The Tsonga
South African Culture
A Tsonga initiation ceremony.
The Tsonga are not a homogeneous ethnic group. Their forefathers came from present-day Mozambique to settle in South Africa in the 19th century, generally in small groups without chiefs. Today the Tsonga are centred mainly in the Lowveld between the escarpment and the western borders of the Kruger National Park.
In traditional Tsonga society, choosing a partner was not straightforward, as the process followed a set of rules....
moreToday over half the Tsonga belong to Christian churches, particularly the Independent Churches or the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (former Swiss Mission)....
moreIn the 1890s Lowveld farms were suitable for little more than hunting and subsistence agriculture, and the owners soon sold them to speculators looking for mineral deposits....
moreThe Tsonga are well known for their rich musical heritage which is based on the playing of a wide variety of musical instruments. These can be divided into three categories: stringed, wind and percussion....
moreThe Tsonga who left the coast in the 19th century brought new sources of food into the Transvaal, including cassava (manioc), certain kinds of groundnuts, potatoes and sorghum....
moreAs white colonists imposed their rule on Tsonga villages, the powers of chiefs declined....
moreThe birth of a baby is a moment of great joy in Tsonga society. Usually older female relatives, or other wives, help pregnant mothers through the last stages of their pregnancy and the birth of the infant....
moreThe first Tsonga-speakers to enter the former Transvaal probably did so during the 18th century. They were essentially traders who followed rivers inland, where they bartered cloth and beads for ivory...
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