocene, about 10,000 years ago, the lion was the most widespread large land mammal after humans. They were found in most of Africa, across Eurasia from western Europe to India, and in the Americas from the Yukon to Peru.The lion is a vulnerable species, having seen a possibly irreversible population decline of thirty to fifty percent over the past two decades in its African range. Lion populations are untenable outside designated reserves and national parks. Although the cause of the decline is not fully understood, habitat loss and conflicts with humans are currently the greatest causes of concern. Within Africa, the West African lion population is particularly endangered. Lions live for ten to fourteen years in the wild, while in captivity they can live longer than twenty years. In the wild, males seldom live longer than ten years, as injuries sustained from continual fighting with rival males greatly reduce their longevity. They typically inhabit savanna and grassland, although they may take to bush and forest. Lions are unusually social compared to other cats. A pride of lions consists of related females and offspring and a small number of adult males. Groups of female lions typically hunt together, preying mostly on large ungulates. Lions are apex and keystone predators, although they scavenge as opportunity allows. While lions do not typically hunt humans, some have been known to do so. AFRICAN ELEPHANT The African elephant is the largest living terrestrial animal. Its thickset body rests on stocky legs and it has a concave back.Its large ears enable heat loss. Its upper lip and nose forms a trunk. The trunk acts as a fifth limb, a sound amplifier and an important method of touch. The African elephant's trunk ends in two opposing lips, whereas the Asian elephant trunk ends in a single lip. African elephants are bigger than Asian elephants. Males stand 3.2–4.0 m (10–13 ft) tall at the shoulder and weigh 4,700–6,048 kg (10,000–13,330 lb), while females stand 2.2–2.6 m (7.2–8.5 ft) tall and weigh 2,160–3,232 kg (4,800–7,130 lb). The largest individual recorded stood four metres to the shoulders and weighed ten tonnes Elephants have four molars; each weighs about 5 kg (11 lb) and measures about 30 cm (12 in) long. As the front pair wears down and drops out in pieces, the back pair shifts forward, and two new molars emerge in the back of the mouth. Elephants replace their teeth six times. At about 40 to 60 years of age, the elephant no longer has teeth and will likely die of starvation, a common cause of death. Their tusks are firm teeth; the second set of incisors become the tusks. They are used for digging for roots and stripping the bark off trees for food, for fighting each other during mating season, and for defending themselves against predators. The tusks weigh from 23–45 kg (51–99 lb) and can be from 1.5–2.4 m (5–8 ft) long. Unlike Asian elephants, both male and female African elephants have tusks. They are curved forward and continue to grow throughout the elephant's lifetime. The enamel plates of the molars are fewer in number than in Asian elephants. WHITE RHINOS There are two subspecies of white rhinos; as of 2005, South Africa has the most of the first subspecies, the southern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum). The population of southern white rhinos is about 14,500, making them the most abundant subspecies of rhino in the world. However, the population of the second subspecies, the critically endangered northern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum cottoni), is down to as few as four individuals in the wild, with the possibility of complete extinction in the wild having been noted since June 2008.Six are known to be held in captivity, two of which reside in a zoo in San Diego. There are currently four born in a zoo in the Czech Republic which were transferred to a wildlife refuge in Kenya in December 2009, in an effort to have the animals reproduce and save the subspecies. The rhino receives its name not from its colour, but from the Dutch settlers that gave it the name "whyde", meaning wide referring to the animals square mouth. Confusion in translation then led to the to the name "white" being adopted The white rhino has an immense body and large head, a short neck and broad chest. This rhino can exceed 3,500 kg (7,700 lb), have a head-and-body length of 3.5–4.6 m (11–15 ft) and a shoulder height of 1.8–2 m (5.9–6.6 ft). The record-sized white rhinoceros was about 4,500 kg (10,000 lb). On its snout it has two horns. The front horn is larger than the other horn and averages 90 cm (35 in) in length and can reach 150 cm (59 in). The white rhinoceros also has a prominent muscular hump that supports its relatively large head. The colour of this animal can range from yellowish brown to slate grey. Most of its body hair is found on the ear fringes and tail bristles with the rest distributed rather sparsely over the rest of the body. White rhinos have the distinctive flat broad mouth which is used for grazing. BLACK RHINOS The name black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) was chosen to distinguish this species from the white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum). This can be confusing, as those two species are not really distinguishable by color. There are four subspecies of black rhino: South-central (Diceros bicornis minor), the most numerous, which once ranged from central Tanzania south through Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique to northern and eastern South Africa; South-western (Diceros bicornis bicornis) which are better adapted to the arid and semi-arid savannas of Namibia, southern Angola, western Botswana and western South Africa; East African (Diceros bicornis michaeli), primarily in Tanzania; and West African (Diceros bicornis longipes) which was declared extinct in November 2011. The native Tswanan name Keitloa is used to describe a South African variation of the black rhino in which the posterior horn is equal to or longer than the anterior horn. An adult black rhinoceros stands 150–175 cm (59–69 in) high at the shoulder and is 3.5–3.9 m (11–13 ft) in length. An adult weighs from 850 to 1,600 kg (1,900 to 3,500 lb), exceptionally to 1,800 kg (4,000 lb), with the females being smaller than the males. Two horns on the skull are made of keratin with the larger front horn typically 50 cm long, exceptionally up to 140 cm. Sometimes, a third smaller horn may develop. The black rhino is much smaller than the white rhino, and has a pointed mouth, which they use to grasp leaves and twigs when feeding. During the latter half of the 20th century their numbers were severely reduced from an estimated 70,000 in the late 1960s to only 2,410 in 1995 BLACK BACKED JACKAL The black-backed jackal (Canis mesomelas), also known as the silver-backed or red jackal,is a species of jackal which inhabits two areas of the African continent separated by roughly 900 km. One region includes the southern-most tip of the continent, including South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe. The other area is along the eastern coastline, including Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia. It is listed by the IUCN as least concern, due to its widespread range and adaptability, although it is still persecuted as a livestock predator and rabies vector. The fossil record indicates the species is the oldest extant member of the genus Canis. Although the most lightly built of jackals, it is the most aggressive, having been observed to singly kill animals many times its own size, and its intrapack relationships are more quarrelsome. Black-backed jackals are small, foxlike canids which measure 38–48 cm in shoulder height and 68-74.5 cm in length. The tail measures 30–38 cm in length. Weight varies according to location; East African jackals weigh 7-13.8 kg (15-30 lb). Male jackals in Zimbabwe weigh 6.8-9.5 kg (15-21 lb), while females weigh 5.4–10 kg (12-22 lb). Their skulls are elongated, with pear-shaped braincases and narrow rostra.The black-backed jackal's skull is similar to that of the side-striped jackal, but is less flat, and has a shorter, broader rostrum. Its sagittal crest and zygomatic arches are also heavier in build. Its carnassials are also larger than those of its more omnivorous cousin. Black-backed jackals are taller and longer than golden jackals, but have smaller heads. HIPPOPOTAMAS The hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius), or hippo, from the ancient Greek for "river horse" (ἱπποπόταμος), is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae (the other is the Pygmy Hippopotamus.) After the elephant and rhinoceros, the hippopotamus is the third largest land mammal and the heaviest extant artiodactyl. The hippopotamus is semi-aquatic, inhabiting rivers, lakes and mangrove swamps, where territorial bulls preside over a stretch of river and groups of 5 to 30 females and young. During the day they remain cool by staying in the water or mud; reproduction and childbirth both occur in water. They emerge at dusk to graze on grass. While hippopotamuses rest near each other in the water, grazing is a solitary activity and hippos are not territorial on land. Despite their physical resemblance to pigs and other terrestrial even-toed ungulates, their closest living relatives are cetaceans (whales, porpoises, etc.) from which they diverged about million years ago.The common ancestor of whales and hippos split from other even-toed ungulates around million years ago]The earliest known hippopotamus fossils, belonging to the genus Kenyapotamus in Africa, date to around million years ago. The hippopotamus is recognizable by its barrel-shaped torso, enormous mouth and teeth, nearly hairless body, stubby legs and tremendous size. It is the third largest land mammal by weight (between 1½ and 3 tonnes), behind the white rhinoceros (1½ to 3½ tonnes) and the three species of elephant (3 to 9 tonnes). The hippopotamus is one of the largest quadrupeds (four legged mammals) and despite its stocky shape and short legs, it can easily outrun a human. Hippos have been clocked at 30 km/h (19 mph) over short distances. The hippopotamus is one of the most aggressive creatures in the world and is often regarded as one of the most dangerous animals in Africa. There are an estimated 125,000 to 150,000 hippos throughout Sub-Saharan Africa; Zambia (40,000) and Tanzania (20,000–30,000) possess the largest populations CROCODILE A crocodile is any species belonging to the family Crocodylidae (sometimes classified instead as the subfamily Crocodylinae). The term can also be used more loosely to include all extant members of the order Crocodilia: i.e. the true crocodiles, the alligators and caimans (family Alligatoridae) and the gharials (family Gavialidae), as well as the Crocodylomorpha, which include prehistoric crocodile relatives and ancestors. Member species of the family Crocodylidae are large aquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. Crocodiles tend to congregate in freshwater habitats such as rivers, lakes, wetlands and sometimes in brackish water. They feed mostly on vertebrates - fish, reptiles, and mammals, and sometimes on invertebrates - molluscs and crustaceans, depending on species. They first appeared during the Eocene epoch, about 55 million years ago Size greatly varies between species, from the dwarf crocodile to the saltwater crocodile. Species of Palaeosuchus and Osteolaemus grow to an adult size of just 1 metre (3.3 ft) to 1.5 metres (4.9 ft). Larger species can reach over 4.85 metres (15.9 ft) long and weigh well over 1,200 kilograms (2,600 lb). Crocodilians show pronounced sexual dimorphism, with males growing much larger and more rapidly than females.Despite their large adult sizes, crocodiles start their lives at around 20 centimetres (7.9 in) long. The largest species of crocodile is the saltwater crocodile, found in eastern India, northern Australia, throughout South-east Asia, and in the surrounding waters. Two larger certifiable records are both of 6.2 metres (20 ft) crocodiles. The first was shot in the Mary River in the Northern Territory of Australia in 1974 by poachers, and measured by wildlife rangers. The second crocodile was killed in 1983 in the Fly River, Papua New Guinea. In the case of the second crocodile it was actually the skin that was measured by zoologist Jerome Montague, and as skins are known to underestimate the size of the actual animal, it is possible this crocodile was at least another 10 cm longer MEERKAT The meerkat or suricate, Suricata suricatta, is a small mammal belonging to the mongoose family. Meerkats live in all parts of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana, in much of the Namib Desert in Namibia and southwestern Angola, and in South Africa. A group of meerkats is called a "mob", "gang" or "clan". A meerkat clan often contains about 20 meerkats, but some super-families have 50 or more members. In captivity, meerkats have an average life span of 12–14 years, and about half this in the wild. The meerkat is a small diurnal herpestid (mongoose) weighing on average about 731 grams (1.61 lb) for males and 720 grams (1.6 lb) for females. Its long slender body and limbs give it a body length of 25 to 35 centimetres (9.8 to 14 in) and an added tail length of 17 to 25 centimetres (6.7 to 9.8 in). Its tail is not bushy like all other mongoose species, but is rather long and thin and tapers to a black or reddish colored pointed tip. The meerkat uses its tail to balance when standing upright, as well as for signaling. Its face tapers, coming to a point at the nose, which is brown. The eyes always have black patches around them and it has small black crescent-shaped ears that can close to exclude soil when digging. Like cats, meerkats have binocular vision, a large peripheral range, depth perception, and eyes on the front of their faces. LEOPARD The leopard , Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its range of distribution has decreased radically because of hunting and loss of habitat. It is now chiefly found in sub-Saharan Africa; there are also fragmented populations in the Indian subcontinent, Sri Lanka, Indochina, Malaysia, Indonesia, and China. Because of its declining range and population, it is listed as a "Near Threatened" species on the IUCN Red List. Compared to other members of the Felidae family, the leopard has relatively short legs and a long body with a large skull. It is similar in appearance to the jaguar, but is smaller and more slightly built. Its fur is marked with rosettes similar to those of the jaguar, but the leopard's rosettes are smaller and more densely packed, and do not usually have central spots as the jaguars do. Both leopards and jaguars that are melanistic (completely black or very dark) are known as black panthers. The species' success in the wild is in part due to its opportunistic hunting behavior, its adaptability to habitats, its ability to run at speeds approaching 58 kilometres per hour (36 mph), its unequaled ability to climb trees even when carrying a heavy carcass, and its notorious ability for stealth. The leopard consumes virtually any animal that it can hunt down and catch. Its habitat ranges from rainforest to desert terrains. Baboons are African and Arabian Old World monkeys belonging to the genus Papio, part of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. The five species are some of the largest nonhominoid members of the primate order; only the mandrill and the drill are larger. Previously, the closely related gelada (genus Theropithecus) and the two species (mandrill and drill) of genus Mandrillus were grouped in the same genus, and these Old World monkeys are still often referred to as baboons in everyday speech. They range in size and weight depending on species. The Guinea baboon is 50 cm (20 in) and weighs only 14 kg (30 lb) while the largest chacma baboon can be 120 cm (47 in) and weigh 40 kg (90 lb). monkey is a apes . There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys usually have tails. Tailless monkeys may be called "apes", incorrectly according to modern usage; thus the tailless Barbary macaque is called the "Barbary ape". The New World monkeys are classified within the parvorder of Platyrrhini, whereas the Old World monkeys (superfamily Cercopithecoidea) form part of the parvorder Catarrhini, which also includes the hominoids (apes, including humans). Thus, as Old World monkeys are more closely related to hominoids than they are to New World monkeys, the monkeys are not a unitary (monophyletic) group. Chimpanzee, sometimes colloquially chimp, is the common name for the two extant species of apes in the genus Pan. The Congo River forms the boundary between the native habitats of the two species: Common chimpanzee, Pan troglodytes (West and Central Africa) Bonobo, Pan paniscus (forests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo) Chimpanzees are members of the Hominidae family, along with gorillas, humans, and orangutans. Chimpanzees split from the human branch of the family about four to six million years ago. The two chimpanzee species are the closest living relatives to humans, all being members of the Hominini tribe (along with extinct species of Hominina subtribe). Chimpanzees are the only known members of the Panina subtribe. The two Pan species split only about one million years ago. Lycaon pictus is a canid found only in Africa, especially in savannas and lightly wooded areas. It is variously called the African wild dog, African hunting dog, Cape hunting dog, painted dog, painted wolf, painted hunting dog, spotted dog, or ornate wolf.The African wild dog is an endangered species due to habitat loss and predator control killing. It uses very large territories (and so can persist only in large wildlife protected areas), and it is strongly affected by competition with larger carnivores that rely on the same prey base, particularly the lion and the Spotted Hyena. While the adult wild dogs can usually outrun the larger predators, lions often will kill as many wild dogs and cubs at the brooding site as they can but do not eat them. One on one the hyena is much more powerful than the wild dog but a large group of wild dogs can successfully chase off a small number of hyenas because of their teamwork The Warthog or Common Warthog (Phacochoerus africanus) is a wild member of the pig family that lives in grassland, savanna, and woodland in Sub-Saharan Africa. In the past it was commonly treated as a subspecies of P. aethiopicus, but today that scientific name is restricted to the Desert Warthog of northern Kenya, Somalia, and eastern Ethiopia. The common name comes from the four large, wart-like protrusions found on the head of the warthog, which serve as a fat reserve and are used for defense when males fight. Afrikaans-speaking people call the animal "vlakvark", meaning "pig of the plains". The Warthog is medium-sized as a wild suid species. The head-and-body length ranges in size from 0.9 to 1.5 m (3.0 to 4.9 ft) in length and shoulder height is from 63.5 to 85 cm (25.0 to 33 in). Females, at 45 to 75 kg (99 to 170 lb), are typically a bit smaller and lighter than males, at 60 to 150 kg (130 to 330 lb). A warthog is identifiable by the two pairs of tusks protruding from the mouth and curving upwards. The lower pair, which is far shorter than the upper pair, becomes razor sharp by rubbing against the upper pair every time the mouth is opened and closed. The upper canine teeth can grow to 25.5 cm (10.0 in) long, and are of a squashed circle shape in cross section, almost rectangular, being about 4.5 cm (1.8 in) deep and 2.5 cm (0.98 in) wide. A tusk will curve 90 degrees or more from the root, and will not lie flat on a table, as it curves somewhat backwards as it grows. The tusks are used for digging, for combat with other hogs, and in defense against predators the lower set can inflict severe wounds. The African buffalo, affalo, nyati, mbogo or Cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer), is a large African bovine. It is not closely related to the slightly larger wild Asian water buffalo, but its ancestry remains unclear. Owing to its unpredictable nature, which makes it highly dangerous to humans, it has not been domesticated unlike its Asian counterpart the domestic Asian water buffalo. Contrary to popular belief, the African buffalo is not the ancestor of domestic cattle, and is only distantly related to other larger bovines. The African buffalo is a very robust species. Its shoulder height can range from 1 to 1.7 m (3.3 to 5.6 ft) and its head-and-body length can range from 1.7 to 3.4 m (5.6 to 11 ft). Compared with other large bovids, it has a long but stocky body (the body length can exceed the Wild water buffalo, which is rather heavier and taller) and short but thickset legs, resulting in a relatively short standing height. The tail can range from 70 to 110 cm (28 to 43 in) long. Savannah-type buffaloes weigh 500 to 910 kg (1,100 to 2,000 lb), with males normally larger than females, reaching the upper weight range. In comparison, forest-type buffaloes, at 250 to 455 kg (550 to 1,000 lb), are only half that size. Its head is carried low; its top is located below the backline. The front hooves of the buffalo are wider than the rear, which is associated with the need to support the weight of the front part of the body, which is heavier and more powerful than the back. The giraffe is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant. Its species name refers to its camel-like appearance and the patches of color on its fur. Its chief distinguishing characteristics are its extremely long neck and legs, its horn-like ossicones and its distinctive coat patterns. It stands 5–6 m (16–20 ft) tall and has an average weight of 1,600 kg (3,500 lb) for males and 830 kg (1,800 lb) for females. It is classified under the family Giraffidae, along with its closest extant relative, the okapi. There are nine subspecies, which are distinguished by their coat patterns.Fully grown giraffes stand 5–6 m (16–20 ft) tall, with males taller than females.The average weight is 1,600 kg (3,500 lb) for an adult male and 830 kg (1,800 lb) for an adult female. Despite its long neck and legs, the giraffe's body is relatively short. Located at both sides of the head, the giraffe's large, bulging eyes give it good all round vision from its great height. Giraffes see in color and their senses of hearing and smell are also sharp.The animal can close its muscular nostrils to protect against sandstorms and ants.The giraffe's prehensile tongue is about 50 cm (20 in) long. It is purplish-black in color, perhaps to protect against sunburn, and is useful for grasping foliage as well as for grooming and cleaning the animal's nose. The upper lip of the giraffe is also prehensile and useful when foraging. The lips, tongue and inside of the mouth are covered in papillae to protect against thorns. Family Safaris Deepen Your Bond with Unforgettable Experiences THE EXPERIENCE: Start off with three days of excellent Big 5 game viewing in the Madikwe Private Game Reserve followed by another three memorable days in Africa's favourite city - Cape Town. Begin your family safari at the luxurious Madikwe Safari Lodge - a great family-friendly base from which to search for Madikwe's abundant wildlife on morning and afternoon game drives. Your next stop is Cape Town where you will be staying at the stylish More Quarters Apartment Hotel in the heart of the city. Highlights: Be at the heart of Cape Town, just off the trendy Kloof Street Stay in an apartment-style hotel, perfect for a family Stroll around the family-friendly V&A Waterfront Enjoy malaria-free game viewing Dedicated staff at Madikwe Safari Lodge take care of your little ones A fantastic value for money trip with great savings THE EXPERIENCE: Vacation villas are great for families: like a lavish ‘home away from home’, they allow you privacy, comfort and the space to relax away from fellow safari goers. There is a network of luxuriously appointed holiday homes across East Africa that put you right in the middle of the bush without having to sacrifice any creature comforts. Enjoy exceptional big game in the Samburu and Masai Mara from the pinnacle of comfort, luxury and style. Highlights: This family safari perfectly combines fun, adventure, wildlife and culture for parents, children and teens Stay in luxury private villa accommodation in the Mara and Samburu Relax at the Samburu and Maasai Wellbeing Spaces Go on nature walks and view cave paintings Learn more on the Warriors Academy Optional hot-air balloon rides and biplane flips

South African Tribes The Indigenous tribes of South Africa have rich traditions, customs, and heritage, reflecting their diverse cultural practices and beliefs. South Africa is home to various indigenous tribes including the Zulu, Xhosa, Sotho, and San people, each with unique customs, traditions, and heritage that are deeply rooted in their history and way of life. These tribes have preserved their cultural practices through storytelling, dance, music, art, and spiritual rituals, contributing to the rich tapestry of South Africa’s cultural heritage. Understanding and respecting these traditions is essential for preserving the cultural diversity and identity of South Africa’s indigenous tribes. Everywhere you go in South Africa, you will find the incredible influence of these indigenous tribes, shaping the country’s cultural landscape and reinforcing the significance of their traditions and customs. List of Tribes in South Africa South Africa is a diverse country with a rich cultural heritage. One of the fascinating aspects of this heritage is the presence of numerous tribes across the nation. These tribes have played a significant role in shaping the country’s history, culture, and social fabric. Let’s explore some of the notable tribes in South Africa: San People The San, also known as the Bushmen, are the indigenous people of South Africa. They have a rich history that spans thousands of years, with their rock art being a testament to their ancestral presence. The San people have a deep knowledge of the land and a profound spiritual connection to nature. Analysis: The struggle for the recognition and preservation of San heritage is an ongoing battle. As South Africa progresses, it is essential to ensure that the voices and rights of the San people are respected and protected. The San peoples (also Saan), or Bushmen, are the members of any of the indigenous hunter-gatherer cultures of southern Africa, and the oldest surviving cultures of the region.[2] They are thought to have diverged from other humans 100,000 to 200,000 years ago. Their recent ancestral territories span Botswana , Namibia , Angola , Zambia , Zimbabwe , Lesotho , and South Africa . The San speak, or their ancestors spoke, languages of the Khoe , Tuu , and Kxʼa language families, and can be defined as a people only in contrast to neighboring pastoralists such as the Khoekhoe and descendants of more recent waves of immigration such as the Bantu , Europeans , and Asians . In 2017, Botswana was home to approximately 63,500 San, making it the country with the highest proportion of San people at 2.8%. San people were enumerated in Namibia in 2023, making it the country with the second highest proportion of San people at 2.4%. Definition In Khoekhoegowab , the term "San" has a long vowel and is spelled Sān. It is an exonym meaning "foragers" and is used in a derogatory manner to describe people too poor to have cattle. Based on observation of lifestyle, this term has been applied to speakers of three distinct language families living between the Okavango River in Botswana and Etosha National Park in northwestern Namibia , extending up into southern Angola ; central peoples of most of Namibia and Botswana, extending into Zambia and Zimbabwe ; and the southern people in the central Kalahari towards the Molopo River , who are the last remnant of the previously extensive indigenous peoples of southern Africa. Names Portrait of a bushman. Alfred Duggan-Cronin. South Africa, early 20th century. The Wellcome Collection, London. The designations "Bushmen" and "San" are both exonyms . The San have no collective word for themselves in their own languages. "San" comes from a derogatory Khoekhoe word used to refer to foragers without cattle or other wealth, from a root saa "picking up from the ground" + plural -n in the Haiǁom dialect . "Bushmen" is the older cover term, but "San" was widely adopted in the West by the late 1990s. The term Bushmen, from 17th-century Dutch Bosjesmans, is still used by others and to self-identify, but is now considered pejorative or derogatory by many South Africans. In 2008, the use of boesman (the modern Afrikaans equivalent of "Bushman") in the Die Burger newspaper was brought before the Equality Court . The San Council testified that it had no objection to its use in a positive context, and the court ruled that the use of the term was not derogatory. The San refer to themselves as their individual nations, such as ǃKung (also spelled ǃXuun, including the Juǀʼhoansi ), ǀXam , Nǁnǂe (part of the Khomani), Kxoe (Khwe and ǁAni), Haiǁom , Ncoakhoe , Tshuwau , Gǁana and Gǀui (ǀGwi) , etc.Representatives of San peoples in 2003 stated their preference for the use of such individual group names, where possible, over the use of the collective term San. Adoption of the Khoekhoe term San in Western anthropology dates to the 1970s, and this remains the standard term in English-language ethnographic literature, although some authors later switched back to using the name Bushmen. The compound Khoisan is used to refer to the pastoralist Khoi and the foraging San collectively. It was coined by Leonhard Schulze in the 1920s and popularized by Isaac Schapera in 1930. Anthropological use of San was detached from the compound Khoisan, as it has been reported that the exonym San is perceived as a pejorative in parts of the central Kalahari. By the late 1990s, the term San was used generally by the people themselves. The adoption of the term was preceded by a number of meetings held in the 1990s where delegates debated on the adoption of a collective term. These meetings included the Common Access to Development Conference organized by the Government of Botswana held in Gaborone in 1993, the 1996 inaugural Annual General Meeting of the Working Group of Indigenous Minorities in Southern Africa (WIMSA) held in Namibia, and a 1997 conference in Cape Town on "Khoisan Identities and Cultural Heritage" organized by the University of the Western Cape . The term San is now standard in South African, and used officially in the blazon of the national coat-of-arms . The "South African San Council" representing San communities in South Africa was established as art of WIMSA in 2001. The term Basarwa (singular Mosarwa) is used for the San collectively in Botswana. The term is a Bantu (Tswana ) word meaning "those who do not rear cattle", that is, equivalent to Khoekhoe Saan. The mo-/ba- noun class prefixes are used for people; the older variant Masarwa, with the le-/ma- prefixes used for disreputable people and animals, is offensive and was changed at independence. In Angola, they are sometimes referred to as mucancalas, or bosquímanos (a Portuguese adaptation of the Dutch term for "Bushmen"). The terms Amasili and Batwa are sometimes used for them in Zimbabwe . The San are also referred to as Batwa by Xhosa people and as Baroa by Sotho people . The Bantu term Batwa refers to any foraging tribesmen and as such overlaps with the terminology used for the "Pygmoid" Southern Twa of South-Central Africa. History Bush-Men Hottentots armed for an Expedition, 1804 The hunter-gatherer San are among the oldest cultures on Earth, and are thought to be descended from the first inhabitants of what is now Botswana and South Africa. The historical presence of the San in Botswana is particularly evident in northern Botswana's Tsodilo Hills region. San were traditionally semi-nomadic , moving seasonally within certain defined areas based on the availability of resources such as water, game animals , and edible plants. Peoples related to or similar to the San occupied the southern shores throughout the eastern shrubland and may have formed a Sangoan continuum from the Red Sea to the Cape of Good Hope . Early San society left a rich legacy of cave paintings across Southern Africa.  In the Bantu expansion (2000 BC - 1000 AD), San were driven off their ancestral lands or incorporated by Bantu speaking groups .  The San were believed to have closer connections to the old spirits of the land, and were often turned to by other societies for rainmaking, as was the case at Mapungubwe . San shamans would enter a trance and go into the spirit world themselves to capture the animals associated with rain. By the end of the 18th century after the arrival of the Dutch, thousands of San had been killed and forced to work for the colonists. The British tried to "civilize" the San and make them adopt a more agricultural lifestyle, but were not successful. By the 1870s, the last San of the Cape were hunted to extinction, while other San were able to survive. The South African government used to issue licenses for people to hunt the San, with the last one being reportedly issued in Namibia in 1936. From the 1950s through to the 1990s, San communities switched to farming because of government-mandated modernization programs. Despite the lifestyle changes, they have provided a wealth of information in anthropology and genetics . One broad study of African genetic diversity , completed in 2009, found that the genetic diversity of the San was among the top five of all 121 sampled populations. Certain San groups are one of 14 known extant "ancestral population clusters"; that is, "groups of populations with common genetic ancestry, who share ethnicity and similarities in both their culture and the properties of their languages". Despite some positive aspects of government development programs reported by members of San and Bakgalagadi communities in Botswana, many have spoken of a consistent sense of exclusion from government decision-making processes, and many San and Bakgalagadi have alleged experiencing ethnic discrimination on the part of the government.The United States Department of State described ongoing discrimination against San, or Basarwa, people in Botswana in 2013 as the "principal human rights concern" of that country. Society Further information: San healing practices , San rock art , and San religion Drinking water from the bi bulb plant Starting a fire by hand Preparing poison arrows San man The San kinship system reflects their history as traditionally small mobile foraging bands. San kinship is similar to Inuit kinship , which uses the same set of terms as in European cultures but adds a name rule and an age rule for determining what terms to use. The age rule resolves any confusion arising from kinship terms, as the older of two people always decides what to call the younger. Relatively few names circulate (approximately 35 names per sex), and each child is named after a grandparent or another relative, but never their parents. Children have no social duties besides playing, and leisure is very important to San of all ages. Large amounts of time are spent in conversation, joking, music, and sacred dances. Women may be leaders of their own family groups. They may also make important family and group decisions and claim ownership of water holes and foraging areas. Women are mainly involved in the gathering of food, but sometimes also partake in hunting. Water is important in San life. During long droughts, they make use of sip wells in order to collect water. To make a sip well, a San scrapes a deep hole where the sand is damp, and inserts a long hollow grass stem into the hole. An empty ostrich egg is used to collect the water. Water is sucked into the straw from the sand, into the mouth, and then travels down another straw into the ostrich egg. Traditionally, the San were an egalitarian society. Although they had hereditary chiefs , their authority was limited. The San made decisions among themselves by consensus , with women treated as relative equals in decision making. San economy was a gift economy , based on giving each other gifts regularly rather than on trading or purchasing goods and services. Most San are monogamous , but if a hunter is able to obtain enough food, he can afford to have a second wife as well. Subsistence Villages range in sturdiness from nightly rain shelters in the warm spring (when people move constantly in search of budding greens), to formalized rings, wherein people congregate in the dry season around permanent waterholes. Early spring is the hardest season: a hot dry period following the cool, dry winter. Most plants still are dead or dormant, and supplies of autumn nuts are exhausted. Meat is particularly important in the dry months when wildlife cannot range far from the receding waters. Women gather fruit, berries, tubers, bush onions, and other plant materials for the band's consumption. Ostrich eggs are gathered, and the empty shells are used as water containers. Insects provide perhaps 10% of animal proteins consumed, most often during the dry season. Depending on location, the San consume 18 to 104 species, including grasshoppers, beetles, caterpillars, moths, butterflies, and termites. Women's traditional gathering gear is simple and effective: a hide sling, a blanket, a cloak called a kaross to carry foodstuffs, firewood, smaller bags, a digging stick, and perhaps, a smaller version of the kaross to carry a baby. Men, and presumably women when they accompany them, hunt in long, laborious tracking excursions. They kill their game using bow and arrows and spears tipped in diamphotoxin , a slow-acting arrow poison produced by beetle larvae of the genus Diamphidia . Early history Wandering hunters (Masarwa Bushmen), North Kalahari desert, published in 1892 (from H. A. Bryden photogr.) A set of tools almost identical to that used by the modern San and dating to 42,000 BC was discovered at Border Cave in KwaZulu-Natal in 2012. In 2006, what is thought to be the world's oldest ritual is interpreted as evidence which would make the San culture the oldest still practiced culture today. Historical evidence shows that certain San communities have always lived in the desert regions of the Kalahari; however, eventually nearly all other San communities in southern Africa were forced into this region. The Kalahari San remained in poverty where their richer neighbours denied them rights to the land. Before long, in both Botswana and Namibia, they found their territory drastically reduced. Genetics Various Y chromosome studies show that the San carry some of the most divergent (earliest branching) human Y-chromosome haplogroups . These haplogroups are specific sub-groups of haplogroups A and B , the two earliest branches on the human Y-chromosome tree . Mitochondrial DNA studies also provide evidence that the San carry high frequencies of the earliest haplogroup branches in the human mitochondrial DNA tree. This DNA is inherited only from one's mother. The most divergent (earliest branching) mitochondrial haplogroup, L0d , has been identified at its highest frequencies in the southern African San groups. In a study published in March 2011, Brenna Henn and colleagues found that the ǂKhomani San, as well as the Sandawe and Hadza peoples of Tanzania , were the most genetically diverse of any living humans studied. This high degree of genetic diversity hints at the origin of anatomically modern humans . A 2008 study suggested that the San may have been isolated from other original ancestral groups for as much as 50,000 to 100,000 years and later rejoined, re-integrating into the rest of the human gene pool. A DNA study of fully sequenced genomes, published in September 2016, showed that the ancestors of today's San hunter-gatherers began to diverge from other human populations in Africa about 200,000 years ago and were fully isolated by 100,000 years ago. Ancestral land conflict in Botswana Main article: Ancestral land conflict in Botswana San family in Botswana According to professors Robert K. Hitchcock, Wayne A. Babchuk, "In 1652, when Europeans established a full-time presence in Southern Africa, there were some 300,000 San and 600,000 Khoekhoe in Southern Africa. During the early phases of European colonization, tens of thousands of Khoekhoe and San peoples lost their lives as a result of genocide, murder, physical mistreatment, and disease. There were cases of “Bushman hunting” in which commandos (mobile paramilitary units or posses) sought to dispatch San and Khoekhoe in various parts of Southern Africa." Much aboriginal people 's land in Botswana, including land occupied by the San people (or Basarwa), was conquered during colonization. Loss of land and access to natural resources continued after Botswana's independence.  The San have been particularly affected by encroachment by majority peoples and non-indigenous farmers onto their traditional land. Government policies from the 1970s transferred a significant area of traditionally San land to majority agro-pastoralist tribes and white settlers much of the government's policy regarding land tended to favor the dominant Tswana peoples over the minority San and Bakgalagadi .  Loss of land is a major contributor to the problems facing Botswana's indigenous people, including especially the San's eviction from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve .  The government of Botswana decided to relocate all of those living within the reserve to settlements outside it. Harassment of residents, dismantling of infrastructure, and bans on hunting appear to have been used to induce residents to leave. The government has denied that any of the relocation was forced. A legal battle followed. The relocation policy may have been intended to facilitate diamond mining by Gem Diamonds within the reserve. Hoodia traditional knowledge agreement Hoodia gordonii , used by the San, was patented by the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in 1998, for its presumed appetite suppressing quality, although, according to a 2006 review, no published scientific evidence supported hoodia as an appetite suppressant in humans. A licence was granted to Phytopharm , for development of the active ingredient in the Hoodia plant, p57 (glycoside), to be used as a pharmaceutical drug for dieting. Once this patent was brought to the attention of the San, a benefit-sharing agreement was reached between them and the CSIR in 2003. This would award royalties to the San for the benefits of their indigenous knowledge. During the case, the San people were represented and assisted by the Working Group of Indigenous Minorities in Southern Africa (WIMSA), the South African San Council and the South African San Institute. This benefit-sharing agreement is one of the first to give royalties to the holders of traditional knowledge used for drug sales. The terms of the agreement are contentious, because of their apparent lack of adherence to the Bonn Guidelines on Access to Genetic Resources and Benefit Sharing, as outlined in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The San have yet to profit from this agreement, as P57 has still not yet been legally developed and marketed. Representation in mass media Rock paintings in the Cederberg , Western Cape San paintings near Murewa , Zimbabwe San paintings near Murewa Early representations The San of the Kalahari were first brought to the globalized world's attention in the 1950s by South African author Laurens van der Post . Van der Post grew up in South Africa, and had a respectful lifelong fascination with native African cultures. In 1955, he was commissioned by the BBC to go to the Kalahari desert with a film crew in search of the San. The filmed material was turned into a very popular six-part television documentary a year later. Driven by a lifelong fascination with this "vanished tribe," Van der Post published a 1958 book about this expedition, entitled The Lost World of the Kalahari. It was to be his most famous book. In 1961, he published The Heart of the Hunter, a narrative which he admits in the introduction uses two previous works of stories and mythology as "a sort of Stone Age Bible," namely Specimens of Bushman Folklore ' (1911), collected by Wilhelm H. I. Bleek and Lucy C. Lloyd , and Dorothea Bleek 's Mantis and His Friend. Van der Post's work brought indigenous African cultures to millions of people around the world for the first time, but some people disparaged it as part of the subjective view of a European in the 1950s and 1960s, stating that he branded the San as simple "children of Nature" or even "mystical ecologists." In 1992 by John Perrot and team published the book "Bush for the Bushman" – a "desperate plea" on behalf of the aboriginal San addressing the international community and calling on the governments throughout Southern Africa to respect and reconstitute the ancestral land-rights of all San. Documentaries and non-fiction This section contains promotional content . Please help improve it by removing promotional language and inappropriate external links , and by adding encyclopedic text written from a neutral point of view . (July 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message ) John Marshall, the son of Harvard anthropologist Lorna Marshall , documented the lives of San in the Nyae Nyae region of Namibia over a period spanning more than 50-years. His early film The Hunters, shows a giraffe hunt. A Kalahari Family (2002) is a series documenting 50 years in the lives of the Juǀʼhoansi of Southern Africa, from 1951 to 2000. Marshall was a vocal proponent of the San cause throughout his life. His sister Elizabeth Marshall Thomas wrote several books and numerous articles about the San, based in part on her experiences living with these people when their culture was still intact. The Harmless People, published in 1959, and The Old Way: A Story of the First People, published in 2006, are two of them. John Marshall and Adrienne Miesmer documented the lives of the ǃKung San people between the 1950s and 1978 in Nǃai, the Story of a ǃKung Woman. This film, the account of a woman who grew up while the San lived as autonomous hunter-gatherers, but who later was forced into a dependent life in the government-created community at Tsumkwe, shows how the lives of the ǃKung people , who lived for millennia as hunter gatherers, were forever changed when they were forced onto a reservation too small to support them. South African film-maker Richard Wicksteed has produced a number of documentaries on San culture, history and present situation; these include In God's Places / Iindawo ZikaThixo (1995) on the San cultural legacy in the southern Drakensberg; Death of a Bushman (2002) on the murder of San tracker Optel Rooi by South African police; The Will To Survive (2009), which covers the history and situation of San communities in southern Africa today; and My Land is My Dignity (2009) on the San's epic land rights struggle in Botswana's Central Kalahari Game Reserve . A documentary on San hunting entitled, The Great Dance: A Hunter's Story (2000), directed by Damon and Craig Foster . This was reviewed by Lawrence Van Gelder for the New York Times , who said that the film "constitutes an act of preservation and a requiem." Spencer Wells 's 2003 book The Journey of Man —in connection with National Geographic 's Genographic Project —discusses a genetic analysis of the San and asserts their genetic markers were the first ones to split from those of the ancestors of the bulk of other Homo sapiens sapiens. The PBS documentary based on the book follows these markers throughout the world, demonstrating that all of humankind can be traced back to the African continent (see Recent African origin of modern humans , the so-called "out of Africa" hypothesis). The BBC's The Life of Mammals (2003) series includes video footage of an indigenous San of the Kalahari desert undertaking a persistence hunt of a kudu through harsh desert conditions. It provides an illustration of how early man may have pursued and captured prey with minimal weaponry. The BBC series How Art Made the World (2005) compares San cave paintings from 200 years ago to Paleolithic European paintings that are 14,000 years old. Because of their similarities, the San works may illustrate the reasons for ancient cave paintings. The presenter Nigel Spivey draws largely on the work of Professor David Lewis-Williams ,[83] whose PhD was entitled "Believing and Seeing: Symbolic meanings in southern San rock paintings". Lewis-Williams draws parallels with prehistoric art around the world, linking in shamanic ritual and trance states. Films and music Rock painting of a man in Twyfelfontein valley A 1969 film, Lost in the Desert , features a small boy, stranded in the desert, who encounters a group of wandering San. They help him and then abandon him as a result of a misunderstanding created by the lack of a common language and culture. The film was directed by Jamie Uys , who returned to the San a decade later with The Gods Must Be Crazy , which proved to be an international hit. This comedy portrays a Kalahari San group's first encounter with an artifact from the outside world (a Coca-Cola bottle). By the time this movie was made, the ǃKung had recently been forced into sedentary villages, and the San hired as actors were confused by the instructions to act out inaccurate exaggerations of their almost abandoned hunting and gathering life.[84] "Eh Hee " by Dave Matthews Band was written as an evocation of the music and culture of the San. In a story told to the Radio City audience (an edited version of which appears on the DVD version of Live at Radio City ), Matthews recalls hearing the music of the San and, upon asking his guide what the words to their songs were, being told that "there are no words to these songs, because these songs, we've been singing since before people had words." He goes on to describe the song as his "homage to meeting... the most advanced people on the planet." Rock engraving of a giraffe in Twyfelfontein valley Memoirs In Peter Godwin 's biography When A Crocodile Eats the Sun, he mentions his time spent with the San for an assignment. His title comes from the San's belief that a solar eclipse occurs when a crocodile eats the sun. Novels Laurens van der Post 's two novels, A Story Like The Wind (1972) and its sequel, A Far Off Place (1974), made into a 1993 film , are about a white boy encountering a wandering San and his wife, and how the San's life and survival skills save the white teenagers' lives in a journey across the desert. James A. Michener 's The Covenant (1980), is a work of historical fiction centered on South Africa. The first section of the book concerns a San community's journey set roughly in 13,000 BC. In Wilbur Smith 's novel The Burning Shore (an instalment in the Courtneys of Africa book series ), the San people are portrayed through two major characters, O'wa and H'ani; Smith describes the San's struggles, history, and beliefs in great detail. Norman Rush 's 1991 novel Mating features an encampment of Basarwa near the (imaginary) Botswana town where the main action is set. Tad Williams 's epic Otherland series of novels features a South African San named ǃXabbu, whom Williams confesses to be highly fictionalized, and not necessarily an accurate representation. In the novel, Williams invokes aspects of San mythology and culture. In 2007, David Gilman published The Devil's Breath. One of the main characters, a small San boy named ǃKoga, uses traditional methods to help the character Max Gordon travel across Namibia. Alexander McCall Smith has written a series of episodic novels set in Gaborone , the capital of Botswana. The fiancé of the protagonist of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni, adopts two orphaned San children, sister and brother Motholeli and Puso. The San feature in several of the novels by Michael Stanley (the nom de plume of Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip), particularly in Death of the Mantis. In Christopher Hope 's book Darkest England, the San hero, David Mungo Booi, is tasked by his fellow tribesmen with asking the Queen for the protection once promised, and to evaluate the possibility of creating a colony on the island. He discovered England in the manner of 19th century Western explorers. SOUTHERN SOTHO PEOPLE NORTHERN SOTHO PEOPLE Sotho The Sotho tribe is divided into three main sub-groups: the Southern Sotho, the Northern Sotho, and the Tswana. These tribes share a common language but have distinct cultural practices. Known for their vibrant traditional clothing and music, the Sotho people have a rich cultural heritage that is expressed through rituals, dance, and music. The Sotho (/ˈsuːtuː/ ), also known as the Basotho (/bæˈsuːtuː/ ), are a Sotho-Tswana ethnic group who have long inhabited Southern Africa . They primarily inhabit the regions of Lesotho , South Africa , Botswana and Namibia The ancestors of the Sotho people are believed to have originated from Northeast Africa, and migrated south in the fifth century CE. The Sotho people have split into different clans over time as a result of the Mfecane (a series of wars and migrations that took place in the 19th century) and colonialism . There are 3 types of Basotho, Northern Sotho , Southern Sotho , Tswana people The British and the Boers (Dutch descendants ) divided Sotho land amongst themselves in the late 19th century. Lesotho was created by the settlers in the 1869 Convention of Aliwal North following the conflict over land with Moshoeshoe I , the king of the Southern Sothos. The Southern Sotho of Lesotho's identity emerged from the creation of Lesotho by the British after the Boers defeated Moshoeshoe I in the Third Basotho War in 1868 and he asked the British for protection. Some of the Southern Sotho speakers who were not part of Moshoeshoe's kingdom when he united some of their tribesmen are living in Gauteng , while some are found in the west of KwaZulu-Natal , the north of the Eastern Cape and most of the Free State province. In modern times, the Sotho continue to make significant contributions to South African and Lesotho societies. History Early history Further information: Bantu expansion and Sotho-Tswana peoples The Basotho nation is a mixture of Bantu-speaking clans that mixed with San people who already lived in Southern Africa when they arrived there. Bantu -speaking people had settled in what is now South Africa by about 1500 AD . Separation from the Batswana is assumed to have taken place by the 14th century. Some Basotho people split from the Nguni while others got assimilated into building the Nguni nation. By the 16th century, Iron-working was well established in Basotho communities alongside their Nguni neighbours. Basotho were mostly independent and relatively isolated up until this point in which they occasionally traded with the regions north of their homeland with external links that are described as "Sporadic and Marginal". By at least the 17th century a series of Basotho kingdoms covered the southern portion of the African plateau (nowadays Free State Province and parts of Gauteng ), North West . Basotho society was highly decentralized, and organized on the basis of kraals , or extended clans, each of which was ruled by its own chief. Chiefdoms were united into loose confederations . 19th century 19th century Sotho warrior (top) and King Moshoeshoe (bottom) In the 1820s, refugees from the Zulu expansion under Shaka came into contact with the Basotho people residing on the highveld . In 1823, pressure caused one group of Basotho, the Kololo , to migrate north. They moved past the Okavango Swamp and across the Zambezi into Barotseland , (which is now part of Zambia , Angola , Zimbabwe , Botswana , and Namibia ). In 1845, the Kololo conquered Barotseland. At about the same time, the Boers began to encroach upon Basotho territory. After the Cape Colony was ceded to Britain at the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars , many farmers opted to leave the former Dutch colony in the Great Trek . They moved inland, where they eventually established independent polities. At the time of these developments, Moshoeshoe I gained control of the Basotho kingdoms of the southern highveld. Universally praised as a skilled diplomat and strategist, he molded the disparate refugee groups escaping the Difaqane into a cohesive nation. His leadership allowed his small nation to survive the obstacles that destroyed other indigenous South African kingdoms during the 19th century, such as the Zulu Mfecane , the inward expansion of the voortrekkers and the plans of the Colonial Office . In 1822, Moshoeshoe established the capital at Butha-Buthe , an easily defensible mountain in the northern Drakensberg mountain range, thus laying the foundations of the eventual Kingdom of Lesotho. His capital was later moved to Thaba Bosiu . To deal with the encroaching voortrekker groups, Moshoeshoe encouraged French missionary activity in his kingdom. Missionaries sent by the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society provided the King with foreign affairs counsel and helped to facilitate the purchase of modern weapons. Aside from acting as state ministers, missionaries (primarily Casalis and Arbousset) played a vital role in delineating Sesotho orthography and printing Sesotho language materials between 1837 and 1855. The first Sesotho translation of the Bible appeared in 1878. In 1868, after losing the western lowlands to the Boers during the Free State–Basotho Wars , Moshoeshoe successfully appealed to Queen Victoria to proclaim Basutoland (modern Lesotho ) a protectorate of Britain. Accordingly, the British administration was established in Maseru , the site of Lesotho's current capital. Local chieftains retained power over internal affairs, while Britain was responsible for foreign affairs and the defense of the protectorate. In 1869, the British sponsored a process to demarcate the borders of Basutoland. While many clans had territory within Basutoland, large numbers of Sesotho speakers resided in areas allocated to the Orange Free State , the sovereign voortrekker republic that bordered the Basotho kingdom. King Moshoeshoe died two years later in 1870, after the end of war, and was buried at the summit of Thaba Bosiu. 20th century A Mosotho man wearing a modianywe Britain's protection ensured that repeated attempts by the Orange Free State , and later the Republic of South Africa , to absorb part or all of Basutoland were unsuccessful. In 1966, Basutoland gained its independence from Britain, becoming the Kingdom of Lesotho . Sesotho is widely spoken throughout the subcontinent due to internal migration . To enter the cash economy, Lesotho men often migrated to large cities in South Africa to find employment in the mining industry . Migrant workers from the Free State and Lesotho thus helped spread Sesotho to the urban areas of South Africa. It is generally agreed that migrant work harmed the family life of most Sesotho speakers because adults (primarily men) were required to leave their families behind in impoverished communities while they were employed in distant cities. Attempts by the apartheid government to force Sesotho speakers to relocate to designated homelands had little effect on their settlement patterns. Large numbers of workers continued to leave the traditional areas of Black settlement. Women gravitated towards employment as agricultural or domestic workers while men typically found employment in the mining sector. In terms of religion, the central role that Christian missionaries played in helping Moshoeshoe I secure his kingdom helped to ensure widespread Basotho conversion to Christianity. Today, the bulk of Sesotho speakers practice a form of Christianity that blends elements of traditional Christian dogma with local, pre-Western beliefs. Modimo ("God") is viewed as a supreme being who cannot be approached by mortals. Ancestors are seen as intercessors between Modimo and the living, and their favor must be cultivated through worship and reverence. Officially, the majority of Lesotho's population is Catholic. The Southern Basotho's heartland is the Free State province in South Africa and neighboring Lesotho. Both of these largely rural areas have widespread poverty and underdevelopment. Many Sesotho speakers live in conditions of economic hardship, but people with access to land and steady employment may enjoy a higher standard of living. Landowners often participate in subsistence or small-scale commercial farming ventures. However, overgrazing and land mismanagement are growing problems. Demographics The allure of urban areas has not diminished, and internal migration continues today for many black people born in Lesotho and other Basotho heartlands. Generally, employment patterns among the Basotho follow the same patterns as broader South African society. Historical factors cause unemployment among the Basotho and other Black South Africans to remain high. Basotho on Horses Percent of Sesotho speakers across South Africa: Gauteng Province: 13.1% Atteridgeville : 12.3% City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality : 9.6% Soweto : 15.5% Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality : 10.0% Katlehong : 22.4% Sedibeng District Municipality : 46.7% West Rand District Municipality : 10.8% Midvaal Local Municipality : 27.9% Free State Province : 64.2% Bloemfontein : 33.4% Language The Uhadi musical bow or thomo musical bow used by the Sotho people, circa 1897. The language of the Basotho is referred to as Sesotho, less commonly known as Sesotho sa borwa. Some texts may refer to Sesotho as "Southern Sotho" to differentiate it from Northern Sotho , also called Sepedi. Sesotho is the first language of 1.5 million people in Lesotho , or 85% of the population. It is one of the two official languages in Lesotho, the other being English.