Christian Religious Services
Ceremonies of South Africa
Like other communities in South Africa, Sotho speakers in the Free State are staunch Christians.
Many still have links to centres founded by European missionaries in the course of the 19th century. To this day, their clothing styles attest to the influence of the European fashions they first encountered through these missionaries.
Like people from other communities, those living in the Free State often combine Christian religious services with rituals aimed at appeasing their ancestors. At these ceremonies, people wear hybrid forms of dress that include the blankets commonly associated with South Sotho traditionalists.
By
Professor Sandra Klopper