[19] Lesotho enjoys one of Africa's highest literacy rates, with 59% of the adult population being literate, chiefly in Sesotho. Sesotho is one of the eleven official languages of South Africa .[24] According to the 2011 South African National Census of 2011 , almost 4 million people speak Sesotho as their first language , including 62% of Free State inhabitants. Approximately 13.1% of the residents of Gauteng speak Sesotho as their first language. In the North West Province , 5% of the population speaks Sesotho as a first language, with a concentration of speakers in the Maboloka region. Three percent of Mpumalanga 's people speak Sesotho as their first language, with many speakers living in the Standerton area. Two percent of the residents of the Eastern Cape speak Sesotho as a first language, though they are located mostly in the northern part of the province. Aside from Lesotho and South Africa, 60,000 people speak Silozi (a close relative of Sesotho) in Zambia . Additionally, a few Sesotho speakers reside in Botswana , Eswatini and the Caprivi Strip of Namibia . No official statistics on second language usage are available, but one conservative estimate of the number of people who speak Sesotho as a second (or later) language is 5 million. Sesotho is used in a range of educational settings, both as a subject of study and as a medium of instruction. It is used in its spoken and written forms in all spheres of education, from preschool to doctoral studies. However, the number of technical materials (e.g., in the fields of commerce, information technology, law, science, and math) in the language is still relatively small. Sesotho has developed a sizable media presence since the end of apartheid . Lesedi FM is a 24-hour Sesotho radio station run by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), broadcasting solely in Sesotho. There are other regional radio stations throughout Lesotho and the Free State. Half-hour Sesotho news bulletins are broadcast daily on the SABC free-to-air channel SABC 2 . Independent TV broadcaster eTV also features a daily half-hour Sesotho bulletin. Both SABC and the eTV group produce a range of programs that feature some Sesotho dialogue. In Lesotho, the Lesotho National Broadcasting Service broadcasts to South Africa via satellite pay-TV provider, DStv . Most newspapers in Lesotho are written in Sesotho or both Sesotho and English. There are no fully fledged South African newspapers in Sesotho except for regional newsletters in QwaQwa , Fouriesburg , Ficksburg , and possibly other Free State towns. Currently, the mainstream South African magazine Bona[29] includes Sesotho content.[26] Since the codification of Sesotho orthography, literary works have been produced in Sesotho. Notable Sesotho-language literature includes Thomas Mofolo 's epic Chaka , which has been translated into several languages, including English and German. Clothing Basotho in their traditional wear The Basotho have a unique traditional attire. This includes the mokorotlo , a conical hat with a decorated knob at the top that is worn differently for men and women. The Basotho blanket is often worn over the shoulders or waist and protects the wearer against the cold. Although many Sotho people wear westernized clothing, often traditional garments are worn over them. Basotho herders Many Basotho who live in rural areas wear clothing that suits their lifestyles. For instance, boys who herd cattle in the rural Free State and Lesotho wear the Basotho blanket and large rain boots (gumboots ) as protection from the wet mountain terrain. Herd boys also often wear woolen balaclavas or caps year-round to protect their faces from cold temperatures and dusty winds. Basotho women Basotho women usually wear skirts and long dresses in bright colors and patterns, as well as the traditional blankets around the waist. On special occasions like wedding celebrations, they wear the seshweshwe , a traditional Basotho dress. The local traditional dresses are made using colored cloth and ribbon accents bordering each layer. Sotho women often purchase this material and have it designed in a style similar to West and East African dresses. Women often wrap a long print cloth or a small blanket around their waist, either as a skirt or as a second garment over it. This is commonly known as a wrap, and it can be used to carry infants on their backs. Special clothing items Special clothing is worn for special events like initiation rites and traditional healing ceremonies. For a Lebollo la basadi , or girl's initiation ceremony, girls wear a beaded waist wrap called a thethana that covers the waist, particularly the crotch area and part of the buttocks. They also wear gray blankets and goatskin skirts. These garments are worn by young girls and women, particularly virgins. For a Lebollo la banna , or a boy's initiation ceremony, boys wear a loincloth called a tshea as well as colorful blankets. These traditional outfits are often combined with more modern items, like sunglasses. Traditional Sotho healers wear the bandolier, which consists of strips and strings made of leather, sinew, or beads that form a cross on the chest. The bandolier often has pouches of potions attached to it for specific rituals or physical/spiritual protection. It is believed that the San people adopted this bandolier attire for healers during times when the Basotho and the San traded and developed ties through trade, marriage, and friendship. The San people's use of the bandolier can be seen in their rock paintings that date to the 1700s. Sotho Cultural Clothing Seana Marena woollen tribal blanket traditionally Basotho women during Mokhibo Notable Sotho people Literature Thomas Mofolo Lesotho born author Politics Queen 'Masenate Mohato Seeiso Moshoeshoe I , founder of the Basotho nation Moshoeshoe II , Paramount Chief of Lesotho Letsie III , King of Lesotho Queen 'Masenate Mohato Seeiso , Queen Consort of Lesotho Pakalitha Mosisili former prime minister of Lesotho Epainette Mbeki anti-apartheid activist and mother of former South African president Thabo Mbeki Ntsu Mokhehle former prime minister of Lesotho Leabua Jonathan former prime minister of Lesotho Mosiuoa Lekota South African anti-apartheid activist Hlaudi Motsoeneng South African radio personality, broadcast executive, and politician Limpho Hani Lesotho born activist and wife of Chris Hani Phumulo Masualle South African politician and former premier of Eastern Cape province Tsietsi Mashinini South African student activist, known for leading the 1976 Soweto Uprising against Afrikaans education Angie Motshekga South African politician Lechesa Tsenoli South African politician and former deputy Speaker of National Assembly Business Phuti Mahanyele , business executive; CEO of Naspers Kaizer Motaung , business person; chairman of Kaizer Chiefs David Tlale , business person and prominent fashion designer Sam Motsuenyane Entrepreneur and founding chairman of African Bank James Motlatsi former trade unionist and businessman Entertainment Nana Coyote , Lesotho born singer Joshua Pulumo Mohapeloa , music composer Lira , South African singer Yvonne Chaka Chaka , South African singer Michael Mosoeu Moerane , choral music composer Mpho Koaho is a Canadian-born actor of Sotho ancestry Terry Pheto , South African actress Sankomota , Lesotho jazz band Fana Mokoena , South African actor Prince Kaybee , South African disc jockey Kabelo Mabalane , South African musician and one third of the Kwaito group Tkzee Tsepo Tshola , former lead singer of Sankomota jazz band, gospel artist Jerry Mofokeng South African actor David Kau South African comedian Faith Nketsi South African model and media personality Natasha Thahane South African actress Maglera Doe Boy South African rapper Sports Khotso Mokoena athlete (Long jump) Steve Lekoelea South African football player for Orlando Pirates Aaron Mokoena former football player for Jomo Cosmos , Blackburn Rovers , and Portsmouth FC Thabo Mooki South African football player who played for Kaizer Chiefs and Bafana Bafana Abia Nale former football player for Kaizer Chiefs Teboho Mokoena South African football player Lehlohonolo Seema Lesotho born footballer and coach Kamohelo Mokotjo South African football player Relebohile Mofokeng South African football player Lebohang Maboe South African football player for Mamelodi Sundowns See also Sotho–Tswana peoples Sotho-Tswana languages Tswana people Pedi people Barotseland Lozi people Liphofung Historical Site Sotho calendar Battle of Berea VENDA PEOPLE Venda The Venda tribe, located in the northern part of South Africa, has a rich cultural heritage that dates back centuries. Their traditional homesteads, known as “tshikwama,” are an architectural marvel. The Venda people are known for their pottery, wood carving, and intricate beadwork, which are highly regarded forms of artistic expression. Expert Perspective: Art historian, Dr. Phumla Maluleke, explains, “The Venda people have a unique artistic style that is deeply connected to their spiritual beliefs. Their art serves as a means of communication with the spiritual realm.” The Venḓa (VhaVenḓa or Vhangona) are a Bantu people native to Southern Africa living mostly near the South African -Zimbabwean border. The Venda language arose from interactions with Sotho-Tswana and Kalanga groups from 1400. The Venda are closely associated with the 13th century Kingdom of Mapungubwe where oral tradition holds King Shiriyadenga as the first king of Venda and Mapungubwe. The Mapungubwe Kingdom stretched from the Soutpansberg in the south, across the Limpopo River to the Matopos in the north. The Kingdom rapidly declined around 1300 due to climatic change and the population scattered, as power moved north to the Great Zimbabwe Kingdom. The first Venda settlement in the Soutpansberg was that of the legendary chief Thoho-ya-Ndou (Head of the Elephant). His royal kraal was called D’zata; its remains have been declared a National Monument. The Mapungubwe Collection is a museum collection of artefacts found at the archaeological site and is housed in the Mapungubwe Museum in Pretoria. Venda people share ancestry with Lobedu people and Kalanga people . They are also related to Sotho-Tswana peoples and Shona groups. History The Venda of today are Vhangona, Takalani (Ungani), Masingo and others. Vhangona are the original inhabitants of Venda, they are also referred as Vhongwani wapo; while Masingo and others are originally from central Africa and the East African Rift , migrating across the Limpopo river during the Bantu expansion , Venda people originated from central and east Africa, just like the other South African tribes. Clans The Venda of today are descendants of many heterogeneous groupings and clans such as: Dzindou dza Hakhomunala Mutangwe / Dzatshamanyatsha Dzindou Dza Manenzhe Vhafamadi; Vhadau vhatshiheni Vhadau Madamani Rambuda; Vha Ha-Ramavhulela (Vhubvo Dzimauli) Vhakwevho; Vha Ha-Maďavha (Great Warthogs of Luonde who immigrated from Zimbabwe) Vhambedzi; Vhania; Vhagoni; Vhalea; Gebebe; Ndou; Maďou; Vhasekwa; Vhaluvhu; Vhatavhatsindi; Vhalovhedzi VhaMese Vha Ha-Nemutudi Vhatwanamba; Vhanzhelele/Vhalembethu; VhaDzanani Vhanyai; Vhalaudzi; Masingo; and Rambau Runganani (marungadzi nndevhelaho) Ragwala (Vhathu vha thavhani) Takalani(Ungani) Vhadau, Vhakwevho, Vhafamadi, Vhania, Vhalea, and Vhaluvhu were collectively known as Vhangona. The Vhangona and Vhambedzi are considered to be the original inhabitants of Venda and the first people to live there. The land of Vhangona was later settled by Karanga-Rodzvi clans from Zimbabwe: Vhatwanamba, Vhanyai, Vhatavhatsindi, and Vhalembethu. Masingo and Vhalaudzi are late arrivals in Venda. Duration: 10 seconds.0:10 Venda woman singing about a successful trip to collect stinkbugs. Mapungubwe Mapungubwe was the center of a kingdom with about 5,000 people living at its center. Mapungubwe as a trade center lasted between 1220 and 1300 AD. The people of Mapungubwe mined and smelted copper, iron and gold, spun cotton, made glass and ceramics, grew millet and sorghum, and tended cattle, goats and sheep. The people of Mapungubwe had a sophisticated knowledge of the stars, and astronomy played a major role not only in their tradition and culture, but also in their day-to-day lives. Mapungubwe predates the settlements at Great Zimbabwe , Thulamela and Dzata . Venda Royal House The Venda were recognised as a traditional royal house in 2010 and Toni Mphephu Ramabulana was the acting king from 2012-2019. In September 2016 Princess Masindi Mphephu, daughter of Tshimangadzi Mphephu (Venda Chief during 1993–1997), challenged her uncle Ramabulana for the throne. She claimed that she wasn't considered a candidate because of her sex. On 14 December 2016 she initially lost this battle in court when the Thohoyandou High Court dismissed the case. In May 2019, however, the Supreme Court of Appeal overturned the Thohoyandou High Court decision and declared that Toni Mphephu-Ramabulana's appointment as king of the Venda nation was deemed ''unlawful''. Ramubulana has since appealed this ruling, and as of July 2020 the matter was before the Constitutional Court of South Africa.[ The Vhavenda people have since started Notable Venda people Venda homes. The following is a list of notable Venda people who have their own Wikipedia articles. D Benedict Daswa , South African school teacher beatified by the Roman Catholic Church Mulalo Doyoyo , South African engineer, inventor, and professor G Thomas Gumbu , South African politician K Mmbara Hulisani Kevin , South African politician L Mavhungu Lerule-Ramakhanya , South African politician Ma-Mp Noria Mabasa , Venda artist who works in ceramic and wood sculpture E. S. Madima , South African writer Tenda Madima , South African writer Joe Mafela , South African actor, film director and singer Makhado , 19th century King of the Venda people Milicent Makhado , South African actress Rudzani Maphwanya , South African Army officer Tshilidzi Marwala , Vice-Chancellor of the University of Johannesburg , South African engineer and computer scientist Florence Masebe , South African actress Michael Masutha , South African politician Rendani Masutha , South African naval officer and former military judge Shaun Maswanganyi , South African athlete Mark Mathabane , South African tennis player and author of Kaffir Boy Eric Mathoho , South African footballer Kembo Mohadi , Vice President of Zimbabwe. Patrick Mphephu , first president of the bantustan of Venda Mu Daniel Mudau , South African footballer Khuliso Mudau , South African footballer Sydney Mufamadi , South African politician Fulu Mugovhani , South African actress Mukhethwa Mukhadi , South African singer, rapper, producer and director Elaine Mukheli , South African singer and songwriter Colbert Mukwevho , South African reggae singer Gumani Mukwevho , South African politician Collen Mulaudzi , South African long-distance runner Mbulaeni Mulaudzi , South African middle-distance runner Rhoda Mulaudzi , South African footballer Rotshidzwa Muleka , South African footballer Luvhengo Mungomeni , South African footballer Clarence Munyai , South African sprinter Marks Munyai , South African footballer Tshifhiwa Munyai , South African boxer Azwinndini Muronga , South African physicist Shudufhadzo Musida , Miss South Africa 2020 winner Faith Muthambi , South African politician N Phathutshedzo Nange , South African footballer Phillip Ndou , South African boxer Lovemore Ndou , South African boxer Prince Neluonde , South African lawn bowler Fulufhelo Nelwamondo , South African engineer and computer scientist Tshilidzi Nephawe , South African basketball player Joel Netshitenzhe , South African politician Khumbudzo Ntshavheni , South African politician P George Phadagi , South African politician Fred Phaswana , South African businessman R Kagiso Rabada , South African cricketer Vhambelani Ramabulana , South African politician Rodney Ramagalela , South African footballer Cyril Ramaphosa , 5th President of the Republic of South Africa Richard Ramudzuli , South African Events Organizer Gabriel Ramushwana , former head of state of the bantustan of Venda Phophi Ramathuba , South African politician and medical doctor Rudzani Ramudzuli , South African footballer Khume Ramulifho , South African politician Ndivhudzannyi Ralivhona , South African musician Rasta Rasivhenge , South African rugby union referee Frank Ravele , second president of the bantustan of Venda Riky Rick , South African rapper, songwriter and actor T Gabriel Temudzani , South African actor Dan Tshanda , South African musician Mashudu Tshifularo , South African educator and medical specialist Jacob Tshisevhe , South African footballer Mpho Tshivhase , South African philosopher W Ernst Oswald Johannes Westphal , Professor of African Languages, b. Khalavha 1919 Musangwe Musangwe is a Venda tradition of bare-knuckle fist fighting. Musangwe is a sport which was developed not only for entertainment but also for gaining respect among your peers. Vhavenda never allowed violence and fighting, but with this sport you could challenge a person you deemed disrespectful towards you, and the rule is if you are challenged to fight you are to fight or there will be consequences such as a fine or even been beaten up by the elders. The winners of this sport were often compensated with whatever the Khosi (chief) or Vhamusanda (headman) deemed right. The fights have no set time limit and only end when one fighter concedes defeat. No medical staff are on standby to help those injured in the flurry of blows that boxers trade, only village elders watching to guard against indiscretions such as biting or kicking. Importantly, gambling on the outcome of the fights is banned and the winners take nothing away other than a sense of pride in representing their village or family. ZULU PEOPLE The Zulu Tribe Of Southern Africa The Zulu tribe is unequivocally one of the most famous tribes in Africa—for a number of good reasons. First, we have the Shakaland, which is acknowledged worldwide as the birthplace of the Legendary chief, Shaka Zulu. Secondly, Zulu is also acknowledged for being the largest ethnic group in South Africa; with an estimated population of 11 million people. Zulu people (/ˈzuːluː/ ; Zulu : amaZulu) are a native people of Southern Africa of the Nguni . The Zulu people are the largest ethnic group and nation in South Africa , living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Natal . They originated from Nguni communities who took part in the Bantu migrations over millennia. As the clans integrated, the rulership of Shaka brought success to the Zulu nation due to his improved military tactics and organization.[citation needed ] Zulus take pride in their ceremonies such as the Umhlanga , or Reed Dance, and their various forms of beadwork. The art and skill of beadwork take part in the identification of Zulu people and act as a form of communication and dedication to the nation and specific traditions. Today, the Zulu people are predominantly Christian , but have created a syncretic religion that is combined with the Zulu's prior belief systems. History of the people of Zulu Origins The Zulu were originally a minor clan in what is today Northern KwaZulu-Natal , founded c. 1574 by Zulu kaMalandela . In the Nguni languages , iZulu means heaven or weather. At that time, the area was occupied by many large Nguni communities and clans (also called the isizwe people or nation, or called isibongo, referring to their clan or family name). Nguni communities had migrated down Africa's east coast over millennia, as part of the Bantu migrations . As the nation began to develop, the rulership of Shaka brought the clans together to build a cohesive identity for the Zulu. Strength of the Zulu nation Utimuni , nephew of King Shaka , strikes a warrior's pose The Zulu nation's growth and strength were based on its military organization and skills during Shaka's reign and those of his successors. The military was organized around the ukubuthwa ("to be enrolled") system, which did away with initiation ceremonies for the most part. Each age set, or group of young men of the same age, was assigned to the same regiment (ibutho, singular; amabutho, plural), according to the system. Girls were also subject to ukubuthwa, but they were usually assigned to an age group rather than to a regiment. The amabutho were housed in military barracks (singular, ikhanda; plural, amakhanda) located throughout the kingdom and under the command of a close relative to (or someone else appointed by) the king. The barracks were designed and laid out similarly to an umuzi, but on a much larger scale. Aside from military duties, the izinsizwa ("young men") were also responsible for the repair and maintenance of their barracks Kingdom Main article: Zulu Kingdom King Shaka The Zulu formed a powerful state in 1816 under the leader Shaka . Shaka, as the Zulu commander of the Mthethwa Empire and successor to Dingiswayo , united what was once a confederation of lordships into an imposing empire under Zulu hegemony . Shaka built a militarized system known as Impi featuring conscription, a standing army, new weaponry, regimentation, and encirclement battle tactics. Zulu expansion was a major factor of the Mfecane ("Crushing") that depopulated large areas of southern Africa It was during this period when Shaka deployed an army regiment for raiding nations in the North. The regiment which was under Mzilikazi disobeyed Shaka and crafted a plan to continue raiding up-North forming another dialect of Zulu language referred to as Northern Ndebele (now in Zimbabwe). Another group under Zwangendaba who was Shakas relative from the Gumbi Clan from Pongola and military commander trekked northwards crossing the Zambezi River at Chirundu in 1835 into Zambia setting up the Ngoni nation that extended to Malawi, Mozambique and Southern Tanzania. Conflict with the British Main article: Anglo-Zulu War In mid-December 1878, envoys of the British crown delivered an ultimatum to 11 chiefs representing the then-current king of the Zulu empire, Cetshwayo . Under the British terms delivered to the Zulu, Cetshwayo would have been required to disband his army and accept British sovereignty. Cetshwayo refused, and war between the Zulus and African contingents of the British crown began on January 12, 1879. Despite an early victory for the Zulus at the Battle of Isandlwana on 22 January, the British fought back and won the Battle at Rorke's Drift , and decisively defeated the Zulu army by July at the Battle of Ulundi .[citation needed ] Absorption into Natal Zulu warriors in the late nineteenth century, with Europeans in the background After Cetshwayo's capture a month following his defeat, the British divided the Zulu Empire into 13 "kinglets". The sub-kingdoms fought amongst each other until 1883 when Cetshwayo was reinstated as king over Zululand . This still did not stop the fighting and the Zulu monarch was forced to flee his realm by Zibhebhu , one of the 13 kinglets, supported by Boer mercenaries. Cetshwayo died of a heart attack in February 1884, leaving his son, the 15-year-old Dinuzulu , to inherit the throne. In-fighting between the Zulu continued for years until in 1897 Zululand was absorbed fully into the British colony of Natal Apartheid years KwaZulu homeland Main article: KwaZulu Zulu man performing traditional warrior dance Under apartheid , the homeland of KwaZulu (Kwa meaning place of) was created for the Zulu people. In 1970, the Bantu Homeland Citizenship Act provided that all Zulus would become citizens of KwaZulu, losing their South African citizenship. KwaZulu consisted of many disconnected pieces of land, in what is now KwaZulu-Natal . Hundreds of thousands of Zulu people living on privately owned "black spots" outside of KwaZulu were dispossessed and forcibly moved to bantustans – worse land previously reserved for whites contiguous to existing areas of KwaZulu. By 1993, approximately 5.2 million Zulu people lived in KwaZulu, and approximately 2 million lived in the rest of South Africa. The Chief Minister of KwaZulu, from its creation in 1970 (as Zululand) was Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi . In 1994, KwaZulu was joined with the province of Natal, to form the modern KwaZulu-Natal. Inkatha YeSizwe Main article: Inkatha Freedom Party Inkatha YeSizwe means "the crown of the nation". In 1975, Buthelezi revived the Inkatha YaKwaZulu, the predecessor of the Inkatha Freedom Party . This organisation was nominally a protest movement against Apartheid but held more conservative views than the ANC . For example, Inkatha was opposed to the armed struggle, and sanctions against South Africa. Inkatha was initially on good terms with the ANC, but the two organisations came into increasing conflict beginning in 1976 in the aftermath of the Soweto Uprising . Language Map of South Africa showing the primary Zulu language speech area in shades of darker green Main article: Zulu language The language of the Zulu people is "isiZulu", a Bantu language ; more specifically, part of the Nguni subgroup. Zulu is the most widely spoken language in South Africa, where it is an official language . More than half of the South African population can understand it, with over 13.78 million first-language and over 15 million second-language speakers. Many Zulu people also speak Xitsonga , Sesotho and others from among South Africa's 12 official languages . Ceremony Zulu people gather at Reed Dance ceremony. See also: Zulu calendar Umhlanga The Zulu people celebrate an annual event that was established in 1984 called the Umhlanga or Reed Dance. This event takes place at the royal capital near Nongoma . This traditional ceremony is performed by young women from all parts of the kingdom to perform in front of the monarch and his guests. The purpose of this event is to promote pride in virginity and to restrain sexual relationships. Beadwork is a prominent attire that is worn at the Umhlanga. The beadwork is not only worn by the dancers but by the guests as well. The Umhlanga is not purely for a time of dance. The King also uses this time to speak to the young men and women of the nation. The King discusses current political issues. Married Zulu women wearing headdresses at annual Reed Dance ceremony. Beadwork History of beadwork The creation of beadwork dates back to the times of war for the Zulu people. This particular form of beadwork was known as iziqu, medallions of war. Often worn as a necklace, the beads were displayed in a criss-cross formation across the shoulders. This assemblage of beads by the warriors represented a symbol of bravery Before the use of glass was apparent to the Zulu, beadwork was derived from wood, seeds and berries. It was not until the arrival of Europeans that glass became a trade material with the Portuguese, which soon became abundantly available to the Zulu. Purpose of beadwork Beadwork is a form of communication for the Zulu people. Typically when one is wearing multiple beads, it is a sign of wealth. The more beads one is wearing, the wealthier they are perceived.The beads have te potential to convey information about a person's age, gender and marital status. The design of the beads often conveys a particular message. However, one must know the context of their use to read the message correctly.[9] Depending on the area in which the beadwork was made, some designs can depict different messages compared to other areas. A message could be embedded into the colours and structure of the beads or could be strictly for decorative purposes.[9] Beadwork can be worn in everyday use but is often worn during important occasions such as weddings, or ceremonies. For example, beadwork is featured during the coming of age for a young girl or worn during dances. The beaded elements complement the costumes worn by the Zulu people to bring out a sense of finery or prestige. Appared Zulu beadwork necklace Beadwork is worn by all men, women, and children at any age. Depending on which stage of life an individual is in, the beadwork indicates different meanings. Beadwork is predominantly worn when young Zulu people are courting or in search of love affairs.[9] The wearing of decorative beadwork can act as an attempt to grab the attention of someone of the opposite sex.[9] Also, the gifting of beadwork is a way of communicating interest with lovers. During the transition from single to married women, beadwork is shown through a beaded cloth apron worn over a pleated leather skirt. As for older or mature women, beadwork is displayed in detailed headdresses and cowhide skirts that extend past the knee. These long skirts are also seen on unmarried women and young marriageable-age girls.[9] Men are more conservative when wearing beadwork However, when a young boy is seen wearing multiple necklaces, it is a sign that he is highly interested in these gifts from various girls. The more gifts he wears, the higher the prestige he obtains. Zulu beadwork necklace. Colours of beads Various forms of beadwork are found in different colour schemes. Typically, there are four different types of colour schemes: Isisshunka – white, light blue, dark green, pale yellow, pink, red, black. This colour scheme is believed to have no specific meaning.[9] Isithembu – light blue, grass green, bright yellow, red, black. This colour scheme derives from clans or clan areas. Umzansi – white, dark blue, grass green, red. This colour scheme also derives from clans or clan areas. Isinyolovane – a combination of any colours not consistent with other colour schemes. This colour scheme is often related to connotations of perfection and charm. The colours of beads might hold different meanings based on the area that they originated from. It is often that this can lead to misrepresentation or confusion when attempting to understand what the beadwork is communicating. One cannot assume that the colour system is standard across South Africa . In some areas, the colour green symbolises jealousy in a certain area, but in other areas it symbolises grass.[10] One must know the origin of the beadwork to interpret the message correctly. Clothing See also: Swenkas Interior space of a traditional beehive hut or iQhugwane Zulus wear a variety of attire, both traditional for ceremonial or culturally celebratory occasions, and modern Westernised clothing for everyday use. The women dress differently depending on whether they are single, engaged, or married. The men wore a leather belt with two strips of hide hanging down front and back. In South Africa, the miniskirt has existed since pre-colonial times. In African cultures, such as the Basotho, the Batswana, the Bapedi, the Amaswati and the AmaZulu, women wore traditional miniskirts as cultural attire. These skirts are not seen as shameless, but are used to cover the women's genitals. The skirts are called isigcebhezana and are essential in Zulu ceremonies. For example, Umemulo is a ceremony for women who turn 21 years of age. It represents a huge transition in the woman's life because it is a symbol of her being ready to accept a boyfriend and even get married. Additionally, each stage of a Zulu's life is determined by a specific type of clothing. An unmarried woman wears a skirt and nothing on top, but as she grows up, the woman starts to cover up her body because a time will come when she will be a married woman and an old woman. Nonetheless, a special type of clothing is reserved for pregnant women. When a woman is pregnant she wears an "isibamba ", a thick belt made from dried grass, covered with glass or plastic beadwork, to support her swelling stomach and its additional weight. Societal roles Men The Zulu people govern under a patriarchal society. Men are perceived as the head of the household and seen as authoritative figures. Zulu men identify themselves with great pride and dignity. They also compare themselves to qualities of powerful wild animals such as bulls, lions and elephants.[10] The men contribute to society by acting as defenders, hunters, and lovers, The Zulu men are also in charge of herding the cattle, educating themselves on the lives of disciplined warriors, creating weapons, and learning the art of stick fighting.[10] Stick fighting The art of stick fighting is a celebration of manhood for Zulu men. These men can begin to learn this fighting art form as young as the age of five years old. There are multiple reasons why men learn how to stick fight. For example, men may want to learn so that they can set right any wrongs or insults made towards them. Other reasons some men choose to learn are for sporting purposes, proving skills or manliness, and self-defence. The goal of stick fighting is to injure the opponent and sometimes even kill. There are rules of etiquette that must be abided by when stick fighting. The men can only fight a man the same age as them. One cannot hit the opponent when they lose their stick. Only sticks are allowed when fighting. Women The women in Zulu society often perform domestic chores such as cleaning, raising children, collecting water and firewood, laundry, tending to crops, cooking, and making clothes.[10] Women can be considered as the sole income earners of the household. A woman's stages of life lead up to the goal of marriage. As a woman approaches puberty, she is known as a tshitshi. A tshitshi reveals her singleness by wearing less clothing. Single women typically do not wear clothing to cover their head, breasts, legs and shoulders. Engaged women wear hairnets to show their marital status to society and married women cover themselves in clothing and headdresses Also, women are taught to defer to men and treat them with great respect. The women are always bound by a male figure. Religion and beliefs Main articles: Zulu traditional religion and Zulu Christianity Zulu worshippers at a United African Apostolic Church , near Oribi Gorge Most Zulu people state their beliefs to be Christian . Some of the most common churches to which they belong are African Initiated Churches , especially the Zion Christian Church , Nazareth Baptist Church and United African Apostolic Church , although membership of major European Churches, such as the Dutch Reformed , Anglican and Catholic Churches are also common. Nevertheless, many Zulus retain their traditional pre-Christian belief system of ancestor worship in parallel with their Christianity. Traditional Zulu religion includes belief in a creator God (uNkulunkulu) who is above interacting in day-to-day human life, although this belief appears to have originated from efforts by early Christian missionaries to frame the idea of the Christian God in Zulu terms.[14] Traditionally, the more strongly held Zulu belief was in ancestor spirits (amaThongo or amaDlozi), who had the power to intervene in people's lives, for good or ill. This belief continues to be widespread among the modern Zulu population. Traditionally, the Zulu recognize several elements to be present in a human being: the physical body (inyama yomzimba or umzimba); the breath or life force (umoya womphefumulo or umoya); and the "shadow" prestige or personality (isithunzi). Once the umoya leaves the body, the isithunzi may live on as an ancestral spirit (idlozi) only if certain conditions were met in life. Behaving with ubuntu , or showing respect and generosity towards others, enhances one's moral standing or prestige in the community, one's isithunzi. By contrast, acting in a negative way towards others can reduce the isithunzi, and the isithunzi can fade away completel Zulu sangomas (diviners) To appeal to the spirit world, a diviner (sangoma ) must invoke the ancestors through divination processes to determine the problem. Then, a herbalist (inyanga ) prepares a mixture (muthi ) to be consumed to influence the ancestors. As such, diviners and herbalists play an important part in the daily lives of the Zulu people. However, a distinction is made between white muthi (umuthi omhlope), which has positive effects, such as healing or the prevention or reversal of misfortune, and black muthi (umuthi omnyama), which can bring illness or death to others, or ill-gotten wealth to the user.[16] Users of black muthi are considered witches, and shunned by society. Christianity had difficulty gaining a foothold among the Zulu people, and when it did it was in a syncretic fashion. Isaiah Shembe , considered the Zulu Messiah , presented a form of Christianity (the Nazareth Baptist Church ) which incorporated traditional customs. Furthermore, the Zulu people also practice a ceremony called Ukweshwama . The killing of the bull is part of Ukweshwama, an annual ceremony that celebrates a new harvest. It is a day of prayer when Zulus thank their creator and their ancestors. By tradition, a new regiment of young warriors is asked to confront a bull to prove its courage, inheriting the beast's strength as it expires. It is believed this power was then transferred to the Zulu king . Bride wealth Main article: Lobolo Zulu people have a system called ilobolo. This term is particularly used by Zulu people when it comes to bride wealth. Every African ethnic group has different requirements when it comes to bride wealth . In pre-capitalist Zulu society, ilobolo was inextricably linked to the ownership of cattle. During that time, there was not a fixed number of cattle required for the wedding to happen; it could be paid before the marriage or during the marriage. The groom takes the cattle from his father's herd to perpetuate the family heritage. Nonetheless, this ritual changed during colonisation because in 1869, Theophilus Shepstone , then Natal Secretary for Native Affairs , formalized the ilobolo payment to 10 cattle for commoners (plus the ingquthu cow for the mother), 15 for hereditary chief siblings and 20-plus for the daughters of a chief. They found it too lenient to let the groom give whatever amount he wanted, so they decided to establish a specific number of cattle that would be needed before or at the start of the marriage. This has been accepted by Zulu men who were educated in mission schools, but according to more ritual people this became “untraditional”. Additionally, with the instauration of the Natal Code, some Zulu men decided to settle another way in which they could decrease the ilobo: offer a token payment or bring a present for the father of the prospective bride to decrease the ilobolo amount to be paid. The payment of ilobolo can be difficult for some families, but as it is often considered a symbol of pride and respect, many are willing to maintain this tradition as long as possible. XHOSA PEOPLE Xhosa The Xhosa tribe, with over 8 million people, is another significant tribe in South Africa. They are famous for their unique click language and their role in the struggle against apartheid. The Xhosa people have a deep connection to the land and are known for their intricate beadwork and traditional ceremonies such as the coming-of-age ritual, Ulwaluko. Relevant Data: Xhosa historian, Prof. Thandiwe Moeti, states, “The Xhosa culture is deeply rooted in storytelling and oral traditions. This has been a powerful tool for preserving our heritage and passing down wisdom from generation to generation.” he Xhosa people(/ˈkɔːsə/ KAW-sə , /ˈkoʊsə/ KOH-sə ; Xhosa pronunciation: [kǁʰɔ́ːsa] ⓘ ) are a Bantu ethnic group and nation native to South Africa . They are the second largest ethnic group in South Africa and are native speakers of the isiXhosa language . The Xhosa people are descendants of Nguni clans who settled in the Southeastern part in Southern Africa. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Xhosa people have inhabited the Eastern Cape region from as early as the 14th-century AD. Their language, IsiXhosa is over a thousand-year old. Presently, over ten million Xhosa-speaking people are distributed across Southern Africa, although their traditional homeland is primarily the Cape Province . In 1994 the self-governing countries of Transkei and Ciskei were incorporated into South Africa, becoming the Eastern Cape province. As of 2003, the majority of Xhosa speakers, approximately 5.3 million, lived in the Eastern Cape, followed by the Western Cape (approximately 1 million), Gauteng (971,045), the Free State (546,192), KwaZulu-Natal (219,826), North West (214,461), Mpumalanga (46,553), the Northern Cape (51,228), and Limpopo (14,225). There is a small but significant Xhosa-speaking (Mfengu ) community in Zimbabwe, and their language, isiXhosa, is recognised as an official national language . This community was brought by Cecil John Rhodes for cheap labour in Rhodesian mines in early 20th century.[clarification needed ] History Xhosa village in Eastern Cape. Some archaeological evidence has been discovered that suggests that Xhosa-speaking people have lived in the Eastern Cape area since at least the 7th century . The modern Xhosa are Nguni people, a stock of Bantu Origins An illustration of a group of Xhosa people by Thomas Baines (illustrated in 1848). The Xhosa people are descendants of the ancestors of Ngunis. Xhosa oral history also mentions a historical settlement called 'Eluhlangeni' believed to have been in East Africa in which the Ngunis lived in for some time before continuing with their migration. Upon crossing mountains and rivers in South Africa, these farm-working agro-pastoralists brought their cattle and goats with them and absorbed the weaker San groups in the region. They also brought weapons, notably their assegais and their shields and would form groups or chiefdoms and kingdoms mainly in what is now the Eastern Cape . Xhosa shield Kingdom Xhosa spearman According to oral tradition, the modern Xhosa Kingdom was founded somewhere before the 15th century by Tshawe (whom the royal clan of the Xhosas is named after) who overthrew his brother Cirha (assisted by his brother Jwarha) with the help of the amaNgwevu clan of the amaMpondomise Kingdom. Tshawe and his army then incorporated formerly independent Nguni clans into the Xhosa Kingdom. Khoekhoe tribes were incorporated, including the Inqua, the Giqwa, and the amaNgqosini (both Khoi and Sotho origin). Formerly independent clans (many of Khoekhoe origin) and chiefdoms in the region became tributary to the amaTshawe and spoke isiXhosa as their primary language. The Xhosa polity achieved political ascendancy over most of the Cape Khoe extending to the very fringes of the Cape Peninsula.[8] With the settlement of the Cape by Europeans in 1652, the native populations were gradually pushed eastwards until, in the 1700s, the borders of the Cape Colony had pushed populations far enough east (with relations between colonist and native significantly broken down) to create a critical mass of hostile population to resist the colonists in the Eastern Cape. This sparked off the Cape frontier wars , which represent some of the longest military resistance to colonialism. The historical end result would be the containment of large portions of the Cape native population into native reserves in the Easternmost part of the Cape. However, these populations would also continually serve as labour inside the Cape Colony. These native reserves would be re-branded "homelands" in the 20th century and would only be fully dismantled in 1994, with populations moving back into the wider Cape. Skirmish during the Xhosa Wars In the 19th century, the Xhosas fought and repulsed many tribes that were escaping the Zulus in the Colony of Natal , this was during the historical mfecane . Those who were accepted were assimilated into the Xhosa cultural way of life and followed Xhosa traditions.[citation needed ] The Xhosas called these various tribes AmaMfengu , meaning wanderers, and were made up of clans such as the amaBhaca , amaBhele , amaHlubi , amaZizi and Rhadebe. To this day, the descendants of the amaMfengu are part of the Xhosa people and they speak isiXhosa and practice the Xhosa culture.[citation needed ] Xhosa unity and ability to fight off colonial encroachment was to be weakened by the famines and political divisions that followed the cattle-killing movement of 1856–1858 . Historians now view this movement as a millennialist response, both directly to a lung disease spreading among Xhosa cattle at the time, and less directly to the stress to Xhosa society caused by the continuing loss of their territory and autonomy. Some historians argue that this early absorption into the wage economy is the ultimate origin of the long history of trade union membership and political leadership among Xhosa people.[citation needed ] That history manifests itself today in high degrees of Xhosa representation in the leadership of the African National Congress (ANC), South Africa's ruling political party in the government . Language Main article: Xhosa language Map of South Africa showing the primary Xhosa language speech area in green Xhosa is an agglutinative tonal language categorized under Bantu linguistic classification. While the Xhosas call their language "isiXhosa", it is usually referred to as "Xhosa" in English. Written Xhosa uses a Latin alphabet –based system. Xhosa is spoken by about 18% of the South African population, and has some mutual intelligibility with Zulu, especially Zulu spoken in urban areas. Many Xhosa speakers, particularly those living in urban areas, also speak Zulu and/or Afrikaans and/or English. Rites of passage Further information: Xhosa clan names The Xhosa are a South African cultural group who emphasise traditional practices and customs inherited from their forefathers. Each person within the Xhosa culture has their place which is recognised by the entire community. Starting from birth, a Xhosa person goes through graduation stages which recognise their growth and assign them a recognised place in the community. Each stage is marked by a specific ritual aimed at introducing the individual to their counterparts and also to their ancestors. Starting from imbeleko, a ritual performed to introduce a new born to the ancestors, to umphumo (the homecoming), from inkwenkwe (a boy) to indoda (a man). These rituals and ceremonies are sacrosanct to the identity and heritage of the Xhosa and other African descendants. Though some western scholars question the relevance of these practices today, even urbanised Xhosa people do still follow them. The ulwaluko and intonjane are also traditions which separated this tribe from the rest of the Nguni tribes. These are performed to mark the transition from child to adulthood. Zulus once performed the ritual but King Shaka stopped it because of war in the 1810s. In 2009, it was reintroduced by King Goodwill Zwelithini Zulu, not as a custom, but as a medical procedure to curb HIV infections. All these rituals are symbolic of one's development. Before each is performed, the individual spends time with community elders to prepare for the next stage. The elders' teachings are not written, but transmitted from generation to generation by oral tradition. The iziduko (clan) for instance—which matters most to the Xhosa identity (even more than names and surnames) are transferred from one to the other through oral tradition. Knowing your isiduko is vital to the Xhosas and it is considered a shame and uburhanuka (lack-of-identity) if one doesn't know one's clan. This is considered so important that when two strangers meet for the first time, the first identity that gets shared is isiduko. It is so important that two people with the same surname but different clan names are considered total strangers, but two people from the same clan but with different surnames are regarded as close relatives. This forms the roots of ubuntu (human kindness) – a behaviour synonymous to this tribe as extending a helping hand to a complete stranger when in need. Ubuntu goes further than just helping one another – it is so deep that it even extends to looking after and reprimanding your neighbour's child when in the wrong. Hence the saying "it takes a village to raise a child". One traditional ritual that is still regularly practiced is the manhood ritual, a secret rite that marks the transition from boyhood to manhood, ulwaluko . After ritual circumcision , the initiates (abakwetha) live in isolation for up to several weeks, often in the mountains. During the process of healing they smear white clay on their bodies and observe numerous customs. In modern times the practice has caused controversy, with over 825 circumcision- and initiation-related deaths since 1994, and the spread of sexually transmitted infections , including HIV , via the practice of circumcising initiates with the same blade. In March 2007, a controversial mini-series dealing with Xhosa circumcision and initiation rites debuted on South African Broadcasting Corporation . Titled Umthunzi Wentaba, the series was taken off the air after complaints by traditional leaders that the rites are secret and not to be revealed to non-initiates and women. In January 2014 the website ulwaluko.co.za was released by a Dutch medical doctor. It features a gallery of photographs of injured penises, which sparked outrage amongst traditional leaders in the Eastern Cape. The South African Film and Publication Board ruled that the website was "scientific with great educative value", addressing a "societal problem needing urgent intervention". Girls are also initiated into womanhood (Intonjane). They too are secluded, though for a shorter period. Female initiates are not circumcised . Other rites include the seclusion of mothers for ten days after giving birth, and the burial of the afterbirth and umbilical cord near the village. This is reflected in the traditional greeting Inkaba yakho iphi?, literally "where is your navel?" The answer "tells someone where you live, what your clan affiliation is, and what your social status is and contains a wealth of undisclosed cultural information. Most importantly, it determines where you belong". Rituals surrounding umtshato (Xhosa marriage) Xhosa marriage, umtshato, is one that is filled with a number of customs and rituals which relate to the upkeep of Xhosa traditional practices. These rituals have been practiced for decades by the Xhosa people and have been incorporated into modern day Xhosa marriages as well. The purpose of the practices is to bring together two different families and to give guidance to the newly wed couple throughout. Ukuthwalwa To start off the procedures the male intending to marry goes through Ukuthwalwa which entails him choosing his future bride and making his intentions of marriage known, however this practice was not done by all the tribes within the Xhosa people. In modern day, the man and woman would most likely have been in courtship or a relationship prior to Ukuthwalwa. Decades before Ukuthwalwa would entail legal bridal abduction, where the man could choose a woman of his liking to be his bride and go into negotiations with the family of the bride without her knowledge or consent. She would have to abide to the marriage as per tradition. Isiduko Following Ukuthwala, the man will then be in discussion with his parents or relatives to inform them of his choice in bride. During this discussion the clan name, isiduko, of the woman would be revealed and researched. If it were found that the woman and the man share the same clan name they would not be allowed to proceed with the marriage as it is said that people with the same clan name are of the same relation and cannot be wed. Once discussions with the family are complete and satisfactory information about the woman is acquired then the family of the man will proceed to appoint marriage negotiators. It is these very negotiators that will travel to the family of the woman to make known the man and his intentions. Once the negotiators reach the family of the woman they will be kept in the kraal, inkundla, of the woman's family. If the family does not possess a kraal they will simply be kept outside the household as they will not be allowed to enter the household without the acknowledgment and acceptance of the woman's family. It is here where the lobola (dowry ) negotiations will begin. The family of the woman will give them a bride-price and a date for which they must return to pay that price. The bride-price is dependent on numerous things such as her level of education, the wealth status of her family in comparison to that of the man's family, what the man stands to gain in the marriage and the overall desirability of the woman. The payment of the bride-price could be in either cattle or money depending on the family of the woman. The modern Xhosa families would rather prefer money as most are situated in the urban cities where there would be no space nor permits for livestock. Upon return of the man's family on the given date, they will pay the bride-price and bring along gifts of offering such as livestock and alcoholic beverages, iswazi, to be drunk by the family of the bride. Once the lobola from the man's negotiators is accepted then they will be considered married by the Xhosa tradition and the celebrations would commence. These include slaughtering of the livestock as a grateful gesture to their ancestors as well as pouring a considerable amount of the alcoholic beverages on the ground of the bride's household to give thanks to their ancestors. The groom's family is then welcomed into the family and traditional beer, Umqombothi , will be prepared for the groom's family as a token of appreciation from the bride's family. Ukuyalwa To solidify their unity the family of the bride will head to the groom's household where the elders will address her with regards to how to carry herself and dress appropriately at her newly found household, this is called Ukuyalwa. Furthermore, a new name will also be given to her by the women of the groom's family and this name signifies the bond of the two families. Xhosa burial practices Burial practices and customs include a specific sequence of events and rituals which need to be performed in order to regard a funeral as dignified. Once the family has been notified that a member has died, the extended family comes together in preparation for the burial of the deceased. The "umkhapho" (to accompany) ritual is performed in order to accompany the spirit of the deceased to the land of the ancestors. The local male clan leader or his proxy is the one who facilitates the process. The purpose of umkhapho is to keep the bonds between the deceased person and the bereaved alive so that the deceased may be able to return later and communicate as an ancestor. During this ritual, an animal such as a goat is slaughtered. A larger animal like a cow may also be slaughtered for an important person like a head of the family whilst a goat without a blemish may be slaughtered for others. Further customs include the emptying the main bedroom of the bereaving family, known as 'indlu enkulu'. This room is where most of the last respects will be paid by family and friends. The emptying of the room is done in order to create space for extended family members to be able to mourn in the main room. The first family members and/or neighbours to arrive arrange the main bedroom to accommodate this seating arrangement by placing a traditional grass mat (ukhukho) or mattress on the floor. Mourners do not require an invitation to attend a funeral and everyone who can and would like to attend is welcome. This means that the bereaved family has to cater for an unknown number of mourners. Traditionally, mourners were fed with 'inkobe', which is boiled dried corn and water, and the corn was taken from the family food reserves as well as donated by family members and neighbours. In the 21st century, it is regarded as taboo to feed mourners with 'inkobe' and, as a result of shame, funeral catering has become a lucrative business for the industry during burial events. Xhosa woman preparing food for large groups of people On the day of burial, before extended family members disperse to their homes, the ukuxukuxa (cleansing) ritual occurs and a goat or sheep or even a fowl is slaughtered. A cleansing ritual is done the day after the burial, in which the bereaved women of the family go to the nearest river to wash all the materials and blankets that were used by the deceased before death. Furthermore, the clothes of the deceased are removed from the house and the family members shave their hair. The shaving of hair is an indication that life continues to spring up even after death.[25] Traditional diet The Xhosa settled on mountain slopes of the Amatola and the Winterberg Mountains. Many streams drain into great rivers of this Xhosa territory, including the Kei and Fish Rivers. Rich soils and plentiful rainfall make the river basins good for farming and grazing making cattle important and the basis of wealth. Traditional foods include beef (Inyama yenkomo), mutton (Inyama yegusha), and goat meat (Inyama yebhokwe), sorghum , milk (often fermented , called "amasi "), pumpkins (amathanga), Mielie-meal (maize meal), samp (umngqusho), beans (iimbotyi), vegetables , like "rhabe", wild spinach reminiscent of sorrel , "imvomvo", the sweet sap of an aloe , or "ikhowa", a mushroom that grows after summer rains. Xhosa cuisine See also: Typical South African foods and dishes Xhosa beer Umqombothi in Langa Amaceba , slices of unpeeled pumpkins that are cooked in plenty of water. Amarhewu or mageu , soft and sour porridge Iinkobe , peeled off fresh maize grains, and boiled until cooked. It is eaten as a snack, preferably with salt. Isidudu , a soft porridge made mealie meal. It is usually served for breakfast, with sugar and milk. Intyabontyi , a citron melon with white insides, eaten either raw or cooked. Isophi , corn with beans or peas soup Umcuku , fermented porridge [amarhewu], sour, slightly soft than porridge itself, mixed with dry pap [umphokoqo]; was popular in the 1900s. Umleqwa , a dish made with free-range chicken . Umngqusho , a dish made from white maize and sugar beans, a staple food for the Xhosa people. Umphokoqo , crumble pap Umqombothi , a type of beer made from fermented maize and sorghum. Umvubo , (Amasi)sour milk mixed with umphokoqo, commonly eaten by the Xhosa. Umbhako , a loaf of bread, commonly made with homemade dough. Normally round, from baking pots Umfino , Wild Spinach/Cabbage called imifino, spinach mixed with mealie meal. Umqa , a dish made of pumpkin and mielie meal (maize meal) Umxoxozi , a pumpkin that is cooked before it is fully ripened. Art Xhosa women's outfit, made from cotton blanket fabric coloured with red ochre and decorated with glass beads, mother of pearl buttons and black felt trim Traditional crafts include bead-work, weaving, woodwork and pottery. Traditional music features drums, rattles, whistles, flutes, mouth harps, and stringed-instruments and especially group singing accompanied by hand clapping. There are songs for various ritual occasions; one of the best-known Xhosa songs is a wedding song called "Qongqothwane ", performed by Miriam Makeba as "Click Song #1". Besides Makeba, several modern groups record and perform in Xhosa. Missionaries introduced the Xhosa to Western choral singing.[citation needed ] "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika ", part of the National anthem of South Africa is a Xhosa hymn written in 1897 by Enoch Sontonga . The first newspapers , novels, and plays in Xhosa appeared in the 19th century, and Xhosa poetry is also gaining renown. Xhosa village in Eastern Cape. Several films have been shot in the Xhosa language. U-Carmen eKhayelitsha is a modern remake of Bizet 's 1875 opera Carmen . It is shot entirely in Xhosa, and combines music from the original opera with traditional African music. It takes place in the Cape Town township of Khayelitsha . The movie Black Panther also features the Xhosa language. Xhosa beadwork Beads are small round objects made of glass, wood, metal, nutshell, bone seed and the likes, which are then pierced for stringing.[28] Before glass beads were introduced, people used natural materials to make beads. Xhosa people relied on the San to sell beads to them through trade or barter exchange. Xhosa people would give hemp to the San in exchange for beads. The beads made by the San were made out of ostrich egg shells which were chipped to small size, bored and polished and strung into sinews. Producing them took a long time, so they were scarce, highly priced, valued and in demand. It is recorded that it was only in the 1930s that the Portuguese introduced glass beads through trade. Xhosa beadwork and its symbolism Adornments serve a particular purpose across different cultures as social markers . They are used to ascertain where one belongs to with regards to identity, history and geographical location. They reveal personal information with regards to age and gender and social class as some beads were meant to be worn by royalty. Beadwork creates a sense of belonging and cultural identity and traditions hence people draw their cultural ways of living and meanings, as Xhosa people use them as social markers. Xhosa people believe that the beads also create a link between the living and the ancestors as diviners use them during rituals. Thus beads have some spiritual significance.[29] Social identities/markers with regards to age, gender, grade, marital status, social rank or role and the spiritual state can be ascertained through Xhosa beadwork. Symbolic references are drawn from the beads through the colour, pattern, formation and motifs. However, it ought to be taken into cognisance that some of these messages are limited to a certain group or between two people. In Xhosa culture beads represent the organisational framework of the people and the rites of passage that people have gone through as the beads are representative of the stages of one's life. Motifs on the beads often used include trees, diamonds, quadrangles, chevrons, triangles, circles, parallel lines that form a pattern that is exclusive to certain age groups. Although the beadwork has some cultural significance with certain motifs having exclusive meanings, the creator of the beadwork has creative control and can create and draw meaning from individual preference. Thus the meanings drawn from the beadwork are not rigidly set. Among the Thembu (a tribe in the Eastern Cape often erroneously referred to be a Xhosa tribe), after circumcision, the men wore, and still wear, skirts, turbans and a wide bead collar. A waistcoat, long necklaces, throat bands, armbands, leggings and belts are part of his regalia. The dominant colours in the beadwork are white and navy blue, with some yellow and green beads symbolising fertility and a new life, respectively.[29] Xhosa people regard white as the colour of purity and mediation; white beads are still used as offerings to spirits or to the creator. Amagqirha/diviners use white beads when communicating with the ancestors . These diviners also carry with them beaded spears, which are associated with the ancestors that inspire the diviner; beaded horns; and calabashes, to hold medicinal products or snuff. "Amageza", a veil made of beads, is also part of their regalia, they use these beads by swaying them in someone's eyes so as to induce a trance-like state. Inkciyo is a beaded skirt that serves as a garment covering the pubic area. Among the Pondo people (Xhosa clan) the beads are turquoise and white in colour. This skirt is worn during a virginity testing ceremony among Xhosa people undergoing their rites of passage into womanhood. Impempe is a whistle that has a necklace on it. The whistle symbolises one's introduction to adolescence. Xhosa beadwork and other cultural beadworks have cultural ties, but nowadays beads are also worn as fashion pieces, too, either as cultural appreciation or appropriation. The use of cultural beadworks as fashion pieces means that anyone can wear these pieces without having to belong to that cultural group. Clothing The Xhosa culture has a traditional dress code informed by the individuals social standing portraying different stages of life. The 'red blanket people' (Xhosa people) have a custom of wearing red blankets dyed with red ochre, the intensity of the colour varying from tribe to tribe. Other clothing includes beadwork and printed fabrics. Although in general, Xhosa lifestyle has been adapted to Western traditions, the Xhosa people still wear traditional attire for special cultural activities. The various tribes have their own variations of traditional dress which includes the colour of their garments and beadwork. This allows for different Xhosa groups to be able to be distinguishable from one another due to their different styles of dress. The Gcaleka women, for instance, encase their arms and legs in beads and brass bangles and some also wear neck beads. Women Unmarried women often wear wraps tied around their shoulders, leaving their breasts exposed. Engaged women redden their plaited hair and let it screen their eyes, this was done as a sign of respect for their fiancés. Xhosa women wear some form of headdress to cover their heads as a sign of respect to the head of the family which is either their father or husband. Elderly Xhosa women are allowed to wear more elaborate headpieces because of their seniority. Description Incebetha is a small blanket that is used as a bra. It is pinned or adorned with beads. The process of making 'incebetha' is called 'uRhaswa'. 'Ifulu' is a garment that is worn underneath, below the belt. 'Ifulu' is covered by the 'isikhakha' or 'umbhaco' and is made of a blanket. It is also adorned with beads through 'urhaswa'. 'Iqhiya' is a cloth that is fitted to the head and covered with beads. Women then wear a small and light weight blanket on the waist called 'uxakatha'. Women make bracelets with beads, called 'intsimbi' or 'amaso', which they wear on their feet. 'Intsimbi' or 'amaso' is also worn around the waist. 'Intsimbi' or 'amaso' is made with small wires or flexible material. 'Imitsheke' is worn on the wrist. A small hand bag is worn called 'ingxowa'. Men Xhosa men resting during a hunt. Xhosa men traditionally filled the roles as hunters, warriors and stockman, therefore animal skin forms an important part of their traditional wear. Men often wear goatskin bags in which to carry essentials such as tobacco and a knife. The bag is usually made from skin that had been removed in one piece, cured without removing the hair, and turned inside out. On special occasions such as weddings or initiation ceremonies, Xhosa men wear embroidered skirts with a rectangular cloth over the left shoulder alternatively, a tunic and strands of beaded necklaces can be worn. Description Men wear 'ingcawa' a white and black blanket, adorned with 'ukurhaswa'. Men wear beads around their neck. 'Isichebe' is a short bead while 'Isidanga' is a long bead necklace with different colors. Men wear beads around their wrists and foot called 'amaso'. Beads that are worn on the head are called 'unngqa' or 'igwala'. Men smoke pipes that are decorated by 'ukurhaswa'. The traditional smoking pipes are called 'umbheka phesheya'. Xhosas in modern society This section needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2011) Modern Xhosa attire. Xhosa man, Eastern Cape. Xhosa girl. Xhosa people as of 2011 made up approximately 18% of the South African population. The Xhosa are the second largest cultural group in South Africa, after the Zulu people . Under apartheid , adult literacy rates were as low as 30%,[citation needed ] and in 1996 studies estimated the literacy level of first-language Xhosa speakers at approximately 50%. There have been advances since then, however.[citation needed ] Education in primary-schools serving Xhosa-speaking communities is conducted in Xhosa , but this is replaced by English after the early primary grades. Xhosa is still considered as a studied subject, however, and it is possible to major in Xhosa at university level. Most of the students at Walter Sisulu University and University of Fort Hare speak Xhosa. Rhodes University in Grahamstown, additionally, offers courses in Xhosa for both mother-tongue and non-mother-tongue speakers. These courses both include a cultural studies component. Professor Russel H. Kaschula, Head of the School of Languages at Rhodes, has published multiple papers on Xhosa culture and oral literature. The effects of government policies during the years of apartheid can still be seen in the poverty of the Xhosa who still reside in the Eastern Cape. During this time, Xhosa males could only seek employment in the mining industry as so-called migrant labourers. Since the collapse of apartheid, individuals can move freely. After the breakdown of apartheid, migration to Gauteng and Cape Town has become increasingly common, especially amongst rural Xhosa people SWAZI PEOPLE Swazi The Swazi tribe, also known as the Eswatini, is one of the smallest tribes in South Africa. They have a monarchy system of government and hold their king, the Ngwenyama, in high regard. The Swazi people are known for their beautiful traditional dances and colorful festivals. Expert Perspective: Dr. Nomkhosi Dlamini, cultural anthropologist, states, “The Swazi people have managed to preserve their cultural practices despite external influences. This resilience is a testament to the importance of cultural identity in the face of adversity.” The Swazi or Swati (Swati : Emaswati, singular Liswati) are a Bantu ethnic group native to Southern Africa , inhabiting Eswatini , a sovereign kingdom in Southern Africa, and South Africa 's Mpumalanga province . AmaSwati are part of the Nguni-language speaking peoples whose origins can be traced through archaeology to East Africa where similar traditions, beliefs and cultural practices are found. The Swati people and the Kingdom of Eswatini today are named after Mswati II , who became king in 1839 after the death of his father King Sobhuza. Eswatini was a region first occupied by the San people and the current Swazis migrated from north East Africa through to Mozambique and eventually settled in Eswatini in the 15th century. Their royal lineage can be traced to a chief named Dlamini I; this is still the royal clan name. About three-quarters of the clan groups are Nguni ; the remainder are Sotho , Tsonga , others North East African and San descendants. These groups have intermarried freely. Swazi identity extends to all those with allegiance to the twin monarchs Ingwenyama "the Lion" (the king) and Indlovukati "the She-Elephant" (the queen mother). The dominant Swati language and culture are factors that unify Swatis as a nation. History amaSwati are native to Southern Africa. The term bakaNgwane ("Ngwane's people") is still used as an alternative to emaSwati, to refer to the Swati people. EmaSwati are people who are predominantly descended from Nguni-language speakers. However some of the Swati people originate from Sotho clans who were also inhabitants of Eswatini. Under the leadership of Dlamini III who took over from the Maseko and settlement took place in 1750, along the Pongola River where it cuts through the Lubombo mountains . Later on, they moved into a region on the Pongola River , which was in close proximity to the Ndwandwe people . Dlamini III's successor was Ngwane III , who is considered the first King of modern Eswatini. He ruled from around 1745 until 1780 at the Shiselweni region of Eswatini. In 1815, Sobhuza I became the king of Eswatini and was responsible for the establishment of Swati power in central Eswatini. Here the Swati people continued the process of expansion by conquering numerous small Sotho and Nguni-speaking tribes to build up a large composite state today called Eswatini. Sobhuza I 's rule occurred during the Mfecane . Under Sobhuza's leadership, the Nguni and Sotho peoples as well as remnant San groups were integrated into the Swati nation. It was during his rule that the present boundaries of Eswatini were fully under the rule of the Dlamini kings. In the late 1830s, initial contact occurred with the Boers , who were settling in the territory that would become the South African Republic . A substantial portion of Swati territory was ceded to the Transvaal Boers who settled around the Lydenburg area in the 1840s. The territory of Eswatini, and their king, Mswati II , were recognized by both the Transvaal and Britain. It was during the rule of Mswati II that the Swati nation was unified. Thereafter, the label "Swati" eventually was applied to all the peoples who gave allegiance to the Ingwenyama . Later under Mbandzeni , many commercial, land, and mining concessions were granted to British and Boer settlers. This move led to further loss of land to the South African Republic. The result was that a substantial Swati population ended up residing outside Eswatini in South Africa. The Pretoria Convention for the Settlement of the Transvaal in 1881 recognized the independence of Eswatini and defined its boundaries. The Ngwenyama was not a signatory, and the Swazi claim that their territory extends in all directions from the present state. Britain claimed authority over Eswatini in 1903, and independence was regained in 1968. Today, Swati people reside in both Eswatini and South Africa. People of Swati descent in South Africa are typically identifiable by speaking siSwati , or a dialect of that language. There are also many Swati migrants in South Africa and the United Kingdom. The number of emaSwati in South Africa is slightly larger than that of emaSwati in Eswatini, which is approximately 1.2 million people. In modern-day Eswatini, Swati people include all Eswatini citizens regardless of their ethnicity. Identity The Kings of Eswatini date back to some considerable time to when the royal line of Dlamini lived in the vicinity of Delagoa Bay . The Swazi people as a nation were originally formed by 17 clans known as bemdzabuko ("true Swazi") who accompanied the Dlamini kings in the early days. The 17 founding clans were Dlamini, Nhlabathi, Hlophe, Kunene, Mabuza, Madvonsela, Mamba, Matsebula, Mdluli, Motsa, Ngwenya, Shongwe, Sukati, Tsabedze, Tfwala, Mbokane and Zwane. Other Swazi clans are the Emakhandzambili clans ("those found ahead", e.g. the Gamedze, Fakudze, Ngcamphalala and Magagula), meaning that they were on the land prior to Dlamini immigration and conquest. The Emafikemuva ("those who came behind") who joined the kingdom later. Culture Main article: Culture of Eswatini Princess Sikhanyiso dancing at umhlanga A Swazi woman dancing Dancing and singing, including praise-singing, are prominent in Swazi culture. Pottery and carving were minor arts. Swazi traditional marriage is called umtsimba ; it is usually on a weekend in the dry season (June to August). The bride and her relatives go to the groom's homestead on Friday evening. On Saturday morning, the bridal party sit by a nearby river and eat goat or cow meat offered by the groom's family; in the afternoon, they dance in the groom's homestead. On Sunday morning, the bride, with her female relatives, stabs the ground with a spear at the groom's cattle kraal ; later she is smeared with red ochre . The smearing is the high point of marriage: no woman can be smeared twice. The bride presents gifts to her husband and his relatives. Umhlanga is one of the most well-known cultural events in Eswatini held in August/September for young unmarried girls to pay homage to the Ndlovukati . Incwala is another Swazi cultural event held in December/January, depending on the phases of the moon. This ceremony, also known as the "First Fruits" ceremony, marks the King's tasting of the new harvest.[4] Religion The traditional Swazi religion recognizes a supreme God/creator in its pure form while the ancestors are recognized. The Swazi religion is based on a creator known as Mvelincanti (he who was there from the beginning). Most Swazis intertwine this belief with modern day Christianity that was brought by the missionaries. Many continue to practice their traditional spiritual beliefs. Spiritual rituals are performed at the level of family associated with birth, death and marriage. NDEBELE PEOPLE Ndebele The Ndebele tribe is known for its vibrant and colorful traditional attire. Their distinctive geometric patterns and beadwork are a visual representation of their cultural identity. The Ndebele people have a close-knit community and value their traditions and customs. Insight: Ndebele artist, Sipho Mabena, shares, “Our art is not just decorative; it tells a story of our history and struggles. It is a way for us to express ourselves and keep our culture alive.” AmaNdebele are an ethnic group native to South Africa who speak isiNdebele . The group is separate from the Northern Ndebele who broke away from the Zulu during Tshaka 's time. They mainly inhabit the provinces of Mpumalanga , Gauteng and Limpopo , all of which are in the northeast of the country. In academia this ethnic group is referred to as the Southern Ndebele to differentiate it from their relatives the Northern Ndebele people of Limpopo and Northwest . History Prehistory The history of the Ndebele people begin with the Bantu Migrations southwards from the Great Lakes region of East Africa. Bantu speaking peoples moved across the Limpopo river into modern day South Africa and over time assimilated and conquered the indigenous San people in the North Eastern regions of South Africa. At the time of the collapse of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe in 1450, Two main groups had emerged south of the Limpopo River : the Nguni , who occupied the eastern coastal plains, and the Sotho–Tswana , who lived on the interior plateau. Between the 1400s and early 1800s saw these two groups split into smaller distinct cultures and people. The Ndebele were just such a people. Among the Hlubi Chief Ndebele was living with his people in the territory of the Bhaca and Hlubi south of the Drakensberg Mountains which they called "uKhahlamba". The capital settlement in this territory was called eLundini. Chief Ndebele had broken away from the larger Mbo group and established his own rule over his own people who would take his name as the name of their nation. Jonono, the great-grandson of Ndebele moved north with his people and settled in the area just north east of modern-day Ladysmith in the mountains surrounding the mouth of the Cwembe River . Jononoskop which is approximately 30 km (19 mi) north east of Ladysmith is said to be the burial place of Jonono. Jonono was succeeded as "INgwenyama" which is the title of the King of the Ndebele, by his eldest son Nanasi who legend holds, was resistant to all poisons. One tale tells of how Nanasi feasted on the top of a nearby hill on poisonous fruit only to discover that he remained unharmed by the fruit. Today the alleged site is called "Butiswini" from ubuthi esiswini which roughly means 'a poisoned stomach'. Oral tradition does not tell us why Nanasi was eating poisonous fruit in the first place. Migration to north of the Vaal river Nanasi died without issue and so Mafana his brother succeeded him as Ngwenyama. Mafana is said to have lived in the mid-1500s. Mafana moved his people from their lands near Ladysmith moving in a north westward direction crossing first the Drakensberg Mountains and then made an attempt to cross the Vaal River . He was unsuccessful and drowned in the river along with a few others. After the death of his father Mafana, Mhlanga assumed the throne and took his people over the Vaal River travelling in a north westward direction finally settling in an area around modern day Randfontein . Mhlanga established a new capitol that was later called eMhlangeni(now known as Mehlakeng), which means Mhlanga's place, and there he stayed with the Ndebele until his death. Musi, the son of Mhlanga succeeded his father as Ngwenyama of the Ndebele people. While at eMhlangeni, Musi found the area becoming increasingly hostile from the Sotho-Tswana tribes to the west that had not taken kindly to the Nguni Ndebele settling so close to their borders. Ultimately due the competing of resources, Musi uprooted the Ndebele once again and moved his people northwards crossing first the Jukskei River then the Hennops River . After discovering the source of the Apies River , Musi's Ndebele moved north along its banks through Wonderboompoort and settled in the hills north of Wonderboomkop on both side of the Apies River. Here Musi established two settlements. The first of which "KwaMnyamana" (The Place of Black Rocks) served as a new capitol for the Ndebele and was situated on the eastern side of the Apies river. The second settlement was that of "eMaruleni" (Named for the abundance of Marula fruit trees), which was situated on the western side of the Apies river. Here at KwaMnyamana, Musi's Ndebele would establish a thriving homeland for themselves trading with BaKwena and BaKgatla tribes in the west. Musi's people also encountered the indigenous nomadic San people living along the Apies River whom they called "AbaTshwa" which is said to mean "The People who we ignore". Manala-Ndzundza conflict Musi was a polygamist and as such fathered many children with many wives. The following are some of Musi's known progeny: Masombuka, also called Sikhosana whose name means "to begin". First born son of Musi's third wife. Ndzundza, also called Hlungwana was the first born son of his second wife. Manala, also called Mbuduma was the first born son of his 'Great Wife'. There was also Thombeni, also called Gheghana, Sibasa, Mrhwaduba, Mphafuli, Dlomu, and Tshwane, whose historicity is hotly debated with many suggesting he was not the son of Musi but the son of Musi's brother Sekhubatane or even Musi's grandson. There are others who even suggest that he may have never existed at all. According to Ndebele tradition, it is custom for the first born son of the 'Great Wife' to succeed his father as ruler over the Ndebele people. The first born of Musi's great wife was Manala. Thus Manala was the rightful heir to the ruling seat of the Ndebele. This did not sit well with Musi's second wife whose son Ndzundza was born first before Manala. Oral tradition on the many details of the following vary from community to community however what is mostly agreed upon is that when Musi was old, he was blind and quite senile. After the death of his great wife he was being nursed and cared for by his second wife. This second wife, sensing the passing of Musi was near, instructed Manala to go out and hunt an 'imbuduma' (Wildebeest ) to honour his father in his last days. While Manala was out, Musi's second wife came to him and presented her son Ndzundza as Manala and asked Musi to bestow to Ndzundza the "iNamrhali" which it is said, are magical beads or a magical staff that produce a sound that mimics the cries of a child. This mysterious gift was passed from incumbent rulers to their successors at their death to fortify their rule as the new ruler. Alternate oral tradition holds that Musi himself sent Manala to hunt the imbuduma and knowingly bestowed iNamrhali to Ndzundza and instructed him to call an "Imbizo" (Royal counsel) and inform the elders and the people of what had transpired between him and his father. Ndzundza was further instructed to not leave KwaMnyamana at any cost. That if he should leave the seat of power, even having iNamrhali would not be enough to consolidate his power as the new ruler over the people and that his brother Manala would surely uses the forces of KwaMnyamana to seek retribution. While it is debated how Ndzundza had obtained iNamrhali, the one consistent fact remained in almost all stories that Ndzundza was indeed in possession of iNamrhali at this point. Ndzundza did not head the warning of his father and fled eastwards with many followers including his brothers Mthombeni and Masombuka . Manala arrived with his hunt to find his father had died and Ndzundza with iNamrhali along with many followers had fled. Manala himself called an Imbizo declaring that Ndzundza had stolen iNamrhali and thus his birthright. He vowed to bring Ndzundza back to KwaMnyamana or kill him. Manala with his army pursued Ndzundza and caught up with him at MaSongololo (Zonkolol) Between modern day Cullinan and Rayton . There they fought a battle between two branches of the Elands River . Ndzundza had narrowly claimed victory in this first battle and rather than staying in the area he fled with his forces further eastward. Manala pursued again and again lost to Ndzundza's forces in a battle at the Wilge River . It is said that at this battle, Ndzundza used iNamrhali to cast a magical spell over the river causing it to wash away some of Manala's forces. After this second defeat, Manala retreated back to KwaMnyamana to replenish their provisions and numbers. Manala and his army then continued to chase Ndzundza until they met at the Olifants River were a third battle ensued. Ndzundza allegedly cast the first blow, throwing a spear over the river towards Manala which landed at his feet. It was then that oral tradition holds that at the moment Manala had the upper hand to kill his brother Ndzundza, a "long breasted" old woman named Noqoli from the Mnguni family stepped in and scolded the brothers for fighting. She proceeded to call a meeting to mediate peace between the two brothers. The outcome of this meeting was that henceforth there would be two kings of the Ndebele people. Ndzundza would hold Musi's iNamrhali and be recognised as his own king within the Ndebele kingdom, and Manala would continue to rule as the senior king from Musi's capital of KwaMnyamana (Wonderboom) and the Olifants River would be the border separating the two powers within the greater Ndebele Kingdom. The agreement further stated that the brothers may never again fight. That great misfortune would follow the Ndebele people should they transgress the agreement which came to be known as "isiVumelano sakoNoQoli" (Noqoli's agreement). To show their commitment to honour Noqoli's agreement, it was decided that Manala's daughters and descendants would marry the daughters and descendants of Ndzundza and vice versa. This practice would later die out. Noqoli and her descendants were honoured with the title Msiza. This story bears great resemblance to the biblical story of Jacob and Esau which features in The Book of Genesis from Chapters 27 through to 33 telling of Esau 's loss of his birthright to Jacob and the conflict that ensued between their descendants nations because of Jacob's deception of their aged and blind father, Isaac , in order to receive Esau's birthright/blessing from Isaac. There has been much debate over the past few centuries about the exact details of isiVumelwano sakoNoQoli. This debate boiled over into a legal feud between Enoch Mabhena Makhosoke II of the Manala and Mbusi Mahlangu Mabhoko III of the Ndzundza over who holds the most senior position in the Ndebele kingdom. The matter was settled with the Nhlapo Commission onto Traditional leadership and claims which in 2010 declared Mabhena as the senior king of the Ndebele. In November 2010, former President of South Africa Jacob Zuma caused controversy when he overturned the Nhlapo Commissions finding and declared Mahlangu to be the senior king of the Ndebele. This was later rectified in 2017, High Court and Makhosonke II was legally entrenched as the senior king of the Ndebele People of South Africa. Post Ndebele Schism The remaining sons of Musi all went their separate ways after the Manala-Ndzundza conflict. Thombeni and Masombuka relocated with their brother Ndzundza to east of the Olifants River . Thombeni (Gheghana) continued on with his people north and settled at the confluence of the Mgoto and Nkumpi rivers in what is today Moletlane. Thombeni's grandson named Kgabe took a large portion of the descendants of Tqahombeni north westward crossing the mountains and settling near the Waterberg Mountains along the Nyl river where their descendants were gradually assimilated into the surrounding Sotho-Tswana groups. By the middle of the 18th century, the Gheghana had further divided into smaller splinter groups, which spread out across the hills, valleys and plains surrounding present-day Mghumbhani(Mokopane) , Zebediela and Bhulungwani (Polokwane) .These groups were progressively absorbed into the numerically superior and more dominant surrounding Sotho groups, undergoing considerable cultural and social change. By contrast, the descendants of Manala and Ndzundza maintained a more recognisably distinctive cultural identity, and retained a language which was closer to the Mbo spoken by their coastal forebears (and to present-day isiHlubi). Sibasa and his brother Mphafuli moved north into the territory of the VhaVenda and were met with resistance from the Venda.After a considerable conflict the forces of Mphafuli and Sibasa established chieftainships at Tshivhase and Sibasa . Some of Mphafuli's descendents trekked southwards and joined the Ndzundza. Dlomu had decided to leave the territories north of the Vaal and go back to the ancestral homeland of the Ndebele in Hlubi territory. Here the descendants of Dlomu established the amaNdebele Clan among the Hlubi . The descendants of Mhwaduba stayed with Manala at KwaMnyamana for almost seven generations until the onset of a drought in the late 1700s caused one of his descendants, known to the Voortrekkers as "Pete" uprooted his people and settled near Schuinsdraai in Limpopo . After the arrival of Mzilikazi north of the Vaal, the remanents of Pete's people settled among the Masetla BaKgatla and were gradually assimilated as BaKgatla. As for Tshwane. It is said by some that he was one of the descendants of Mhwaduba who did not leave with Pete but instead moved south and settled on the northern banks of the Hennops river . Thaba Tshwane nearby bears his name. Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality was named in honour of Tshwane as well as a 3m statue erected in-front of Pretoria City Hall . This has caused great controversy. Manala returned from the Olifants River back to KwaMnyamana with two of his brothers daughters, Mathisi and Ganuganu as consolation for the loss of iNamrhali. Upon Manala's return he buried the body of Musi under the Wonderboom at the base of Wonderboomkop . Following Ndebele tradition would have led the funeral ceremony with his clothes inside out in a practice called "ukuhlanukela". After the burial the new Ngwenyama is announced to the people by the royal praise singer after-which there is a great feast. In the years leading up to Manala's death his people saw relative prosperity at KwaMnyamana. Manala was succeeded by his son Ntjhele, who succeeded by his son Magutjhona who was succeeded by his son Mrhawu, who was succeeded by his brother Ncagu who served as regent until Buyambo, the son of Mrawu was of age to assume the Manala throne. Buyambo's son Mabhena I who succeeded him as Ngwenyama of the Manala throne expanded the territory of to as far south as the confluence of the Hennops River and the Sesmylspruit and as far north as Marblehall in Limpopo . Mabhena I did however struggle with expansion to the west. Never moving past the Sand River which becomes the Tolwane River . He met respectable resistance from the Sotho-Tswana groups to the west. When the son of Mabhena I, Mdibane, ascended to the throne the Manala had controlled a territory spanning the length of northern Gauteng. This included many large settlements such as KwaMnyamana (The Place of Black Rocks) which served as the Manala Capital, eMaruleni (The Place of Marula Trees), eZotjaneni (The Place in The Grass), KoNonduna (The Place of The Chiefs) and eMbilaneni (The Holy Place). Ndzundza and his followers now free to establish their own rule moved to the source of the Steelpoort river and built the first Ndzundza capital called KwaSimkulu "The Great Place" situated approximately 20 km (12 mi) west of modern-day Belfast at the foot of Kwaggaskop . Ndzundza's Ndebele claimed all the lands from the Olifants River in the east to the western banks of the Elands River in Mpumalanga as their new territory. Ndzundza was succeeded by his son Mrhetjha who in turn was succeeded by his son Magobholi. Bongwe, the son of Magobholi and great-grandson of Ndzundza, ruled in a time where the territory of the Ndzundza became increasingly threatened by raids from the Nguni tribes in the south east and more worry-some the growing Sotho-Tswana peoples in the north. Bongwe thus left KwaSimkulu and established a new capital for the Ndzundza at the base of the Bothasberg which was called "KwaMaza" (The Place of Ash). This new capital proved to be in a more solid position with which to push back the expansion of baKgatla tribes in the north. Bongwe died without issue and was succeeded by his brother Sindeni. Sindeni continued his brothers campaigns in the north and defeated both the baKgatla under Moloi and the bakwaNkadimeng. Sindeni was succeeded by his grandson Mahlangu. It is not clear how power was transferred from Sindeni to Mahlangu and what happened to Mahlangu's father who should have ruled before him. Mahlangu attempted to expand the Ndzundza territory both to the north and south but had limited success. Despite this Mahlangu gained significant notoriety from his enemies as a skilled military leader. Mahlangu was succeeded by his son Phaswana who was killed in war. Phaswana was succeeded by his brother Maridili who had greater success in war defeating Makuwa baPedi and Makwetla baPedi at eDikeni. Maridili died without issue and so the Ndzundza throne passed onto the next brother Mdalanyana who was killed in war. The throne passed to Mgwezana, son of Mahlangu, who too was killed in battle. After this Mgwezana's brother Dzela. Dzela engaged in an ambitious war to claim more territory for the Ndzundza eastwards and attacked the BoKoni around Lydenburg which they called "eMatjhitjhini" (The Place of The Long Grass). This campaign was not successful and Dzela was killed. The throne then passed to Mrhabuli who was the son of Mgwezana but served as regent for the young Gembe who was the rightful heir of Mgwezana's throne. To avenge the death Dzela, Mrhabuli split the Ndzundza force into three armies with his brother Magodongo in command of one force, his young brother and heir Gembe in command of the second and himself in command of the last. The plan was to surround the BoKoni capital and attack from three sides. Gembe and his forces had gotten scared and abandoned his brothers on the eve of battle and fled. Mrhabuli and Magodongo inflicted massive loses on the BoKoni but sustained great losses without the support of Gembe. Mrhabuli was killed in this battle and ultimately it was decided among the "Induna" or Chiefs of the Ndzundza, that Gembe's actions were unforgivable and that instead Magodongo would be named the Ngwenyama of the Ndzundza founding a new dynasty. Mzilikazi and The Mfecane Sibindi, the son of Mdibane of the Manala had heard of the arrival of a large Khumalo army headed by Mzilikazi north of the Vaal sometime in early 1820s. Sibindi at first made an attempt to avoid conflict by offering one of his daughters to Mzilikazi as a peace offering. The exact details of the breakdown of diplomacy between Sibindi and Mzilikazi is not clear but oral tradition tells how Mzilikazi asked Sibindi to lend him a few of his best soldiers to go hunting with. Mzilikazi's men then set upon Sibindis loaned warriors and killed them. Sibindi subsequently called for all Ndebele, including the forces of Ndzundza to unite as one and meet Mzilikazi in battle. But Magodongo of the Ndzundza had limited forces to spare, due to his own struggling war against Thulare I of the BaPedi. Thus Sibindi with his uncle Chief Mavula as his second instead of Magodongo, marched towards Mzilikazi's advancing horde and met him as Klipkop, west of Pretoria winning a few initial skirmishes with the traditional praise song of Sibindi singing "Ngushlangu sidabula udaka mhlana abantungwa bawa ubusolokohlo KoSomazabanye". "They drove Mzilikazi's troupes passed 'KoSomazabanye'" Which is modern day Cullinan . Unfortunately Sibindi's luck had run out. Sibindi was killed and the Manala capital of KwaMnyamana was sacked. This first set of skirmishes against Sibindi proved to be only a test run for Mzilikazi's conquest of the central Transvaal. His forces had already moved to the area of modern-day Middelburg and established a fortress called "EkuPhumuleni" which means "Place of Rest". By 1826, Mzilikazi's forces began assaulting Magodongo's capital of KwaMaza. This, coupled with the death of Sibindi, caused Magodongo to retreat from KwaMaza to a new Ndzundza capital called "eSikhunjini" which means "Hiden by the Animal Skin". Despite Magodongo's best efforts eSikhunjini was racked and Magodongo and his sons were taken captive by Mzilikazi. Tales tell of how Mzilikazi had the still living Magadongo partially impaled on wooden poles to torture him but not kill him. Mzilikazi then killed some of Magodongo's sons one by one by throwing them off a cliff after which he tied Magodongo to a large rock and threw him in a river to drown. In December 1826, Mzilikazi had shattered both the Manala and Ndzundza Ndebele and established a new capital for his Mthwakazi empire on the banks of the Apies River near Wonderboompoort and called it "Kungwini" which means "Place of Mist". Mzilikazi would rule from Kungwini for more that 10 years sending raiding forces as far north as the northern banks of the Olifants River and as far south as Heilbron in the Free State . The Khumalo suppressed any attempts by the Ndebele to re assert dominance in the region killing both Silamba's successor Mavula who was his brother, and Mgibe another brother. Among the Ndzundza the throne passed to Sibhoko who was one of the surviving sons of Magodongo. Sibhoko was allegedly killed after a dispute with a Sotho-Tswana Chief named Matlala north of Marblehall . He was succeeded by another of Magodongo's surviving sons named Somdeyi. Somdeyi ruled as regent for Tjambowe who was allegedly next in line to be king of the Ndzundza. Somdeyi was killed by one of Mzilikazi's raiding parties. Mzilikazi's occupation of the central Transvaal region would become threatened with the arrival of the Voortrekkers north of the Vaal River in 1836. The resulting confrontations over the next two years caused Mzilikazi to suffer heavy losses. By early 1838, Mzilikazi and his people were forced northwards out of Transvaal altogether and across the Limpopo River . Further attacks caused him to move again, at first westwards into present-day Botswana and then later northwards towards what is now Zambia . He was unable to settle the land there because of the prevalence of tsetse fly which carried diseases fatal to oxen. Mzilikazi therefore travelled again, this time southeastwards into what became known as Matabeleland (situated in the southwest of present-day Zimbabwe) and settled there in 1840. Transvaal Republic Directly after the defeat of Mzilikazi , the lands between the Vaal River and Limpopo were left in tatters and some Voortrekkers settled on lands that had previously belonged to African groups like the Ndzundza and Manala Ndebele. They claimed that upon their arrival the region was almost devoid of any African inhabitants because the thinking went, they had all fled in the face of the Mfecane . The Boers believed that the land was deserted and abandoned and therefore theirs for the taking. This caused great conflict between Boers and African kingdoms of the region who were attempting to reclaim the lands stolen from them by Mzilikazi's Mthwakazi Empire. The Manala were hardest hit by Mzilikazi's occupation. After the death of Sibindi the throne went to his brother Mvula who ruled only a year before being assassinated by Mzilikazi's forces. after Mvula the leadership of the Manala passed on to the next brother Mgibe. Mgibe ruled much longer than Mvula and had the foresight to send his brothers and their families to scatter and live far and wide so that if he should die, that there would always be another Manala of Mdibane to take over leadership. Mgibe like many before him was assassinated by Mzilikazi raiding parties after ruling in exile for only 5 years. The throne of the Manala would then pass to Silamba who was another son of Mdibane. Silamba attempted to re-establish control over the lands previously owned by the Manala but was met with staunch resistance by Voortrekker settlers. The territories south of KwaMnyamana where occupied, Silamba discovered, by two brothers named Lucas Cornelius Bronkhorst and Johannes Gerhardus Stephanus Bronkhorst who had arrived north of the Vaal with the Trek Party of Andries Hendrik Potgieter . The Bronkhorsts had settled near Fountains Valley along the Apies River . The ruins of their first homestead can be found in Groenkloof Nature Reserve . By 1842 Silamba had clashed with the Bronkhorsts a good deal and ultimately lost all the Manala lands south of KwaMnyamana. Silamba lived for sometime in KoNonduna near modernday Tierpoort . In 1873, After the establishment of The Transvaal Republic , Silamba moved from KoNonduna and settled in Wallmansthal and established a new capital for the Manala called "KoMjekejeke". Among the Ndzundza after the death of Somdeyi, The throne should have passed to Tjambowe who was the grandson of Magodongo but he had gone from being fully sighted to being completely blind in a span of 6 years and this disqualified him from his claim to the throne. An Imbizo was called and the chiefs and elders of the Ndzundza consulted and the decision was made to make Mabhoko, one of Magodono's youngest sons king. He was chosen for his youth and intelligence and for his bravery in battle despite how young he was. Mabhoko became known for his internal diplomacy skills offering Tjambowe a place of honour at all special events and invited him to live with him in the royal dwelling. Mabhoko had further decided to move the Ndzundza capital from eSikhunjini to a new settlement which he heavily fortified and called "eMrholeni". This new capital was near a series of caves called "KoNomtjarhelo". Mabhoko began immediate plans to restore the Ndzundza kingdom. Through diplomacy he entered into an alliance with one of the BaPedi Chiefs of the Marota Empire named Malewa. This alliance with Chief Malewa would ensure the Ndzundza's northernmost border would be protected. With Silamba's loss of the lands to the west let many settler enter into Ndzundza territory. With the establishment of Ohrigstad in 1845 just 120 km (75 mi) north east of the Ndzundza capital, Mabhokho moved the capital from eMrholeni into the caves of KoNomtjarhelo and established a virtually impenetrable fortress. Almost from the onset sporadic skirmishes began to take place between these new immigrants, and the Ndebele-Pedi alliance, who actively resisted the incursions which they were beginning to make upon their ancestral lands. Mabhoko had through the used of trade and raids secured large amounts of fire arms and won many of the initial skirmishes against the Boer forces. A malaria outbreak in Ohrigstad caused the Boers to move to deeper into Ndzundza territory and they established a settlement at Laersdrif . The settlement of Boers at Laersdrif which was less than 40 km (25 mi) south of the Ndzundza fortress of KoNomtjarhelo aggravated the Ndzundza into full out war with the Boers. This all came to a head in 1847 when Ndzundza won a decisive battle against the Boers. Many Boers left the area to settle lands in the west and those who stayed were required to recognise Mabhoko's authority and pay a tax in the form of cattle or supplies. Tensions between African kingdoms of the Transvaal and White settlers would only worsen with the signing of the Sand River Convention 17 January 1852. This document was signed between the British Empire and the Boers. In this document The British formally recognised the independence of the Boers north of the Vaal River. With this treaty in hand, the Boers established The Transvaal Republic as all the lands between the Vaal River in the south and Limpopo River in the north. The problem with the Sand River Convention was that no mention of or regard was given to the African people already living between the Vaal and Limpopo Rivers. In reality the Boers had only established a handful of settlements by 1852 and the majority of occupied land in the Transvaal was occupied by African kingdoms. In 1861, The throne of the Marota Empire fell to Sekhukhune who greatly expanded the lands of the BaPedi and this caused tensions with Mabhoko who resisted. After winning a few key battle against Sekhukhune. Mabhoko ultimately submitted to the rule of Sekhukhune and the Marota Empire. This drove a wedge between the Ndzundza and the BaPedi in the years to come. In 1863, tensions between the Boers and the Ndzundza Ndebele rose to boiling point again and The Boers, seeing Mabhoko with his arsenal of firearms as threat to the safety of the Republic, attacked KoNomtjarhelo with the aid of Swazi forces. This attack failed and the Swazi having sustained most of the casualties, deserted the Boers. In 1864 a second assault was made at KoNomtjarhelo and this too failed. Despite Mabhoko's continuous victory, the Ndundza territory, like the Manala was becoming smaller and smaller. A year later in 1865 Mabhoko died and was succeeded by his son Mkhephuli who was also called Soqaleni. Mkhephuli ruled for only 10 years and then passing the throne to his son Rhobongo/Xobongo. Rhobongo was not well loved and was described as somewhat of a tyrant. Rhobongo was succeeded by his brother Nyabela in 1879. Mapoch War (1882–83) In 1876, The Transvaal Republic under the controversial presidency of Thomas François Burgers , lost an expensive war against Sekhukhune north of the Steelpoort River . This led Theophilus Shepstone to annex the Transvaal on 12 April 1877 on behalf of the British Empire under the pretence of bringing stability to the region. This annexation by the British led to The Transvaal War of Independence (1880–81), more famously called The "First Anglo-Boer War". This war resulted in Boer victory. In the time of Nyabela's rule, The Ndzundza kingdom comprised approximately 84 km (52 mi) and had a population of about 15,000. It was after the Transvaal regained its independence in 1881 that the relationship between the Boers and Ndzundza began to deteriorate more rapidly than ever before. The Transvaal was becoming annoyed with Nyabela for asserting his independence (by, for example, declining to pay taxes, refusing to hold a census when instructed to do so and preventing a boundary commission from beaconing off his lands). What eventually became the casus belli was Nyabela's decision to harbour the Pedi Chief Mampuru , after he had assassinated his brother Sekhukhune on 13 August 1882.On two previous occasions, the Transvaal authorities had attempted to arrest Mampuru for fomenting disorder, and this latest outrage was the last straw. Mampuru and his supporters sought refuge with Makwani, one of Nyabela's subordinate chiefs. When ordered to extradite the fugitive, Nyabela made the decision not to do so. On 12 October 1882, the Volksraad authorised General Piet Joubert to raise a commando. At first, only Mampuru was the target of the expedition, but, at the end of the month, General Joubert was also instructed to bring to heel any African peoples who had harboured or assisted him. General Joubert had allegedly little enthusiasm for his latest brief, but this would not prevent him from pursuing it to its conclusion with relentless thoroughness. Raising enough able-bodied burghers for the expedition was not an altogether easy task. Few relished having to leave their farms for months on end to take part in a dull and prolonged campaign against rebellious Africans, even under a leader as respected and popular as General Joubert. Nevertheless, an expeditionary force was duly raised. The white citizens of the Transvaal Republic had few civic obligations, but serving on commando was one of them, and most of those called out reported for duty. By the end of October, the vanguard of General Joubert's commando, which was about ~2 000 strong, began arriving in Ndzundza territory. An ultimatum was sent to Nyabela, giving him one last chance to surrender Mampuru and to undertake to cooperate with the Transvaal authorities in future or war would ensue. General Joubert was anxious that he comply as a military campaign was not likely to be an easy one. For one, the Ndzundza Ndebele had in their possession a considerable arsenal of firearms that the Ndzundza had been trained to use in war since the rule of Mabhoko. Secondly, the fortress of KoNomtjarhelo was situated between precipitous cliffs and sheer rock faces on the eastern extremity of a range of heavily forested, boulder-strewn hills. A complex network of caves, grottos and tunnels pockmarked these heights, providing both places of refuge and space for storage to help withstand a long siege. The caves were a remarkable phenomenon, some being so extensive as to enable fighters to disappear into one entrance and reappear from a different one more than a kilometre away. Moreover, to capture the main stronghold, the attacking force would first have to overcome a series of well-fortified hills, most notably KwaPondo and KwaMrhali (called 'Vlugkraal' and 'Boskop' respectively by the Boers; KoNomtjarhelo was simply 'Spitskop') which guarded its approaches to the west. Any hopes he might have had for compliance were soon disappointed. Nyabela famously answered that he had swallowed Mampuru, and if the Boers wanted him they would have to kill him and take him out of his belly. General Joubert would ultimately eschew direct attacks against these strong points. The Boers were past masters when it came to storming hills (as they had demonstrated at Battle of Majuba Hill and Battle of Schuinshoogte the previous year). In this particular war, they could not be relied upon to take too many risks. Already half-hearted about the coming fight, they were liable to desert or simply refuse to cooperate. General Joubert complained after the war to the Transvaal Volksraad that the burghers "seemed to prefer looting cattle on their own account to fighting." Instead, therefore, Joubert's chosen strategy was to wear the chiefs down, confining them and their people to their mountain fortresses and allowing starvation to do the rest. This would at least minimise losses among the Boers. On the other hand, it would inevitably prolong the war. It was already known that the Ndzundza were stockpiling their food supplies in anticipation of a long siege. On 5 November, a last-ditch attempt to conclude the dispute peacefully came to nothing and, two days later, the first clash of the war took place. Without warning, a Ndzundza raiding party swooped down from the surrounding heights and began driving the commando's oxen, nearly a thousand head, towards a cave in the mountainside. About 150 Boers galloped after the raiders, running them to ground before they reached their destination and reclaiming their cattle. About twenty Ndzundza were killed in the skirmish; the Boers suffered just one, casualty. Within two weeks of the commencement of hostilities, the KwaPondo bastion was already being menaced. Three cannons as well as a considerable amount of dynamite had since arrived from Pretoria to help reduce the defences. On 17 November, the Ndzundza attempted to drive back the besieging force, but were themselves beaten off after two and a half hours of fierce fighting. The Boers brought two of their guns into the firing line during the engagement. Soon after this repulse, Nyabela sent out emissaries to discuss peace terms, but General Joubert was only prepared to deal with the chief in person and sent them back. Nyabela declined to present himself, no doubt suspecting that it was a ploy to capture him. KwaPondo, a semi-circular plateau surrounded by cliffs and strewn with boulders, was subjected to a heavy bombardment on 21 November, but to little effect. The Ndzundza forces merely jeered at and taunted the burghers from the safety of their breastworks. General Joubert's dynamiting operations were also unsuccessful, since the warriors of the Ndzundza had taken refuge in caves that were in most cases too deep for the blasts to have much effect. Laying the charges was also a dangerous business. The commando was substantially reinforced in the last week of November, many of the new arrivals being drawn from friendly African tribes in the northern and eastern parts of the Republic. In early December, part of the force was deployed against Mampuru. Accompanying the Boers were a large number of Pedi , who had been loyal to the late Sekhukhune and were eager to avenge his murder. On 7 December, this combined force launched a determined assault, only to retreat in some confusion in the face of an unexpected, well coordinated counter-attack by over 600 of the Ndzundza. Two days later in an early morning raid, dozens of Ndzundza were driven into a cave and all but six of them were shot or asphyxiated in the course of being smoked out. Two days into the new year, the commandos attacked KwaMrhali (Boskop) and eventually took it after a fierce firefight. On 5 February, General Joubert mustered his forces for a determined second assault on KwaPondo, which had withstood the besiegers for three months. The battle began just before daybreak and raged all morning. The burghers and their African auxiliaries, in the teeth of a stubborn resistance, were forced to clear the stronghold ledge by ledge and cave by cave. Many lay dead and wounded before the fortress fell. The hill's fortifications were dynamited that same day to prevent the Ndzundza from reoccupying the position. Now only KoNomtjarhelo was left. General Joubert and his war council ruled out storming the position and decided instead to use dynamite against it. This would entail digging a trench up to the base of the mountain, tunnelling deeply under it and laying sufficient charge to bring it all crashing down. It was indeed a bizarre and tortuous strategy, certainly amongst the most curious ever to have been devised in modern warfare. Digging commenced on 2 March. Unusually heavy rains that season had softened the ground, and after only a week the trench had been brought to within 400 metres of its objective. The diggers were harassed constantly by snipers. The real threat to the Ndzundza by then was imminent starvation. Four months of relentless attrition had seen their once plentiful food stocks steadily dwindled. By early April, all the chiefs of the Ndzundza had submitted to the invaders. Nyabela was promised that his own life would be spared and his people allowed to remain on their lands if he did likewise. He chose to fight on instead, perhaps still hoping, even at that late stage, to emulate his father's achievement of withstanding the Boers. Fighting petered out in the closing months of the war. Joubert was content to maintain his stranglehold until the inevitable surrender, receiving constant reports that the besieged Ndzundza were close to starvation. Most of the Boers merely lounged around in their forts, kicking their heels and waiting to be relieved. Some worked on the trench, which at least provided something to do. The Ndzundza harried the diggers as much as possible. In the middle of April, they staged a successful night attack, doing considerable damage and delaying operations by at least two weeks. In the meantime, one member of the commando, evidently a Scotsman by the name of Donald MacDonald, had defected to Nyabela. MacDonald proved to be of some use to his new comrades-in-arms. Amongst other things, he suggested to Nyabela to catapult large boulders down onto those working below. This tactic was one of the reasons that the Boers introduced a mobile iron fort to assist them with the digging. About two metres long, with two wheels inside and eight loopholes for firing, clumsy and unwieldy, it at least ensured that work on the trench could continue in relative safety. Shielded by the iron fort, the diggers managed to reach the base of the hill without further mishap. They commenced tunnelling underneath it, but had not progressed very far when they were held up by a bed of rock. Operations were suspended, permanently, as it turned out. Even then, the Ndzundza continued to fight back. Early in June, they launched a daring raid on the Boer kraals and netted themselves some 200 oxen, enabling them to hold out a little longer. At the end of the month, they also proved equal to the first and only attempt to take the stronghold by storm. About seventy of the bolder Boers, frustrated by the tedium of the siege, volunteered to rush KoNomtjharhelo and get it all over with. They had climbed to within fifteen metres of the crest when an Ndzundza counter-attacked, hurling down a continuous hail of stones and bullets pitching the attackers headlong down the way they had come. On 8 July, Nyabela belatedly decided to sacrifice Mampuru in the slender hope that this would end the siege. The Pedi fugitive was seized, trussed up and delivered to General Joubert, but the offering came too late. The prolonged campaign had cost the Transvaal Republic a small fortune (the Transvaal Volksraad later estimated the war costs to be £40 766) in addition to many burgher lives lost, and General Joubert was now bent on forcing an unconditional surrender. This came two days later. Nyabela gave himself up, along with about 8 000 of his warriors who had stayed by him to the end. As reparations, the entire Ndebele country was usurped. Nyabela and Mampuru were tried in Pretoria and sentenced to death. Mampuru was hanged for his part in the murder of Sekhukhune. Fortunately, Nyabela was had his sentenced to reduced to life imprisonment, he spent fifteen years in captivity before being released. He died on 19 December 1902 at eMlalaganye (The Place Where One Will Sleep Only Once), Hartebeestfontein, near Pretoria . The post-war settlement imposed by the ZAR was harsh. The amaNdebele social, economic and political structures were abolished and a proclamation on 31 August 1883 divided 36 000 hectares of land among the white burghers who had fought in the campaign against Nyabela, each man receiving seven hectares. Followers of the defeated chiefs were scattered around the republic and indentured to white farmers as virtual slave labourers for renewable five-year periods. In 1895, this whole country, now called Mapoch's Gronden, was incorporated as the fourth ward of the Middelburg District. KwaNdebele Bantustan In the Manala capital of KoMjekejeke, Silamba had died in 1892 and the Manala throne moved to his son Mdedlangeni. Like his father, Mdedlangeni made great attempts to resist the expansion of The Transvaal Republic. Mdedlangeni died under mysterious circumstances. Mdedlangeni was succeeded by his brother Libangeni who ruled as regent for Mdedlangeni's son Mabhena II. It is not known when Mabhena II ascended to the leadership of the Manala Ndebele. Mabhena II died in 1906 and was succeeded by his son Mbhongo I. Mbhongo I moved from KoMjekejeke to Jakkelsdans and in 1926 bought a farm near Klipkoppies along the Klipruit and established a new settlement called LoDini. After Nyabela, The throne passed to Nyabela's nephew Mfene who was the son of Mkhephuli also called Soqaleni. In approximately 1904, Mfene moved from eMlalaganye and bought the farm 'Welgelegen' 60 km (37 mi) north east of Pretoria and established what would become modern day KwaMhlanga . This site of eMlalaganye, which was on property owned by the Wolmarans family would become a Ndebele settlement called KwaMsiza and was ultimately sold in 1952 to build the Wonderboom Airport . The community of Msiza moved to the Winterveld region north of Mabopane and built new community appearing on road signs and various maps as either KwaMapoch, Speelman's Kraal, or simply as The Ndebele Village. Its residents however, prefer the term KwaMsiza. In 1921, Mfene died at KwaMhlanga, and his son Mayitjha I succeeded him, buying his own ground at Weltevreden near Dennilton in the South Central Transvaal, where he constructed KwaSimuyembiwa (eMthambothini). This settlement would later On the 3rd of March 1970, The Bantu Homelands Citizenship Act, 1970 (Act No. 26 of 1970; subsequently renamed the Black States Citizenship Act, 1970 and the National States Citizenship Act, 1970) was passed into Law by the Apartheid government. This law was a Self Determination or denaturalization law passed that allocated various tribes/nations of black South Africans as citizens of their traditional black tribal "homelands," or Bantustans . This led to the establishment of the KwaNdebele 'Homeland' in 1977 with Mfene's KwaSimuyembiwa forming part of the new capital Siyabuswa . The majority of Ndebele living in this Bantustan were Ndzundza and many attempts were made to have more Manala move into the KwaNdebele homeland. Tensions however would rise when the issue of KwaNdebele independence emerged in the early 1980s came up, as members of the cabinet promised to make the present numerically smaller Manala supreme paramount of amaNdebele on the basis that the land where KwaNdebele was created originally belonged to the Manala kingdom. In 1977, three tribal authorities in the Hammanskraal district in Bophuthatswana , the Litho under Lazarus Mahlangu , the Pungutsha under Isaac Mahlangu and the Manala under Alfred Mabena - seceded from Bophuthatswana with the land and people under their jurisdiction, and joined KwaNdebele . These three tribal authorities combined to form Mnyamana Regional Authority, and the Ndzundza Regional Authority formed the South Ndebele Territorial Authority. With the establishment of a legislative assembly in 1979, tensions in the agendas of some of the Ndzundza-Mabhoko traditional leaders and their councillors began to emerge. The legislative assembly involved a 46-member body with a six-member cabinet appointed by the Chief minister . All 46 members were nominated by the four tribal authorities. However, once nominated, a tribal authority could not recall a Member of Parliament. Only the assembly itself could remove a Member of Parliament. The Chief Minister also had the right to appoint or remove traditional leaders. The creation of the legislative assembly resulted in a shift in the balance of power from the traditional authorities to the legislative authorities made up of appointees. By early 1985, the split between 'traditionalist' chiefs and the legislature became apparent when Lazarus Mahlangu of the Litho Tribal Authority wrote a letter in which the tribal authority stated that it wished to excise itself from KwaNdebele and rejoin Bophuthatswana. Mahlangu was a Ndzundza traditionalist who had seceded from Bophuthatswana in 1977. The reasons given were that the administration of Simon Skosana interfered in 'traditional affairs' and dictated to, rather than consulted with, the tribal authority. A symptom of this subordinate relationship was the desire of the tribal authority to replace its nominated member of parliament with other nominees, as the present Member of Parliament was not carrying out the instructions of the tribal authority. However, once nominated, Members of Parliament could only be removed by the assembly. The tribal authority also complained that it was being ignored by the magistrate and the Commissioner General. In July 1985, Skosana withdrew recognition of Mahlangu as chief. In 1994 The African National Congress won the 1994 General election and The Bantu Homelands Citizenship Act was repealed on 27 April 1994 by the Interim Constitution of South Africa . Thus KwaNdebele and its subjects were incorporated into the Republic of South Africa Social and cultural life Internal political and social structures The authority over a tribe was vested in the tribal head (iKosi), assisted by an inner or family council (iimphakathi). Wards (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 an umuzi . The umuzi usually consisted of a family head (unnumzana) 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 tribe consisted of a number of patrilineal clans or izibongo. This meant that every clan consisted of a group of individuals who shared the same ancestor in the paternal line. Personal adornment 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. 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. In addition to the rings, married women also wore neck hoops made of grass (called isirholwani) twisted into a coil and covered in beads, particularly for ceremonial occasions. Linrholwani are sometimes worn as neckpieces 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 (ukuthomba). Married women also wore a five-fingered apron (called an itjhorholo) to mark the culmination of the marriage, which only takes place after the birth of the first child. The marriage blanket (untsurhwana) worn by married women was decorated with beadwork 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 (amacubi). Boys usually went naked or wore a small front apron of goatskin. However, 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. Art Traditional Ndebele architecture at Lesedi Cultural Village . See also: Ndebele house painting 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. The Ndebele's essential artistic skill has always been understood to be the ability to combine exterior sources of stimulation with traditional design concepts borrowed from their ancestors. 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, makebelieve 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 traditional 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. Iinrholwani (colourful neck, arms, hips and legs 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 beadwork. Beadwork 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. Special occasions Initiation In Ndebele culture, the initiation rite, symbolising the transition from childhood to adulthood, plays an important role. Initiation schools for boys are held every four years and for girls, as soon as they get into puberty stage. 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 (iintanga) 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 iinrholwani) 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 iphephetu), 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 beadwork. Courtship and marriage 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 (called Ipelesi) who also attended to her other needs. On her marriage, the bride was given a marriage blanket, which she would, in time, adorn with beadwork, 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. PEDI PEOPLE The Pedi People /pɛdi/ or Bapedi /bæˈpɛdi/ - also known as the Northern Sotho,[2] Basotho ba Lebowa, bakgatla ba dithebe, Transvaal Sotho, Marota, or Dikgoshi - are a Sotho-Tswana ethnic group native to South Africa, Botswana, and Lesotho that speak Pedi or Sepedi, which is one of the 12 official languages in South Africa . They are primarily situated in Limpopo , Gauteng and northern Mpumalanga . The Pedi people are part of the Bantu ethnic group . Their common ancestors, along with the Sotho and Tswana , migrated from East Africa to South Africa no later than the 7th century CE. Over time, they emerged as a distinct people between the 15th and 18th centuries, with some settling in the northern region of the Transvaal. The Pedi maintained close ties with their relatives and neighboring tribes. Towards the end of the 18th century, the primary Pedi state was established, led by supreme leaders from the Maroteng clan. In the early 19th century, the Pedi state faced significant challenges from the Nguni , particularly the Northern Ndebele under Mzilikazi [10] and the Swati . A pivotal figure in preserving the Pedi state was Sekwati (1827–1861), the paramount leader who introduced reforms in the military and internal administration and welcomed Christian missionaries . After Sekwati I's passing, his son Sekhukhune took control but reversed some reforms, including Christianization. From 1876 to 1879, the Pedi engaged in wars with the Boers and the British , resulting in defeat and the Pedi state falling under Boer influence. In 1882, Sekhukhune was assassinated by conspirators, leading to the dismantling of the monarchy and statehood. In 1885, the Transvaal government only allocated a small territory to the Pedi, with the majority of the people living outside of it. In the 1950s, the Sotho language committee recognized the Pedi language as distinct from Sesotho. Throughout history, the Pedi actively participated in the struggle against colonization and apartheid in South Africa, joining the broader movement of African peoples fighting for their rights and freedom. Name and Terminology Rev. Alexander Merensky , a German missionary, had an extensive understanding of the Bapedi tribe, surpassing that of any other European of his time. According to Merensky, Sekhukhune's people were a fusion of various tribes, with the most significant group identifying as the "Bapedi" or "Baperi," meaning the "Family of the King." This tribe had settled along the Steelpoort River nearly two centuries prior, and Merensky found the name of their kingdom, 'Biri,' on antique Portuguese maps. The origin of the Bapedi name is uncertain, but it may have come from an ancestral figure or the land they inhabited. What is significant is that the tribe founded by Thobela and its various divisions revered the porcupine as their totem and identified as Bapedi. History South Africa in 1885. A Pedi woman breastfeeding. Alfred Duggan-Cronin. South Africa, early 20th century. The Wellcome Collection, London Early history Proto-Sotho people are thought to have migrated south from eastern Africa (around the African Great Lakes ) in successive waves spanning five centuries. They made their way along with modern-day western Zimbabwe , with the last group of Sotho speakers, the Hurutse, settling in the region west of Gauteng around the 16th century. The Pedi people originated from the Kgatla offshoot, a group of Tswana speakers . In about 1650, they settled in the area to the south of the Steelpoort River . Over several generations, linguistic and cultural homogeneity developed to a certain degree. Only in the last half of the 18th century did they broaden their influence over the region, establishing the Pedi paramountcy by bringing smaller neighboring chiefdoms under their control. During migrations in and around this area, groups of people from diverse origins began to concentrate around dikgoro, or ruling nuclear groups. They identified themselves through symbolic allegiances to totemic animals such as tau (lion), kolobe (pig), and kwena (crocodile). The Pedi people show a considerable amount of Khoisan admixture. The Marota Empire/ Pedi Kingdom The Pedi polity under King Thulare (c. 1780–1820) was made up of land that stretched from present-day Rustenburg to the lowveld in the west and as far south as the Vaal River . Pedi power was undermined during the Mfecane by Ndwandwe invaders from the south-east. A period of dislocation followed, after which the polity was re-stabilized under Thulare's son, Sekwati. Sekwati succeeded Thulare as paramount chief of the Pedi in the northern Transvaal (Limpopo ) and was frequently in conflict with the Matabele under Mzilikazi and plundered by the Zulu and the Swazi . Sekwati has also engaged in numerous negotiations and struggles for control over land and labor with the Afrikaans -speaking farmers (Boers) who have since settled in the region. These disputes over land occurred after the founding of Ohrigstad in 1845, but after the town was incorporated into the Transvaal Republic in 1857 and the Republic of Lydenburg was formed, an agreement was reached that the Steelpoort River was the border between the Pedi and the Republic. The Pedi were well equipped to defend themselves, though, as Sekwati and his heir, Sekhukhune I were able to procure firearms, mostly through migrant labor to the Kimberley diamond fields and as far as Port Elizabeth . The Pedi paramountcy's power was also cemented by the fact that chiefs of subordinate villages, or kgoro, took their principal wives from the ruling house. This system of cousin marriage resulted in the perpetuation of marriage links between the ruling house and the subordinate groups and involved the payment of an inflated magadi, or brideprice mostly in the form of cattle, to the Maroteng house. Swazi Campaigns The Campaigns against the Pedi refer to a sequence of military operations undertaken by the Swazi in their endeavors to subjugate the Pedi people. Despite their persistent efforts, the Swazi forces faced significant challenges in conquering the Pedi's formidable mountain fortresses, which served as robust strongholds for the Pedi people. As a consequence of the Swazi's inability to completely overpower the Pedi, some Pedi fugitives successfully reassembled, allowing them to sustain their resistance against the Swazi forces. Sekhukhune Wars King Sekhukhune 1881 Sekhukhune I succeeded his father in 1861 and repelled an attack against the Swazi . At the time, there were also border disputes with the Transvaal , which led to the formation of Burgersfort , which was manned by volunteers from Lydenburg . By the 1870s, the Pedi were one of three alternative sources of regional authority, alongside the Swazi and the ZAR (Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek ). Over time, tensions increased after Sekhukhune refused to pay taxes to the Transvaal government, and the Transvaal declared war in May 1876. It became known as the Sekhukhune War, the outcome of which was that the Transvaal commando's attack failed. After this, volunteers nevertheless continued to devastate Sekhukhune's land and provoke unrest, to the point where peace terms were met in 1877. Unrest continued, and this became a justification for the British annexing the Transvaal in April 1877 under Sir Theophilus Shepstone . Following the annexation, the British also declared war on Sekhukhune I under Sir Garnet Wolseley , and defeated him in 1879. Sekhukhune was then imprisoned in Pretoria , but later released after the first South African War , when the Transvaal regained independence. However, soon after his release, Sekhukhune was murdered by his half-brother Mampuru ,[18] and because his heir had been killed in the war and his grandson, Sekhukhune II was too young to rule, one of his other half-brothers, Kgoloko, assumed power as regent. Apartheid In 1885, an area of 1,000 square kilometres (390 sq mi) was set aside for the Pedi, known as Geluk Location created by the Transvaal Republic's Native Location Commission. Later, according to apartheid segregation policy , the Pedi would be assigned the homeland of Lebowa . Culture This section possibly contains original research . Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations . Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. (March 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message ) Use of Totems Like the other Sotho-Tswana groups, the Bapedi people use totems to identify sister clans and kinship. The most widely used totems in Sepedi are as follows: EnglishPedi WarthogKolobe LionTau CrocodileKwena PorcupineNoko MonkeyKgabo BuckPhuthi PangolinKgaka BuffaloNare ElephantTlou Settlements In pre-conquest times, people settled on elevated sites in relatively large villages, divided into kgoro (pl. dikgoro, groups centered on agnatic family clusters). Each consisted of a group of households in huts built around a central area that served as a meeting place, cattle byre, graveyard, and ancestral shrine. Households' huts were ranked in order of seniority. Each wife of a polygynous marriage had her own round thatched hut, joined to other huts by a series of open-air enclosures (lapa) encircled by mud walls. Older boys and girls, respectively, would be housed in separate huts. Aspirations to live in a more modern style, along with practicality, have led most families to abandon the round hut style for rectangular, flat-tin-roofed houses. Processes of forced and semi-voluntary relocation and an apartheid government planning scheme implemented in the name of "betterment", have meant that many newer settlements and the outskirts of many older ones consist of houses built in grid formation, occupied by individual families unrelated to their neighbors. Politics Kgoshi – a loose collection of kinsmen with related males at its core, was as much a jural unit as a kinship one, since membership was defined by acceptance of the kgoro-head's authority rather than primarily by descent. Royal or chiefly kgoros sometimes underwent rapid subdivision as sons contended for positions of authority. Marriage Marriage was patrilocal. Polygamy was practiced mostly by people of higher, especially chiefly, status. Marriage was preferred with a close or classificatory cousin, especially a mother's brother's daughter, but this preference was most often realized in the case of ruling or chiefly families. Practiced by the ruling dynasty, during its period of dominance, it represented a system of political integration and control over the recycling of bridewealth (dikgomo di boela shakeng; returning of bride cattle). Cousin marriage meant that the two sets of prospective in-laws were closely connected even before the event of a marriage, and went along with an ideology of sibling-linkage, through which the Magadi (bridewealth) procured for a daughter's marriage would, in turn, be used to get a bride for her brother, and he would repay his sister by offering a daughter to her son in marriage. Cousin marriage is still practiced, but less frequently. Polygyny too is now rare, many marriages end in divorce or separation, and a large number of young women remain single and raise their children in small (and often very poor) female-headed households. But new forms of domestic cooperation have come into being, often between brothers and sisters, or matrilineally linked relatives.[original research? ] Inheritance Previously, the oldest son of a household within a polygynous family would inherit the house-property of his mother, including its cattle, and was supposed to act as custodian of these goods for the benefit of the household's other children. With the decline of cattle-keeping and the sharp increase in land shortages, this has switched to a system of last-born inheritance, primarily of land. Initiation The life cycle for both sexes was differentiated by important rituals. Both girls and boys underwent initiation . Boys (bašemane, later mašoboro) spent their youth looking after cattle at remote outposts in the company of peers and older youths. Circumcision and initiation at koma (initiation school), held about once every five years, socialized youths into groups of cohorts or regiments (mephato) bearing the leader's name, whose members then maintained lifelong loyalty to each other, and often traveled together to find work on the farms or in the mines. Girls attended their own koma and were initiated into their own regiments (ditswa-bothuku), usually two years after the boys. Initiation is still practiced, and provides a considerable income to the chiefs who license it for a fee or, in recent years, to private entrepreneurs who have established initiation schools beyond the chiefs' jurisdiction. Music and Arts See also: Music of South Africa § Pedi-traditional Traditional Dancers Performing at a wedding Important crafts included metalsmithing, beadwork , pottery , house building and painting, and woodworking (especially the making of drums). The arts of the Pedi are known for metal forging, beading, pottery, woodworking, much more in drum making, and also painting.[20] Mmino wa Setšo Pedi music consists of a single six-note scale traditionally played on reeds, but currently it is played more on a jaw harp or autoharp. Migrants influenced by Kibala music play aluminum pipes of different heights to reproduce vocal harmonies. In traditional dances, women dance on their knees, usually accompanied by drums, backing vocals, and a lead singer. These dances involve vigorous topless shaking from the upper torso while the women kneel on the floor. Songs are also part of Pedi culture. While working, the Pedi sang together to finish the job faster. They had A song about killing a Lion to become a man; it was a bit peculiar. The act of killing a Lion is very unusual and is no longer practiced. In fact, it was so unusual that if a boy was successful, he would get high status and the ultimate prize - marrying the chief's daughter. The Bapedi also have different types of cultural music: Mpepetlwane: played by young girls; Mmatšhidi: played by older men and women; Kiba / Dinaka: played by men and boys and now joined by women; Dipela: played by everyone Makgakgasa is also played by older women. Pedi music (mmino wa setso: traditional music, lit. music of origin) has a six-note scale . The same applies to variants of Mmino wa Setšo as practiced by Basotho ba Leboa (Northern Sotho) tribes in the Capricorn, Blouberg , Waterberg districts, as well as BaVhenda in the Vhembe district. Mmino wa Setšo (indigenous African music) can also be construed as African musicology, a concept that is often used to distinguish the study of indigenous African music from the dominant ethnomusicology discipline in academia. Ethnomusicology has a strong footprint in academia spanning several decades. Such a presence is evident in ethnomusicology journals that can be traced back to the 1950s. Ethnomusicologists who study indigenous African music have been criticized for studying the subject from a subjective Western point of view, especially given the dominance of the Western musical canon in South Africa] In South Africa, authors such as Mapaya indicate that for many years, African Musicology has been studied from a multi-cultural perspective without success. Scholars of African Musicology such as Agawu, Mapaya, Nketia, and Nzewi emphasize the study of indigenous African music from the perspective, and language of the practitioners (baletši). These scholars argue for the study of African Musicology from an angle that elevates the practitioners, their actions, and their interactions. Categories of Mmino wa Setšo Mmino wa Setšo in Limpopo province has a number of categories. Categories of Mmino wa Setšo are distinguished according to the function they serve in the community. Dinaka/Kiba The peak of Pedi (and northern Sotho) musical expression is arguably the kiba genre, which has transcended its rural roots to become a migrant style. In its men's version, it features an ensemble of players, each playing an aluminum end-blown pipe of a different pitch (naka, pl. dinaka) and together producing a descending melody that mimics traditional vocal songs with richly harmonized qualities. Mapaya provides a detailed descriptive analysis of Dinaka/Kiba music and dance, from a Northern Sotho perspective. Alternatives to Dinaka or Kiba In the women's version, a development of earlier female genres that has recently been included within the definition of kiba, a group of women sing songs (koša ya dikhuru, loosely translated: knee-dance music). This translation has its roots in the traditional kneeling dance that involves salacious shaking movements of the breasts accompanied by chants. These dances are still very common among Tswana, Sotho, and Nguni women. This genre comprises sets of traditional songs steered by a lead singer accompanied by a chorus and an ensemble of drums (meropa), previously wooden but now made of oil drums and milk urns. These are generally sung at drinking parties and/or during celebrations such as weddings. Mmino wa bana Children occupy a special place in the broader category of Mmino wa Setšo. Research shows that mmino wa bana can be examined for its musical elements, educational validity, and general social functions Pedi Heartland The present-day Pedi area, Sekhukhuneland , is situated between the Olifants River (Lepelle) and its tributary, the Steelpoort River (Tubatse); bordered on the east by the Drakensberg range, and crossed by the Leolo mountains. But at the height of its power, the Pedi polity under Thulare (about 1780–1820) included an area stretching from the site of present-day Rustenburg in the west to the Lowveld in the east, and ranging as far south as the Vaal River . Reliable historians and sources also credit the Pedi kingdom as the first and dominant monarchy established in the region. The kingdom, which boasted numerous victories over the Boers and the British armies, was one of the strongest and largest in Southern Africa in the mid- to late 1800s under the warrior king Sekhukhune I, whose kingdom stretched from the Vaal River in the south to the Limpopo River in the north. Apartheid The area under Pedi's control was severely limited when the polity was defeated by British troops in 1879. Reserves were created for this and for other Northern Sotho groups by the Transvaal Republic 's Native Location Commission. Over the next hundred years or so, these reserves were then variously combined and separated by a succession of government planners. By 1972, this planning had culminated in the creation of an allegedly independent national unit, or homeland, named Lebowa . In terms of the government's plans to accommodate ethnic groups separated from each other, this was designed to act as a place of residence for all Northern Sotho speakers. But many Pedi had never resided here: since the polity's defeat, they had become involved in a series of labor-tenancy or sharecropping arrangements with white farmers, lived as tenants on crown land, purchased farms communally as freeholders, or moved to live in the townships adjoining Pretoria and Johannesburg on a permanent or semi-permanent basis. In total, however, the population of the Lebowa homeland increased rapidly after the mid-1950s, due to the forced relocations from rural areas and cities in common South Africa undertaken by apartheid's planners, and to voluntary relocations by which former labor tenants sought independence from the restrictive and deprived conditions under which they had lived on the white farms. Subsistence and economy Overgrazed Bapedi reserve near Pietersburg, Drakensberg The pre-conquest economy combined cattle-keeping with hoe cultivation. The principal crops were sorghum, pumpkins, and legumes, which were grown by women on fields allocated to them when they married. Women hoed and weeded, did pottery, built and decorated huts with mud; made sleeping mats and baskets, ground grain, cooked, brewed, and collected water and wood. Men did some work in fields at peak times; they hunted and herded; they did woodwork, prepared hides, and were metal workers and smiths. Most major tasks were done communally by matsema (work parties). The chief was depended upon to perform rainmaking for his subjects. The introduction of the animal-drawn plow, and of maize, later transformed the labor division significantly, especially when combined with the effects of labor migration. Men's leaving home to work for wages was initially undertaken by regimental groups of youths to satisfy the paramount's firepower requirements but later became increasingly necessary to individual households as population increase within the reserve and land degradation made it impossible to subsist from cultivation alone. Despite increasingly long absences, male migrants nonetheless remained committed to the maintenance of their fields; plowing had now to be carried out during periods of leave or entrusted to professional plowmen or tractor owners. Women were left to manage and carry out all other agricultural tasks. Men, although subjected to increased controls in their lives as wage-laborers, fiercely resisted all direct attempts to interfere with the spheres of cattle-keeping and agriculture. Their resistance erupted in open rebellion, ultimately subdued, during the 1950s. In later decades, some families have continued to practice cultivation and keep stock. In the early 1960s, about 48% of the male population was absent as wage-earners at any given time. Between the 1930s and the 1960s, most Pedi men would spend a short period working on nearby white farms, followed by a move to employment in the mines or domestic service, and later, especially in more recent times, to factories or industry. Female wage employment began more recently and is rarer and more sporadic. Some women work for short periods on farms; others have begun, since the 1960s, to work in domestic service in the towns of the Witwatersrand. But in recent years, there have been rising levels of education and expectations, combined with a sharp drop in employment rates. Land tenure The pre-colonial system of communal or tribal tenure, which was broadly similar to that practiced throughout the southern African region, was crystallized but subtly altered, by the colonial administration. A man was granted land by the chief for each of his wives; unused land was reallocated by the chief rather than being inherited within families. Overpopulation resulting from the government's relocation policies resulted in this system being modified; a household's fields, together with its residential plot, are now inherited, ideally by the youngest married son. Christian Pedi communities that owned freehold farms were removed to the reserve without compensation, but since 1994, many have now reoccupied their land or are preparing to do so, under restitution legislation. Religion Ancestors are viewed as intermediaries between humans and The Creator or God (Modimo/Mmopi) and are communicated to by calling on them using a process of burning incense, making an offering, and speaking to them (go phasa). If necessary, animal sacrifice may be done or beer presented to the children on both the mother's and father's sides. A key figure in the family ritual was the kgadi (who was usually the father's elder sister). The position of ngaka (diviner) was formerly inherited patrilineally but is now commonly inherited by a woman from her paternal grandfather or great-grandfather. This is often manifested through illness and through violent possession by spirits (malopo) of the body, the only cure for which is to train as a diviner. There has been a proliferation of diviners in recent times, with many said to be motivated mainly by a desire for material gain. African Art - Masks - Paintings of Many African Tribes The Rich Diversity Of Indigenous Tribes Experience the rich tapestry of South Africa’s indigenous tribes, each steeped in vibrant traditions, customs, and a unique cultural heritage that has been preserved for generations. Journey through the diverse landscapes of the region to uncover the fascinating stories and practices of these ancient communities. The indigenous tribes of South Africa have a rich history and diverse cultural heritage. The country is home to various tribes, each with distinctive customs and traditions. These tribes are spread across different regions of South Africa. They vary in both population size and linguistic diversity. Some tribes have large populations while others are smaller in number. Each tribe also has its unique language and dialect, adding to the country’s cultural tapestry. Traditional Beliefs And Spiritual Practices The indigenous tribes of South Africa uphold traditional beliefs and spiritual practices, deeply rooted in their customs and heritage. These traditions are passed down through generations, shaping their cultural identity and connection to the land. Their spiritual rituals and ceremonies are integral to their way of life, reflecting a profound respect for nature and ancestral wisdom. Indigenous Tribes of South Africa: Traditional Beliefs and Spiritual Practices Ancestral worship includes honoring ancestors for guidance and protection. Connection to nature is central, viewing it as a living entity. Rituals and ceremonies mark important life events and seasons. Traditional healers play key roles in spiritual and physical well-being. Traditional Art And Crafts Traditional art and crafts play a significant role in showcasing the unique artistic expressions of indigenous tribes in South Africa. These tribes meticulously create stunning artwork using natural materials, which not only reflects their deep connection with nature but also has symbolic meanings. The use of natural materials such as wood, clay, beads, and feathers not only adds authenticity to their creations but also signifies their respect and reverence towards the environment. Indigenous tribes in South Africa often incorporate symbolism in their artwork to communicate powerful messages and preserve their cultural heritage. Each piece of art holds a deeper meaning, narrating stories of ancestors, spirituality, and traditional beliefs. These symbolic representations provide a glimpse into their rich history, customs, and traditions. From intricate wood carvings and beautifully beaded jewelry to vibrant paintings and pottery, the traditional art and crafts of indigenous tribes in South Africa captivate and mesmerize onlookers, showcasing their creativity, talent, and deep-rooted cultural values. Oral Tradition And Storytelling Oral tradition and storytelling are integral to the indigenous tribes of South Africa. The importance of oral history lies in preserving cultural heritage and passing down knowledge through generations. Myths, legends, and folktales are woven into the fabric of their storytelling, conveying morals and values. Additionally, rituals play a crucial role in ensuring the continuation of these traditions, creating a sense of communal identity and pride. Land And Natural Resources Indigenous tribes of South Africa have a deep connection to the land, which is integral to their traditions, customs, and heritage. They have a profound respect for their traditional land rights and prioritize conservation efforts to protect their natural resources. However, they face numerous challenges and threats to their territories, including land encroachment and unsustainable resource exploitation. Despite these obstacles, indigenous communities are steadfast in their commitment to safeguarding their land and natural resources for future generations. Cultural Tourism And Preservation Cultural tourism is crucial in promoting sustainable tourism, preserving the rich traditions, customs, and heritage of indigenous tribes in South Africa. By embracing cultural tourism, indigenous communities can preserve their unique way of life, ensuring that their traditions are not lost to modernization. Cultural exchange and understanding are integral in fostering mutual respect and appreciation. Through cultural tourism, visitors can engage with indigenous tribes, promoting a deeper understanding of their customs and heritage. By participating in activities such as traditional dances, storytelling, and handicrafts, tourists can immerse themselves in the authentic experiences offered by indigenous tribes. This exchange of knowledge and appreciation can help break stereotypes and misconceptions, fostering greater cultural tolerance and respect. The Importance Of Indigenous Rights Indigenous rights play a crucial role in preserving the rich traditions, customs, and heritage of South Africa’s Indigenous tribes. By protecting their rights, we ensure the continuity and appreciation of their valuable cultural heritage. The Importance of Indigenous Rights Recognition and protection of indigenous rights is crucial for their well-being. Addressing historical injustices ensures a fair treatment for indigenous communities. Advocacy and empowerment are vital for indigenous tribes to thrive and preserve their culture. Frequently Asked Questions For Indigenous Tribes Of South Africa: Traditions, Customs, And Heritage What Are The Indigenous Tribes Of South Africa? The indigenous tribes of South Africa include the Zulu, Xhosa, Basotho, and many others. Each tribe has its own unique customs, traditions, and languages, contributing to the rich cultural heritage of the country. What Are The Traditional Customs Of South African Tribes? Traditional customs of South African tribes often include rites of passage, ceremonies, and practices that are passed down through generations. These customs play a significant role in preserving the cultural identity and heritage of the indigenous tribes. How Do South African Tribes Preserve Their Heritage? South African tribes preserve their heritage through oral storytelling, traditional music and dance, and the passing down of cultural practices from one generation to the next. These methods help to ensure that their rich traditions and customs endure over time. Conclusion The Indigenous tribes of South Africa embody a rich tapestry of traditions, customs, and heritage that have been passed down through generations. Through their vibrant rituals, art forms, and oral storytelling, these tribes have managed to preserve their unique identity and ancestral knowledge. Exploring their ways of life and appreciation for nature is not only culturally enlightening but also allows a deeper understanding of our shared humanity. Immerse yourself in the wonders of South Africa’s indigenous tribes and embrace the beauty of their diverse heritage. MAASAI PEOPLE The Maasai Tribe Of East Africa Maasai is the second most popular African tribe after Zulu; and it’s mainly because of its deeply rooted traditions and culture. Even when a great majority of African tribes are adopting a modern lifestyle; Maasais still live in Bomas and nomadically move around with large herds of cattle for a living. They mainly feed on meat, drink raw animal blood, and can be spotted anywhere in East Africa; especially Kenya, wearing Shukas and exceptionally beaded jewels. The Maasai (/ˈmɑːsaɪ, mɑːˈsaɪ/ ; Swahili : Wamasai) are a Nilotic ethnic group inhabiting northern, central and southern Kenya and northern Tanzania , near the African Great Lakes region. Their native language is the Maasai language , a Nilotic language related to Dinka , Kalenjin and Nuer . Except for some elders living in rural areas, most Maasai people speak the official languages of Kenya and Tanzania—Swahili and English . The Maasai population has been reported as numbering 1,189,522 in Kenya in the 2019 census. compared to 377,089 in the 1989 census, though many Maasai view the census as government meddling and therefore either refuse to participate or actively provide false information. History The Maasai inhabit the African Great Lakes region and arrived via South Sudan . Most Nilotic speakers in the area, including the Maasai, the Turkana and the Kalenjin , are pastoralists and have a reputation as fearsome warriors and cattle rustlers. The Maasai and other groups in East Africa have adopted customs and practices from neighbouring Cushitic-speaking groups, including the age-set system of social organisation, circumcision , and vocabulary terms. Origin, migration and assimilation Maasai man Many ethnic groups that had already formed settlements in the region were forcibly displaced[when? ] by the incoming Maasai. Other, mainly Southern Cushitic groups, were assimilated into Maasai society. The Nilotic ancestors of the Kalenjin likewise absorbed some early Cushitic populations. Settlement in East Africa The Maasai territory reached its largest size in the mid-19th century and covered almost all of the Great Rift Valley and adjacent lands from Mount Marsabit in the north to Dodoma in the south. At this time the Maasai, as well as the larger Nilotic group they were part of, raised cattle as far east as the Tanga coast in Tanganyika (now mainland Tanzania). Raiders used spears and shields but were most feared for throwing clubs (orinka) which could be accurately thrown from up to 70 paces (approx. 100 metres). In 1852, there was a report of a concentration of 800 Maasai warriors on the move in what is now Kenya. In 1857, after having depopulated the "Wakuafi wilderness" in what is now southeastern Kenya, Maasai warriors threatened Mombasa on the Kenyan coast. Maasai warriors in German East Africa , c. 1906–1918 Because of this migration, the Maasai are the southernmost Nilotic speakers. The period of expansion was followed by the Maasai "Emutai" of 1883–1902. This period was marked by epidemics of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia , rinderpest (see 1890s African rinderpest epizootic ), and smallpox . The estimate first put forward by a German lieutenant in what was then northwest Tanganyika , was that 90% of cattle and half of wild animals perished from rinderpest. German doctors in the same area claimed that "every second" African had a pock-marked face as the result of smallpox. This period coincided with drought. Rains failed in 1897 and 1898. The Austrian explorer Oscar Baumann travelled in Maasai lands between 1891 and 1893 and described the old Maasai settlement in the Ngorongoro Crater in the 1894 book Durch Massailand zur Nilquelle ("Through the lands of the Maasai to the source of the Nile"). By one estimate two-thirds of the Maasai died during this period. Maasai in Tanganyika (now mainland Tanzania) were displaced from the fertile lands between Mount Meru and Mount Kilimanjaro , and most of the fertile highlands near Ngorongoro in the 1940s. More land was taken to create wildlife reserves and national parks: Amboseli National Park , Nairobi National Park , Maasai Mara , Samburu National Reserve , Lake Nakuru National Park and Tsavo in Kenya; and Lake Manyara , Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tarangire[22] and Serengeti National Park in what is now Tanzania. Maasai are pastoralists and have resisted the urging of the Tanzanian and Kenyan governments to adopt a more sedentary lifestyle. They have demanded grazing rights to many of the national parks in both countries. The Maasai people stood against slavery and never condoned the traffic of human beings, and outsiders looking for people to enslave avoided the Maasai. Essentially there are twenty-two geographic sectors or sub-tribes of the Maasai community, each one having its customs, appearance, leadership and dialects. These subdivisions are known as 'nations' or 'iloshon' in the Maa language : the Keekonyokie , Ildamat, Purko, Wuasinkishu, Siria, Laitayiok, Loitai, Ilkisonko, Matapato, Dalalekutuk, Ilooldokilani, Ilkaputiei, Moitanik, Ilkirasha, Samburu , Ilchamus, Laikipiak , Loitokitoki, Larusa, Salei, Sirinket and Parakuyo . Genetics Recent advances in genetic analyses have helped shed some light on the ethnogenesis of the Maasai people. Genetic genealogy , a tool that uses the genes of modern populations to trace their ethnic and geographic origins, has also helped clarify the possible background of modern Maasai. Autosomal DNA The Maasai's autosomal DNA has been examined in a comprehensive study by Tishkoff et al. (2009) on the genetic affiliations of various populations in Africa. According to the study's authors, the Maasai "have maintained their culture in the face of extensive genetic introgression". Tishkoff et al. also indicate that: "Many Nilo-Saharan-speaking populations in East Africa, such as the Maasai, show multiple cluster assignments from the Nilo-Saharan [...] and Cushitic [...] AACs, in accord with linguistic evidence of repeated Nilotic assimilation of Cushites over the past 3000 years and with the high frequency of a shared East African–specific mutation associated with lactose tolerance." Maasai display significant West-Eurasian admixture at roughly ~20%. This type of West-Eurasian ancestry reaches up to 40-50% among specific populations of the Horn of Africa , specifically among Amharas . Genetic data and archeologic evidence suggest that East African pastoralists received West Eurasian ancestry (~25%) through Afroasiatic-speaking groups from Northern Africa or the Arabian Peninsula , and later spread this ancestry component southwards into certain Khoisan groups roughly 2,000 years ago, resulting in ~5% West-Eurasian ancestry among Southern African hunter-gatherers. A 2019 archaeogenetic study sampled ancient remains from Neolithic inhabitants of Tanzania and Kenya, and found them to have strongest affinities with modern Horn of Africa groups. They modelled the Maasai community as having ancestry that is ~47% Pastoral Neolithic Cushitic-related and ~53% Sudanese Dinka-related. Y-DNA A Y chromosome study by Wood et al. (2005) tested various Sub-Saharan populations, including 26 Maasai men from Kenya, for paternal lineages. The authors observed haplogroup E1b1b -M35 (not M78) in 35% of the studied Maasai. E1b1b-M35-M78 in 15%, their ancestor with the more northerly Cushitic men, who possess the haplogroup at high frequencies lived more than 13,000 years ago. The second most frequent paternal lineage among the Maasai was Haplogroup A3b2 , which is commonly found in Nilotic populations, such as the Alur ; it was observed in 27% of Maasai men. The third most frequently observed paternal DNA marker in the Maasai was E1b1a1-M2 (E-P1), which is very common in the Sub-Saharan region; it was found in 12% of the Maasai samples. Haplogroup B-M60 was also observed in 8% of the studied Maasai, which is also found in 30% (16/53) of Southern Sudanese Nilotes. Mitochondrial DNA According to an mtDNA study by Castri et al. (2008), which tested Maasai individuals in Kenya, the maternal lineages found among the Maasai are quite diverse but similar in overall frequency to that observed in other Nilo-Hamitic populations from the region, such as the Samburu . Most of the tested Maasai belonged to various macro-haplogroup L sub-clades, including L0 , L2 , L3 , L4 and L5 . Some maternal gene flow from North and Northeast Africa was also reported, particularly via the presence of mtDNA haplogroup M lineages in about 12.5% of the Maasai samples. Culture Maasai warriors confronting a spotted hyena , a common livestock predator, as photographed in In Wildest Africa (1907) The monotheistic Maasai worship a single deity called Enkai, Nkai, or Engai. Engai has a dual nature, represented by two colours: Engai Narok (Black God) is benevolent, and Engai Na-nyokie (Red God) is vengeful. There are also two pillars or totems of Maasai society: Oodo Mongi, the Red Cow and Orok Kiteng, the Black Cow with a subdivision of five clans or family trees . The Maasai also have a totemic animal, which is the lion. The killing of a lion is used by the Maasai in the rite of passage ceremony. The "Mountain of God", Ol Doinyo Lengai , is located in northernmost Tanzania and can be seen from Lake Natron in southernmost Kenya. The central human figure in the Maasai religious system is the laibon whose roles include shamanistic healing , divination and prophecy , and ensuring success in war or adequate rainfall. Today, they have a political role as well due to the elevation of leaders. Whatever power an individual laibon had was a function of personality rather than position. Many Maasai have also adopted Christianity or Islam . The Maasai produce intricate jewellery and sell these items to tourists. Maasai people and huts with enkang barrier in foreground –eastern Serengeti , 2006 Educating Maasai women to use clinics and hospitals during pregnancy has enabled more infants to survive. The exception is found in extremely remote areas. A corpse rejected by scavengers is seen as having something wrong with it, and liable to cause social disgrace; therefore, it is not uncommon for bodies to be covered in fat and blood from a slaughtered ox . Traditional Maasai lifestyle centres around their cattle , which constitute their primary source of food. In a patriarchal culture that views women as property, a man's wealth is measured in cattle, wives and children. A herd of 50 cattle is respectable, and the more wives and children the better. A man who has plenty of one but not the other is considered to be poor. All of the Maasai's needs for food are met by their cattle. They eat their meat, drink their milk daily, and drink their blood on occasion. Bulls, goats, and lambs are slaughtered for meat on special occasions and ceremonies. Though the Maasai's entire way of life has historically depended on their cattle, more recently with their cattle dwindling, the Maasai have grown dependent on food such as sorghum , rice, potatoes and cabbage (known to the Maasai as goat leaves). One common misconception about the Maasai is that each young man is supposed to kill a lion before he can be circumcised and enter adulthood. Lion hunting was an activity of the past, but it has been banned in East Africa – yet lions are still hunted when they maul Maasai livestock. Nevertheless, killing a lion gives one great value and celebrity status in the community. Maasai school in Tanzania Body modification Maasai woman with stretched earlobes The piercing and stretching of earlobes are common among the Maasai as with other tribes, and both men and women wear metal hoops on their stretched earlobes. Various materials have been used to both pierce and stretch the lobes, including thorns for piercing, twigs, bundles of twigs, stones, the cross-section of elephant tusks and empty film canisters. Women wear various forms of beaded ornaments in both the ear lobe and smaller piercings at the top of the ear. Among Maasai males, circumcision is practised as a ritual of transition from boyhood to manhood. Women are also circumcised (as described below in social organisation ). This belief and practice are not unique to the Maasai. In rural Kenya, a group of 95 children aged between six months and two years were examined in 1991/92. 87% were found to have undergone the removal of one or more deciduous canine tooth buds. In an older age group (3–7 years of age), 72% of the 111 children examined exhibited missing mandibular or maxillary deciduous canines. Genital cutting Young Maasai warrior (a junior Moran) with headdress and markings Traditionally, the Maasai conduct elaborate rite of passage rituals which include surgical genital mutilation to initiate children into adulthood. The Maa word for circumcision , "emorata," is applied to this ritual for both males and females. This ritual is typically performed by the elders, who use a sharpened knife and makeshift cattle hide bandages for the procedure. The male ceremony refers to the excision of the prepuce (foreskin). In the male ceremony, the boy is expected to endure the operation in silence. Expressions of pain bring dishonour upon him, albeit only temporarily. Importantly, any exclamations or unexpected movements on the part of the boy can cause the elder to make a mistake in the delicate and tedious process, which can result in severe lifelong scarring, dysfunction, and pain. Young women also undergo female genital mutilation as part of an elaborate rite of passage ritual called "Emuatare," the ceremony that initiates young Maasai girls into adulthood through ritual mutilation and then into early arranged marriages. The Maasai believe that female genital mutilation is necessary and Maasai men may reject any woman who has not undergone it as either not marriageable or worthy of a much-reduced bride price. In Eastern Africa, uncircumcised women, even highly educated members of parliament like Linah Kilimo , can be accused of not being mature enough to be taken seriously. The Maasai activist Agnes Pareyio campaigns against the practice. The female rite of passage ritual has recently seen excision replaced in rare instances with a "cutting with words" ceremony involving singing and dancing in its place. However, despite changes to the law and education drives, the practice remains deeply ingrained, highly valued, and nearly universally practised by members of the culture. Hair Maasai woman with short hair Upon reaching the age of 3 "moons", the child is named and the head is shaved clean apart from a tuft of hair, which resembles a cockade , from the nape of the neck to the forehead. Among the men, warriors are the only members of the Maasai community to wear long hair, which they weave in thinly braided strands. Graduation from warrior to junior elder takes place at a large gathering known as Eunoto. The long hair of the former warriors is shaved off ; elders must wear their hair short. Warriors who do not have sexual relations with women who have not undergone the "Emuatare" ceremony are especially honoured at the Eunoto gathering. This would symbolise the healing of the woman. Two days before boys are circumcised, their heads are shaved. When warriors go through the Eunoto and become elders, their long plaited hair is shaved off. Music and dance Traditional jumping dance Maasai music traditionally consists of rhythms provided by a chorus of vocalists singing harmonies while a song leader, or olaranyani, sings the melody. Unlike most other African tribes, Maasai widely use drone polyphony . Women chant lullabies, humming songs, and songs praising their sons. Nambas, the call-and-response pattern, repetition of nonsensical phrases, monophonic melodies, repeated phrases following each verse being sung on a descending scale, and singers responding to their verses are characteristic of singing by women. When many Maasai women gather together, they sing and dance among themselves. Eunoto, the coming-of-age ceremony of the warrior, can involve ten or more days of singing, dancing and ritual. The warriors of the Il-Oodokilani perform a kind of march-past as well as the Adumu , or aigus, sometimes referred to as "the jumping dance" by non-Maasai. (Both adumu and aigus are Maa verbs meaning "to jump" with adumu meaning "To jump up and down in a dance". Diet A Maasai herdsman grazing his cattle inside the Ngorongoro crater , Tanzania Traditionally, the Maasai diet consisted of raw meat, raw milk, honey and raw blood from cattle —note that the Maasai cattle are of the Zebu variety Most of the milk is consumed as fermented milk or buttermilk (a by-product of butter making). Milk consumption figures are very high by any standards. The Maasai herd goats and sheep, including the Red Maasai sheep , as well as the more prized cattle. Although consumed as snacks, fruits constitute a major part of the food ingested by children and women looking after cattle as well as morans in the bush. A tradition Medicines And Herbs Hawker From Maasai Medicine The Maasai people traditionally used the environment when making their medicines, and many still do, due to the high cost of Western treatments. These medicines are derived from trees, shrubs, stems, roots, etc. These can then be used in a multitude of ways including being boiled in soups and ingested to improve digestion and cleanse the blood. Some of these remedies can also be used in the treatment or prevention of diseases. The Maasai people also add herbs to different foods to avoid stomach upsets and give digestive aid. The use of plant-based medicine remains an important part of Maasai life. Shelter Shelter covered in cattle dung for waterproofing Panoramic view of Maasai Enkang, seen from the inside Panoramic view of Maasai Enkang, seen from the outside Clothing A Maasai woman wearing her finest clothes Maasai clothing symbolises ethnic group membership, a pastoralist lifestyle, as well as an individual's social position. From this they can decide the roles they undertake for the tribe. Jewellery also can show an individual's gender, relationship status, and age. Maasai traditional clothing is both a means of tribal identification and symbolism: young men, for example, wear black for several months following their circumcision. The Maasai began to replace animal skin, calf hides and sheep skin with commercial cotton cloth in the 1960s. Shúkà is the Maa word for sheets traditionally worn and wrapped around the body. These are typically red , sometimes integrated with other colours and patterns.[100] One-piece garments known as kanga , a Swahili term, are common. Maasai near the coast may wear kikoi , a sarong -like garment that comes in many different colours and textiles Influences from the outside world Maasai women repairing a house in Maasai Mara (1996) A traditional pastoral lifestyle has become increasingly difficult due to modern outside influences. Garrett Hardin 's article outlining the "tragedy of the commons", as well as Melville Herskovits ' "cattle complex" influenced ecologists and policymakers about the harm Maasai pastoralists were causing to savannah rangelands. This was later contested by some anthropologists . British colonial policymakers in 1951 removed all Maasai from the Serengeti National Park and relegated them to areas in and around the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA). Maasai wearing protective masks during COVID-19 pandemic . Maasai riding a motorcycle (2014) Due to an increasing population, loss of cattle due to disease, and lack of available rangelands because of new park boundaries and competition from other tribes, the Maasai were forced to develop new ways of sustaining themselves. Many Maasai began to cultivate maize and other crops to get by, a practice that was culturally viewed negatively. Cultivation was first introduced to the Maasai by displaced WaArusha and WaMeru women who married Maasai men. In 1975 the Ngorongoro Conservation Area banned cultivation, forcing the tribe to participate in Tanzania's economy. They have to sell animals and traditional medicines to buy food. The ban on cultivation was lifted in 1992 and cultivation became an important part of Maasai livelihood once more. Park boundaries and land privatisation has continued to limit the Maasai livestock's grazing area. Throughout the years, various projects have attempted to help the Maasai people. These projects help find ways to preserve Maasai traditions while also encouraging modern education for their children. Emerging employment among the Maasai people include farming, business, and wage employment in both the public and private sectors. Many Maasai have also moved away from the nomadic life to positions in commerce and government. Eviction from ancestral land The Maasai community was reportedly being targeted with live ammunition and tear gas in June 2022 in Tanzania , in a government plan to seize a piece of Maasai land for elite private luxury development. Lawyers, human rights groups, and activists who brought the matter to light claimed that Tanzanian security forces tried to forcefully evict the indigenous Maasai people from their ancestral land for the establishment of a luxury game reserve by Otterlo Business Corporation (OBC) for the royals ruling the United Arab Emirates . As of 18 June 2022, approximately 30 Maasai people had been injured and at least one killed, at the hands of the Tanzanian government Field Force Unit (FFU) while protesting the government’s plans of what it claims are delimiting a 1500 sq km of land as a game reserve, an act which violates a 2018 East African Court of Justice (EACJ) injunction on the land dispute, per local activists. By reclassifying the area as a game reserve, the authorities aimed to systematically expropriate Maasai settlements and grazing in the area, experts warned. This was not the first time Maasai territory was encroached upon. Big-game hunting firms along with the government have long attacked the groups. The 2022 attacks are the latest escalation, which has left more than 150,000 Maasai displaced from the Loliondo and Ngorongoro areas as per the United Nations . A hunting concession already situated in Loliondo is owned by OBC, a company that has been allegedly linked to the significantly wealthy Emirati royal family as per Tanzanian lawyers, environmentalists as well as human rights activists. Anuradha Mittal, the executive director of the environmental think-tank, Oakland Institute cited that OBC was not a "safari company for just everyone, it has operations for the royal family". A 2019 United Nations report described OBC as a luxury-game hunting company "based in the United Arab Emirates" that was granted a hunting license by the Tanzanian government in 1992 permitting "the UAE royal family to organise private hunting trips" in addition to denying the Maasai people access to their ancestral land and water for herding cattle. When approached, the UAE government refrained from giving any statements. Meanwhile, the OBC commented on the matter without addressing alleged links with Emirati royals, stating that "there is no eviction in Loliondo" and calling it a "reserve land protected area" owned by the government. Notable Maasai Linus Kaikai - Kenyan journalist and Chair of the Kenya Editors Guild Francis Ole Kaparo – Former Speaker of the National Assembly of Kenya James Ole Kiyiapi – associate professor at Moi University and permanent secretary in the Ministries of Education and Local Government Olekina Ledama – Founder, Maasai Education Discovery Stanley Shapashina Oloitiptip - Former Kenya politician and cabinet minister Josephine Lemoyan – social scientist, Tanzanian member of the 2017-2022 East African Legislative Assembly [113] Nice Nailantei Lengete – First woman to address the Maasai elders council at Mount Kilimanjaro , and persuaded the council to ban female genital mutilation among the Maasai across Kenya and Tanzania Joseph Ole Lenku – Cabinet Secretary of Kenya for Interior and Coordination of National Government from 2012 to 2014 Edward Lowassa – Prime Minister of Tanzania from 2005 to 2008. 2nd runner up to president John Pombe Magufuli in the 2015 Tanzania General Elections. Mbatian - Prophet after whom Batian Peak, the highest peak of Mount Kenya , is named Katoo Ole Metito – Member of Parliament for Kajiado South sub county Joseph Nkaissery – Former Cabinet Secretary of Kenya for Interior and Coordination of National Government from 2014 to his death in 2017 William Ole Ntimama – Former Kenyan politician and leader of the Maa community Damaris Parsitau – gender equality advocate, feminist, and scholar David Rudisha – Middle-distance runner and 800-meter world record holder George Saitoti - former Vice-president of Kenya Moses ole Sakuda - Kenyan politician Jackson Ole Sapit - Sixth Archbishop and Primate of the Anglican Church of Kenya Edward Sokoine – Prime Minister of Tanzania from 1977 to 1980 and again from 1983 to 1984 Sanaipei Tande - Kenyan musical artist SAN BUSHMAN PEOPLE The San Bushmen Of Southern Africa If you thought everything in “The gods must be crazy” film was all acted up, then wait until you observe the daily lives of the San Bushmen. To begin with, this is the tribe that consists of people who have inhabited Western Botswana and Makgadikgadi pans for centuries. That’s to say they’ve literally survived living in an arid area, which has no drop of water to be spotted anywhere. And not only do they depend on setting animal traps for feeding, but also feed on tubers and roots. Dressed in loincloths, the tribesmen swing bows and arrows on their shoulders, as they lead the way and factually make tobacco from zebras’ dung. The San peoples (also Saan), or Bushmen, are the members of any of the indigenous hunter-gatherer cultures of southern Africa, and the oldest surviving cultures of the region. They are thought to have diverged from other humans 100,000 to 200,000 years ago.[a] [4] Their recent ancestral territories span Botswana , Namibia , Angola , Zambia , Zimbabwe , Lesotho , and South Africa . The San speak, or their ancestors spoke, languages of the Khoe , Tuu , and Kxʼa language families, and can be defined as a people only in contrast to neighboring pastoralists such as the Khoekhoe and descendants of more recent waves of immigration such as the Bantu , Europeans , and Asians . In 2017, Botswana was home to approximately 63,500 San, making it the country with the highest proportion of San people at 2.8%. 71,201 San people were enumerated in Namibia in 2023, making it the country with the second highest proportion of San people at 2.4%. Definition In Khoekhoegowab , the term "San" has a long vowel and is spelled Sān. It is an exonym meaning "foragers" and is used in a derogatory manner to describe people too poor to have cattle. Based on observation of lifestyle, this term has been applied to speakers of three distinct language families living between the Okavango River in Botswana and Etosha National Park in northwestern Namibia , extending up into southern Angola ; central peoples of most of Namibia and Botswana, extending into Zambia and Zimbabwe ; and the southern people in the central Kalahari towards the Molopo River , who are the last remnant of the previously extensive indigenous peoples of southern Africa. Names Portrait of a bushman. Alfred Duggan-Cronin. South Africa, early 20th century. The Wellcome Collection, London. The designations "Bushmen" and "San" are both exonyms . The San have no collective word for themselves in their own languages. "San" comes from a derogatory Khoekhoe word used to refer to foragers without cattle or other wealth, from a root saa "picking up from the ground" + plural -n in the Haiǁom dialect . "Bushmen" is the older cover term, but "San" was widely adopted in the West by the late 1990s. The term Bushmen, from 17th-century Dutch Bosjesmans, is still used by others and to self-identify, but is now considered pejorative or derogatory by many South Africans.[10 In 2008, the use of boesman (the modern Afrikaans equivalent of "Bushman") in the Die Burger newspaper was brought before the Equality Court . The San Council testified that it had no objection to its use in a positive context, and the court ruled that the use of the term was not derogatory. The San refer to themselves as their individual nations, such as ǃKung (also spelled ǃXuun, including the Juǀʼhoansi ), ǀXam , Nǁnǂe (part of the ǂKhomani), Kxoe (Khwe and ǁAni), Haiǁom , Ncoakhoe , Tshuwau , Gǁana and Gǀui (ǀGwi) , etc. Representatives of San peoples in 2003 stated their preference for the use of such individual group names, where possible, over the use of the collective term San. Adoption of the Khoekhoe term San in Western anthropology dates to the 1970s, and this remains the standard term in English-language ethnographic literature, although some authors later switched back to using the name Bushmen. The compound Khoisan is used to refer to the pastoralist Khoi and the foraging San collectively. It was coined by Leonhard Schulze in the 1920s and popularized by Isaac Schapera in 1930. Anthropological use of San was detached from the compound Khoisan, as it has been reported that the exonym San is perceived as a pejorative in parts of the central Kalahari. By the late 1990s, the term San was used generally by the people themselves. The adoption of the term was preceded by a number of meetings held in the 1990s where delegates debated on the adoption of a collective term. These meetings included the Common Access to Development Conference organized by the Government of Botswana held in Gaborone in 1993, the 1996 inaugural Annual General Meeting of the Working Group of Indigenous Minorities in Southern Africa (WIMSA) held in Namibia, and a 1997 conference in Cape Town on "Khoisan Identities and Cultural Heritage" organized by the University of the Western Cape . The term San is now standard in South African, and used officially in the blazon of the national coat-of-arms . The "South African San Council" representing San communities in South Africa was established as part of WIMSA in 2001. The term Basarwa (singular Mosarwa) is used for the San collectively in Botswana. The term is a Bantu (Tswana ) word meaning "those who do not rear cattle", that is, equivalent to Khoekhoe Saan. The mo-/ba- noun class prefixes are used for people; the older variant Masarwa, with the le-/ma- prefixes used for disreputable people and animals, is offensive and was changed at independence. In Angola, they are sometimes referred to as mucancalas, or bosquímanos (a Portuguese adaptation of the Dutch term for "Bushmen"). The terms Amasili and Batwa are sometimes used for them in Zimbabwe . The San are also referred to as Batwa by Xhosa people and as Baroa by Sotho people . The Bantu term Batwa refers to any foraging tribesmen and as such overlaps with the terminology used for the "Pygmoid" Southern Twa of South-Central Africa. History Bush-Men Hottentots armed for an Expedition, 1804 The hunter-gatherer San are among the oldest cultures on Earth, and are thought to be descended from the first inhabitants of what is now Botswana and South Africa. The historical presence of the San in Botswana is particularly evident in northern Botswana's Tsodilo Hills region. San were traditionally semi-nomadic , moving seasonally within certain defined areas based on the availability of resources such as water, game animals , and edible plants. Peoples related to or similar to the San occupied the southern shores throughout the eastern shrubland and may have formed a Sangoan continuum from the Red Sea to the Cape of Good Hope . Early San society left a rich legacy of cave paintings across Southern Africa. In the Bantu expansion (2000 BC - 1000 AD), San were driven off their ancestral lands or incorporated by Bantu speaking groups .  The San were believed to have closer connections to the old spirits of the land, and were often turned to by other societies for rainmaking, as was the case at Mapungubwe . San shamans would enter a trance and go into the spirit world themselves to capture the animals associated with rain. By the end of the 18th century after the arrival of the Dutch, thousands of San had been killed and forced to work for the colonists. The British tried to "civilize" the San and make them adopt a more agricultural lifestyle, but were not successful. By the 1870s, the last San of the Cape were hunted to extinction, while other San were able to survive. The South African government used to issue licenses for people to hunt the San, with the last one being reportedly issued in Namibia in 1936. From the 1950s through to the 1990s, San communities switched to farming because of government-mandated modernization programs. Despite the lifestyle changes, they have provided a wealth of information in anthropology and genetics . One broad study of African genetic diversity , completed in 2009, found that the genetic diversity of the San was among the top five of all 121 sampled populations. Certain San groups are one of 14 known extant "ancestral population clusters"; that is, "groups of with common genetic ancestry, who share ethnicity and similarities in both their culture and the properties of their languages". Despite some positive aspects of government development programs reported by members of San and Bakgalagadi communities in Botswana, many have spoken of a consistent sense of exclusion from government decision-making processes, and many San and Bakgalagadi have alleged experiencing ethnic discrimination on the part of the government.: 8–9  The United States Department of State described ongoing discrimination against San, or Basarwa, people in Botswana in 2013 as the "principal human rights concern" of that country. Society Further information: San healing practices , San rock art , and San religion Drinking water from the bi bulb plant Starting a fire by hand Preparing poison arrows San man The San kinship system reflects their history as traditionally small mobile foraging bands. San kinship is similar to Inuit kinship , which uses the same set of terms as in European cultures but adds a name rule and an age rule for determining what terms to use. The age rule resolves any confusion arising from kinship terms, as the older of two people always decides what to call the younger. Relatively few names circulate (approximately 35 names per sex), and each child is named after a grandparent or another relative, but never their parents. Children have no social duties besides playing, and leisure is very important to San of all ages. Large amounts of time are spent in conversation, joking, music, and sacred dances. Women may be leaders of their own family groups. They may also make important family and group decisions and claim ownership of water holes and foraging areas. Women are mainly involved in the gathering of food, but sometimes also partake in hunting. Water is important in San life. During long droughts, they make use of sip wells in order to collect water. To make a sip well, a San scrapes a deep hole where the sand is damp, and inserts a long hollow grass stem into the hole. An empty ostrich egg is used to collect the water. Water is sucked into the straw from the sand, into the mouth, and then travels down another straw into the ostrich egg. Traditionally, the San were an egalitarian society. Although they had hereditary chiefs , their authority was limited. The San made decisions among themselves by consensus , with women treated as relative equals in decision making. San economy was a gift economy , based on giving each other gifts regularly rather than on trading or purchasing goods and services. Most San are monogamous , but if a hunter is able to obtain enough food, he can afford to have a second wife as well. Subsistence Villages range in sturdiness from nightly rain shelters in the warm spring (when people move constantly in search of budding greens), to formalized rings, wherein people congregate in the dry season around permanent waterholes. Early spring is the hardest season: a hot dry period following the cool, dry winter. Most plants still are dead or dormant, and supplies of autumn nuts are exhausted. Meat is particularly important in the dry months when wildlife cannot range far from the receding waters. Women gather fruit, berries, tubers, bush onions, and other plant materials for the band's consumption. Ostrich eggs are gathered, and the empty shells are used as water containers. Insects provide perhaps 10% of animal proteins consumed, most often during the dry season.[51] Depending on location, the San consume 18 to 104 species, including grasshoppers, beetles, caterpillars, moths, butterflies, and termites. Women's traditional gathering gear is simple and effective: a hide sling, a blanket, a cloak called a kaross to carry foodstuffs, firewood, smaller bags, a digging stick, and perhaps, a smaller version of the kaross to carry a baby. Men, and presumably women when they accompany them, hunt in long, laborious tracking excursions. They kill their game using bow and arrows and spears tipped in diamphotoxin , a slow-acting arrow poison produced by beetle larvae of the genus Diamphidia . Early history Wandering hunters (Masarwa Bushmen), North Kalahari desert, published in 1892 (from H. A. Bryden photogr.) A set of tools almost identical to that used by the modern San and dating to 42,000 BC was discovered at Border Cave in KwaZulu-Natal in 2012. In 2006, what is thought to be the world's oldest ritual is interpreted as evidence which would make the San culture the oldest still practiced culture today. Historical evidence shows that certain San communities have always lived in the desert regions of the Kalahari; however, eventually nearly all other San communities in southern Africa were forced into this region. The Kalahari San remained in poverty where their richer neighbours denied them rights to the land. Before long, in both Botswana and Namibia, they found their territory drastically reduced.[59] Genetics Various Y chromosome studies show that the San carry some of the most divergent (earliest branching) human Y-chromosome haplogroups . These haplogroups are specific sub-groups of haplogroups A and B , the two earliest branches on the human Y-chromosome tree . Mitochondrial DNA studies also provide evidence that the San carry high frequencies of the earliest haplogroup branches in the human mitochondrial DNA tree. This DNA is inherited only from one's mother. The most divergent (earliest branching) mitochondrial haplogroup, L0d , has been identified at its highest frequencies in the southern African San groups. In a study published in March 2011, Brenna Henn and colleagues found that the ǂKhomani San, as ell as the Sandawe and Hadza peoples of Tanzania , were the most genetically diverse of any living humans studied. This high degree of genetic diversity hints at the origin of anatomically modern humans . A 2008 study suggested that the San may have been isolated from other original ancestral groups for as much as 50,000 to 100,000 years and later rejoined, re-integrating into the rest of the human gene pool. A DNA study of fully sequenced genomes, published in September 2016, showed that the ancestors of today's San hunter-gatherers began to diverge from other human populations in Africa about 200,000 years ago and were fully isolated by 100,000 years ago. Ancestral land conflict in Botswana Main article: Ancestral land conflict in Botswana San family in Botswana According to professors Robert K. Hitchcock, Wayne A. Babchuk, "In 1652, when Europeans established a full-time presence in Southern Africa, there were some 300,000 San and 600,000 Khoekhoe in Southern Africa. During the early phases of European colonization, tens of thousands of Khoekhoe and San peoples lost their lives as a result of genocide, murder, physical mistreatment, and disease. There were cases of “Bushman hunting” in which commandos (mobile paramilitary units or posses) sought to dispatch San and Khoekhoe in various parts of Southern Africa." Much aboriginal people 's land in Botswana, including land occupied by the San people (or Basarwa), was conquered during colonization. Loss of land and access to natural resources continued after Botswana's independence.  The San have been particularly affected by encroachment by majority peoples and non-indigenous farmers onto their traditional land. Government policies from the 1970s transferred a significant area of traditionally San land to majority agro-pastoralist tribes and white settlers  Much of the government's policy regarding land tended to favor the dominant Tswana peoples over the minority San and Bakgalagadi .  Loss of land is a major contributor to the problems facing Botswana's indigenous people, including especially the San's eviction from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve .  The government of Botswana decided to relocate all of those living within the reserve to settlements outside it. Harassment of residents, dismantling of infrastructure, and bans on hunting appear to have been used to induce residents to leave.  The government has denied that any of the relocation was forced.A legal battle followed. The relocation policy may have been intended to facilitate diamond mining by Gem Diamonds within the reserve. Hoodia traditional knowledge agreement Hoodia gordonii , used by the San, was patented by the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in 1998, for its presumed appetite suppressing quality, although, according to a 2006 review, no published scientific evidence supported hoodia as an appetite suppressant in humans. A licence was granted to Phytopharm , for development of the active ingredient in the Hoodia plant, p57 (glycoside), to be used as a pharmaceutical drug for dieting. Once this patent was brought to the attention of the San, a benefit-sharing agreement was reached between them and the CSIR in 2003. This would award royalties to the San for the benefits of their indigenous knowledge. During the case, the San people were represented and assisted by the Working Group of Indigenous Minorities in Southern Africa (WIMSA), the South African San Council and the South African San Institute. This benefit-sharing agreement is one of the first to give royalties to the holders of traditional knowledge used for drug sales. The terms of the agreement are contentious, because of their apparent lack of adherence to the Bonn Guidelines on Access to Genetic Resources and Benefit Sharing, as outlined in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The San have yet to profit from this agreement, as P57 has still not yet been legally developed and marketed. Representation in mass media Rock paintings in the Cederberg , Western Cape San paintings near Murewa , Zimbabwe San paintings near Murewa Early representations The San of the Kalahari were first brought to the globalized world's attention in the 1950s by South African author Laurens van der Post . Van der Post grew up in South Africa, and had a respectful lifelong fascination with native African cultures. In 1955, he was commissioned by the BBC to go to the Kalahari desert with a film crew in search of the San. The filmed material was turned into a very popular six-part television documentary a year later. Driven by a lifelong fascination with this "vanished tribe," Van der Post published a 1958 book about this expedition, entitled The Lost World of the Kalahari. It was to be his most famous book. In 1961, he published The Heart of the Hunter, a narrative which he admits in the introduction uses two previous works of stories and mythology as "a sort of Stone Age Bible," namely Specimens of Bushman Folklore ' (1911), collected by Wilhelm H. I. Bleek and Lucy C. Lloyd , and Dorothea Bleek 's Mantis and His Friend. Van der Post's work brought indigenous African cultures to millions of people around the world for the first time, but some people disparaged it as part of the subjective view of a European in the 1950s and 1960s, stating that he branded the San as simple "children of Nature" or even "mystical ecologists." In 1992 by John Perrot and team published the book "Bush for the Bushman" – a "desperate plea" on behalf of the aboriginal San addressing the international community and calling on the governments throughout Southern Africa to respect and reconstitute the ancestral land-rights of all San. Documentaries and non-fiction This section contains promotional content . Please help improve it by removing promotional language and inappropriate external links , and by adding encyclopedic text written from a neutral point of view . (July 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message ) John Marshall, the son of Harvard anthropologist Lorna Marshall , documented the lives of San in the Nyae Nyae region of Namibia over a period spanning more than 50-years. His early film The Hunters, shows a giraffe hunt. A Kalahari Family (2002) is a series documenting 50 years in the lives of the Juǀʼhoansi of Southern Africa, from 1951 to 2000. Marshall was a vocal proponent of the San cause throughout his life.[76] His sister Elizabeth Marshall Thomas wrote several books and numerous articles about the San, based in part on her experiences living with these people when their culture was still intact. The Harmless People, published in 1959, and The Old Way: A Story of the First People, published in 2006, are two of them. John Marshall and Adrienne Miesmer documented the lives of the ǃKung San people between the 1950s and 1978 in Nǃai, the Story of a ǃKung Woman. This film, the account of a woman who grew up while the San lived as autonomous hunter-gatherers, but who later was forced into a dependent life in the government-created community at Tsumkwe, shows how the lives of the ǃKung people , who lived for millennia as hunter gatherers, were forever changed when they were forced onto a reservation too small to support them. South African film-maker Richard Wicksteed has produced a number of documentaries on San culture, history and present situation; these include In God's Places / Iindawo ZikaThixo (1995) on the San cultural legacy in the southern Drakensberg; Death of a Bushman (2002) on the murder of San tracker Optel Rooi by South African police; The Will To Survive (2009), which covers the history and situation of San communities in southern Africa today; and My Land is My Dignity (2009) on the San's epic land rights struggle in Botswana's Central Kalahari Game Reserve . A documentary on San hunting entitled, The Great Dance: A Hunter's Story (2000), directed by Damon and Craig Foster . This was reviesed by Lawrence Van Gelder for the New York Times , who said that the film "constitutes an act of preservation and a requiem." Spencer Wells 's 2003 book The Journey of Man —in connection with National Geographic 's Genographic Project —discusses a genetic analysis of the San and asserts their genetic markers were the first ones to split from those of the ancestors of the bulk of other Homo sapiens sapiens. The PBS documentary based on the book follows these markers throughout the world, demonstrating that all of humankind can be traced back to the African continent (see Recent African origin of modern humans , the so-called "out of Africa" hypothesis). The BBC's The Life of Mammals (2003) series includes video footage of an indigenous San of the Kalahari desert undertaking a persistence hunt of a kudu through harsh desert conditions. It provides an illustration of how early man may have pursued and captured prey with minimal weaponry. The BBC series How Art Made the World (2005) compares San cave paintings from 200 years ago to Paleolithic European paintings that are 14,000 years old. Because of their similarities, the San works may illustrate the reasons for ancient cave paintings. The presenter Nigel Spivey draws largely on the work of Professor David Lewis-Williams , whose PhD was entitled "Believing and Seeing: Symbolic meanings in southern San rock paintings". Lewis-Williams draws parallels with prehistoric art around the world, linking in shamanic ritual and trance states. Films and music Rock painting of a man in Twyfelfontein valley A 1969 film, Lost in the Desert , features a small boy, stranded in the desert, who encounters a group of wandering San. They help him and then abandon him as a result of a misunderstanding created by the lack of a common language and culture. The film was directed by Jamie Uys , who returned to the San a decade later with The Gods Must Be Crazy , which proved to be an international hit. This comedy portrays a Kalahari San group's first encounter with an artifact from the outside world (a Coca-Cola bottle). By the time this movie was made, the ǃKung had recently been forced into sedentary villages, and the San hired as actors were confused by the instructions to act out inaccurate exaggerations of their almost abandoned hunting and gathering life. "Eh Hee " by Dave Matthews Band was written as an evocation of the music and culture of the San. In a story told to the Radio City audience (an edited version of which appears on the DVD version of Live at Radio City ), Matthews recalls hearing the music of the San and, upon asking his guide what the words to their songs were, being told that "there are no words to these songs, because these songs, we've been singing since before people had words." He goes on to describe the song as his "homage to meeting... the most advanced people on the planet." Rock engraving of a giraffe in Twyfelfontein valley Memoirs In Peter Godwin 's biography When A Crocodile Eats the Sun, he mentions his time spent with the San for an assignment. His title comes from the San's belief that a solar eclipse occurs when a crocodile eats the sun. Novels Laurens van der Post 's two novels, A Story Like The Wind (1972) and its sequel, A Far Off Place (1974), made into a 1993 film , are about a white boy encountering a wandering San and his wife, and how the San's life and survival skills save the white teenagers' lives in a journey across the desert. James A. Michener 's The Covenant (1980), is a work of historical fiction centered on South Africa. The first section of the book concerns a San community's journey set roughly in 13,000 BC. In Wilbur Smith 's novel The Burning Shore (an instalment in the Courtneys of Africa book series ), the San people are portrayed through two major characters, O'wa and H'ani; Smith describes the San's struggles, history, and beliefs in great detail. Norman Rush 's 1991 novel Mating features an encampment of Basarwa near the (imaginary) Botswana town where the main action is set. Tad Williams 's epic Otherland series of novels features a South African San named ǃXabbu, whom Williams confesses to be highly fictionalized, and not necessarily an accurate representation. In the novel, Williams invokes aspects of San mythology and culture. In 2007, David Gilman published The Devil's Breath. One of the main characters, a small San boy named ǃKoga, uses traditional methods to help the character Max Gordon travel across Namibia. Alexander McCall Smith has written a series of episodic novels set in Gaborone , the capital of Botswana. The fiancé of the protagonist of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni, adopts two orphaned San children, sister and brother Motholeli and Puso. The San feature in several of the novels by Michael Stanley (the nom de plume of Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip), particularly in Death of the Mantis. In Christopher Hope 's book Darkest England, the San hero, David Mungo Booi, is tasked by his fellow tribesmen with asking the Queen for the protection once promised, and to evaluate the possibility of creating a colony on the island. He discovered England in the manner of 19th century Western explorers. The Top Most Famous Tribes in Africa Each of the four regions of Africa all have atleast one of the most famous tribes in Africa. Africa has an estimated total of 3,000 tribes, all of which incredibly vary in terms of language and culture. The continent itself might have evolved greatly in the past two millennia; but tribal influences continue to be a dominant force in most parts. And even though the split-up between tribes has lessened over the years; tribal affiliations still stand as a prevailing source of pride among the natives. With that in mind, let’s briefly look at the 20 most famous African tribes. In no particular order, here at the Top 20 most famous tribes in the Continent of Africa. The Yoruba Tribe Of West Africa Yoruba is undeniably one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa, with a population estimated at about 35 million people in total; the Yoruba tribe is one of the most famous tribes in Africa. They mainly occupy the South Western sides of Nigeria, as well as Southern Benin, with a great majority coming from Nigeria. The Hausa Tribe Of West Africa The Hausa are one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa, as well as the largest in West Africa. In fact, it’s not only a racially diverse ethnic group in Africa, but culturally homogenous as well, encircling the people in the Sudanian and Sahelian areas of South-eastern Niger and Northern Nigeria, with a significant number living in Chad, Togo, Cote d’Ivoire, Sudan and Ghana. They have a restricted dress code: elaborate dresses for men with striking embroideries around the neck, and colorful caps commonly referred to as file. For Hausa women, there’s the abaya wrapper, which consists of a colorful wrap cloth, matching blouse, a shawl and a head tie. The Karo Tribe of East Africa The Karo or Karaethnic group reside along the east banks of the Omo River Located in Southern Ethiopia. With an estimated population of about 2,000 people, the Karo people form one of the most famous tribes in Africa; and they have a fascinating culture known for body painting. Karo tribe members are known to paint their bodies with a combination of white chalk, yellow, mineral rock, iron ore, and charcoal. In addition, they often practice ritual scarification, choosing scars as an easy way to identify themselves. The scarification of the man’s chest indicates that he has killed enemies from other tribes; and he is highly respected within his community, according to Atlas of humanity. The Karo women are considered particularly sensual and attractive if cuts are made deep into their chests and torsos and ash is rubbed in; creating a raised effect over time and thereby enhancing sexual beauty. The Himba Tribe of Southern Africa Himba tribe, found in Northern Namibia—Kunene region, is basically made up of semi-nomadic pastoralists that comprise of approximately 20, 000 to 50, 000 aboriginals. They are famously known as the “Red People of Africa,” since they use red paste called otjize—a mixture of butter and red clay to paint themselves red. Also noted in their village is the holy fire (Okuruwo), which is continuously kept alive to represent the ancestors who help them mediate with their God, Mukuru. The Igbo Tribe of West Africa The Igbo people also known as Ndigbo, are found in southeastern part of Nigeria as well as some remote parts of west Africa. They are also recognized in Jamaica as the Red Eboes. The Igbo people are one of the most famous tribes in Africa and have many interesting customs and traditions. With a population of around 40 million throughout Nigeria, they are one of the biggest and most influential tribes. Igbos are well-known for their entrepreneurial endeavors, doggedness, well traveled nature and sadly the Biafran war; both within Nigeria and around the world. The Dogon Tribe of West Africa The Dogon people are a branch of the Niger-Congo language group, a tribe of anything between 400,000 and 800,000. They live in villages in good defensive locations on the Central Plateau of Mali and into Burkina Faso. They originally believed to have headed from the north of Africa to avoid Islamisation; because their lives revolve around their traditional religion though some are now Muslims and others, Christians. As one of the most famous tribes in Africa, the Dogon people are recognized globally for their art and their astronomical knowledge. The Dogon people survive by growing crops and keeping livestock. The Oromo Tribe Of East Africa The Oromo tribe is made up of people who inhabit the Southern part of Ethiopia, Northern Kenya and some parts of Somalia. It’s considered the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia, which accounts for about 35% of Ethiopia’s population. Basically, the Oromos speak the Oromo Language—which is considered a Cushitic version of the Afro-Asiatic lingo. The Kalenjin Tribe of East Africa If you’re a serious fan of athletics, then you definitely know a word or two about this African tribe from the Western Highlands of Kenya. Originally, Kalenjins were referred to as the “Nandi speaking tribe”; until the early 1950s when they officially adopted the name Kalenjin. Since then, the tribe has consistently been giving birth to elite Marathon runners; making it one of the most popular tribes worldwide as far as athletics is concerned. The Tuareg Tribe of Northern Africa The Tuaregs are a large tribe of Berber ethnicity occupying huge areas of the Sahara Desert. As nomadic pastoralists, they travel to seek food and water, making them one of the most famous tribes in Africa; As a result of their nomadic movements, they are found in the Mediterranean countries such as; Libya and Algeria, as well as countries in the region known as the Sahel; on the Sahara’s southern boundary, such as the country, Niger. The Ashanti Tribe of West Africa The Ashanti people live in central Ghana in the Rain forests of West Africa approximately 150 miles away from the coast. They are a major ethnic group of the Akans (Ashanti and Fanti) in Ghana, and are one of the most famous tribes in Africa. Much of the modern nation of Ghana was dominated from the late 17th through the late 19th century by a state known as Asante. Asante was the largest and most powerful of a series of states formed in the forest region of southern Ghana by people known as the Akan. Among the factors leading the Akan to form states, perhaps the most important was that they were rich in gold. The Ashanti are popular for Gold. It is now politically separated into four main parts. Ashanti is in the center and Kumasi is the capital. The Ashanti are the largest tribe in Ghana and one of the few matrilineal societies in West Africa. The area of Ashanti is 9400 square miles with a population of about one million. The Mbenga Tribe of West Central Africa The Mbenga people are known as the Pygmy Ethnic Group who are found in the West Congo Basin. There are a dozen different pygmy groups with the Mbenga one that speaks Bantu and Ubangian. They are hunter-gatherers largely dependent on what the forests can provide. They trade with neighbors for other things they need. Accurate numbers are difficult to ascertain but educated guesses suggest around half a million live in the Congo rainforest. The Mbenga people are part of the most famous tribes in Africa. The Hutu Tribe of East Africa The Hutu Tribe has a population of around 20-25 million people, settled primarily in two countries. Although the Hutu people are considered as a small tribe, they are one of the most famous tribes in Africa. In Rwanda and Burundi, around 85% of the people are Hutu and a combined 21 million Hutu live in these two countries. The origins of the Hutu lie in the great Bantu expansion which was when they emigrated to the Great Lakes Region in Africa around the first century. The Hutus speak Rwanda-Rundi which is a Bantu language they also share with the Tutsi and the Twa. The Hutu and the Tutsi tribes lived together in relative peace until the colonial invasion by Europeans which then soured the relations between the two tribes, leading eventually to the Rwandan genocide. The Hutus are famous for their pottery and craftsmanship; while music and dancing remain a key cultural component of the Hutu tribe. The Fula Tribe of West Africa The Fulani/fula/fulbe tribe are one of the largest ethnic groups and most famous tribes in Africa; with over 40 million people. They live mainly in Western African nations such as Nigeria, Mali, Guinea, Cameroon, Senegal and Chad. They have their own language known as Fula. Due to their Nomadic nature, their origins are unclear but there are many theories as to where they originated. The oral traditions of the Fulani states that they started from what is now present day Jordan. They are one of the few Africa tribes to adopt Islam, with 98% of the Fulani being Muslim. Prominent Fulani include the first President of Cameroon, Ahmadou Ahidjo, and Major General Mohammadu Buhari, the current President of Nigeria. The Amazigh Tribe of Northern Africa The Amazigh tribe consists of around 40 million people. Also called the Berbers, they are mostly found in Morocco and Algeria, but are also found in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Mali, Mauritiana and Niger. Most Amazigh speak the Amazigh language, though they also speak Arabic. As one of the most famous tribes in Africa, they have inhabited the Maghreb region in North Western Africa for over 12,000 years now. There are cave paintings from around 10,000 BC which can be attributed to the Amazigh. Numidia was an ancient Amazigh Kingdom which was very prosperous at the height of its success. The Somali Tribe of East Africa The Somali Tribe have a population of around 20 million people and can be found majorly in the country of Somalia, and then Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya. The origins of the Somali tribe can be traced back to about 7,000 years ago. New archaeological and linguistic studies have confirmed the Somali tribe to be the indigenous people of the Horn of Africa. They have lived there for over 7,000 years. The majority of the people speak the Somali language which is a Cushitic language. There are around 12.5 million Somali speakers worldwide. The Chaga Tribe of East Africa Closing the list is the Chaga tribe from Tanzania. Traditionally, this tribe inhabit the Eastern slopes of Mount Meru and Mount Kilimanjaro; and are mainly concentrated around Moshi in Tanzania. In Tanzania, they are regarded as the first tribe to embrace Christianity during the colonial times; which in turn gave them a better access to advanced health care and education in Tanzania. It’s fun to visit these tribes in these countries and enjoy their culture and hospitality with their food. Many more Africa People & Tribes WODAABI TSONGA TRIBO BOTSWANA SHANGAAN SETSWANA NGUNI CAPE PEOPLE TSWANA BACK TO THE TOP OF THE PAGE BACK TO THE TOP OF THE PAGE

Protecting the Wildlife in South Africa Protecting the Big 5 in South Africa The Big Five refer to African lions, leopards, rhinoceros and Cape buffalo. Although they are very dangerous animals they are not invincible and the African lion, leopard and elephant are all classed as ‘vulnerable’ by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. The black rhino is ‘critically endangered’ and the White rhino is ‘Near Threatened’. These animals are still hunted and this project aims to work with local and national authorities as well as the local community to preserve and protect the Big Five. Wildlife conservation is the practice of protecting wild plant and animal species and their habitat. The goal is to ensure that nature will survive the many generations to come so that they may enjoy & recognize the importance of wildlife & wilderness for humans & other species alike. Conservation is a collaborative effort between communities, landowners, policy makers, educators, scientists & so on. This requires a highly skilled research team on the ground daily. South Africa is home to iconic wildlife including the largest land mammals – the African elephant and rhinos. In recent years, these species have been under increased pressure due to reduced habitat and demand for ivory and rhino horn. Rising poaching levels threaten the future of these animals. Why does it matter? Wildlife are crucial to nature’s delicate web of life. Yet their biggest threats are due to human impacts on the environment. These include habitat loss and overexploitation through illegal trade, both local and international. Demand from Asia, for wildlife parts and products, continues to drive this black market trade. This challenge is exacerbated by the involvement of organised crime networks. Wildlife is also essential for tourism in South Africa. It creates opportunities and benefits for local communities living around protected areas as well as the broader economy. Stop Rhino Poaching Established in 2010 as a response to the sudden and steep escalation in rhino poaching across South Africa, StopRhinoPoaching.com has, over the last decade, emerged as an NGO that is widely respected and valued by the men and women at the frontline. Actively involved and with a national footprint for strategic funding of security initiatives and ranger support, StopRhinoPoaching.com is connected and in tune to the sentiment on the ground. We support significant rhino populations in selected reserves (national, provincial and private) as well as regional security and investigations activities within established security hubs where arrests are likely to be affected. Helping rhino reserves to enhance their efficiency and optimise their security capabilities – both proactively and reactively – ensures that rhino lives are saved. Support the Rhino Cause We’re all about keeping rhinos alive, which is why we’d like to extend our sincere appreciation for your interest in supporting the rhino cause. Rangers and reserve managers carry on their shoulders the responsibility of saving a species. They are the ones at the sharp end, who stand between a rhino and a poacher, and it’s their efforts that determine the fate of the rhinos on the reserves they protect. Rhino lives depend on them, and we depend on you. The Threat You will have heard that there is no ‘silver bullet’ to end rhino poaching and that it’s an incredibly complex battle. Never have truer words been spoken. Since the start of the poaching epidemic in 2008 South Africa has lost thousands of rhinos – a figure that, despite so much effort, remains far too high. Coupled with the increasing poaching figure comes the question – why after all this are we still losing more rhino than ever? Sadly, few people realise the challenges facing those on the frontlines. At this stage the poachers have the upper hand – they know when, they know how, and if need be they’ll just come back another day or hit a softer target. It literally is a case of one-by-one until there are none. Poachers are resourceful and use every possible element to their advantage. Reserve size, terrain, vegetation, weather (extreme heat, cold, thunderstorms,) road networks and access control are some of the elements that go into their planning. A small team, usually two or three men but it varies, carrying a weapon, some large calibre ammunition, a backpack, an axe and knives, a few old cell phones and the desire to make money can wreck deadly havoc in a reserve. Equipped with basic staples of water, bread and perhaps a few cans of tinned fish, poachers infiltrate for up to a few days surviving on their bush skills and the bare minimum. If they manage to avoid being detected by rangers – like tracks found or gun shots heard – they could manage to kill a few rhinos per trip. In smaller reserves where the risk of detection is high, poachers orchestrate shallow hit and run attacks and will often be back over the fence before rangers even get to the scene. Anti-poaching teams bear the full brunt of the poaching scourge, with rangers in targeted areas coming into contact with poachers on a daily or weekly basis. While rangers are governed by strict rules of engagement, poachers are armed (with weapons for their own personal defence – or the hunting rifle) and will not hesitate to shoot on sight. The community upliftment from poaching profits in some areas is evident, with poachers openly call themselves ‘professional hunters’ and poacher bosses becoming the untouchable “Robin Hoods” by creating “jobs” in their communities. In other areas through a westernised way of life, fast money and self-enrichment of big houses, fast cars, women and alcohol have attracted unsavoury elements into once peaceful, proudly traditional, poor but functioning communities. Contrary to popular belief, not all poachers are driven by poverty. Criminals involved in cash-in-transit heists, vehicle hijacking, ATM bombing, gunrunners, murder and other aggressive crimes have also become involved – significantly increasing the mortal threat to rangers and rhinos alike. There is no shortage of new recruits and poachers are quickly replaced. Excellent co-ordination by poaching bosses and co-operative alliances between various poaching groups empower them to be more effective at poaching, enabled by deeply entrenched corruption at every level. This includes betrayal at the heart of our reserves – insider involvement that enables the poaching groups. Be it a guard at a gate that gives access to poachers, a ranger on the poacher payroll or a member of the kitchen staff that hides a weapon under a bed, the lure of “easy money” – and lots of it – can quickly sway a moral compass. Money made from illicit gain will always outweigh that of a legitimate wage, and the corroding of our institutions from internal corruption is very difficult to pinpoint let alone prove. The multi-pronged, multi-disciplinary, multi-agency law enforcement strategy combined with an all-of-government and whole-of-society approach required to finding lasting solutions to an ever-evolving problem like rhino poaching is so complex that even now – so many years down the line – we have made some (but too little) progress. Ongoing, well-coordinated intelligence-led arrests aimed at poaching bosses and their local Vietnamese/Chinese buyers would go a long way to bringing the numbers down. Coupled with an expedited court process and strong sentences, our authorities could be sending out a strong message. Sadly, our failing systems, lack of political will and leadership, apathy and indifference, inter-agency politics, slow court processes and deeply embedded corruption are playing right into the hands of the poachers. It is here that our South African Police Services (SAPS) have yet to commit sufficient enforcement capacity. While the existing SAPS members working on cases – all unsung heroes – do their utmost to bring poachers to book, there are just far too few police members to deal with the existing case load let alone get on top of new cases. Daily challenges include lack of information sharing, trust issues and a high case load compounded by ongoing and relentless poaching activities – often with very little evidence left at the crime scene, which can be days to months old and at the mercy of the environment. Although there has always been great emphasis on Mozambique and the situation in the Kruger National Park, the damage being caused by entrenched local South African organised crime gangs is of grave concern. All these factors that make up the complex web of challenges that need to be tackled. While our focus is on the future of the rhino, the bigger question will ultimately be – what will it take to secure a future for our wildlife? SRP.com will continue to channel funding towards specific projects, putting as much as we can into areas containing larger rhino populations that are managed by DEDICATED and RESPONSIBLE conservation minded rhino owners/custodians. There are many groups doing their best in areas where they can make a difference. Some days are soul destroying, the sheer vastness and cruelty of what we are up against is overwhelming, but no matter how bad it gets we have to keep on trying. No matter what, all of you, please don’t give up. LION ELEPHANT LEOPARD RHINO Cheetah Experience Start your day off with the roar of a big cat, and end your day surrounded by likeminded people that share your love and passion for animals. Cheetah Experience is a registered non-profit endangered species breeding centre, originally based in Bloemfontein but in March 2021 we moved the facility to Bela Bela, Limpopo. We are home to a number of endangered and threatened species, including cheetahs, leopards, male non-breeding lions, servals, caracals, African wildcats, wolves, meerkats and a Siberian tiger. Our project takes in rescued animals from the local area, so we also have various animals from time to time, including some goats and chickens. Our Mission is to raise awareness of the vulnerability of South African species and other endangered species through educational experiences, as well as ethically breeding cheetahs in captivity and releasing them into a protected wild. Cheetah Breeding Project At Cheetah Experience, our animals come first, and everything we do is for our animals. Our current focus is to ensure that our Cheetah Breeding project aids in the conservation of the cheetah, by using the DNA samples taken from our cheetahs to maintain genetic diversity. We work along-side other ethical and responsible projects to help secure the cheetah's future survival. From a study in 2016, the global population of the cheetah is estimated at ∼7,100 individuals, and confined to 9% of their historical distributional range. Our vision is to release some animals into a protected yet self-sustaining natural habitat where they are still monitored by researchers and medical experts but live free. Understanding their needs, behaviour, and instincts plays a key role in saving animals from extinction. Tours & Volunteer Opportunities We offer visitors a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to come on an educational tour and learn about our animals, see them up close, take some amazing photos, and learn how you can join us in the fight to protect these precious species. We offer a wide range of Volunteer and Internship Programmes, which have seen over 1,000 hard-working, dedicated people from 33 countries come and be a special part of the Cheetah Experience Global Volunteer Family, and contribute to conservation in South Africa. Want to spend your Summer making a difference to wildlife conservation in South Africa? Then join us in one of our Volunteer or Internship Programmes at Cheetah Experience in Bela Bela! Being part of our Volunteer and Internship Programmes gives you a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get hands-on experience taking care of our cheetahs and other endangered and threatened species, something we’re sure you’ll cherish for the rest of your life! You'll be working with a number of endangered and threatened species on a daily basis, including cheetahs, leopards, male non-breeding lions, servals, caracals, Bat Eared Foxes, African wildcats, wolves, meerkats and a Siberian tiger. Our project takes in rescued animals from the local area, so we also have various animals from time to time, including a goat and antelope. Since our Volunteer and Internship Programme started in 2011, Cheetah Experience has seen over 1,000 hard-working, dedicated people from 33 countries. Come and be a special part of the Cheetah Experience Global Volunteer Family and contribute to conservation in South Africa. The Cheetah Experience Volunteer and Internship Programmes are unique, where we give volunteers and interns a rare insight into animal care, and let you work alongside our family of experienced and knowledgeable staff and do the same daily work as they do. Cheetah Experience offers a number of Volunteer and Internship programmes that give you the freedom and flexibility to volunteer with us for as long as you like, from our ‘Volunteer for a Day’ program all the way up to extended Internship and Research projects! We offer Internships and Work Placements year round in a wide variety of courses and fields, and encourage undergraduates and students in their final year to come to Cheetah Experience to complete their coursework. During your internship, you will be supported and mentored by our experienced staff that have a background in your area of study, work alongside the team on a daily basis and get practical experience that you can apply to your coursework. Protecting Lions in wild places The Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), Peace Parks Foundation, South African National Parks (SANParks) and the National Administration of Conservation Areas in Mozambique (ANAC), with funding from the UK Government, through the International Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund, have embarked on an ambitious partnership to understand and protect Africa’s most iconic species, the African Lion, within the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area (GLTFCA). Over the last decade, human-wildlife conflict, poisoning, and poaching related to lions have increased across this transboundary conservation area. This collaboration will leverage the expertise, institutional knowledge, and professional networks within each organisation to amplify conservation impact within this critical Lion landscape. The Great Limpopo TFCA is one of the ten remaining Lion strongholds in Africa. Protecting this transboundary Lion population requires a multi-pronged and multi-stakeholder approach. The goal of this project is to understand the threats and drivers of population declines and to increase protection for Lions in the GLTFCA. A key part of the project involves monitoring Lion prides across the landscape using GPS satellite collars. Analysis of movement data will help the EWT to determine which areas are most important to Lions across the landscape. This information will enable anti-poaching rangers from SANParks, ANAC, and Peace Parks to better protect the Lion prides under their care. The GLTFCA, which includes Kruger National Park (KNP) in South Africa, and Limpopo National Park (LNP) in Mozambique, is one of the ten remaining Lion strongholds in Africa. These strongholds occur in formally protected areas and contain a stable or increasing population of at least 500 Lions. Recently published evidence suggests that the GL TFCA stronghold may be under serious threat. Lions are killed in retaliation for livestock losses, out of fear for human life, and for the illegal wildlife trade in Lion body parts. The data suggest this offtake is unsustainable and has resulted in a severe decline in Lion numbers in LNP. Northern KNP is also feeling the impact of these threats from both Mozambique and the western boundary of Kruger. Over the last hundred years, Lions have disappeared from 95% of their historic range. Over 200,000 Lions once roamed across Africa’s wild places. Now, only an estimated 23,000-39,000 remain. Most Lions are now primarily confined to formally protected areas. Habitat conversion, competition for food, livestock predation, and fear for human life have driven this dramatic decline. While they are often hated and feared, Lions are somewhat paradoxically, viewed by many cultures as the quintessential symbol of courage and strength. Rather than protecting them, this reverence motivates people to kill them and use their parts to capture the power of the Lion and to cure various ailments. This new endeavour aims to identify, understand, and address the complex economic, social, and cultural drivers of Lion population declines across this landscape. Through partnerships with the dedicated and passionate people and organisations involved in this project, we will ensure that the roar of the mighty Lion is heard in Africa’s wild places for generations to come. What is WWF doing? WWF has been involved in species conservation and addressing the threats to wildlife since the 1960s. More recently we work closely with rural communities who live near to major wildlife areas. Our influence in wildlife conservation policies assists in balancing environmental goals against social, political and economic needs. By empowering people who might otherwise be open to exploitation, we enable the community to benefit from – and value – wildlife, alive rather than dead. In all we do, we take a holistic approach towards ensuring that wildlife is valued by people and able to thrive within functioning well-managed landscapes. What can you do? When we take care of our wildlife, we safeguard our heritage for future generations. You can make a difference by helping us conserve South Africa’s iconic species. Stopping Elephant Ivory Demand Each year, at least 20,000 African elephants are illegally killed for their tusks. A decade-long resurgence in demand for elephant ivory, particularly in parts of Asia, has fueled this rampant poaching epidemic. The elephant ivory trade not only threatens the very survival of this iconic species and causes broader ecological consequences, but also endangers the lives and livelihoods of local people and undermines national and regional security. Promisingly, a historic opportunity emerged to stop the African elephant poaching crisis: governments inititated concerted action to address this wildlife crime. The United States implemented a near-total ban on elephant ivory trade in 2016, and the United Kingdom, Singapore, Hong Kong, and other elephant ivory markets followed suit. Most significantly, China took the remarkable step of closing its legal domestic ivory market at the end of 2017. Other Asian countries with open elephant ivory trade are under substantial pressure to take action. WWF and its partners have successfully driven international action at the highest levels that, along with diplomatic and public pressure from all sides, contributed to the game-changing China ban. Now, we are working to ensure the ban is successful by eliminating remaining consumer demand for elephant ivory and black-market sales. A proliferation of trade and demand for illegal elephant ivory outside China could seriously undermine the effectiveness of China's ban. WWF is addressing the root of the problem by engaging directly with elephant ivory consumers and working with other governments to ensure the imminent closure of open elephant ivory markets, as well as working to understand the underlying motivations of elephant ivory buyers to develop strategies to influence them. Our goal is to create a new social norm that buying illegal elephant ivory products is socially unacceptable. There is an entirely separate and legal trade of walrus ivory, which is culturally and economically important to Indigenous communities in the Arctic. The sustainable use and sale of walrus ivory by Alaska Native peoples has not had the same negative impacts caused by the illegal trade of elephant ivory. Amplifying Efforts Through Corporate Engagement We are working with leading online retailers, social media platforms, tourism companies, and creative agencies. Strong partnerships are already in place with the travel and e-commerce sectors, with commitments to avoid promoting, handling, or selling elephant ivory. Changing Consumer Behavior Chinese consumers have typically been the driving demographic for elephant ivory sales globally since 2005. WWF supports market research including annual surveys of consumers to better understand consumer attitudes and desire for elephant ivory so that we can change social norms around elephant ivory and reduce demand. Through this research, WWF is able to identify the demographics of elephant ivory purchasers and consumers, understand their underlying motivations and develop effective strategies to influence them. One promising approach is using location-specific messages pushed out on popular social media platforms as likely consumers are moving around known elephant ivory markets in Asia in real-time. By connecting with them at potential purchase points like this, WWF is able to share messages known to demotivate elephant ivory buyers, such as flagging the deadly toll on elephants and the legal risks of trying to smuggle elephant ivory souvenirs from one country into another. At the same time, closing markets and promoting the law makes it harder to find elephant ivory and deters law-abiding citizens from engaging in illegal activity. Closing Elephant Ivory Markets China's elephant ivory ban is a historic milestone in the ongoing effort to save an iconic species. But even with China's markets closed, markets elsewhere remain open and continue to attract consumers. And as more and more Chinese travel internationally—before COVID-19 nearly 200 million Chinese tourists traveled abroad each year—incidents of elephant ivory smuggling were on the rise. This access to elephant ivory outside China could seriously undermine the effectiveness of China's 2017 elephant ivory ban unless governments address it. Closing the markets that sell elephant ivory and largely exist to serve Chinese nationals—those in Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, for example—will help slow elephant ivory trafficking. WWF is working directly with these countries to support the closing of their elephant ivory markets and leverage international policy and diplomacy channels. By tackling these markets now as part of a pan-Asian approach, WWF aims to leverage China's actions to ban the elephant ivory trade to prevent further displacement of the mainland China ivory trade to nearby countries. Countdown to the extinction of the rhino. The aim of all Counter Poaching Game Rangers Training is: Firstly, to ensure the territorial integrity of protected areas by a high standard of specialized training. Secondly, to prevent the poaching of all species especially endangered species. And lastly, to collect evidence which may assist the police when making the arrests and when perpetrators are prosecuted in a court of law. The responsiblity of the Counter Poaching Game Ranger is: To collect all evidence that may lead to the arrest of a poacher and is highly trained to deal with any situation. Evidence is collected in the form of photographs and video material, connecting the poacher to a specific crime scene or conservation area where poaching had taken place. Bushveld Training Adventures Bushveld Training Adventures, a nationally recognized academic institution in the field of nature studies, offers a comprehensive range of professional field guiding and environmentalist courses. Whether it is a career in field guiding in order to obtain the FGASA (Field Guides Association of Southern Africa) and national qualifications, or a wonderful learning experience, the opportunity to make great friends, are all great reasons to enrol in a BTA guide or environmentalist course. The courses are a fantastic experience. Not only do they comprise lectures with highly qualified instructors, but also field outings where the classroom is the open bush and textbooks turn into life animals, plants, rocks, clouds and the whole universe. Each one of these challenges you with questions: Who am I, how did I get here, why am I here, what threatens my existence? Each one of them becomes a testimony to the story of the evolutionary processes of our planet. The evenings by the campfire shared with kindred spirits are the memories that embroider the fabric of our lives… and the mornings hold the promise of a new adventure.

Siener van Rensburg Nicolaas Pieter Johannes ("Niklaas" or "Siener") Janse van Rensburg (3 August 1864 – 11 March 1926) was a Boer from the South African Republic – also known as the Transvaal Republic – and later a citizen of South Africa who was considered by some to be a prophet of the Boers . Consequently, his nickname became "Siener" (Afrikaans for "seer "). Van Rensburg's visions were typically wrapped in a patriotic, religious format, and have been interpreted by believers as predictions of future events. During the Boer War he became a trusted companion, if not advisor to General de la Rey and President Steyn . The extent of his influence with these figures is disputed,[2] [3] though the devoutly religious de la Rey seemed to have considered him a prophet of God Early life Van Rensburg was born on the farm Palmietfontein in the Potchefstroom district, the son of Willem Jacobus Janse van Rensburg and Anna Catharina Janse van Rensburg. He only received 20 days of formal school training at the Rooipoort farm school, and spent much of his youth as a cattle herder. He could never write, but assisted by his mother, he learnt to read from the Bible. He never read anything else. At age 16, he participated in a government expedition against the rebellious tribal leader Mabhogo . He contracted and survived malaria on the expedition and afterwards settled near Wolmaranstad in the then western ZAR . At age 21 he was an elected elder for the Hervormde Kerk , perhaps due to his scriptural knowledge. He married Anna Sophia Kruger in 1884. Boer war Van Rensburg and his brother Pieter were commandeered to participate in the second Anglo-Boer War under General Sarel P. du Toit. Van Rensburg however remained unarmed and never fired a shot. His contribution was to be a stream of visions and prophesies for the duration of the war. As the seer would later explain, he believed that a nightly visitor woke him only a day before the outbreak of the war, with a message that his work was dedicated to God. Following this vision, van Rensburg was beset with a fear that would not dissipate. When this disturbed state continued into their sojourn in Kimberley, his superiors sent him home. Experiencing no relief, he returned to the Siege of Kimberley , where he believed a new vision had revealed to him the defeat and loss of life that the war would bring about. Shortly afterwards, possibly at Graspan , his disturbed state lifted permanently as a soldier was wounded on his side, as, according to van Rensburg, another vision had forewarned. Van Rensburg then travelled with general Piet Cronjé but escaped the encirclement by British forces at Paardeberg . Subsequently, he travelled with different commandos, where a number of apparently accurate predictions established his reputation. A report of his visions attracted the attention of General de la Rey, who recruited Van Rensburg for his On 7 December 1900, General de Wet found himself cornered against the Caledon River , which was in flood, while British forces were assailing his position. When his surrender appeared imminent, a message from De la Rey was delivered by a Boer scout. Van Rensburg had allegedly foreseen the situation and the message outlined an escape route, which was duly followed, leaving the pursuers to flounder in the torrent which De Wet had just traversed. De la Rey, also hard pressed by his enemy, dispatched Van Rensburg to accompany President Steyn to Roodewal, De Wet's safe retreat in the northern Free State. Here Van Rensburg advised them to wait upon two horsemen which he described, who arrived the next day with a message from acting President Schalk Burger . On 13 September 1901, van Rensburg found himself in the camp of Commandant Roux at Rietkuil near Vredefort . Sensing imminent danger, he advised those present, who had just retired for the day, to depart from the camp at once. Roux was slow to take heed, and his men even more so, as scouts had not observed enemy units. Van Rensburg, his wife and children escaped on a cart, shortly before the greater part of the camp was captured in a surprise attack. LIST OF PREDICTIONS Prophecies from 1899 until his death in 1926: Fulfilled: * The outcome of the Boer War. * The Great ‘Flu epidemic of 1918. * England’s loss of all her colonies. * Independence for Ireland. * The atomic disaster at Chernobyl on April 26 1986. * Lady Di’s death The divorce and tragic death of “a beautiful English Lady in a car accident who would be mourned by the whole world.” * Civil war in Bosnia. * Dr HF Verwoerd, former Prime Minister, will die at the hand of a close friend. * The release of Nelson Mandela by ex-President FW de Klerk. * The Necklace Murders by blacks against blacks * South Africa will be governed by a black government. Not fulfilled yet (scan the topics and read what you wish) * Japan will be destroyed by earthquakes. * Ethnical violence in Russia and Europe Actually, this does seem to be in formation. Muslims in Europe already are changing the population profile. They represent a different religion and a race (Arab) within Europe. Whatever they protest about, will affect the countries they are in. I expect them to turn Europe against Israel, which has been the object of their wrath for thousands of years. * Racial violence will explode worldwide at the turn of the century and start World War III, in which Germany and America will fight side by side. * Laser weapons?: It is a chilling experience to read about his predictions in 1920 of this coming Third and Final War at the beginning of the 21st century when the armies of the world will use what he called “terrible electrical rays that sow death and destruction from above and below, and soak the earth in blood”. *** This could be an EMP attack, which knocks out the electrical grid over countries. The old prophet described the events on the battlefields of the world in such detail as though he himself had been an eye-witness. In 1918 Rensburg prophesied: “I see there will be a time when the whole world will be ploughed under. This will be the beginning of the Third – and last – World War and everything will be in confusion. Then I saw a snake lying on the ploughed land. I could not see its head or tail. Flight from the enemy In January 1901 Van Rensburg had a vision indicating the flight of three Boer women, who were soon found and rescued by his host Willem Bosman. Days after rejoining De la Rey's commando he had visions of members of his own family being captured, and asked for leave to assist them.The Van Rensburg family fled from their farmhouse as British forces approached, but the wagon train carrying the elderly, women and neighbours was surprised and captured by traitors the following morning. Van Rensburg's parents, eldest daughter Hester and four younger children were subsequently interned at the Mafeking concentration camp. Van Rensburg, his wife, eldest son Willem and two daughters travelled with a group which managed to evade their pursuers, and Van Rensburg once again joined De la Rey's commando. Upon meeting his wife again in mid October 1901, they found their farmhouse destroyed. Van Rensburg's ominous premonition concerning their daughters, Anna and Maria, was confirmed when news arrived that they and two relatives had died during an outbreak of measles in the concentration camp. Closing stage of war Van Rensburg was present when Commandant Van Aardt's company returned from the action at Yzerspruit on 25 February 1902. Van Aardt was in a despondent state as his brother was missing in action . Van Rensburg however assured him that his brother was neither dead nor captured, but alive, though in great pain. The wounded soldier was returned to camp the same evening, carried on the horse of a burgher who found him. Before the Battle of Tweebosch , Van Rensburg gave a number of predictions indicating how the enemy would approach along the Harts River , and when he deemed them most vulnerable. He also envisaged how the victory would enhance De la Rey's reputation. Methuen 's force collapsed in the face of De la Rey's sudden attack on 7 March 1902, and Methuen was captured. On 17 March 1902, President Steyn, in the company of De Wet and Hertzog , arrived at Zendelingsfontein, De la Rey's headquarters near Klerksdorp, to consult De la Rey's physician about an eye ailment. Van Rensburg was once again dispatched to guard the president. Around the 23rd he had a vision of English troops arriving, but the president was unwilling to heed his warning, until De la Rey intervened urgently on Van Rensburg's behalf. The president departed for the safety of the Molopo River on the evening of the 24th. British troops arrived at Zendelingsfontein during the early hours of the 25th and captured two of De la Rey's adjutants. Gaining entry to General Kemp 's war council in the bushveld region, he soon warned them against attacking a retreating enemy, which would leave them vulnerable to encirclement. At the subsequent Battle of Hart's River on 31 March 1902, some British units did fall back, though some Canadians stood their ground until overpowered by burgher forces. Kemp, though partially or grudgingly heeding the seer's visions, was generally reluctant to give him credit. World War I rebellion When the Union of South Africa came out in support of the Allied Powers in World War I , Van Rensburg allied with the rebels . The rebellion received a fatal blow even before it started, when the influential general Koos de la Rey was killed at a police road block on 15 September 1914. De la Rey, when killed, was en route to General J. G. C. Kemp , who subsequently organised the rebellion in western Transvaal. On 2 November, Kemp addressed a public meeting at Vleeskraal, near Schweizer-Reneke , with the locally influential Van Rensburg at his side. Van Rensburg also addressed the assembly, and assured them that his visions indicated they had little to fear. 610 men then joined the rebel cause, and with conscription imminent, the number of rebel volunteers grew to 1,800. General Kemp decided on a company of 720 men, mostly farmers, which included Van Rensburg and his son. They departed immediately on a journey to join Manie Maritz in German South-West Africa . After a desert trek and much hardship they linked up with Maritz's company on 29 November. Rebels under De Wet and Beyers were rounded up by South African forces in the days that followed. Returning to South Africa, Maritz and Kemp engaged government forces at Nous, Lutzputs and finally at Upington , on 3 February 1915. Van Rensburg's son Willem was mortally wounded in the Upington clash, and the whole rebel force captured, with the exception of Maritz who fled via German South-West Africa to Angola, and thence to Portugal. Van Rensburg, like his comrades, received a prison sentence. He however served about a year, first in Boksburg, then in the Old Fort, Johannesburg . Post-war years After his release Nicolaas van Rensburg returned to his farm Rietkuil, near Wolmaranstad . Some of his visions were then recorded by reverend Dr Rossouw. Van Rensburg's daughter Anna Badenhorst also recorded a set of visions up to his death at age 61. The latter set is considered to be difficult to interpret and not very coherent. With the outbreak of World War II , the collections of visions were considered inflammatory. Distribution was prohibited and some copies seized on orders of prime minister Jan Smuts . Upon Anna's death her handwritten documents were transferred to Lichtenburg museum's archives, where they were rediscovered in 1991. The farm and van Rensburg family cemetery are located 11 km from Ottosdal , in the North West Province . Visions His mother commented on his visual hallucinations as a toddler, and said that these seemed to disturb him. General Hertzog described him as someone continuously distracted by a maze of imagery and symbolism. 700 visions have been documented. Van Rensburg interpreted his hallucinations as visions that were usually connected to the welfare of the Boere, the Netherlands and Germany. For example, a vision of the sisal plant was interpreted as a portent of an important meeting, assembly or parliament. Van Rensburg's visions have been described by some as predictions of local events, such as the death of general Koos de la Rey and the political transition of South Africa. Van Rensburg and his followers have also interpreted his visions as being connected to international events, such as the start of World War I and the rise of Communism . He did not interpret all of his visions, and some have been posthumously applied to more recent events as prophecies. Reitz's assessment Boer soldier Deneys Reitz 's account of the Boer War contains a colourful objective account of one of the seer's predictions (shortened):[4] ... a prophet, a strange character, with long flowing beard and wild fanatical eyes, who dreamed dreams and pretended to possess occult powers. I personally witnessed one of the lucky hits while we were congregated around the General's cart. Van Rensburg was expounding his latest vision to a hushed audience. It ran of a black bull and a red bull fighting, until at length the red bull sank defeated to its knees, referring to the British. Arms outstretched and eyes ablaze, he suddenly called out: See, who comes?; and, looking up, we made out a distant horseman spurring towards us. When he came up, he produced a letter from General Botha , hundreds of miles away. General de la Rey opened it and said: "Men, believe me, the proud enemy is humbled". The letter contained news that the English had proposed a peace conference. "Coming immediately upon the prophecy, it was a dramatic moment and I was impressed, even though I suspected that van Rensburg had stage-managed the scene. Of the general's sincerity there could be no doubt as he firmly believed in the seer's predictions." Contemporary relevance The Suidlanders , an ethnonationalist Afrikaner survivalist group, are heavily influenced by the prophecies of Van Rensburg Videos von siener van rensburg visions Siener van Rensburg Biography 11:40 Siener van Rensburg - The History of South Africa YouTubeJoshua Wolvaardt 8,4Tsd. Aufrufe7. Juli 2023 14:54 Boer Prophet: Siener van Rensburg - Part1: Who was Siener van Rensburg YouTubeStories from South Africa 28,4Tsd. Aufrufe4. März 2022 25:11 The Afrikaans Prophet, Siener Van Rensburg YouTubeWishpicker 69,8Tsd. Aufrufe24. Mai 2019 Beste Videos 15:06 Boer Prophet: Siener van Rensburg - Part 6: Visions from January 1915 YouTubeStories from South Africa 3,8Tsd. Aufrufe18. Apr. 2022 16:48 Boer Prophet: Siener van Rensburg - Part4: Visions from March and July 1914 YouTubeStories from South Africa 7Tsd. Aufrufe23. März 2022 16:16 Boer Prophet: Siener van Rensburg - Part 15: Visions from April 1916 YouTubeStories from South Africa 1,7Tsd. Aufrufe22. Aug. 2022 15:06 In Video von 0:00 suchenIntroduction to Visions Boer Prophet: Siener van Rensburg - Part 6: Visions from January 1915 3,8Tsd. Aufrufe18. Apr. 2022 YouTubeStories from South Africa 16:48 Boer Prophet: Siener van Rensburg - Part4: Visions from March and J… 7Tsd. Aufrufe23. März 2022 YouTubeStories from South Africa 16:16 In Video von 00:54 suchenVision 207 Boer Prophet: Siener van Rensburg - Part 15: Visions from April 1916 1,7Tsd. Aufrufe22. Aug. 2022 YouTubeStories from South Africa 14:37 In Video von 00:10 suchenWho was Siener van Rensburg? Boer Prophet: Siener van Rensburg - Part3: Visions of Siener by CP Ni… 10,7Tsd. Aufrufe15. März 2022 YouTubeStories from South Africa 40:04 Boer Prophet Siener van Rensburg - Visions recorded by Anna Badenh… 1,6Tsd. Aufrufe9. März 2023 YouTubeStories from South Africa 17:30 Boer Prophet: Siener van Rensburg - Part 14: Visions from March 1916 1,8Tsd. Aufrufe30. Juli 2022 YouTubeStories from South Africa 1:46 The End of Siener van Rensburg Visions Translations 1,6Tsd. Aufrufe5. Jan. 2024 YouTubeStories from South Africa 26:14 In Video von 00:38 suchenVision 271 Boer Prophet Siener van Rensburg - Visions recorded by Anna Badenh… 2,1Tsd. Aufrufe11. Okt. 2022 YouTubeStories from South Africa 9:22 Boer Prophet: Siener van Rensburg - Part 7: Visions from February til… 3,1Tsd. Aufrufe22. Apr. 2022 YouTubeStories from South Africa 11:40 In Video von 00:10 suchenIntroduction to Siener van Rensburg Siener van Rensburg - The History of South Africa 8,4Tsd. Aufrufe7. Juli 2023 YouTubeJoshua Wolvaardt 12:34 Boer Prophet: Siener van Rensburg - Part 12: Visions from January 19… 1,8Tsd. Aufrufe19. Juli 2022 YouTubeStories from South Africa 14:54 In Video von 0:00 suchenIntroduction to Siener van Rensburg Boer Prophet: Siener van Rensburg - Part1: Who was Siener van Rens… 28,4Tsd. Aufrufe4. März 2022 YouTubeStories from South Africa 10:26 Siener Nicolaas Van Rensburg's Visions about England 35,7Tsd. Aufrufe26. Juli 2018 YouTubeBen Hashem 25:11 In Video von 03:52 suchenThe Prophet's Visions The Afrikaans Prophet, Siener Van Rensburg 69,8Tsd. Aufrufe24. Mai 2019 YouTubeWishpicker 10:42 After WW3 - The State of the World //Siener van Rensburg 11,1Tsd. Aufrufe18. März 2020 YouTubeGentle Lion Bold Lamb 13:56 Siener van Rensburg in a Nutshell 5,8Tsd. AufrufeVor 4 Monaten YouTubeStories from South Africa 40:28 South Africa`s future....Same prophecy, different people 60,7Tsd. Aufrufe2. Feb. 2022 YouTubeKykso 6:17 In Video von 00:20 suchenIntroduction to Siener van Rensburg How World War 3 will Unfold //Siener Van Rensburg 66,2Tsd. Aufrufe10. Dez. 2019 YouTubeGentle Lion Bold Lamb 12:32 In Video von 00:08 suchenSiener van Rensburg's Life Siener van Rensburg 66,2Tsd. Aufrufe4. Nov. 2018 YouTubeUncle Nubby 2:33 Siener van Rensburg Prophecies and Predictions for 2024 65Tsd. Aufrufe5. Mai 2022 TikTokjacques_pieters1 17:28 In Video von 00:17 suchenThe Visions of Siener van Rensburg Boer Prophet Siener van Rensburg - Visions recorded by Anna Badenh… 2,2Tsd. Aufrufe15. Sept. 2022 YouTubeStories from South Africa 4:58 In Video von 02:08 suchenLack of Interest in Siener's Visions Boer Prophet Siener van Rensburg - What is Happening? 6,1Tsd. Aufrufe20. Jan. 2023 YouTubeStories from South Africa 12:03 Dr. Servaas Rossouw oor Siener van Rensburg 30Tsd. Aufrufe11. Mai 2020 YouTubeStories from South Africa 8:40 In Video von 00:42 suchenRecording Almost 400 Visions Boer Prophet Siener van Rensburg - Visions recorded by Anna Badenh… 3,6Tsd. Aufrufe7. Sept. 2022 YouTubeStories from South Africa 10:39 In Video von 00:49 suchenVision 228 Boer Prophet: Siener van Rensburg - Part 16: Visions from May 1916 1,5Tsd. Aufrufe25. Aug. 2022 YouTubeStories from South Africa 10:53 In Video von 00:51 suchenVision 158 Boer Prophet: Siener van Rensburg - Part 13: Visions from February 1… 1,4Tsd. Aufrufe25. Juli 2022 YouTubeStories from South Africa 51:58 Siener van Rensburg en die Bybel 22,2Tsd. Aufrufe22. März 2018 YouTubeBoerierol 7:16 Duitsland kom help - Andre van den Berg 46,2Tsd. Aufrufe29. Apr. 2020 YouTubeStories from South Africa

Camping & Hiking in South Africa South Africa’s best campsites Posted on 15 May 2017 South Africa is full of gorgeous campsites and deciding where to book your next camping holiday can get a little overwhelming. To help narrow down the hundreds of options, we’ve put together a list of our best campsites in South Africa. Whether on the banks of a river, nestled in the mountains, or walking distance from the beach, we’ve got a beautiful campsite waiting for you. Take your pick, and as ever, let us know (in the comments below) if you have a favourite campsite we’ve missed. And please remember to confirm availability and latest prices with each campsite before travelling. Looking for campsites near Joburg? Try these 10 great campsites for a Joburg break . Campsites in Limpopo 1. Zvakanaka Farm, Soutpansberg Location: -22.977981, 29.952550 Zvakanaka Farm, Soutpansberg. On top of the Soutpansberg, just north of Louis Trichardt, the beautiful Zvakanaka Farm is the perfect stop en route to Zimbabwe, Tuli or northern Kruger. The four campsites are private and well-spaced, and the two larger stands have a boma for extra shade and protection from the elements. There’s a small, communal pool a short distance away and the shared ablutions are neat, tidy and beautifully built, with an attention to detail that’s so often lacking in larger, public campsites. Be sure to bring your binos for the excellent bird life, and your walking shoes to tackle some of the many short trails around the farm and up the nearby ridge. Number of stands: 4 private, plus a beautiful cabin and cottage Electricity: Yes, at 2 stands Braai facilities: Yes Shade: Plenty of trees. Large shade/shelter at the 2 powered stands Ground cover: Grass and dirt Pets: No Nearby activities: Hiking and birding Cost: R100 per person (powered) and R75 per person (no power). Max 10 per stand. Kids under 12 half price, and under 4 free Contact: Tel 0844004595, zka.co.za 2. Mazhou Campsite, Mapungubwe National Park Location: -22.240303, 29.408439 View from Mapungubwe Hill, Mapungubwe National Park. Mazhou is a peaceful campsite of 10 stands, surrounded by absolutely breathtaking scenery. Mapungubwe National Park is a World Heritage Site and the camp is an ideal base to start your exploration. Go on sunset or night drives or explore the park on foot with the guided walks. Don’t miss the guided Heritage Walk which takes you to a graveyard on Mapungubwe Hill. The site has a wonderful sense of history and the views from on top are breathtaking. Number of stands: 10 Electricity: Yes Braai facilities: Yes Shade: Partial trees Ground cover: Grass and dirt Pets: No Nearby activities: Museum at the main gate (R55 per person). Daily, guided ‘Heritage Tour’ to the top of Mapungubwe Hill (R230 per person) Important info: Mazhou allows caravans, but no caravans allowed in the eastern section of the park. Closest fuel is Musina, 70km away. Check gate times before travelling Cost: From R265 per stand (2 people), and from R82 per person thereafter (max 6 per stand). R44 daily conservation fee (not applicable to Wild Card holders). Full rates and tariffs here Contact: Tel 0155347923/24, sanparks.org Also read: 5 unusual Gauteng getaways – these are not average B&Bs Campsites in the North West Province 3. Bush Camps, Botsalano Game Reserve Location: -25.560855, 25.709919 For an affordable taste of the Kalahari, Botsalano Game Reserve is a prize – a thornveld escape that’s close to Joburg and has an abundance of springbok, gemsbok, buffalo and giraffe. With luck, you might even spot a rhino. Four rustic bush camps, each with basic ablutions (cold/donkey boiler showers), are scattered around the park in unfenced bush where blue and violet-eared waxbills busy themselves in the acacias. Botsalano is an excellent first stop for trips into Botswana. Number of stands: 4 bush camps. Pre-erected safari tents also available Electricity: No. 3 of the 4 camps have a donkey for hot water Braai facilities: Yes, but bring own grid Shade: Partial thorn trees Ground cover: Sand Pets: No Nearby activities: Game drives and birding Important info: Can get very hot during the day and cold at night Cost: R250 per stand (sleeps 8). Extra R20 per person up to 12 people. Park fees R40 per adult, R25 for kids 2-12 years old. R10 per vehicle, R20 per caravan Contact: Tel 0183868900, botsalano@nwpb.co.za , tourismnorthwest.co.za Campsites in the Northern Cape 4. Augrabies Rest Camp, Augrabies Falls National Park Location: -28.593904, 20.337711 Augrabies National Park. Image credit: Isak Pretorius . Augrabies National Park is best known for its wonderful main waterfall which, on average, dumps over 300 cubic metres of water per second down its 56m-high face. In full flood that figure has gone up to an an astonishing 7800 cubic metres per second, but if things get that wet you probably won’t be camping. The campsite itself is typically SANParks – neat and tidy, with communal ablutions, kitchen and laundry facilities. There are short trails, viewpoints, and a restaurant, and mountain biking is permitted on the main roads. Number of stands: 40 Electricity: Yes, at all stands Braai facilities: Yes Shade: Plenty of trees Ground cover: Grass and dirt Pets: No Nearby activities: Waterfall viewpoints, self-drive game viewing, hiking trails, cycling and guided night drives Important info: Communal ablutions and kitchen wit two-plate stoves and sinks Cost: From R235 per stand (2 people), and from R82 per person thereafter (max 6 per stand). R44 daily conservation fee (not applicable to Wild Card holders). Full rates and tariffs here Contact: Tel 0544529200, sanparks.org 5. Potjiespram Campsite, ?Ai-?Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park Location: -28.074629, 16.963089 Situated in South African’s far northwestern corner, right on the Namibian border, the Richtersveld is for experienced campers looking to get as far as possible away from it all. You’ll need to bring everything with you to Potjiespram , although drinking water isn’t a problem as the campsite lies right on the banks of the Orange River. Winter and spring are the best times to visit, when the temperatures are cooler and the region’s famous flowers are on show. Number of stands: 18, all along the river Electricity: No. Cold showers only Braai facilities: Braaiing allowed, but bring your own grid Shade: Partial tree cover Ground cover: Sand and dirt Pets: No Nearby activities: Fantastic flowers between June and October (rain dependent). Various guided hiking trails available. Swimming in the Orange River Important info: Bring everything you need for your stay. There are no shops in the park, but fuel and drinks can be purchased at Sendelingsdrift. Day-time temperatures can reach 50°C in summer Cost: From R225 per stand (2 people), and from R82 per person thereafter (max 6 per stand). R70 daily conservation fee (not applicable to Wild Card holders). Full rates and tariffs here Contact: Tel 0278311506 sanparks.org 6. De Hoop Campsite, Richtersveld Location: -28.183206, 17.177670 De Hoop Campsite, Richtersveld. Image credit: Teagan Cunniffe . Not to be confused with the nature reserve in the Western Cape of the same name, De Hoop Campsite lies southeast of Potjiespram, upstream on the Orange River. Enjoy the best of both worlds as you camp on the banks of the Orange, surrounded by the beautiful Richtersveld bush. Like Potjiespram Campsite, De Hoop is definitely one for the more experienced camper. It offers a brilliantly rustic environment, literally in the middle of nowhere between South Africa and Namibia. Number of stands: 12, along the river Electricity: No. Cold showers only Braai facilities: Braaiing allowed, but bring your own grid Shade: Partial tree cover Ground cover: Sand and dirt Pets: No Nearby activities: Swimming and canoeing conditions are perfect on this quiet part of the river. There are no rapids close to the campsite Important info: Bring everything you need for your stay. There are no shops in the park, but fuel and drinks can be purchased at Sendelingsdrift. Day-time temperatures can reach 50°C in summer Cost: From R225 per stand (2 people), and from R82 per person thereafter (max 6 per stand). R70 daily conservation fee (not applicable to Wild Card holders). Full rates and tariffs here Contact: Tel 0278311506 sanparks.org 7. Kambro Campsite and Farm Stall, Britstown Location: -30.416351, 23.565799 Kambro Campsite and Farm Stall, Britstown. Kambro Accommodation and Farm Stall has six grassed campsites, each discretely spaced, with electricity, a light and a private braai. With no major city lights for over 200km in any direction, Kambro is a wonderful stargazing spot and the perfect place to enjoy the silence and wide open spaces of the Karoo. Be sure to check out the selection of preserves and biscuits in the farm stall; the springbok pies are also excellent. Number of stands: 6, plus 10 self-catering cottages Electricity: Yes Braai facilities: Yes Shade: Each stand has a tree, but some are more leafy than others Ground cover: Grass Pets: Well-behaved dogs (on a leash) by prior arrangement only Nearby activities: Kambro is a fantastic place to stargaze Important info: Meals (book in advance), beer and wine available at the farmstall which is also packed with delicious goodies Cost: R180 per stand (sleeps 4) Contact: Tel 0833056668, kambroaccom.co.za 8. Middelwater Camping, Carnarvon Location: -31.235512, 22.210777 Middelwater Camping, Carnarvon. At Middelwater Campsite , pitch your tent under the trees, and move into the open when the stars come out. There’s a dam for swimming (rain dependent), plus a small, but neat ablution and donkey shower. After a hot day behind the wheel, the cool shade feels like an oasis, and if you climb up the small koppie across the dam, you can’t help but think that you’ve found the only patch of green in the entire Great Karoo. Number of stands: Cosy, open-plan area under tall trees Electricity: No Braai facilities: Yes, but bring your own grid Shade: Full tree cover Ground cover: Dirt and sand Pets: Yes Nearby activities: Swimming in the dam (rain dependent), hike in the surrounding veld, fish and cycle Cost: R180 per stand (sleeps 4) Contact: Tel 0746470447, carnarvon.co.za 9. Die Mond, Tankwa Karoo Location: -32.543689, 19.542150 Die Mond, Tankwa Karoo. The lush green grass and wide, cool waters of Grootrivier make Die Mond Campsite a true oasis in the hot, dusty Tankwa Karoo. After hours of unrelenting rock and sand in all directions, it’s wonderful to feel the lawn beneath your bare feet as you dive from the bank into the deep, refreshing river. There are no preallocated sites, it’s first come first served, but there’s plenty of space along the riverbank, and if you are lucky enough to get away midweek, you’ll probably have the whole place to yourself anyway. Number of stands: Large, open-plan grassy area along the riverbank, plus 7 self-catering cottages Electricity: No Braai facilities: Yes, portable wheeled drums. Bring your own grid Shade: Plenty of trees Ground cover: Grass Pets: No Nearby activities: Canoe, fish and swim in the river, visit Tankwa Karoo National Park, hike in the surrounding veld Cost: R70 per person Contact: Tel 0233170668, facebook.com 10. Ymansdam, Tankwa Karoo Location: -32.087517, 19.966385 Ymansdam, Tankwa Karoo. Image credit: safarinow.com Ymansdam has one main stand and a single, small ablution, and three further stands nearby that can accommodate extra campers. This is a great spot to book out with a single, large group and makes an excellent base from which to explore the nearby Tankwa Karoo National Park. Be sure to climb the peak just north of the camp – you’ll be rewarded with beautiful views of the plains to the south. Number of stands: 1 main campsite near the ablutions, plus 3 additional stands nearby, and a self-catering cottage Electricity: No Braai facilities: Yes, bring your own grid Shade: Limited tree cover Ground cover: Sand Pets: Yes Nearby activities: Swim in the small dam, explore Tankwa Karoo National Park and test your 4×4 on the nearby passes Important info: 1 shower and toilet serves the entire campsite Cost: R80 per person, with space for up 4 tents on the main stand Contact: Tel 0725054121 11. Coastal Camp Sites, Namaqua National Park Location: -30.828925, 17.575889 Coastal camp sites, Namaqua National Park. It’s hard to single out any specific camping spot from Namaqua National Park’s nine coastal camping sites , which are spread out along 40km of pristine west coast shoreline. Without a 4×4 however, you’ll be limited to the two southern campsites near the Groen River Gate – Delwerskamp and Groen River Camp. North of the gate, the track gets very sandy and 4X4 is definitely required. If we had to pick one site, it would be Kwass se Baai, about 20km north of Groen River. It’s one of the smaller campsites, with only four stands, and there’s a beautiful sandy beach nearby – perfect for west coast sundowners! Number of stands: 9 separate campsites with a total of 46 stands Electricity: No Braai facilities: Braai pit. Bring your own grid Shade: No Ground cover: Sand Pets: No Important info: Wonderful place for spring flowers, although the park gets extremely busy during flower season. Bring everything with you, including drinking water Cost: From R135 per stand (sleeps 6). R37 daily conservation fee (not applicable to Wild Card holders). Full rates and tariffs here Contact: Tel 0276721948, sanparks.org Campsites in the Free State 12. Gariep, A Forever Resort, Gariep Dam Location: -30.605555, 25.502290 Gariep, A Forever Resort, Gariep Dam. Image credit: forevergariep.co.za Gariep Dam campsite is an excellent stopover on the long N1 drive between Joburg and the Cape. It’s neat, clean and covered in lush grass, with beautiful views (especially at sunrise) over the small yacht-filled bay that lies directly in front of the campsite. There’s plenty for the kids to do – Putt-Putt, tennis, trampolines, and more – plus swimming and canoeing on the dam. If you have a bit of time, the guided tour of the main dam wall and turbines is definitely worth it too. Number of stands: 106 stands, plus 16 private caravan sites (closed from May to August) and a range of self-catering accommodation Electricity: Yes Braai facilities: Yes Shade: Plenty of trees Ground cover: Grass Pets: No Nearby activities: Fishing, boating and canoeing on the dam, guided dam wall tours, swimming pool, on-site restaurant and bar, plus plenty of activities for kids Important info: All stands are first come first serve. One vehicle per stand (additional vehicles at an extra fee) Cost: From R135 per stand, plus R55 per person (max 6 per stand) Contact: Tel 0517540045, forevergariep.co.za Campsites in the Western Cape 13. Koningskop, Citrusdal Location: -32.499003, 18.848462 Koningskop, Citrusdal. Image credit: koningskop.com Relax on the green lawns of this beautiful rooibos and citrus farm, just west of the N7 between Citrusdal and Clanwilliam. You can explore the farm trails on foot or bicycle, and swim or fish in the dams. There are also two 4×4 trails which head up into the nearby mountains, with beautiful views of the Swartland and Cederberg. Number of stands: 50, plus three self-catering cottages Electricity: Yes Braai facilities: Yes Shade: Plenty of tree cover Ground cover: Grass Pets: No Nearby activities: Hiking, mountain biking, fishing in the dam, and 4×4 trails Important info: Restaurant only open during peak season or by arrangement. No loud music allowed. Minimum four-night stay during holiday season Cost: R120 per person, kids 2-11 years R65 Contact: Tel 0761752520, koningskop.com 14. Jamaka Organic Farm & Resort, Cederberg Location: -32.341164, 19.028404 Jamaka Organic Farm & Resort, Cederberg. Image credit: jamaka.co.za Beautifully situated along the bubbling Rondegat River, these shady, relaxed campsites are some of the best in the Cederberg. Rooibos, mangoes and a variety of citrus are organically farmed in the surrounding valley and harvest time is a bustle of activity. The two camping areas each have their own rock pools to swim in, but book one of the many river-side stands and you’ll have your own private stretch to splash around in as well. For the more energetic there are also five hiking trails which you can join from the farm, and from there explore the surrounding mountains. Number of stands: 2 camping areas along the riverbank with 81 stands, plus 11 self-catering cottages Electricity: Yes Braai facilities: Yes (pit or drum). Bring your own grid Shade: Plenty of tree cover Ground cover: Some grass, but mostly sand and dirt Pets: No Nearby activities: Hiking trails, swimming in the river and rock pools Important info: Wood and basic supplies sold on site. Communal fridge/freezer available Cost: From R180 per stand (sleeps 4) Contact: Tel 0274822801/0824106417, jamaka.co.za 15. Kromrivier Campsite, Cederberg Location: -32.539149, 19.282041 Kromrivier Campsite, Cederberg. Kromrivier Campsite is a working farm bordering the Cederberg Wilderness Area and is ideal for those seeking a quiet and tranquil break. The campsite lies along on the banks of the Krom River and the children will love looking at the farm animals and swimming in the mountain streams. Those looking for a bit of adventure can go rock climbing or horse-back riding and the farm also has a shop and restaurant where you can buy basic supplies and farm produce. Number of stands: 18, with private ablutions, plus self-catering chalets Electricity: Yes Braai facilities: Yes, but bring your own grid Shade: Partial tree cover Ground cover: Grass Pets: No Nearby activities: Horse riding (book in advance), swimming, hiking, rock climbing, fishing, mountain biking Important info: No cell reception. Breakfast, lunch and dinner served at the restaurant, but needs to be booked in advance Cost: R100 per person Contact: Tel 0274822807, cederbergpark.com 16. Driehoek Tourist Farm, Cederberg Location: -32.442490, 19.189830 Driehoek Tourist Farm, Cederberg. Situated at the foot of Tafelberg, 20km from Algeria, Driehoek Farm is well forested for the region, making it perfect for summer camping in the Cederberg. The farm is the ideal base from which to hike the surroundings mountains and peaks and there are many great pools to swim in. You can also go hiking, horseback riding, cycling and fishing. Number of stands: 25, plus a variety of huts and cottages Electricity: Yes Braai facilities: Yes, bring your own grid Shade: Plenty of trees Ground cover: Grass Pets: No Nearby activities: Hiking, swimming, horse riding, mountain biking and fishing Important info: No cellphone reception. Driehoek wines can be purchased at reception Cost: From R290 per stand (sleeps 4) Contact: Tel 0274822828, cederberg-accommodation.co.za 17. Beaverlac, Grootfontein Farm, Cederberg Location: -32.907872, 19.067480 Beaverlac, Grootfontein Farm, Cederberg. Image credit: beaverlac.co.za Beaverlac is an old favourite of the Cape camping crowd and rightly so. The river boasts plenty of deep rock pools and beautiful waterfalls in which to wash away the summer’s heat, and the caves around the farm are decorated with well-preserved rock paintings. Old hands should be aware that while in the past you never had to book in advance, these days you’ll need to register and login on their website before you can make a booking. Number of stands: Large, open-plan camping area Electricity: No Braai facilities: Yes, bring your own grid Shade: Partial tree cover Ground cover: Grass Pets: Yes (R50 per night) Nearby activities: Hiking and swimming in the awesome rock pools Important info: The shop sells basic supplies, including wood, beer and ice. No music or loud noise of any kind Cost: R60 per person, kids 4-17 years R40, and R30 per vehicle Contact: Tel 0229312945, beaverlac.co.za Also read: Top tips for camping at Beaverlac 18. Matroosberg Private Nature Reserve, Ceres Location: -33.330238, 19.611104 Matroosberg Private Nature Reserve, Ceres. Although this is one of the Western Cape’s most popular destinations to see snow , Matroosberg is also a perfect destination for a summer getaway. The fairly small and peaceful camping area is far removed from the chalets and houses in the reserve, in a shady pine tree area beside the Spek River. If you enjoy getting active, they offer abseiling, hiking, mountain biking, kloofing, horse riding and even target shooting. If, however, you just want to relax, you can walk to the rock pools and spend an afternoon swimming and soaking up the sun. Number of stands: 14 in the main campsite, plus private sites and self-catering cottages Electricity: No Braai facilities: Yes, bring your own grid Shade: Plenty of trees Ground cover: Mostly sand, with some grass Pets: Yes Nearby activities: There’s lots to do, from hiking to target shooting. Great place for winter snow Important info: No access after 9pm. No single night bookings over weekends Cost: From R55 per person Contact: Tel 0233122282, matroosberg.com 19. Miller’s Point Caravan Park, Simon’s Town Location: -34.228424, 18.469935 Miller’s Point, Simon’s Town. Miller’s Point Resort is 5km south of Simon’s Town, as you follow the M4 towards Cape Point. Large boulders line this stunning stretch of coastline with sheltered, sandy coves in between. The wind shadow protecting the northern side of the point makes for some beautiful, sheltered swimming areas – if you can stand the icy water! Number of stands: 16 Electricity: Yes Braai facilities: Communal braai area, bring your own grid Shade: Partial tree cover Ground cover: Grass Pets: No Nearby activities: Cape Point is just down the road, and in the other direction, Simon’s Town is full of interesting shops and great restaurants. the Boulders Beach penguin colony is also nearby Important info: Cost: R165 per stand (sleeps 6) Contact: Tel 0217861142 Also read: 26 affordable weekend getaways near Cape Town 20. Vloedbos Campsite, Caledon Location: -34.333374, 19.694399 Vloedbos Campsite, Caledon. Image credit: vloedbos.co.za Vloedbos is a Cape campsite specifically geared to families. Between the paintball and the table tennis and super tube, you’re sure to find something exciting to keep the kids occupied and you might even find time to have a few swings at the driving range yourself. There’s no music allowed in camp, and strict silence after 10pm, so a good night’s sleep is guaranteed. Number of stands: 46, plus various chalets and cabins Electricity: Yes Braai facilities: Yes Shade: Scattered trees Ground cover: Grass Pets: No Nearby activities: The pool, trampoline and super tube will keep the kids busy Important info: This is a family campsite so expect to find plenty of young kids around. R100 cash key deposit required for all vehicles. Shop sells basic supplies, but no alcohol Cost: From R350 per stand (sleeps 4), additional adults R85 each (max 6 per stand). Price increases during peak season Contact: Tel 0833591505, vloedbos.co.za 21. Victoria Bay Caravan Park, Victoria Bay Location: -34.004796, 22.547882 Victoria Bay Caravan Park, Victoria Bay. Victoria Bay is a popular surfing spot, frequented by sun-kissed board riders young and old. The two camping areas are perched half way up the surrounding cliffs and offer great views of the surfing action. The bay is small, with a restaurant and bar just off the beach, and a row of beachfront cottages along the western side. There’s also a tidal pool that’s safe for kids. A narrow promenade separates the cottages from the water and most who walk it wear a smile. Number of stands: 20 caravan stands on the Western Terrace, plus another separate camping area across the bay Electricity: Yes Braai facilities: Yes Shade: No Ground cover: Grass Pets: No Nearby activities: Surfing, fishing and exploring the Garden Route Important info: The Western Terrace usually only allows caravans during peak season, unless by prior arrangement Cost: From R220 to R440 per stand depending on the season (sleeps 6) Contact: Tel 0448890081, victoriabaycaravanpark.co.za Campsites in the Eastern Cape 22. Storms River Mouth Rest Camp, Garden Route National Park Location: -34.022236, 23.885529 Storms River Mouth Rest Camp, Garden Route National Park. Storms River Mouth Rest Camp is the jewel in the crown of the Garden Route National Park. Between the pounding surf and steep cliffs of indigenous forest, wood cabins, caravans and camping sites sit side by side along a beautiful, narrow strip of coastline. Many of the sea-facing stands are reserved for caravans, so if you’re in a tent, ask for stand numbers 101 to 112 to ensure the best sea views, but be aware that these stands don’t have power. Number of stands: 30 for tents and 82 for caravans, plus various self-catering chalets and cottages Electricity: Yes, but not at all stands Braai facilities: Yes, bring your own grid Shade: Limited. 38 to 47 are tucked into the forest and have some shade Ground cover: Grass Pets: No Nearby activities: Beautiful hiking trails and a range of adventure activities both inside and outside the park (tubing, zip lining, bungee jumping) Important info: The park has an excellent shop for most supplies, plus a restaurant Cost: From R300 per stand (for 2 people), plus R82 per additional adult (max 6 per stand). R49 daily conservation fee (not applicable to Wild Card holders). Full rates and tariffs here Contact: Tel 0422811607, sanparks.org Also read: Guide to Storms River – South Africa’s most adventurous town 23. Mvubu Campsite, Addo Elephant National Park Location: -33.340898, 25.360591 Addo Elephant National Park. Mvubu is a small campsite on the banks of the Sundays River in the Kabouga section of the Addo Elephant National Park and serves as a wonderful base for exploring the park while enjoying quiet evenings in the bush. If you’re not out exploring the park on self drives or hikes you can relax in the river and pools inside the camp or set out on a day of bird watching. Number of stands: 6 Electricity: No, but hot shower available Braai facilities: Yes, bring own wood and grid Shade: Partial shade at some sites Ground cover: Grass Pets: No Nearby activities: Swimming, fishing and canoeing on the Sundays River, game drives Important info: High clearance vehicle required. Bring your own drinking water Cost: R140 per stand (2 people), R60 per additional adult (max 4 per stand). R62 daily conservation fee (not applicable to Wild Card holders). Full rates and tariffs here Contact: Tel 0422338600, sanparks.org 24. Kudu Kaya Campsite, Baviaanskloof Location: -33.653132, 24.583987 Kudu Kaya Campsite, Baviaanskloof. Image credit: kudukaya.co.za Kudu Kaya is a working citrus, potato and tobacco farm on the eastern end of Baviaanskloof. Lush, indigenous forest surrounds the campsite, which hugs the banks of the Ysrivier, a small mountain stream, and there are hikes up into the surrounding mountains and rock pools. Each stand is tucked into its own small clearing in the forest, providing some privacy, and there’s also a large, private stand (number 16) with its own ablutions. Number of stands: 17, 1 private, plus 6 self-catering cabins Electricity: Yes Braai facilities: Yes, bring your own grid Shade: Plenty of tree cover Ground cover: Grass and dirt Pets: No Nearby activities: Mountain biking, hiking and swimming in the nearby rock pools. The farm owners will happily show interested guests around the farm on request Important info: Toilet paper not provided Cost: R80 per person, kids 5-12 half price Contact: Tel 0738621968, kudukaya.co.za 25. Bruintjieskraal, Baviaanskloof Location: -33.705347, 24.609979 Bruintjieskraal, Baviaanskloof. Image credit: bruintjieskraal.co.za Bruintjieskraal lies on the banks of the Groot River, 8km from the end of the tar road on the eastern edge of Baviaanskloof. The river is wide here, and ideal for swimming and fishing and there are plenty of short walks nearby. Each campsite has its own shower and toilet (cold water) and they’re well-spaced along the riverbank. Pick stands 11 to 14 for maximum privacy. Number of stands: 13, 4 more private, plus 3 self-catering chalets Electricity: No Braai facilities: Yes, bring your own grid Shade: Plenty of tree cover Ground cover: Grass, with some dirt Pets: By prior arrangement only Nearby activities: Fishing (bass, carp, barber), swimming, hiking Important info: Bring your own drinking water Cost: From R70 per person (low season). Kids under 9 half price Contact: Tel 0845150993, bruintjieskraal.co.za Also see: In photos – Baviaanskloof’s Leopard Trail 26. Karnmelkspruit River Resort, Lady Grey Location: -30.805977, 27.267700 Karnmelkspruit River Resort, Lady Grey. This small, intimate campsite is perfect for fishing and nature lovers. The facilities are basic, but neat and functional – all you need for a secluded camping trip, deep in the southern Maluti Mountains. The crystal-clear Karnmelkspruit runs right past the campsite and there’s 10km of fly fishing to be had along its course. Number of stands: 2 open-plan grass areas – 25 to 30 stands, plus 1 private, self-catering cottage Electricity: Only at the central ablution block Braai facilities: Communal, covered braai area at the ablutions Shade: Scattered small trees Ground cover: Grass Pets: Yes Nearby activities: Fly fishing along the spruit (R100 per rod per day), hiking, exploring the old railway tunnel nearby Important info: The 2.5km dirt track to the campsite is bumpy, but sedan-friendly if you go slow Cost: R180 per tent, plus R10 per person Contact: Tel 0845847036, facebook.com 27. Double Mouth Campsite, Morgan Bay Location: -32.724126, 28.313872 A 15-minute drive south of Morgan Bay you’ll find Double Mouth Campsite, a stunning, secluded site, surrounded by river, beach, cliffs and sea. There’s plenty of shade to camp under and loads of space for the kids to play. The sea can get a bit rough along this coast, but there are plenty of rock pools to explore at low tide, and the river and estuary are safe to swim in. There’s excellent shore fishing, and wonderful views from the cliffs above. Number of stands: 30 Electricity: Yes (caravan socket) Braai facilities: Yes, bring your own grid Shade: Plenty of tree cover Ground cover: Grass Pets: No Nearby activities: Shore fishing, swimming and canoeing in the estuary, stunning walkings along the surrounding cliffs and beach Important info: Six people per site Cost: R225 per site off peak, R300 in peak season Contact: Tel 0437054400 or 0434920881 28. Yellowwood Forest Campsite, Morgan Bay Location: -32.696946, 28.333667 Yellowwood Forest Campsite, Morgan Bay. Image credit: yellowwoodforest.co.za On the banks of the Inchara River, this peacefully shaded campsite is only 1.5km from the beach at Morgan Bay, known to many as the gateway to the beautiful Wild Coast. A bird watcher’s paradise, Yellowwood Forest Campsite offers a quiet, intimate place for nature lovers. If you’re not relaxing beside the river, swimming in it or identifying the many birds that grace the area, you can make your way down to the beach or relax in the tea garden, letting the children play in the play area while you enjoy wood-fired pizzas, light meals and refreshments. Number of stands: 30 Electricity: Yes, at 12 stands Braai facilities: Yes, at the stands and communal. Bring own grids Shade: Plenty of tree cover Ground cover: Grass Pets: By prior arrangement only Nearby activities: Hiking, beaching and volunteering opportunities Important info: Restaurant and bar on site. Laundry and wifi available. Wood for sale. No music allowed Cost: From R115 per stand, plus R15 per person (max 6 per stand). Electricity from R65 per day (low season) Contact: Tel 0848522601, yellowwoodforest.co.za 29. Rendezvous Caravan Park, East London Location: -32.840959, 28.114426 Not as well known as the other Sunshine Coast campsites, the lush Rendezvous Caravan Park offers secluded camping on a spectacular beach. Each campsite has a private bathroom, portable braai (with grid), electricity, running water and scullery. Laundry is communal. There’s also a playground and trampoline, and a fenced kids’ pool. Number of stands: 29 secluded stands for tents and caravans Electricity: Yes Braai facilities: Yes Shade: Plenty of tree cover Ground cover: Grass Pets: By prior arrangement, low season only Nearby activities: Beautiful beach on the doorstep and plenty of activities in the area – fishing, hiking, horse riding Important info: Laundry facilities available Cost: R100 per stand, plus R50 per adult and R40 per child/pensioner (low season, max 7 per stand). High season is R600 per stand for 4 people (max 6 per stand) Contact: Tel 0437343072 / 0731443005, rendezvouscaravanpark.co.za 30. Dwesa Campsite, Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve Location: -32.303896, 28.830280 View of Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve. The Wild Coast doesn’t get wilder than Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve and Dwesa Campsite, on its southwestern edge (in the Dwesa section of the reserve), is a beautiful, befittingly wild and rustic spot to soak it all in. The reserve was created to preserve some of the last indigenous coastal forest in the region and there’s not much more to do here than appreciate it, and the many species of bird who call it home. There are numerous footpaths along the surrounding cliffs where you’re sure to spot whales (during the winter months) and dolphins as they cruise along the protected coastline. Number of stands: 40, plus 2- and 4-sleeper wooden chalets Electricity: No (gas showers) Braai facilities: Yes, bring your own wood and grid Shade: Plenty of trees Ground cover: Grass Pets: No Nearby activities: Spectacular beach and cliff-top hiking, excellent birding (290 species, including Narina trogon and mangrove kingfisher) Important info: Access to the reserve is along 2 hours of bumpy dirt roads from the N2, high clearance vehicle recommended Cost: From R212 per stand (sleeps 6) Contact: Tel 0437054400, visiteasterncape.co.za Campsites in KwaZulu-Natal 31. Ilanga Resort and Caravan Park, Banana Beach Location: -30.663469, 30.514817 Ilanga Resort and Caravan Park, Banana Beach. Image credit: ilangaresort.com This beautifully green and shaded campsite is directly adjacent to Banana Beach where the Indian Ocean’s waters are warm and inviting. This section of the coast is protected by shark nets and life guards are on duty during the holidays – so don’t worry about the children enjoying a splash in the ocean. When you’re not relaxing in the shade or on the beach, you can enjoy a good surf next to Banana Beach or go scuba diving in the area. Ilanga Resort also has a tidal pool and an entertainment area with pool, darts, swimming pool and table tennis for the younger children, and a some excellent golf courses only a short drive away. Number of stands: 100 Electricity: Yes Braai facilities: Yes, bring your own grid Shade: Plenty of tree cover Ground cover: Mostly grass, with some dirt and sand Pets: No Nearby activities: Fishing, scuba diving, golf, plenty of beach time and a swimming pool, pool table, table tennis at the resort Important info: Laundry facilities available Cost: From R150 per person, kids under 5 R50 (low season). Minimum R700 in high season (3 people). Max 6 per stand Contact: Tel 0396813280, ilangaresort.com 32. Scottburgh Caravan Park, Umdoni Coast Location: -30.283429, 30.759432 Scottburgh Caravan Park, Umdoni Coast. Image credit: scottburghcaravanpark.co.za Just 30 minutes south of Durban, Scottburgh Caravan Park is nicknamed ‘The one on the beach’ for good reason. This large camping and caravan site walks down onto the beach and is ideal for large family getaways. Apart from the beach, there are also water slides, mini-golf, restaurants and shops all within walking distance of your camp spot. Number of stands: 265, plus self-catering cottages Electricity: Yes Braai facilities: Yes, bring your own grid Shade: Partial tree cover Ground cover: Mostly grass, with some sand Pets: Yes, by prior arrangement (R25) Nearby activities: Entertainment and kids’ play area in the resort, plus horse riding, fishing, scuba diving, and Durban is a 30-minute drive north Important info: Laundry facilities available. The resort shop sells basic supplies and there is a shopping centre nearby Cost: From R175 per person, R85 for kids (low season). Minimum R840 per stand in high season (4 people) Contact: Tel 0399760291, scottburghcaravanpark.co.za Also read: Affordable weekend getaways near Durban 33. Zinkwazi Lagoon Lodge, Zinkwazi Location: -29.277755, 31.439972 Zinkwazi Lagoon Lodge, Zinkwazi. A thick canopy of subtropical trees screens Zinkwazi Lagoon Lodge’s forest campsite from the bright North Coast sunshine, and the ample greenery between the stands also helps provide privacy. The trees are home to a huge variety of birds and their calls and songs echo through the campsite. This is a great family destination, with plenty for the kids to explore around camp, a beautiful, sandy beach and a safe lagoon to canoe and swim in. Number of stands: 89, including 6 extra large ‘super sites’, plus various self-catering options Electricity: Yes, but single outlets serve multiple stands so bring a 25m extension cord Braai facilities: At some stands. Bring your own portable to be safe Shade: Full tree cover Ground cover: Mostly dirt, some with grass Pets: Small dogs by prior arrangement Nearby activities: Fishing, golf, canoes for hire, swimming (pool, sea and lagoon) and surfing. Bar and restaurant on site Important info: No jetskis allowed, R100 deposit for gate access key, laundry facilities available Cost: From R160 per person, R80 for kids. Max 4 adults, or 2 adults and 4 kids per stand Contact: Tel 0324853344, zinkwazilagoonlodge.co.za 34. Richards Bay Caravan Park, Richards Bay Location: -28.790092, 32.101609 Richards Bay Caravan Park, Richards Bay. Image credit: richardsbaycaravanpark.co.za As you enter, Richards Bay may seem like just another industrial port town with nothing but cargo ships, tugboats, cranes and warehouses, but push past the outskirts towards the coast and you’ll find a small, pleasant town and a peaceful campsite beside the Indian Ocean. The campsite is just a few minutes walk from the beautiful beach and there’s lots to do in the area, from day trips to iSimangaliso Wetland Park and Hluhluwe Umfolozi Game Reserve , to local attractions like deep-sea fishing, scuba diving, golf and lots more. Number of stands: 261, of varying sizes, privacy, shade and ground cover Electricity: Yes Braai facilities: Yes, bring your own grid Shade: From full tree cover, to no shade, depending on the stand Ground cover: Grass and dirt Pets: Small dogs, by prior arrangement, out of season Nearby activities: Nearby game parks, golf, paintball, fishing, swimming and access to a beautiful private beach Important info: Boat parking on stands at additional cost, wheelchair friendly, laundry facilities available Cost: From R130 per adult and R80 for kids in low season. R250 per adult in high season Contact: Tel 0357531971, richardsbaycaravanpark.co.za 35. Scotia Camp, Somkhanda Game Reserve Location: -27.592964, 31.844946 View of Somkhanda Game Reserve. Image credit: Teagan Cunniffe . Scotia Camp is a single, private campsite in a secluded section of Somkhanda Game Reserve. There are two options: either bring your own equipment and set up on your own or, for an extra fee, Somkhanda will provide a fully equipped mobile safari camp for you and your group, including a kitchen tent, gas fridge and a two-plate cooker. There is space for about 10 tents and all guests have access to flushing toilets and gas hot showers. Full board is also available. Number of stands: 1 large stand for up to 10 tents Electricity: No Braai facilities: Yes Shade: Plenty of tree cover Ground cover: Grass and dirt Pets: No Nearby activities: Game drives and guides walks available Important info: 4×4 access only Cost: From R120 per person (own equipment and self-catering), to R575 per person (full safari tent accommodation and full board) Contact: Tel 0333302269 / 0741297185, africaninsight.co.za 36. Cape Vidal Campsite, iSimangaliso Wetland Park Location: -28.132018, 32.552347 Cape Vidal Campsite, iSimangaliso Wetland Park. Tucked into the dune forest behind a seemingly endless golden beach, Cape Vidal Campsite is a wonderful place to experience the best of the sea and bush. Buffalo and large plains antelope graze the lush coastal vegetation while just over the long line of dunes, the warm Indian Ocean is alive with fish and a top destination for shore and ski-boat anglers. The campsite can get busy in high season, but in quieter months it can feel like you have the whole place to yourself and there are a number of stands tucked away into nooks and corners for added privacy. Number of stands: 50 stands, plus various self-catering cabins Electricity: Yes Braai facilities: Yes. Fixed at some stands, otherwise portable braais are available Shade: Plenty of tree cover Ground cover: Sand and dirt Pets: No Nearby activities: The beautiful, wide beach makes for great walking and safe swimming. Shore and ski-boat fishing available. Game drives and picnic sites in the area Important info: The small camp shop has basic supplies. Pack your foodstuffs securely at night or they might be dinner for the hungry camp honey badger Cost: R540 per stand (4 people), plus R135 per additional adult (max 6 per stand) Contact: Tel 0338451000, kznwildlife.com 37. Cobham Campsite, Southern Drakensberg Location: -29.702225, 29.414355 Get back to basics at Cobham , an open-plan campsite where you choose where you want to camp. Pick a spot in the shade and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere and beautiful views of the Southern Drakensberg. There are plenty of hikes in the area, some to caves where you can spend the night, as well as streams to swim in and loads fresh mountain air to breath. Number of stands: Large, open-plan camping area Electricity: No, but hot gas showers Braai facilities: No, bring your own free-standing braai and grid Shade: Partial tree cover Ground cover: Grass Pets: No Nearby activities: Numerous hiking trails, swimming and fly fishing in the Pholela River Important info: The area can get very cold in winter and even on some summer evenings, so pack accordingly Cost: R80 per adult. First 2 kids under 12 stay free Contact: Tel 0337020831 / 0839623934, kznwildlife.com Also read: Scott Ramsay’s take on the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Mountains Reinheim River Information Reinheim River Chalets and Caravan Park is a nature hideaway situated 20km from Bloemfontein, next to the Renosterspruit. We offer 20 camping stands in a family friendly environment, with neat ablution facilities and a steady supply of hot water. Located close to the N1 next to the Renosterspruit, the 6 Chalets situated along the rivers edge, offers you with a nature hideaway, 20km from Bloemfontein. All units are fully self-catering, equipped with a kitchenette, DSTV, bathroom with shower, aircon and an outdoor patio with a braai area. The units are decorated in earthy tones and with, an Outdoor Pool, Trampoline, Kids Play Area and Fishing available, there sure to be something for everyone. Campsite Type Country CampsiteRiverside Campsite Campsite Accommodation Caravan siteSelf cateringTent site Campsite Facilities Ablutions with hot and coldwaterBraai facilitiesChildren play areaNo pets allowedNo quad bikes allowedStands with 220v MainsSwimming poolWater points close to sites Loskopdam, A Forever Resort Information Visit the Forever Loskopdam between Waterberg Mountain Range and the Loskop Dam Nature Reserve, on the banks of the Loskop Dam as the name suggests and you can expect a much-needed break away from the city. The Resort offers three-star accommodation options such as its famous Log Cabins, self-catering Chalets, Guest House, Family Houses, Camping and Caravan sites (including some newly paved sites). Forever Loskopdam also has a variety of activities available on the Resort which will keep the entire family entertained, from fishing adventures to a spa, swimming pools, and so much more! Campsite Type Lake, Dam or Lagoon CampsiteMountain CampsiteNature Reserve Campsite Campsite Accommodation Caravan siteMotorhome siteSelf cateringTent site Campsite Facilities Ablutions with hot and coldwaterBraai facilitiesChildren play areaConference facilitiesCredit cards welcomeFamily bathroomsL.P. Gas fillingLaundryNo pets allowedNo quad bikes allowedPensioner discountsRestaurant and/or take-away in resortScullerySecurity fenced and/or patrolledShop in ResortStands with 220v MainsSwimming poolWater points close to sitesWheelchair friendly with assistance Rendezvous Caravan Park Information Set on the edge of beautiful Cintsa Bay it is just a stones throw from the beach; with each site being positioned amongst beautiful trees to offer privacy, whilst the 29 caravan stands also offer individual & private braai, electricity, bathroom & outside scullery facilities. Guests and friends at Rendezvous Caravan Park can take in all it has to offer, including: # Use the resort facilities such as shared laundry facilities, pool, recreation room, trampoline, playground. # An expansive beach offering kids sea-swimming baths, pristine beach, rock-pools and fantastic fishing. # Frequent Cintsa Bay Restaurant/Convenience Store which is a short walk from the Camp or drive a short distance to many other restaurants and general facilities such as doctor, pharmacy, SPAR, bottle store, butcher etc # Visit one of the many nearby attractions, such as game parks, golf clubs, paintball & quad bike, horse riding facilities and much much more Cintsa West is a small and thriving community, is incredibly friendly and numbering just hundreds not thousands of people during holiday season, offering an intimate welcoming and safe environment for everyone. Campsite Type Coastal Campsite Campsite Accommodation Caravan siteMotorhome siteTent site Campsite Facilities Ablutions with hot and coldwaterBraai facilitiesChildren play areaLaundryPensioner discountsPet Friendly by prior arrangementPrivate ablutionsRecreation roomSculleryStands with 220v MainsSwimming poolTent erection assistanceWater points close to sitesWheelchair friendly with assistance George Country Resort Information George and the Garden Route have a lovely climate, moderately hot summers and mild winters enjoy a peaceful retreat during winter or a fun-filled summer holiday. Small town and country atmosphere, peace and tranquillity, nestled in a rich valley surrounded by the Outeniqua Mountains, forests, rivers and the sea ideally situated in the Garden Route to explore diverse scenic wonders. All the destinations that George and the Garden Route have to offer can be found just a day trip away from our self-catering accommodation. We have 20 comfortably appointed newly built two bedroom self-catering accommodation chalets which can sleep up to 6. The self-catering accommodation features include a large living area, dining nook, comfortable furnishings, private deck with braai, and OpenView decoders. We also have 6 spacious open plan self-catering accommodation chalets which sleep up to 3/4, also with dining nook, Open View and deck with private braai facilities. All chalets have their own bathrooms and fully equipped kitchens. Our 126 campsites are shaded and grassed with 220V power points. Scullery and laundry facilities available. The ablution facilities provide clean showers and baths. The park provides 16 private ablution blocks all with own kitchenette and bathroom. Campsite Type Coastal CampsiteCountry Campsite Campsite Accommodation BackpackersCaravan siteMotorhome siteSelf cateringTent site Campsite Facilities Ablutions with hot and coldwaterBraai facilitiesChildren play areaCredit cards welcomeFamily bathroomsL.P. Gas fillingLaundryNo pets allowedPensioner discountsPrivate ablutionsScullerySecurity fenced and/or patrolledStands with 220v MainsSwimming poolTelevision roomWater points close to sitesWiFi available Xaxaza Caravan Park Information Situated in the gently rolling hills and only 4 km from the white sandy beaches of Mtunzini and the beautiful Mtunzini river mouth. We invite you to come and enjoy your holiday at our very popular coastal resort where the climate is sub-tropical and very special attractions are offered as an added bonus. Sun tan on our golden beaches, laze around our sparkling swimming pool, relax with your feet up whilst the kids have a ball, or enjoy a round of golf at our beautiful golf club only minutes away. For the non-golfers and the more energetic, tennis, squash or bowls are also within easy reach at the country club. Horse riding at the Pony club in Mtunzini can be arranged. Other recreational activities include deep sea fishing, walks through various eco systems, namely estuarine, dune scrub, dune forest, coastal ravine and coastal forest. Because of this diversity of trails, a tremendous variety of bird species will more than satisfy the keen birder. Xaxaza is an ideal base from which to arrange visits to game parks such as Hluhluwe, Umfolozi and Mkuzi. Here you will be able to see the Big Five from the comfort of open Guide Tour vehicles. Campsite Type Coastal CampsiteGame Park CampsiteNature Reserve Campsite Campsite Accommodation Caravan siteMotorhome siteSelf cateringTent site Campsite Facilities Ablutions with hot and coldwaterBraai facilitiesNo pets allowedStands with 220v MainsSwimming poolWater points close to sites Palm Tree Lodge Information The Palm Tree Lodge is set in the Northern most part of the St Lucia Wetlands and bordering on the Green belt of the Maputuland Coast line. Although there are no private resorts permitted with in the National Parks this quaint holiday destination is neatly tucked up close to the main gate of the regional Parks Board offices making the acquisition of all the necessary permits as easy as possible and also lends its self as a base camp for launching craft onto the lakes as well as the Sea Launches which take place in Ponto Du Oure more commonly known as Ponta. The main aim of the resort is to offer its guests a true feeling of the African bushveld with a little bit of the tropics as it is inundated with fruit baring Coconut Palms during the summer months. There are also Campsites available with electricity. It is the natural surroundings that make this resort a destination for the true lover of the out doors. Back at the Lodge itself it is however all hospitality. The Boma is situated in the middle of the lodge so that interaction is promoted and creating a cosy atmosphere in which the guests can relax. Stripped from all the noise from your Television, Computer games, Kids PlayStation and Booming Radio, beeping cars and annoying alarms, The Palm Tree Lodge takes you away from the everyday stress and noise and brings you back to Nature! You will be brought back to the earth, feel the sand between your toes, fall asleep to the sound of the abundance of palm trees rustling in the wind and marvel at the beauty of the plants and shrubs throughout the premises. The perfect place to rest, relax and recharge. Campsite Type Coastal CampsiteLake, Dam or Lagoon Campsite Campsite Accommodation Caravan siteMotorhome siteSelf cateringTent site Campsite Facilities Ablutions with hot and coldwaterBraai facilitiesChildren play areaCredit cards welcomeNo pets allowedNo quad bikes allowedPensioner discountsPrivate ablutionsRecreation roomRestaurant and/or take-away in resortSecurity fenced and/or patrolledSwimming poolTelevision roomWater points close to sitesWheelchair friendly with assistance Marakele National Park Information The Marakele National Park in the heart of the Waterberg Mountains. The park is characterised by contrasting majestic mountain landscapes, grass-clad hills and deep valleys. All the large game species from elephant and rhino to the big cats as well as an amazing variety of birds, including the largest colony of endangered Cape Vultures (more than 800 breeding pairs) in the world, have settled here. Activities include bird watching, game viewing and guid trails. Accommodation Available: # Campsites # Safari Tents Campsite Type 4x4 CampsiteGame Park CampsiteMountain Campsite Campsite Accommodation Caravan siteMotorhome siteSelf cateringTent site Campsite Facilities 100% Wheelchair friendlyAblutions with hot and coldwaterBraai facilitiesConference facilitiesCredit cards welcomeNo pets allowedNo quad bikes allowedScullerySecurity fenced and/or patrolledStands with 220v MainsWater points close to sites Dwarswegstrandoord Information Dwarswegstrandoord is situated close to Great Brak River, in the Garden Route, between George and Mossel Bay. Relax in the tranquil atmosphere with direct access to the beach. Access to the resort is controlled to ensure the safety of our visitors. The caravan park at Dwarswegstrandoord has 11 paved sea view campsites, 12 paved non-seafront campsites and 11 grass non-seafront campsites. Each of the 34 campsites at this 4-star caravan park is equipped with water, electricity, and braai facilities. Campers receive an access code to use the spotless ablution facilities. Dwarswegstrandoord has seafront houses, flats, and non-seafront chalets available as well. Campsite Type Coastal CampsiteNature Reserve Campsite Campsite Accommodation Caravan siteMotorhome siteSelf cateringTent site Campsite Facilities Ablutions with cold water onlyAblutions with hot and coldwaterBraai facilitiesChildren play areaCredit cards welcomeLaundryNo pets allowedNo quad bikes allowedPensioner discountsScullerySecurity fenced and/or patrolledShop in ResortStands with 220v MainsTelevision roomWater points close to sitesWheelchair friendly with assistance Kruger National Park Information Maroela is a small camp situated on the banks of the Timbavati River, on the western boundary of the Kruger National Park, approximately 2 km east of Orpen Rest Camp. This camp is one of only two camps in the Park that exclusively caters for guests with caravans and for campers. Close to the fence, visitors can indulge in watching a variety of animals that visit a small watering hole. There is also a rustic viewing platform overlooking the Timbavati River. Accommodation Available: # Campsites Campsite Type 4x4 CampsiteGame Park Campsite Campsite Accommodation Caravan siteMotorhome siteTent site Campsite Facilities Ablutions with hot and coldwaterBraai facilitiesCredit cards welcomeNo pets allowedScullerySecurity fenced and/or patrolledStands with 220v MainsWater points close to sitesWheelchair friendly with assistance Best trails in South Africa Ready to check out the best trails in South Africa for hiking, mountain biking, climbing or other outdoor activities? AllTrails has 3,642 hiking trails, mountain biking routes, backpacking trips and more. Discover hand-curated trail maps, along with reviews and photos from nature lovers like you. No matter what you're looking for, you can find a diverse range of the best hiking trails in South Africa to suit your needs. Explore one of 625 family-friendly hikes for a sunny weekend. Check out 7 wheelchair-friendly trails with helpful accessibility guidance. Plan your next outdoor adventure to one of 1,732 routes with waterfalls or scenic views. Lion's Head Summit · Table Mountain National Park A great hike in the city. It is a bucket list must-do for Cape Town. Well marked and amazing 360 degree views. Some sections are quite exposed and there are ladders and staples to assist. There is one climbing section with staples and chains, this can be bypassed to the left if too difficult. This hike is popular on nights with a full moon (with headlamps) as well as at sunrise. The Cape Floral Kingdom of Table Mountain National Park is one of the richest floral regions in the world. Over 70% of the flowers are endemic to Table Mountain. For this reason United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) awarded Table Mountain Heritage Status for being a natural site that is part of the Cape Floral Kingdom. The mountain was also chosen as one of the new seven world wonders. Table Mountain is thought to be one of the oldest mountains in the world. The rocks of the mountain are approximately 600-million years old. It is the only natural site on the planet to have a constellation of stars named after it. The constellation is called “Mensa”, which means ‘table’ in Latin. I know, I know. You’ve seen a list like this before. We all have. But this one is slightly different in that I’ve canvassed hiking professionals and aficionados from across the country to ensure this list is as close as it can be to the definitive list. If you were looking for a list of incredible must-do multi-day hikes to tick off over the next five, ten, twenty years then this is it. There are some notable absentees from the list. For example, the Fish River was left because it’s in Namibia. The glorious and incomparable Rim of Africa is a once-a-year, guided nine-week trail that we highly recommend but wasn’t included as it’s not a typical trail. Now, have a look at this list, pick your next trail and get out there! 1. Amatola Trail Cape Parrots and Knysna turacos can often be heard, and seen, in the mornings. Credit: Matthew Sterne Often referred to as the toughest trail in South Africa, the Amatola Trail is worthy of other superlatives too. It’s the forest paths – full of tiny luminescent ferns, moss-covered trees and a canopy of leaves that form a ceiling above the verdant cavern – that I remember most. Each day promises 10 hours of descending and ascending ahead, through lush valleys and up to the flower-strewn grasslands and peaks of the Amatola Range. This is a gruelling, self-guided trail and you have to take everything with you. Should something go wrong in this remote mountain wilderness, it’s a long way back to civilisation. Type: Backpacking with huts Duration: 6 days Distance: 100 km 2. Pondo Trail Each dinner is a fully catered feast with the likes of fillet with mushroom sauce, chicken curry and a seafood platter. Credit: Matthew Sterne I believe that if the world knew about this trail , it would be on every hiker’s wishlist. It’s the wildest part of the Wild Coast, from Mtentu down to Manteku, with rivers meeting the shore every two-and-a-half kilometres, on average. Every day is different, a mixture of beautiful grasslands, ravines, a shelf section, a cliff section and a string of lovely beaches. Waterfall bluff, a rare phenomenon of waterfalls tumbling into the ocean, is the most picturesque section but it’s all breathtakingly beautiful. And to make it even better, this hike with Wild Child Africa is fully catered, featuring local seafood, cold G&Ts waiting for you at the end of the day and local, knowledgeable guides. Type: Slackpacking with tented huts Duration: 5 days Distance: 100 km 3. Wild Coast Trail Coffee Bay is the final destination of the Wild Coast Trail. Credit: Getaway Another beautiful hike in the former Transkei, this area offers untouched beaches, rolling grassy hills dotted with colourful huts and the occasional beach-loitering cow. It generally starts in Port St. Johns and finishes in Coffee Bay, with overnight stops in rural villages. Wildside Hiking offers guided hiking tours, which are all led by guides born and raised in the surrounding villages. Each night, the homesteads provide a cooked Xhosa lunch and activities along the way include fishing, crayfishing, sangoma visit, traditional dance with locals and isiXhosa lessons. The best time to visit is between May and mid-August. Type: Backpacking with traditional huts Duration: 5 days Distance: 61 km 4. Otter Trail The first look at the dreaded (but beautiful) Bloukrans River crossing on day three of the Otter Trail. Credit: Melanie van Zyl Widely regarded as one of the best hiking trails in the world, they don’t call the Otter ‘The Prince of Trails’ for nothing. The 45 km coastal walk from Storms River to Nature’s Valley will leave even your chattiest aunt speechless with its rockpools, secluded huts and pristine coastline. She might struggle to make it to the end of the hike though. Steep climbs, secret waterfalls and midnight river crossings are all part of the fun. Permits sell out a year in advance for South Africa’s favourite trail, but it’s worth the wait. Style: Backpacking with huts Duration: 5 days Distance: 45 km 5. Whale Trail The Whale Trail in the Western Cape is a fan-favourite. Credit: Getaway It’s not just the vultures, coastal beauty and ocean splendour going on here, but the accommodation is in a league of its own. Calling these houses huts is like calling the Drakensberg a mountain. They’re a bit more than that. Expect lazy strolls on the beach, excess wine waiting for you in the huts (if you’re doing it right) and decent beds. Oh, and between June and November, the coastline is transformed as southern right whales migrate here to breed and look after their young. Type: Slackpacking Duration: 5 days Distance: 55 km 6. Central Cederberg Circuit Descending from Sneeuberg a little late in the day, but with golden views. Sneeuberg is the highest peak in the Cederberg. Credit: Matthew Sterne The Cederberg can be a tricky place to make sense of for the uninitiated. Where does it begin? Where does it end? And, most importantly, where should we hike? It’s a huge wilderness area that takes many visits to truly grasp, but this five-day route is probably the best way to get properly acquainted. According to our friends at Hiking South Africa , “This route explores some of the most iconic places in the Cederberg and is one of the best five-day hikes I have done anywhere. It takes you past Crystal Pools, Welbedacht Cave, the Wolfberg Arch and Wolfberg Cracks, the Maltese Cross and Sneeuberg.” Type: Wild camping Duration: 5 days Distance: 72 km 7. Mnweni Circuit The northern Drakensberg’s mighty Mnweni Pass is not in a formally protected area, but remains wild and rugged nonetheless. Credit: Melanie van Zyl Similarly to the Cederberg, the Drakensberg has so many trails and routes that it can be difficult to choose which one to take. In recent years, Mnweni has emerged as a favourite amongst those in the know and is regarded as one of the most beautiful parts of the high Berg. Sandwiched between the better-known Royal Natal National Park and Cathedral Peak, this hiking trail is managed by the amaNgwane Tribal Authority, traversing land occupied by traditional Zulu communities and small-scale farmers. Type: Wild camping Duration: 3 days Distance: 40 km 8. Giant’s Cup Trail The Giant’s Cup traverses the Lower Berg, granting epic views of the Drakensberg peaks. Credit: Arno van der Heever The only fully hutted trail in the Drakensberg, the Giant’s Cup Trail is a fantastic way of experiencing the lower Berg. It serves up glorious panoramic views, grassy plains, spectacular valleys with beautiful streams and pools, weathered rock formations, varied terrain and a well laid-out, well-marked trail. It’s considered an ideal trail for first-time visitors to the Drakensberg. Type: Backpacking with huts Duration: 5 days 9. Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Primitive Wilderness Trail Wilderness trails guide Nunu Jobe follows in the footsteps of legendary Zulu trackers and rangers. Credit: Scott Ramsay On foot in a Big 5 wilderness. Now this is living. The concept of wilderness trails was introduced over 60 years ago by Ian Player, the man behind Operation Rhino (and Gary Player’s brother), as a means of introducing people from all corners of the globe and from all walks of life to the life-changing process brought about by walking through the wilderness on foot and experiencing the wonder of nature firsthand. This is a raw bush experience, sleeping out at night and taking turns to keep watch over your mates while lions, hyenas and leopards prowl in the darkness. Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife offers a range of trails to choose from, all offering a chance to experience the bush at a very personal level. Type: Wild camping Duration: 4 days Distance: Varies 10. Outeniqua Trail The Outeniqua Trail has a better forest than the nearby Tsitsikamma Trail. Credit: Dania Petrik This spectacular trail can be conquered as a series of day walks or over a full seven-day period, between George and Knysna. Carrying food for a trip that long can get heavy but you’ll be rewarded with the unsurpassed scenery that the Outeniqua Mountains are famous for. There are numerous river crossings, some of which are impassable after heavy rains so it’s important to plan accordingly. The huts offer shelter, firewood, grids, water and rudimentary bedding. There’s electricity at the Millwood, Diepwalle and Harkerville huts. Hikers do not have to hike the full seven days; two or three days are allowed, connecting routes making this possible. Type: Backpacking with huts Duration: 7 days Distance: 108 km 11. Leopard Trail The Leopard Trail has numerous side trails that hikers can choose to take as they go. We recommend them all. Credit: Teagan Cunniffe Set in the magnificent Baviaanskloof World Heritage Site Wilderness Reserve, the Leopard Trail has quickly grown in popularity since opening in 2016. Baviaanskloof – the name is derived from the Dutch for “Valley of Baboons” – is a narrow valley blessed with pristine natural grandeur, and run with narrow gorges, streams, steep mountain passes and vast waving grassland plains. It’s just under 200 km in length and, due to lying at a lower altitude than the Karoo to the north, has a lush landscape supporting a wide variety of fauna and flora. It’s a circular route and a catered hike, ensuring it’s easier to handle those uphills and take in the views of the huge expanse of mountains, the beautiful flowers and enjoying the river along much of the route. Type: Slackpacking with tents Duration: 4 days Distance: 60 km 12. Timbavati Primitive Trail Nights have a very different feel to the day, on a hike with Lowveld Trails Co. Taking watch is one of the standout memories. Credit: Lowveld Trails Co. According to hiking expert, Hlengiwe Magagula , “The other rich zone for backpacking safaris is the Kruger region, with a multitude of options in both the national park and adjacent Greater Kruger reserves. The SANParks-operated backpacking trails always use a tent, so if you’d prefer the sleep-out experience, a good option is to book a trail with Lowveld Trails Company . This outfit is run by experienced trail-guiding instructors, and will bring you into either Timbavati Private Nature Reserve or Makuya Nature Reserve, which both share unfenced boundaries with the Kruger Park itself. The Lowveld Trails Company operates a three-night primitive trail for groups of up to eight.” Type: Wild camping Duration: 4 days Distance: Varies BACK TO THE TOP OF THE PAGE

SOUTH AFRICAN SCHOOL PROJECTS

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ANGLO ZULU WAR Anglo-Zulu Wars 1879-1896 The destruction of the Zulu kingdom 1879 -1896 In the 1870s settler and colonial determination to bring Blacks under firm political control had undermined the hard-won security that many African societies had achieved. This was due to changes in economic conditions in South Africa's hinterland, and the consequent need to secure sufficient political authority over Africans- which would ensure security and access to labour. These societies attempted to resist the extension of colonial control over them, one of which was the Zulu kingdom. Sir Bartle Frere was appointed British high commissioner to South Africa in 1879 to realise the Policy of Confederation. This policy was set to bring the various British colonies, Boer republics and independent African groups under common control- with a view to implementing a policy of economic development. Sir Bartle Frere saw the self-reliant Zulu kingdom as a threat to this policy, a belief which was supported by Shepstone, the Secretary for Native Affairs. Shepstone averred that the Zulu people had revived their military power under Cetshwayo , which made them more of a threat to peace and prosperity in South Africa. On 11 December 1878, under the flimsy pretext of a few minor border incursions into Natal by Cetshwayo's followers, the Zulu were given an impossible ultimatum- that they should disarm and Cetshwayo should forsake his sovereignty. The inevitable invasion of Zululand began after the ultimatum had expired on *10 January 1879 (see insert note). Instead of fragmenting the Zulu as Shepstone predicted, this rallied the Zulu to their king's cause. Many historians mark the 10* January 1879 as the beginning of the Anglo-Zulu war, while others claim that the 12 January 1879 (first attack) or the 22 January 1879 (first decisive battle of Isandlwana) marked the beginning of the war. However, even the 10 January date is disputed as many sources say that the ultimatum actually expired on the 11 January 1879. Under the overall command of Lord Chelmsford, the British forces -many of them colonials (Whites) or members of the Natal Native Contingent (Blacks) – began carrying out the general plan put in place for the invasion of Zululand. The main objective was to occupy the Zulu royal kraal at Ulundi by advancing on it from three directions. This operation was similar to the Zulu tactic of attacking from three sides by means of the main force or chest in the centre, and an extended left and right ‘horn’ on each side. The right or Number I Column, commanded by Colonel C.K. Pearson, was to cross the lower Tugela River and advance towards Ulundi by way of Eshowe. The centre or main force, the Number III Column, advanced from Pietermaritzburg via Greytown to Helpmekaar, under the leadership of Lord Chelmsford himself. From Helpmekaar the centre force was to enter Zululand at Rorke's Drift and move eastwards to the royal kraal. The left or Number IV Column, commanded by Brevet Col Sir H. Evelyn Wood, concentrated at Utrecht with the object of reaching Ulundi from the north-west. In addition, two minor forces guarded the borders. The first of these forces was the Number II Column at Krantzkop, under Brevet Col A.W. Durnford to prevent the Zulus crossing the Tugela. The second was the Number V Column at Luneberg to safeguard the Transvaal, which had been annexed by the British in 1877 (see map). The first attack of the war took place on 12 January 1879, when the position of Sihayo's kraal, situated in the Batshe valley, threatened the successful advancement of the British column. Under Chelmsford’s orders, the attacking force moved across the Batshe to attack a rocky gorge into which Sihayo's men had retreated, driving their cattle before them. The Natal Native Contingent showed reluctance to face the Zulus, some of whom were armed with rifles. In an attempt to thwart the attack, stones were also rolled down onto the attackers and after sharp action, the Zulus retreated, with 30 dead, 4 wounded and 10 captured. The British however, suffered only 2 casualties, with 15 wounded. The Battle of Isandlwana The main Zulu army left Nodwengu on 17 January to defend Zululand from the centre column. These forces were under the command of chiefs Ntshingwayo kaMahole Khoza and Mavu-mengwana kaNdlela Ntuli. Cetshwayo had promised his men that the British would be defeated in a 'single day'. On the 17 January Chelmsford and his forces rode to Isandlwana, which he had selected as the site for his next camp. On 20 January Chelmsford’s men arrived and set up camp at Isandlwana hill. Chelmsford encountered some local resistance and mistakenly assumed it to be the main Zulu force. This divided his column, half of which he took to support an engagement some fifteen kilometres away. Colonel Henry Pulleine was left in charge of the remaining forces, but did not organise his troops into a defensive circular ‘laager’ formation, as the wagons would be needed shortly to transport supplies. Colonel A.W. Durnford arrived the next day with a detachment to reinforce the camp and take over command. Durnford, described as being 'as plucky as a lion but as imprudent as a child', impetuously pursued a Zulu foraging party. As he proceeded over the ridge of the Mabaso heights he encountered, to his horror, the Zulu army, a mass of 20 000 strong below. The Zulu had not intended to attack then, as it was a new moon and it was considered unwise to fight on a 'dark day'. However, once discovered, they had no choice but to go on the offensive. Pulleine was therefore forced to spread his firepower over a long distance, instead of concentrating his men in a tight formation. The Zulu steadily advanced in the horn formation, their centre, or chest, pitted against Puileine's left flank. They suffered huge losses as the British concentrated fire on the chest, and the attack was temporarily stalled. The Zulu’s left horn outflanked Durnford's infantry and descended onto the British camp from behind. Realising he was surrounded, Pulleine tried to retreat in order to save the endangered camp. This allowed the Zulu centre to advance again, and while raising the national cry of 'uSuthu' the Zulu interposed themselves between the retreating British and their camp. Hand to hand combat ensued and the Zulu carried the day. A detachment of British troops tried to mount a final stand at a stream two miles away, but most retreated to Rorke's Drift or fled down the Mzinyathi River with the Zulu in pursuit. The British lost 52 officers, 727 white soldiers and 471 black men of the Native Contingent - a third of Chelmsford's men. The Zulu, ‘as was their custom, took no prisoners at Isandlwana, and spared no lives, despite pleas for mercy'’. Everything else left behind was carried off as booty. The Battle of Rorke’s Drift and the Aftermath The Charge of the 17th Lancers at the Battle of Ulundi. Source: http://www.britishbattles.com/ One day later, a depot at Rorke's Drift was attacked against the orders of Cetshwayo, who favoured a defensive strategy. After the overwhelming victory over the British at Isandlwana, Zulu reserve forces who were not involved in the previous day’s battle retaliated with an attack on the “hastily erected fort” at the small garrison of Rorke’s Drift. Here the British fought with ‘rifle fire and bayonets’ and the Zulu force, led by Prince Dabulamanzi, suffered 500 casualties in this fruitless engagement. This provided the British with “much needed propaganda to counter the Zulu success at Isandlwana”. On the coast, the right column brushed aside Zulu resistance at the Nyezane river, before advancing to occupy the deserted mission station at Eshowe. The left column was also involved in heavy skirmishing around the Hlobane mountain. When the central British collapsed at Isandlwana, however, the left and right flanking columns were left exposed. The Zulus managed to cut Colonel C.K. Pearson’s right column off from the border, and Pearson's men were besieged for three months at Eshowe. The left flank column, however, managed to remain operative. Chelmsford swiftly made his way back to Natal. The might of the British army had suffered a severe repulse and any thoughts of a quick British victory were put to rest. On the other hand, the Zulu themselves suffered terrible casualties, and worse was to follow. After the defeat at Isandlwana British pride had to be restored, and reinforcements were sent for. Chelmsford's army advanced again into Zululand, inflicting heavy defeats on the Zulu in April at Gingindlovu, relieving Pearson's column, and at Khambula. The Zulu were now on the back foot. In July Chelmsford moved in on oNdini, and in a final onslaught known as the Battle of Ulundi, they secured an overwhelming military success. More than 1 000 Zulu were killed and Cetshwayo was forced to flee for safety, until he was captured in the Ngome forest in August and exiled to the Cape. The Zulu were then instructed to return to their homesteads and resume productive activities. The British, nonetheless, were at pains to explain that the war was against the Zulu royal house. The Division of Zululand The war itself had not destroyed the kingdom, but subsequent events served to divide the Zulu and undermine their economic and social cohesion. Taking a leaf out of Shepstone’s 'native policy', Sir Garnet Wolseley, the new British commander in Natal, divided the kingdom into thirteen territories under appointed chiefs. They were meant to represent the chiefly lineages of pre-Shakan times, which was a shaky argument at best, especially since one of them was John Dunn who had joined the British when hostilities began. Others had either been outrightly opposed to Cetshwayo or had shown little loyalty to him during the war. The chiefs’ allegiance was to those who had appointed them, and Britain thus effectively began to administer indirect rule over Zululand. Melmoth Osborn, who enthusiastically supported Shepstone's views, was appointed as British Resident in Zululand. Unsurprisingly Zululand suffered civil strife as a result of this arrangement. Those who continued to espouse the old Zulu order were known as the uSuthu, and were led by Ndabuko kaMpande, Cetshwayo's brother. They were to come into conflict with the appointed chiefs and by 1887 had 'fought themselves to a standstill'. In addition, a hut tax was imposed, not only on each hut but on every wife regardless of whether she occupied a hut. Wolseley's infamous settlement of Zululand had not destroyed the Zulu homestead-the basic productive unit in the kingdom's economy- nor had the Zulu been deprived of their land. The hut tax, however, served to divert some of the surplus accruing to an individual homestead head to the British government. Subsequently over 70% of the annual cost of administering Zululand was derived from this tax. As the civil war intensified, the British realised that this settlement was simply not workable. Cetshwayo, encouraged by Bishop Colenso and his daughter Harriette- who both visited him in Cape Town-petitioned the British government and was granted permission to visit England to put forward his case for the restoration of the Zulu monarchy. In Zululand similar petitions were presented to the British Resident by the uSuthu. Early in 1883 Cetshwayo was reinstalled as king, but his powers had been severely reduced. He was confined to a smaller area, surrounded by enemies, and his every move was watched by a Resident. Those who wished to show their loyalty to Cetshwayo were obliged to move into his central district of the kingdom. Zibhebhu, an arch opponent of Cetshwayo, whose allegiance was more to the colonial order than the royal house, occupied a large tract of territory to Cetshwayo's north, and forced uSuthu loyalists resident in his portion to return to Cetshwayo's area. A pre-emptive strike by the uSuthu against Zibhebhu failed. Later Zibhebhu and Hamu, another of the appointed chiefs, invaded the uSuthu. Cetshwayo was soundly defeated at his newly built capital at oNdini in 1883, with the level of bloodshed exceeding anything the Zulu had experienced during Cetshwayo's reign. Matters worsened for the uSuthu when Cetshwayo died in late 1883- as the balance of power in Zululand had now shifted decisively to the Imperial administration, and its supporters in Zululand. In a last-ditch measure to regain power, Cetshwayo's son, Dinuzulu, entered into a treaty with the Transvaal. In military terms, the alliance proved successful and Zibhebhu's army was forced out of the loyalists' territory. But this agreement came at a huge cost. In return for their assistance, the Boers were promised vast tracts of territory on Zululand's western margin, which they called The New Republic, with its 'capital' at Vryheid. When the Transvaalers tried to claim even more land than what was agreed upon, the uSuthu refused. Having realised the extent of the chaos in Zululand, the British intervened. Dinuzulu was allowed to retain control of his portion of central Zululand, but the Boers were also acknowledged as owners of the New Republic. This lead to a Reserve area being set aside for those opposed to the loyalists. In Natal, pressure mounted for the annexation of Zululand, and almost inevitably it was annexed to the Crown in 1887. The promulgation of a Code of Laws placed Zululand under a similar 'Native Policy' to that in Natal. Once more the uSuthu mounted resistance to the annexation, and again Zibhebhus services were called upon. The revolt was spectacularly successful for a short period, as the uSuthu under Dinuzulu made good use of the mountainous terrain to repulse a police contingent sent to arrest their leaders. Zibhebhus followers were attacked by Dinuzulu and forced to flee hastily from the Ndwandwe district. Finally reinforcements arrived, the uSuthu were driven from their hideouts, leading Dinuzulu to surrender. In 1889, he and his leading adherents were tried for treason, found guilty and sentenced to prison terms on St Helena. In 1894 Dinuzulu was pardoned and allowed to return to Zululand, but as a mere induna, or state official, with no chiefly powers or privileges. To appease colonial interests, his return was coupled with the annexation of Zululand by Natal in 1897. After eighteen years, settler interests had prevailed in the land of the Zulu, and the plans Shepstone initially envisaged for the kingdom could be put into place. White settlers and traders entered Zululand in increasing numbers, and Zululand was thus 'reconstructed'. The territory was divided among compliant chiefs who ruled with limited authority, and the governor of Natal became the supreme chief over Zululand. The situation was worsened further by several natural disasters between 1894 and 1897. These disasters included a plague of locusts, drought and the devastating rinderpest epidemic of 1897- which led to a massive decline in homestead production. Already under stress from the imposition of the hut tax, many more Zulu men were forced into the Witwatersrand labour market to make ends meet and pay taxes. The gradual emergence of a permanent labouring class alongside a traditional economy, based on homestead production and cattle-keeping, led to new social divisions in Zulu society. The Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 was a significant conflict in South African history. It was fought between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom, in a British victory and the annexation of Zululand. The war had a profound impact on the region, shaping its political and social landscape for years to come. The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in 1879 between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom . Two famous battles of the war were the Zulu victory at Isandlwana and the British defence at Rorke's Drift . Following the passing of the British North America Act of 1867 forming a federation in Canada, Lord Carnarvon thought that a similar political effort, coupled with military campaigns, might lead to a ruling white minority over a black majority, which would provide a large pool of cheap labour for the British sugar plantations and mines, encompassing the African Kingdoms, tribal areas and Boer republics into South Africa . In 1874, Sir Bartle Frere was sent to South Africa as High Commissioner for the British Empire to effect such plans. Among the obstacles were the armed independent states of the South African Republic and the Kingdom of Zululand . Frere, on his own initiative, sent a provocative ultimatum on 11 December 1878 to the Zulu king Cetshwayo and upon its rejection sent Lord Chelmsford to invade Zululand. The war had several particularly bloody battles, including an opening victory of the Zulu at the Battle of Isandlwana , followed by the defence of Rorke's Drift by a small British Garrison from an attack by a large Zulu force. The British eventually won the war, ending Zulu dominance of the region. The Zulu Kingdom was then made a protectorate and later annexed by the British Empire in 1887. British Empire By the 1850s, the British Empire had colonies in southern Africa bordering on various Boer settlements, native African kingdoms such as the Zulus and the Basotho and numerous indigenous tribal areas and states. Various interactions with those groups followed an expansionist policy. Cape Colony was formed after the Anglo–Dutch Treaty of 1814 had permanently ceded the Dutch colony of Cape Town to Britain, and its territory expanded very substantially in the 19th century. Natal , in south-eastern Africa, was claimed by the British as a colony on 4 May 1843, after the British government had annexed the Boer Republic of Natalia . Matters were brought to a head when three sons (led by Mehlokazulu kaSihayo) and a brother of the Zulu inkosi Sihayo organized a raid into Natal and carried off two women who were under British protection. The discovery of diamonds in 1867 near the Vaal River , some 550 mi (890 km) northeast of Cape Town , ended the isolation of the Boers in the interior and had a significant effect on events. The discovery triggered a diamond rush that attracted people from all over the world, which turned Kimberley into a town of 50,000 within five years and drew the attention of British imperial interests. In the 1870s, the British annexed West Griqualand , site of the Kimberley diamond discoveries. In 1874 Lord Carnarvon , Secretary of State for the Colonies , who had brought about federation in Canada in 1867, thought that a similar scheme might work in South Africa, The South African plan called for a ruling white minority over a black majority, which would provide a large pool of cheap labour for the British sugar plantations and mines, Carnarvon, in an attempt to extend British influence in 1875, approached the Boer states of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal Republic and tried to organize a federation of the British and Boer territories but the Boer leaders turned him down. In 1877, Sir Bartle Frere was made High Commissioner for Southern Africa by Lord Carnarvon. Carnarvon appointed Frere to the position on the understanding that he would work to enforce Carnarvon's confederation plan and Frere could then become the first British governor of a federated southern African dominion . Frere was sent to South Africa as High Commissioner to bring this plan about. One of the obstacles to such a scheme was the presence of the independent Boer states of the South African Republic , informally known as the Transvaal Republic and the Orange Free State, and the Kingdom of Zululand . Bartle Frere wasted no time in putting the scheme forward and manufacturing a casus belli against the Zulu by exaggerating the significance of a number of recent incidents. By 1877, Sir Theophilus Shepstone , the British Secretary for Native Affairs in Natal, annexed the Transvaal Republic for Britain using a special warrant. The Transvaal Boers objected but as long as the Zulu threat remained, found themselves between two threats; they feared that if they took up arms to resist the British annexation, King Cetshwayo and the Zulus would take the opportunity to attack. The successive British annexations and in particular the annexation of West Griqualand caused a climate of simmering unease for the Boer republics. Shepstone railed against the disruptive effect of allowing Cetshwayo's regime to remain. "Zulu power", he said, "is the root and real strength of all native difficulties in South Africa". In December 1877, he wrote to Carnarvon "Cetshwayo is the secret hope of every petty independent chief hundreds of miles from him who feels a desire that his colour shall prevail, and it will not be until this hope is destroyed that they will make up their minds to submit to the rule of civilisation". Earlier in October 1877, Shepstone had attended a meeting with Zulu leaders near the Blood River to resolve the land dispute between the Zulus and the Boers. He suggested a compromise with the Boers and the meeting broke up without clear resolutions. He turned against the Zulus with vengeance, saying he had come into possession of "the most incontrovertible, overwhelming and clear evidence" never previously disclosed, for supporting the claims of the Boers. He rejected Zulu claims as "characterised by lying and treachery to an extent that I could not have believed even savages are capable of". Shepstone, in his capacity as British governor of Natal, had expressed concerns about the Zulu army under King Cetshwayo and the potential threat to Natal – especially given the adoption by some of the Zulus of old muskets and other out-of-date firearms. In his new role of Administrator of the Transvaal, he was now responsible for protecting the Transvaal and had direct involvement in the Zulu border dispute from the side of the Transvaal. Persistent Boer representations and Paul Kruger 's diplomatic manoeuvres added to the pressure. There were incidents involving Zulu paramilitary actions on either side of the Transvaal/Natal border, and Shepstone increasingly began to regard King Cetshwayo, as having permitted such "outrages", and to be in a "defiant mood". King Cetshwayo now found no defender in Natal save the bishop of Natal, John Colenso . Colenso advocated for native Africans in Natal and Zululand who had been unjustly treated by the colonial regime in Natal. In 1874 he took up the cause of Langalibalele and the Hlubi and Ngwe tribes in representations to the Colonial Secretary, Lord Carnarvon. Langalibalele had been falsely accused of rebellion in 1873 and, following a charade of a trial, was found guilty and imprisoned on Robben Island . In taking the side of Langalibalele against the colonial regime in Natal and Theophilus Shepstone, the Secretary for Native Affairs, Colenso found himself even further estranged from colonial society in Natal. Bishop Colenso's concern about the misleading information that was being provided to the Colonial Secretary in London by Shepstone and the Governor of Natal prompted him to champion the cause of the Zulus against Boer oppression and official encroachments. He was a prominent critic of Frere's efforts to depict the Zulu kingdom as a threat to Natal. Colenso's campaigns revealed the racialist foundation underpinning the colonial regime in Natal and made him enemies among the colonists. British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli 's Tory administration in London did not want a war with the Zulus. "The fact is," wrote Sir Michael Hicks Beach , who was to replace Carnarvon as Secretary of State for the Colonies, in November 1878, "that matters in Eastern Europe and India ... wore so serious an aspect that we cannot have a Zulu war in addition to other greater and too possible troubles." However, Sir Bartle Frere had already been into the Cape Colony as governor and High Commissioner since 1877 with the brief of creating a Confederation of South Africa from the various British colonies, Boer Republics and native states and his plans were well advanced. He had concluded that the powerful Zulu kingdom stood in the way of this, and so was receptive to Shepstone's arguments that King Cetshwayo and his Zulu army posed a threat to the peace of the region. Preparations for a British invasion of the Zulu kingdom had been underway for months. In December 1878, notwithstanding the reluctance of the British government to start yet another colonial war, Frere presented Cetshwayo with an ultimatum that the Zulu army be disbanded and the Zulus accept a British resident. This was unacceptable to the Zulus as it effectively meant that Cetshwayo, had he agreed, would have lost his throne. Zulu Kingdom Photograph of Cetshwayo kaMpande , c. 1875 Shaka Zulu , the first Zulu king, had through war and conquest built the small Zulu tribe into the Zulu Kingdom , which by 1825 encompassed an area of around 11,500 square miles (30,000 km2). In 1828 he was assassinated at Dukuza by one of his inDunas and two of his half-brothers, one of whom, Dinggh kaSenzangakhona , succeeded him as king. By the 1830s migrating Boers came into conflict with the Zulu Kingdom, then ruled by Dingane. Dingane suffered a crushing defeat on 16 December 1838, when he attacked a group of 470 Voortrekker settlers led by Pretorius at the Battle of Blood River . Dingane's half brother, Mpande kaSenzangakhona , then defected with some 17,000 followers and allied with the Boers against Dingane. Dingane was assassinated and Mpande became king of the Zulu empire. In 1839, the Boer Voortrekkers , under Pretorius, formed the Boer Republic of Natalia , south of the Tugela, and west of the British settlement of Port Natal (now Durban). Mpande and Pretorius maintained peaceful relations. However, in 1842, war broke out between the British and the Boers, resulting in the British annexation of Natalia. Mpande shifted his allegiance to the British, and remained on good terms with them. King Mpande In 1843, Mpande ordered a purge of perceived dissidents within his kingdom. This resulted in numerous deaths, and the fleeing of thousands of refugees into neighbouring areas, including the British-controlled Natal. Many of these refugees fled with cattle, the main measure of the Zulu wealth. Mpande began raiding the surrounding areas, culminating in the invasion of Swaziland in 1852. However, the British pressured him into withdrawing, which he did shortly afterwards. At this time, a battle for the succession broke out between two of Mpande's sons, Cetshwayo and Mbuyazi. This culminated in 1856 with the Battle of Ndondakusuka , which left Mbuyazi dead. Cetshwayo then set about usurping his father's authority. When Mpande died of old age in 1872, Cetshwayo took over as ruler. In 1861, Umtonga, another son of Mpande , fled to the Utrecht district, prompting Cetshwayo to assemble an army on the nearby frontier. According to claims later brought forward by the Boers , Cetshwayo offered the farmers a strip of land along the border if they would surrender his brother. The Boers complied on the condition that Umtonga's life was spared, and in 1861 Mpande signed a deed transferring this land to the Boers. The south boundary of the land added to Utrecht ran from Rorke's Drift on the Buffalo to a point on the Pongola River . Zulu village, c. 1849 The boundary was beaconed in 1864, but when in 1865 Umtonga again fled from Zululand to Natal , Cetshwayo, seeing that he had lost his part of the bargain (for he feared that the still living Umtonga might be used to supplant him, as Mpande had been used to supplant Dingane ), removed the beacon and claimed the land ceded by the Swazis to Lydenburg . The Zulus asserted that the Swazis were their vassals and therefore had no right to part with this territory. For a year, a Boer commando unit , under Paul Kruger and an army under Cetshwayo were posted to defend the newly acquired Utrecht border. The Zulu forces took back their land north of the Pongola. Questions were also raised as to the validity of the documents signed by the Zulus concerning the Utrecht strip; in 1869 the services of the lieutenant-governor of Natal, then Robert William Keate , were accepted by both parties as arbitrator, but the attempt then made to settle disagreements proved unsuccessful. In spite of his dislike for their activities, Cetshwayo permitted European missionaries in Zululand. Though he did not harm or persecute the missionaries themselves, several converts were killed. The missionaries, for their part, were a source of hostile reports. While numerous Zulus of rival factions fled into Natal and some of the surrounding areas, Cetshwayo continued and maintained the peaceful relations with the Natal colonists that had prevailed for decades. Such was the political background when Cetshwayo became absolute ruler of the Zulus upon his father's death in 1873. As ruler, Cetshwayo set about reviving the military methods of his uncle Shaka as far as possible. He formed new age-set regiments and even succeeded in equipping his regiments with a few antiquated muskets and other outdated firearms. Most Zulu warriors were armed with an iklwa (the Zulu refinement of the assegai thrusting spear) and a shield made of cowhide. The Zulu army drilled in the personal and tactical use and coordination of this weapons system. While some Zulus also had firearms, their marksmanship training was poor and the quality and supply of their powder and shot was dreadful. The Zulu attitude towards firearms was summarized: "The generality of Zulu warriors, however, would not have firearms – the arms of a coward, as they said, for they enable the poltroon to kill the brave without awaiting his attack." History Boundary Commission and ultimatum This section contains too many or overly lengthy quotations . Please help summarize the quotations . Consider transferring direct quotations to Wikiquote or excerpts to Wikisource . (February 2020) The tension between Cetshwayo and the Transvaal over border disputes continued. Sir Theophilus Shepstone , whom Cetshwayo regarded as his friend, had supported him in the border dispute, but in 1877 he led a small force into the Transvaal and persuaded the Boers to give up their independence. Shepstone became administrator of the Transvaal, and in that role saw the border dispute from the other side. Shepstone claimed to have evidence supporting the Boer position but, ultimately, he failed to provide any. In a meeting with Zulu notables at Blood River in October 1877, Shepstone attempted to placate the Zulu with paternal speeches, however they were unconvinced and accused Shepstone of betraying them. Shepstone's subsequent reports to Carnarvon then began to paint the Zulu as an aggressive threat where he had previously presented Cetshwayo in a most favourable light. In February 1878 a commission was appointed by Henry Bulwer , the lieutenant-governor of Natal since 1875, to report on the boundary question. The commission reported in July and found almost entirely in favour of the contention of the Zulu. However, Sir Henry Bartle Frere , then high commissioner and still pressing forward with Carnarvon's federation plan, characterized the award as "one-sided and unfair to the Boers" stipulated that on the land being given to the Zulu, the Boers living on it should be compensated if they left or protected if they remained. In addition, Frere planned to use the meeting on the boundary commission report with the Zulu representatives to also present a surprise ultimatum he had devised that would allow British forces under Lord Chelmsford, which he had previously been instructed to use only in defense against a Zulu invasion of Natal, to instead invade Zululand. Three incidents occurred in late July, August and September which Frere seized upon as his casus belli and were the basis for the ultimatum with which Frere knew Cetshwayo could not comply, giving Frere a pretext to attack the Zulu kingdom. The first two incidents related to the flight into Natal of two wives of Sihayo kaXongo and their subsequent seizure and execution by his brother and sons and were described thus: A wife of the chief Sihayo had left him and escaped into Natal. She was followed [on 28 July 1878] by a party of Zulus, under Mehlokazulu, the chief son of Sihayo, and his brother, seized at the kraal where she had taken refuge, and carried back to Zululand, where she was put to death, in accordance with Zulu law... A week later the same young men, with two other brothers and an uncle, captured in like manner another refugee wife of Sihayo, in the company of the young man with whom she had fled. This woman was also carried back, and is supposed to have been put to death likewise; the young man with her although guilty in Zulu eyes of a most heinous crime, punishable with death, was safe from them on English soil; they did not touch him.[19] The third incident occurred in September when two men were detained while on a sandbank of the Thukela River near the Middle Drift. Sir Bartle Frere described this matter in a despatch to Sir Michael Hicks Beach , who had replaced Carnarvon as Secretary of State for the Colonies: Mr. Smith, a surveyor in the Colonial Engineer Department, was on duty inspecting the road down to the Tugela, near Fort Buckingham, which had been made a few years ago by order of Sir Garnet Wolseley, and accompanied by Mr. Deighton, a trader, resident at Fort Buckingham, went down to the ford across the Tugela. The stream was very low, and ran under the Zulu bank, but they were on this side of it, and had not crossed when they were surrounded by a body of 15 or 20 armed Zulus, made prisoners, and taken off with their horses, which were on the Natal side of the river, and roughly treated and threatened for some time; though, ultimately, at the instance of a headman who came up, they were released and allowed to depart. By themselves, these incidents were flimsy grounds upon which to found an invasion of Zululand. Bulwer did not initially hold Cetshwayo responsible for what was clearly not a political act in the seizure and murder of the two women. I have sent a message to the Zulu King to inform him of this act of violence and outrage by his subjects in Natal territory, and to request him to deliver Up to this Government to be tried for their offence, under the laws of the Colony, the persons of Mehlokazulu and Bekuzulu the two sons of Sirayo who were the leaders of the party. Cetshwayo also treated the complaint rather lightly, responding Cetywayo is sorry to have to acknowledge that the message brought by Umlungi is true, but he begs his Excellency will not take it in the light he sees the Natal Government seem to do, as what Sirayo's sons did he can only attribute to a rash act of boys who in the zeal for their father's house did not think of what they were doing. Cetywayo acknowledges that they deserve punishing, and he sends some of his izinduna , who will follow Umlungi with his words. Cetywayo states that no acts of his subjects will make him quarrel with his fathers of the house of Shaka. The original complaint carried to Cetshwayo from the lieutenant-governor was in the form of a request for the surrender of the culprits. The request was subsequently transformed by Sir Bartle Frere into a "demand". Frere wrote to Hicks Beach, 30 September 1878: Apart from whatever may be the general wish of the Zulu nation, it seems to me that the seizure of the two refugee women in British territory by an armed force crossing an unmistakable and well known boundary line, and carrying them off and murdering them with contemptuous disregard for the remonstrances of the Natal policemen, is itself an insult and a violation of British territory which cannot be passed over, and unless apologised and atoned for by compliance with the Lieutenant Governor's demands, that the leaders of the murderous gangs shall be given up to justice, it will be necessary to send to the Zulu King an ultimatum which must put an end to pacific relations with our neighbours.[ In reply, in at least three dispatches, 17 October, 21 November and 18 December, Hicks Beach emphatically states that war is to be avoided and a British invasion of Zululand prohibited. From 21 November dispatch: ... Her Majesty's Government have arrived, it is my duty to impress upon you that in supplying these reinforcements it is the desire of Her Majesty's Government not to furnish means for a campaign of invasion and conquest, but to afford such protection as may be necessary at this juncture to the lives and property of the colonists. Though the present aspect of affairs is menacing in a high degree, I can by no means arrive at the conclusion that war with the Zulus should be unavoidable, and I am confident that you, in concert with Sir H. Bulwer, will use every effort to overcome the existing difficulties by judgment and forbearance, and to avoid an evil so much to be deprecated as a Zulu war. Hicks Beach After considerable discussion and exchanges of views between Sir Bartle Frere and Sir Henry Ernest Gascoyne Bulwer , it was decided to arrange a meeting with representatives of the Zulu king. The ostensible reason for this indaba was to present the findings of the long-awaited Boundary Commission to the Zulu people. The occasion was also to be used to present the king with an ultimatum. When the ultimatum was presented, the two infractions by Sihayo's sons and the roughing up of Smith and Deighton had become only part of the justification that was used, as several matters had arisen in the meantime. One of them was Cetshwayo's apparent breaking of promises to Mr Theophilus Shepstone at the king's "coronation" in 1872. That farcical piece of theatre had been agreed to by Cetshwayo simply to satisfy the wishes of Shepstone and meant nothing to the Zulu people. Indeed, his real Zulu installation had taken place several weeks earlier when he had been acclaimed by his izinduna.[25] A second addition to the ultimatum, which seems almost like an afterthought, required the surrender of Mbelini kaMswati. Mbelini was the son of a Swazi king who unsuccessfully disputed the succession with his brother, resulting in his exile from the kingdom. He took refuge with Cetshwayo and was granted land in the region of the Intombe River in western Zululand. (It is entirely possible that Cetshwayo regarded him as a useful buffer between him and the Boers of the Transvaal.) Here, he took up residence on the Tafelberg, a flat-topped mountain overlooking the river. Something of a brigand, Mbelini made raids on anyone in his area, Boer and Zulu alike, accruing cattle and prisoners in the process. With the annexation of the Transvaal, Britain had also to deal with Mbelini and because Frere was convinced that the bandit chief was in the pay of the Zulu king, his surrender was included in the ultimatum. The light in which Mbelini was regarded is shown in a paragraph from a memorandum written by Sir Henry Bulwer: The King disowned Umbilini's acts by saying that Umbilini had been giving him trouble, that he had left the Zulu country in order to wrest the Swazi chieftainship from his brother, the reigning Chief, and that if he returned he should kill him. But there is nothing to show that he has in any way punished him, and, on the contrary, it is quite certain that even if Umbilini did not act with the express orders of Cetywayo, he did so with the knowledge that what he was doing would be agreeable to the King. Frere has been accused of chicanery by taking deliberate advantage of the length of time it took for correspondence to pass between South Africa and London to conceal his intentions from his political masters or at least defer giving them the necessary information until it was too late for them to act. The first intimation to the British government of his intention to make 'demands' on the Zulu was in a private letter to Hicks Beach written on 14 October 1878. The letter only arrived in London on 16 November and by then messengers had already been despatched from Natal to the Zulu king to request the presence of a delegation at the Lower Tugela on 11 December for the purpose of receiving the Boundary Commission's findings. Had Hicks Beach then sent off a telegraph forbidding any action other than the announcement of the boundary award, it might have arrived in South Africa just in time to prevent the ultimatum being presented. No prohibition was sent and could hardly be expected to have been, for Hicks Beach had no means of knowing the urgency of the events that were in train. Nowhere in Frere's letter was there anything to indicate how soon he intended to act, nor was there anything to suggest how stringent his demands would be. In January 1879, Hicks Beach wrote to Bartle Frere: I may observe that the communications which had previously been received from you had not entirely prepared them (Her Majesty's Government) "for the course which you have deemed it necessary to take. The representations made by Lord Chelmsford and yourself last autumn as to the urgent need of strengthening Her Majesty's forces in South Africa were based upon the imminent danger of an invasion of Natal by the Zulus, and the inadequate means at that time at your disposal for meeting it. In order to afford protection to the lives and property of the colonists, the reinforcements asked for were supplied, and, in informing you of the decision of Her Majesty's Government, I took the opportunity of impressing upon you the importance of using every effort to avoid war. But the terms which you have dictated to the Zulu king, however necessary to relieve the colony in future from an impending and increasing danger, are evidently such as he may not improbably refuse, even at the risk of war; and I regret that the necessity for immediate action should have appeared to you so imperative as to preclude you from incurring the delay which would have been involved in consulting Her Majesty's Government upon a subject of so much importance as the terms which Cetywayo should be required to accept before those terms were actually presented to the Zulu king. Hicks Beach had earlier admitted his helplessness with regard to the Frere's actions in a telling note to his Prime Minister: I have impressed this [non-aggressive] view upon Sir B. Frere, both officially and privately, to the best of my power. But I cannot really control him without a telegraph (I don't know that I could with one) I feel it is as likely as not that he is at war with the Zulus at the present moment. Frere wanted to provoke a conflict with the Zulus and in that goal he succeeded. Cetshwayo rejected the demands of 11 December, by not responding by the end of the year. A concession was granted by Bartle Frere until 11 January 1879, after which Bartle Frere deemed a state of war to exist. The British forces intended for the defense of Natal had already been on the march with the intention to attack the Zulu kingdom. On 10 January they were poised on the border. On 11 January, they crossed the border and invaded Zululand. Terms The terms included in the ultimatum were delivered to the representatives of King Cetshwayo on the banks of the Thukela river at the Ultimatum Tree on 11 December 1878. No time was specified for compliance with item 4, twenty days were allowed for compliance with items 1–3, that is, until 31 December inclusive; ten days more were allowed for compliance with the remaining demands, items 5–13. The earlier time limits were subsequently altered so that all expired on 10 January 1879. Surrender of Sihayo's three sons and brother to be tried by the Natal courts. Payment of a fine of 500 head of cattle for the outrages committed by the above and for Cetshwayo's delay in complying with the request of the Natal Government for the surrender of the offenders. Payment of 100 head of cattle for the offence committed against Messrs. Smith and Deighton. Surrender of the Swazi chief Umbilini and others to be named hereafter, to be tried by the Transvaal courts. Observance of the coronation promises. That the Zulu army be disbanded and the men allowed to go home. That the Zulu military system be discontinued and other military regulations adopted, to be decided upon after consultation with the Great Council and British Representatives. That every man, when he comes to man's estate, shall be free to marry. All missionaries and their converts, who until 1877 lived in Zululand, shall be allowed to return and reoccupy their stations. All such missionaries shall be allowed to teach and any Zulu, if he chooses, shall be free to listen to their teaching. A British Agent shall be allowed to reside in Zululand, who will see that the above provisions are carried out. All disputes in which a missionary or European is concerned, shall be heard by the king in public and in presence of the Resident. No sentence of expulsion from Zululand shall be carried out until it has been approved by the Resident. To ensure that there was no interference from London, Frere delayed informing the Colonial Office about his ultimatum until it was too late for it to be countermanded. The full text of his demands did not reach London until 2 January 1879. By then, Chelmsford had assembled an army of 18,000 men- redcoats, colonial volunteers and Natal African auxiliaries – along the Zululand border ready for the invasion. For his part, Cetshwayo strenuously attempted to avoid war with the British and, should it occur, to limit its scope and effects. He ordered his troops to defend their country only if attacked and not to carry the war beyond its borders. He directed them to avoid killing any of the invaders other than the regular British soldiers in their red coats. First invasion The pretext for the war had its origins in border disputes between the Zulu leader, Cetshwayo , and the Boers in the Transvaal region. Following a commission inquiry on the border dispute which reported in favour of the Zulu nation in July 1878, Sir Henry Bartle Frere , acting on his own, added an ultimatum to the commission meeting, much to the surprise of the Zulu representatives who then relayed it to Cetshwayo. Cetshwayo had not responded by the end of the year, so an extension was granted by Bartle Frere until 11 January 1879. Cetshwayo returned no answer to the demands of Bartle Frere, and in January 1879 a British force under Lieutenant General Frederic Thesiger, 2nd Baron Chelmsford invaded Zululand, without authorization by the British Government. The exact date of the invasion was 11 January 1879. Chelmsford crossed the Buffalo River at Rorke's Drift , an old Irish trader's post that had become a mission station, in command of 4,700 men of the , which included 1,900 White troops and 2,400 African auxiliaries. Lord Chelmsford, the Commander-in-Chief of British forces during the war, initially planned a five-pronged invasion of Zululand composed of over 16,500 troops in five columns and designed to encircle the Zulu army and force it to fight as he was concerned that the Zulus would avoid battle. The Zulu capital, Ulundi, was about 80 miles inside Zulu territory. In the event, Chelmsford settled on three invading columns with the main centre column, now consisting of some 7,800 men comprising Richard Thomas Glyn 's and Anthony Durnford 's under his direct command. He moved his troops from Pietermaritzburg to a forward camp at Helpmekaar, past Greytown . On 9 January 1879 they moved to Rorke's Drift , and early on 11 January commenced crossing the Buffalo River into Zululand . Three columns were to invade Zululand, from the Lower Drift of the Tugela River (No. 1 Column under Col. Charles Pearson ), Rorke's Drift under Lord Chelmsford), and Utrecht under Col. Evelyn Wood ) respectively, their objective being Ulundi , the royal capital. Durnford's was ordered to stay on the defensive near the Middle Drift of the Tugela River. While Cetshwayo's army numbered perhaps 35,000 men, it was essentially a militia force which could be called out in time of national danger. It had a very limited logistical capacity and could only stay in the field a few weeks before the troops would be obliged to return to their civilian duties.[34] Zulu warriors were armed primarily with Assegai thrusting spears, known in Zulu as iklwa , clubs, some throwing spears and shields made of cowhide. The Battle of Rorke's Drift by Alphonse de Neuville . The British defense of the small hospital station was a morale boost for the British Empire. The initial entry of all three columns was unopposed. On 22 January the centre column, which had advanced from Rorke's Drift, was encamped near Isandlwana ; on the morning of that day Lord Chelmsford split his forces and moved out to support a reconnoitering party, leaving the remaining 1,300 men of the under the command of Colonel Pulleine . Colonel Durnford would arrive later in the morning with 500 men of the No. 2 Column to reinforce the camp. The British were outmanoeuvred by the main Zulu army nearly 20,000 strong led by Ntshingwayo Khoza . Chelmsford was lured eastward with much of his centre column by a Zulu diversionary force while the main Impi attacked his camp. Chelmsford's decision not to set up the British camp defensively, contrary to established doctrine, and ignoring information that the Zulus were close at hand were decisions that the British were soon to regret. The ensuing Battle of Isandlwana was the greatest victory that the Zulu kingdom would enjoy during the war. The British centre column was wrecked and its camp annihilated with heavy casualties as well as the loss of all its supplies, ammunition and transport. The defeat left Chelmsford no choice but to hastily retreat out of Zululand. In the battle's aftermath, a party of some 4,000 Zulu reserves mounted an unauthorised raid on the nearby British Army border post of Rorke's Drift and were driven off after 10 hours of ferocious fighting on 23 January. Zulu warriors, 1879 (Charles Edwin Fripp ) While the British central column under Chelmsford's command was thus engaged, the right flank column on the coast, under Colonel Charles Pearson , crossed the Tugela River, skirmished with a Zulu impi that was attempting to set up an ambush at the Inyezane River , and advanced as far as the deserted missionary station of Eshowe, which he set about fortifying. On learning of the disaster at Isandlwana, Pearson made plans to withdraw back beyond the Tugela River. However, before he had decided whether or not to put these plans into effect, the Zulu army managed to cut off his supply lines, and the Siege of Eshowe had begun. Meanwhile, the left flank column at Utrecht, under Colonel Evelyn Wood , had originally been charged with occupying the Zulu tribes of north-west Zululand and preventing them from interfering with the British central column's advance on Ulundi. To this end Wood set up camp at Tinta's Kraal, just 10 miles south of Hlobane Mountain , where a force of 4,000 Zulus had been spotted. He planned to attack them on 24 January, but on learning of the disaster at Isandlwana, he decided to withdraw back to the Kraal. Thus one month after the British invasion, only their left flank column remained militarily effective, and it was too weak to conduct a campaign alone. The first invasion of Zululand had been a failure. Battle of the Intombe river It had never been Cetshwayo's intention to invade Natal, but to simply fight within the boundaries of the Zulu kingdom. Chelmsford used the next two months to regroup and build a fresh invading force with the initial intention of relieving Pearson at Eshowe. The British government rushed seven regiments of reinforcements to Natal, along with two artillery batteries. On 12 March, an armed escort of stores marching to Luneberg, was defeated by about 500 Zulus at the Battle of Intombe ; the British force suffered 80 killed[l] and all the stores were lost. The first troops arrived at Durban on 7 March. On the 29th a column under Lord Chelmsford consisting of a total of 5,670 men (3,390 Europeans and 2,280 Africans) marched to the relief of Eshowe , with entrenched camps being formed each night. Chelmsford ordered Sir Evelyn Wood's troops to attack the abaQulusi Zulu stronghold in Hlobane. Lieutenant Colonel Redvers Buller , led the attack on Hlobane on 28 March. However, as the Zulu main army of 20,000 men approached to help their besieged tribesmen, the British force began a retreat which turned into a rout and were pursued by 1,000 Zulus of the abaQulusi who inflicted some 225 casualties on the British force. The next day 20,000 Zulu warriors attacked Wood's 2,068 men in a well-fortified camp at Kambula, apparently without Cetshwayo's permission. The British held them off in the Battle of Kambula and after five hours of heavy attacks the Zulus withdrew with heavy losses but were pursued by British mounted troops, who killed many more fleeing and wounded warriors. British losses amounted to 83 (28 killed and 55 wounded), while the Zulus lost up to 2,000 killed.[n] The effect of the battle of Kambula on the Zulu army was severe. Their commander Mnyamana Buthelezi tried to get the regiments to return to Ulund but many demoralised warriors simply went home. The burning of Ulundi While Woods was thus engaged, Chelmsford's column was marching on Eshowe. On 2 April this force was attacked en route at Gingindlovu , the Zulu being repulsed. Their losses were heavy, estimated at 1,200, but the British suffered only two dead and 52 wounded and the next day they relieved Pearson's men. They evacuated Eshowe on 5 April after which the Zulu forces burned it down. Second invasion The new start of the larger, heavily reinforced second invasion[o] was not promising for the British. Despite their successes at Kambula, Gingindlovu and Eshowe, they were right back where they had started from at the beginning of January. Nevertheless, Chelmsford had a pressing reason to proceed with haste – Sir Garnet Wolseley was being sent to replace him, and he wanted to inflict a decisive defeat on Cetshwayo's forces before then. With yet more reinforcements arriving, soon to total 16,000 British and 7,000 Native troops, Chelmsford reorganised his forces and again advanced into Zululand in June, this time with extreme caution building fortified camps all along the way to prevent any repeat of Isandlwana. One of the early British casualties was the exiled pretender to the French throne, Prince Imperial Eugene Bonaparte , who had volunteered to serve in the British Army and was killed on 1 June while out with a reconnoitering party. Cetshwayo, knowing that the newly reinforced British would be a formidable opponent, attempted to negotiate a peace treaty. Chelmsford was not open to negotiations, as he wished to restore his reputation before Wolseley relieved him of command, and he proceeded to the royal kraal of Ulundi, intending to defeat the main Zulu army. On 4 July, the armies clashed at the Battle of Ulundi , and Cetshwayo's forces were decisively defeated. Aftermath Main article: Military history of South Africa After the battle of Ulundi, the Zulu army dispersed, most of the leading chiefs tendered their submission, and Cetshwayo became a fugitive. Wolseley, having relieved Chelmsford after Ulundi, took over the final operations. On 28 August the king was captured and sent to Cape Town . It is said that scouts spotted the water-carriers of the king, distinctive because the water was carried above, not upon, their heads. His deposition was formally announced to the Zulu. Wolseley wasted no time in discarding Bartle Frere's confederation scheme and drew up a new scheme which divided Zululand into thirteen chiefdoms headed by compliant chiefs which ensured that the Zulus would no longer unite under a single king and made internal divisions and civil wars inevitable. The dynasty of Shaka was deposed, and the Zulu country portioned among eleven Zulu chiefs, including Zibhebhu , John Robert Dunn , a white adventurer, and Hlubi, a Basuto chief allied to the British in the war. Chelmsford received a Knight Grand Cross of Bath, largely because of Ulundi. However, he was severely criticized by the Horse Guards investigation[39] and would never serve in the field again.[40] Bartle Frere was relegated to a minor post in Cape Town . Following the conclusion of the Anglo-Zulu War, Bishop Colenso interceded on behalf of Cetshwayo with the British government and succeeded in getting him released from Robben Island and returned to Zululand in 1883. A Resident (Melmoth Osborn ) was appointed to be the channel of communication between the chiefs and the British government. This arrangement led to much bloodshed and disturbance, and in 1882 the British government determined to restore Cetshwayo to power. In the meantime, however, blood feuds had been engendered between the chiefs Usibepu (Zibebu) and Hamu on the one side and the tribes who supported the ex-king and his family on the other. Cetshwayo's party (who now became known as the Usuthu) suffered severely at the hands of the two chiefs, who were aided by a band of white freebooters . When Cetshwayo was restored Usibepu was left in possession of his territory, while Dunn's land and that of the Basuto chief (the country between the Tugela River and the Umhlatuzi, i.e., adjoining Natal) was constituted a reserve, in which locations were to be provided for Zulu unwilling to serve the restored king. This new arrangement proved as futile as had Wolseley's. Usibepu, having created a formidable force of well-armed and trained warriors, and being left in independence on the borders of Cetshwayo's territory, viewed with displeasure the re-installation of his former king, and Cetshwayo was desirous of humbling his relative. A collision very soon took place; Usibepu's forces were victorious, and on 22 July 1883, led by a troop of mounted Boer mercenary troops, he made a sudden descent upon Cetshwayo's kraal at Ulundi, which he destroyed, massacring such of the inmates of both sexes as could not save themselves by flight. The king escaped, though wounded, into Nkandla forest. After appeals to Melmoth Osborn he moved to Eshowe , where he died soon after. Because of the unusually high amount of casualties the British suffered as a result of combat, especially given that they were facing a preindustrial enemy that was considered racially inferior, the British war effort was widely seen as a poor showing.[citation needed ] British casualties resulting from combat were three times higher than those from disease, which was generally a larger killer in British colonial conflicts. Film adaptations Zulu (1964), the Battle at Rorke's Drift. Zulu Dawn (1979), the Battle of Isandlwana. See also Victorian era portal Bambatha Rebellion Colony of Natal First Boer War Military history of South Africa Shaka Zulu Scramble for Africa Kingdom of Zululand The Prince Imperial of France dies in the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 The 22-year-old Prince Imperial of France, Eugene Louis Jean Joseph Napoleon, who studied in England at the Royal Military Academy and joined the British forces, was killed in the Anglo-Zulu War when he and a British reconnaissance party were attacked by about forty Zulus in the vicinity of Itelezi Mountain and Ityotyozi River in Zululand . The prince's horse, "Fate", bolted and the prince, in attempting to mount his fleeing horse tripped and fell and was speared to death. A memorial, now a historical monument, was erected to him by Queen Victoria at the place where he had been killed. Beginning of the Anglo-Zulu War, 10 January 1879 Muller, C.F.J. (ed)(1981). Five Hundred years: a history of South Africa; 3rd rev. ed., Pretoria: Academica, p. 223.| Giliomee, H & Mbenga, B (2007). New History of South Africa. Tafelberg Publishers, Cape Town, pg 165. Sir Bartle Frere was appointed British high commissioner to South Africa in 1879 to realise the policy of confederation (policy to bring the various British colonies, Boer republics and independent African groups under common control, with a view to implementing a policy of economic development). Sir Bartle Frere saw the self-reliant Zulu kingdom as a threat to this policy, a belief supported by Shepstone (Secretary for Native Affairs), who averred that the Zulu people had revived their military power under Cetshwayo , making them more of a threat to peace and prosperity in South Africa. On 11 December 1878, under the flimsy pretext of a few minor border incursions into Natal by Cetshwayo's followers, the Zulu were given an impossible ultimatum that they should disarm and Cetshwayo should forsake his sovereignty. The inevitable invasion of Zululand began after the ultimatum had expired on 10 January 1879. Instead of fragmenting the Zulu as Shepstone predicted, this made the Zulu rally to their king's cause. Many historians mark the 10 January 1879 as the beginning of the Anglo-Zulu War , while others claim that the 12 January 1879 (first attack) or the 22 January 1879 (first decisive battle of Isandlwana) marked the beginning of the war. Related links:SAHO feature on the Anglo-Zulu War William Henry Beaumont Synopsis Chairman of the Natives Land Commission, member of the, South African National Party and Judge at the Natal Supreme Court. First name William Last name Beaumont Date of birth 24 February 1851 Location of birth India Date of death c. 1930 William Henry Beaumont was born in India on 24 February 1851. His father was a Lieutenant Colonel of the 23rd Madras Light Infantry. Beaumont attended Sherbourne and Sandhurst Military College and after completing his studies joined the 75th (Stirlingshire) Regiment. He was commissioned to the rank of Ensign in 1870 and promoted to Lieutenant in 1871. Later that year he arrived in Natal with his regiment. In 1873 he served as a private secretary to the Administrator of Natal, Lt. Col. Thomas Milles. That same year Beaumont became the clerk for the Executive Council and also accompanied the Langalibalele expedition. In 1874 William served as acting magistrate for the uMlazi division, as well as sitting in on the Commission to report on the Civil Service in Pietermaritzburg. However, it was not until 1878 that William began his judicial career in earnest serving as magistrate for the Newcastle division. He left the army in 1875 and briefly went to Ireland before returning to Natal to take up a position as the clerk to the Governor's office and the Executive Council. During the Anglo-Zulu War Beaumont served as District Commandant of the Division of Klip River, and was in charge of an African contingent and a corps of mounted of mounted infantry to defend the border. He was subsequently decorated and thanked for his efforts during the war in January 1879. Around this period he was also leader of the United Rifle Association in Pietermaritzburg. In 1882 Beaumont was appointed to the Sub-Commission in charge of settling claims for compensation after the war. He conducted an investigation into the Umsinga Magistracy in 1884 and the Stanger Magistracy in 1890. That same year he sat on the board of Magistrate Court Rules, followed by the Board to frame Rules and Regulations for the Inferior Courts in 1894. As a result of his work in justice system Beaumont was added as an Advocate of the Supreme Court in 1894, and two years later (1898) acted as a Puisne Judge. His work particularly in the 1890s spanned to other spheres serving on various boards such as the Board to frame Rules and Regulations for Licensing Board in 1896, the Civil Service Board also in 1896 and the Board of Inquiry into Grievances of Railway Employees three years later in 1909. During the South African War Beaumont was a leader of the United Rifle Association in Pietermaritzburg and arranged for the training and organisation of 1 000 men for defence and was once again thanked and awarded on 25 June 1900. He was also commended for organising the Pietermaritzburg Reserves under the Militia Act. In 1902 he was appointed as a judge for the Natal Supreme Court. He gave testimony before the South African Native Affairs Commission chaired by Godfrey Lagden (subsequently know as the Lagden Commission) in May 1904. When asked whether the amount of land the Africans had was satisfactory, he replied,’ if they began agricultural farming instead of simply subsistence farming it would be.’ William was appointed to hold an inquiry into charges made by the Bishop of Zululand against Royston’s Horse in connection with the shooting of five African people in 1906. The Bishop alleged that soldiers under Col. Royston shot and killed five African people in cold blood while Royston claimed those who were shot were prisoners trying to escape and therefore the shooting was justified. The following year in 1907, Beaumont was acted as Administrator of Natal. On 11 February, 1907, he was commended for having organized the Pietermaritzburg Reserves under the Militia Act. William also performed duties as acting chief justice and magistrate of Natal in 1909. After the formation of the Union of South Africa, Beaumont became part of the Delimitation Commission to delimit the electoral constituencies of the first union parliament. He retired from bench in 1910 but still remained in prominent in public affairs matters and was an ardent supporter of General Botha. When Botha contested the 1910 elections, he had done so without forming a nationwide political party to placate English-speaking South Africans. After winning the elections Botha worked on forming a political party and looked to Natal for support. Beaumont became active in canvassing support for Botha arguing that Botha would be able to close the divide between English and Afrikaans speaking South Africans. He became one of the representatives from Natal to be invited to attend the Congress in Bloemfontein which resulted in the formation of the South African National Party (SANP). During the Congress in Bloemfontein Beaumont was elected to a Sub-Committee tasked with drafting the South African Nationalist Party’s constitution. After the Congress he became chairman of a provisional committee which was established by the party in Natal. In September 1912 he presided over a meeting that resulted in the formation of two branches of the SANP in, one for Pietermaritzburg North and other for Pietermaritzburg South. A few days later he addressed the electorate in the Umvoti Country Division on issues related to the constitution of the party. He also played a major role in the formation of the party in Durban in 1913. Beaumont was appointed as chairman of the Natives Land Commission (which subsequently became known as the Beaumont Commission) by General Botha. The commission was tasked with finding land and defining boundaries for territorial segregation between black and white people. In March 1916 the Commission submitted its report outlining boundaries and recommending which areas were to be allocated to white people and which ones were to be allocated to black people. King Dinuzulu Synopsis King of the Zulu. First name Dinuzulu Last name Dinuzulu Date of birth 1868 Date of death 18 October 1913 Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo succeeded Cetshwayo as king of the Zulu nation in 1884. At the time, Zululand was experiencing a process of national disintegration. After the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879, Sir Garnet Wolseley, British administrator of Natal, had imposed a different political arrangement on the Zulu people. He banished Cetshwayo and divided Zululand into thirteen separate territories, each under an appointed chief. uSuthu royalists opposed the appointed chiefs. They deeply resented that the royal household had been placed under the authority of Cetshwayo's greatest enemy, Chief Zibhebhu of the Mandlakazi. These events deeply divided the country, and many view it as the origins of the Zulu civil war. Cetshwayo's brothers, who acted as councillors in the king's absence, complained about Zibhebhu's endeavours to increase his wealth and status and pleaded for Cetshwayo's return to Zululand. Civil war continued after Cetshwayo returned from exile in 1879 with Cetshwayo's supporters raiding the homesteads of their opponents. On 30 March and again on 21 July 1883, Zibhebhu mustered his regiments. They utterly defeated Cetshwayo, who fled into the Nkandla forest, and then to Eshowe. On 8 February 1884, Cetshwayo died suddenly, possibly of poisoning. Thereafter, Zibhebhu's supporters dominated the northern districts, attacking those they suspected of royalist sympathies. The lawful successor, Dinuzulu, was only fifteen and so too young to assume political responsibilities. Moreover, his uncles feared for his life, so they took him to a safe place in the Transvaal. Early in 1884, they turned to a group of Boers on the Transvaal border to aid them in ensuring the succession and survival of the royal lineage. On 5 July 1884, the uSuthu, supported by a hundred mounted Boers, defeated Zibhebhu at Entshaneni in the Lebombo Mountains. In return for their assistance, the Boers received 800 farms, comprising 1,355,000 morgen (more than 4,000 square miles). However, Britain intervened, blocking the Boers from the sea and reducing their territory. Dinuzulu appealed to the British for intervention but he was reluctant to resign himself to annexation. On 14 May 1887, the British annexed Zululand and the Zulu Reserve, extending the Native Law of Natal to the whole country. The Governor of Natal was to rule by proclamation; but it is clear that Dinuzulu regarded his status under the protectorate as unchanged. The Zulu people continued to look to the royal house for assistance, inspiration, and leadership. White magistrates made every effort to reduce the authority of the royal house but the uSuthu leaders were not submissive. Dinuzulu ignored the magistrates who summoned him and fined him for continuing to administer the affairs of the nation as if his authority was supreme. The Governor allowed Zibhebhu to return to his old lands because he hoped that this would throw the balance of power into the hands of the Natal Government. Zibhebhu immediately drove the uSuthu supporters in his territory to flight. With this Dinuzulu openly rebelled. In June 1888, he led an attack on the Mandlakazi and defeated them at Nongoma. Pursued by British troops, he escaped to the Transvaal where he evaded capture for three months. In 1889, a court ”” the impartiality of which was in doubt ”” found Dinuzulu and his two uncles, Ndabuko and Shingana, guilty of high treason and exiled them to the island of St Helena. In 1897, Zululand was formally incorporated into Natal and in the next few years, much of it was opened to white settlement. Dinuzulu was released and installed as 'Government Induna' in 1898. During 1906, Dinuzulu became implicated in the rebellion of a minor chief, Bambatha, who refused to pay the poll tax introduced by the Natal Government. The Zulus, who continued to regard Dinuzulu as king, turned to him for support, as did the Natal Government, expecting him as ‘Government Induna' to deal severely with the disturbances. When Dinuzulu did not, he was arrested in 1909, and accused of harbouring rebels. In spite of the famous defence by former Cape premier, W P Schreiner, Dinuzulu was sentenced to four years imprisonment. Seven years of internecine strife sapped the Zulu nation of its strength and self-sufficiency and European encroachment on every side deprived them of much of their land. By 1894, Zululand had become one of the main sources of labour supply on the Witwatersrand. General Louis Botha believed that Dinuzulu did not have a fair trial. When he became Prime Minister of South Africa in 1910, one of the first things he did was to order Dinuzulu's release. He granted him a farm near Middelburg, Transvaal, to which the King of the Zulus retired. He died in 1913. Dinuzulu's son, Mshiyeni, succeeded to the paramountcy and although the white authorities viewed this as an honorific title, nonetheless, the House of Shaka remained deeply revered as paramount in Natal and Zululand. Rorke's Drift, Museum Rorke's Drift, situated 46 km South East of Dundee; on the Battlefields Route. Is the site of one of the most famous battles of the Anglo-Zulu War! In 1847, an Irishman named; Jim Rorke, bought some Land alongside a Fjord, in the Buffalo River. This was the boundary between what Britain controlled the Natal Province and the Zulu Kingdom- (a State which was founded by King Shaka Zulu). Just up from the Fjord, Rorke built a typical frontier home, comprising of two long single-storey stone Buildings with thatched roofs. These original Buildings at Rorke’s Drift were destroyed after the Anglo Zulu War. A Museum stands there today, modest though it is. Fascinating artifacts are presented, which record of the events of the War where; 140 British 'Redcoats' fought off an attack from about 4,000 Zulu warriors! From here, he hunted and traded with the locals, both the white settlers and native Zulus. He became a popular figure. colonists would buy from his stores or take a drink in his simple café. With the Zulus he would trade blankets, beads, gin, and the occasional illegal rifle, usually bartering them, for cattle. To the Zulus. His trading centre became; 'kwaJim'- (Jim’s Place) but to the settlers, it was known simply as Rorke’s Drift. Jim Rorke died in the mid-1870s; Otto de Witt, a Swedish missionary acquired the property in what was now becoming a tense border Region. It was from the adjacent fjord that British forces, under Lord Chelmsford, launched their invasion of Zululand on 11 January 1879. The Trading Post became a temporary Field Hospital and was itself the site of a battle on the late afternoon and evening of 22 January. A few hours earlier, Zulu warriors had massacred 1,400 British and native troops, at nearby Isandlwana. References https://the-past.com/review/museum/rorkes-drift-museum/ https://www.tripsavvy.com/rorkes-drift-south-africa-the-complete-guide-4770762 https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Zulu_Kingdom https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/fjord https://www.places.co.za/info/tourist-attraction/rorkesdrift.html Further Reading https://www.tripsavvy.com/rorkes-drift-south-africa-the-complete-guide-4770762 https://the-past.com/review/museum/rorkes-drift-museum/ Cetshwayo, travels to London to request that he should be restored as a king of the Zulu Kingdom 14 August 1882 References Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau.| South African History Online, Anglo- Zulu Wars 1879-1896 , [online], Available at www.sahistory.org.za , [Accessed: 16 August 2013]| South African History Online, Chief Cetshwayo , [online], Available at www.sahistory.org.za , [Accessed: 16 August 2013]| Ladysmith History, Ladysmith History & the Boer War , [online], Available at www.ladysmithhistory.com , [Accessed: 16 August 2013] On 14 August 1882 Cetewayo (Cetshwayo), king of Zululand, visited Queen Victoria of Britain. Prior to his visit to Britain, he was exiled to the Cape after losing the crucial Battle of Ulundi, during the Anglo Zulu War against Sir Frere and his men. Cetshwayo undertook the trip to request that he should be restored as a king of the Zulu Kingdom. He also vowed not to go to war with the British again. The Queen granted him his request and allowed him to return to South Africa to be a ruler of a small portion of the Zulu Kingdom. However, on his return, a Civil War had erupted in the Zulu Kingdom and he was forced to flee to Eshowe, where he died in 1884. Read more about the Anglo-Zulu Wars The Battle of Ulundi begins 4 July 1879 References Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau.|Pakenham, T. (1991). The Scramble for Africa 1879-1912, Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball.|Hermann Giliomee and Bernard Mbenga (2007). New History of South Africa. Tafelberg Publishers, Cape Town, pg 165.|The Battle of Ulundi. Website: britishbattles.com https://www.southafricaholiday.org.uk/history/hist_ulundi.htm The Battle of Ulundi was the decisive battle during the Anglo-Zulu War. It took place on the 4th July 1879 and marked the end of the Anglo-Zulu War, as well as the breakup of the Zulu nation. In July, Lord Chelmsford (British Commander) moved on Ndini, and in a final onslaught, known as the battle of Ulundi, secured military success against the Zulu nation. More than 1 000 Zulu were killed and King Cetshwayo (King of the Zulus) was forced to flee for safety. He was captured in the Ngome forest in August and exiled to Robben Island next to Cape Town. The British casualties were said to be 3 officers and 79 men. Read more on the Zulu community. Zulu army defeat British Army at the Isandlwana Mountain Boddy-Evans, A., (2011), ‘This Day in African History’ , from African History Guide, [online], Available at www.africanhistory.about.com [Accessed: 07 December 2011]|Drakensberg Tourism, ‘Isandlwana - To brave men on both sides’ , from Drakensberg Tourism, [online], Available at www.drakensberg-tourism.com [Accessed: 07 December 2011] On 22 January 1879, the British Army suffered its greatest defeat in Africa when 24,000 Zulu soldiers overran a British camp of 1 800 near Isandlwana Mountain. Over 1 300 of the British force were killed with over 1 000 Zulu casualties.The battle, which lasted for almost four hours, began around 11:h00 am and was a decisive victory for the Zulu kingdom, led by King Cetshwayo The Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 ended on July 4 at the last ritual battle of Ulundi where the old Zulu order was dismantled forever and King Cetshwayo sent into exile. Conflict continued until 1896 between the fragments of the Zulu kingdom, the Transvaal and the British. The battlefield of Isandlwana became a site of commeration in later years. Related events: 17 January 1879 - Battle of Isandlwana 20 January 1879 - British troops establish their camp at Isandlwana 23 January 1879 - The British successfully thwart the Zulu attack at Rorke's Drift. Old Court House, Victoria Embankment, Durban The building was designed by architect Stanley Hudson and was erected in 1911 as the Old Court House, and is the oldest public building in the central business district. It was loop-holed during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. It bore witness to both the South African Wars and the Bhambatha Uprising. More recently, it also served as a canteen and recruitment centre during the two World Wars and then later as a library, before being converted into Durban’s biggest history museum. It boasts two floors of exhibition space depicting aspects of the region’s early history. Visit the Old Court House Museum, just a stone’s throw from the City Hall, where the background and development of Natal’s multi-cultural heritage converge. The exhibitions are both conventional and exploratory while the exhibits are arranged thematically. This is the resource centre for the Local History Museums. Should you be seeking a more in-depth perspective of Durban’s history you are invited to visit the enquiry section to view photographs and documents in the comfort of our study area. Our archives are open to learners, academics and the general public for research purposes. It was declared a National Monument under old NMC legislation on the 22 August 1980! References https://durbanhistorymuseums.org.za/old-court-house-museum/ Further Reading https://unimelb.libguides.com/c.php?g=929734&p=6718215#:~:text=The%20Republic%20of%20South%20Africa,law%20and%20religious%20personal%20law. Melmoth, Gateway to Zululand Melmoth, known as the gateway to the Zulu Highlands, is a picturesque, little Town just 200 km North East of Durban and 90 km from the Coastal Town of Mtunzini. Referred to, in the SA edition of Trivial Pursuit, as having the cleanest air in the country, Melmoth was a ‘gold rush ’ town, founded in 1888 and named after Sir Melmoth Osborn, the resident commissioner of Zululand at the time. Melmoth is essentially regarded as a good base for travelers wanting to visit places of interest close to the Town, all with an hour’s drive. uMgungundlovu is the historic royal homestead of Dingaan and where Piet Retief and his party of Boer commandos were executed and Ulundi, the Capital of Zululand , is the Site of the last battle of the Anglo Zulu War. The Matatane Crocodile Ranch, on the banks of the White Umfolozi River , is a popular place for hikers and those wanting to experience crocodiles first hand, particularly as lion cubs have recently been introduced. Interestingly, Ntingwe Tea Plantations produce some of South Africa’s finest teas, solely for export, but the plantation is found in this remote corner of KwaZulu Natal . Regarded as lighter than other African teas, such as those produced in Kenya, Ntingwe has gained an excellent reputation in the international market and is retailed as a breakfast or afternoon refreshment. It was established in 1987 and is the single biggest employer and source of financial stability in the Region. Nkandla Forest is about 68 km from Melmoth. Throughout Zulu History it has been regarded as a place of mystery and the supernatural and the Chube, iron-workers associated with the Nkandla area, were never conquered by Shaka . The forest is a rare example of high wet rain forest, one of very few surviving examples and remnants of a time when the climate was wetter and colder. It is also one of the best examples of surviving mist belt forest in South Africa. Steams that rise in the Forest form deep gorges leading into the Nsuze River, running along the base of the ridge. To visit the Forest one needs permission from the Officer in Charge, as there are no visitor facilities available yet. References https://www.sa-venues.com/attractionskzn/melmoth.php Further Reading https://www.sa-venues.com/things-to-do/mpumalanga/rainbow-route/ https://www.zulu.org.za/destinations/zululand/melmoth https://www.afristay.com/a/melmoth/ https://www.places.co.za/accommodation/golf-view-lodge-melmoth.html http://www.zululand.org.za/home.aspx https://www.zulu.org.za/places-to-go/zululand/nyezane-battlefield-P55533 Britain proclaims Natal a British colonial territory South African History Online, ‘Anglo-Zulu Wars 1879-1896’ , [online], available at www.sahistory.org.za (Accessed: 4 September 2013)| Dinge & Goete, ‘This Day in History: Sep 28, 1843: Britain proclaims Natal a British colonial territory’ , [online], available at https://dingeengoete.blogspot.com (Accessed: 4 September 2013)| Everything, (2003), ‘British empire’ , 23 May [online], available at https://everything2.com (Accessed: 4 September 2013) British forces under Governor Sir George Napier took over Natal and proclaimed it a British Colony. A year later the colony was put under the Cape Colony administration. However, it was not until the end of 1845 that an effective administration was installed with Mr Martin West as lieutenant-governor that the power of the volksraad finally came to an end. In the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 the British defeated the Zulus under the command of chief Ntshingwayo kaMahole Khoza and Mavu-mengwana kaNdlela Ntuli. The Zululand was annexed to Natal in 1897. BACK TO THE TOP OF THE PAGE

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