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South African Culture
A person’s culture is an integral part of their fabric as a being, shaping many facets of their life and informing their understanding of the world. South Africa is home to a wide array of vibrant, rich cultures, each with their own deep history.
South Africa Online ® tells the stories of these cultures. Through the works of established academics and writers we delve into history, customs and the blending of different ways of life in a cultural landscape that is uniquely South African.
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With a dynamic fusion of African, European and Asian influences, South Africa is a unique experience of culture, food, language, music, art ...
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Many rural communities in South Africa continue to build their homesteads from mud bricks and readily available materials like wood, stone a...
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This includes not only the age of the wearer and a woman's status as the mother of an initiate who has just undergone circumcision, but also...
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From birth to death, these rites of passage regulate and give expression to meaningful changes in people's lives...
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Using indigenous materials such as clay, wood and grass, they make beautiful, often richly decorated artefacts for ritual and household purp...
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Rock Art can be described as the overlooked heritage on our doorsteps and South Africa has been called “the richest storehouse of prehisto...
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The San are the oldest inhabitants of Southern Africa, where they have lived for at least 20 000 years....
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The name Xhosa is a general term, used for an assortment of noble clans of Nguni descent, the Pondo, Bomvana, Thembu and the Xhosa tribe its...
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Shaka, who became the chief of the tiny Zulu group in 1818, laid the foundations of the Zulu nation and built the mightiest empire in southe...
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The Tswana are part of the Sotho, with three broad divisions — Basotho (Southern Sotho), Pedi (Northern Sotho), and Tswana (Western Sotho)...
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Many Venda see themselves as traditionalists, but their culture has been very dynamic and adaptable....
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The Ndebele are well known for their outstanding craftsmanship, their decorative homes, and their distinctive and highly colourful mode of d...
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The Tsonga are not a homogeneous ethnic group. Their forefathers came from present-day Mozambique to settle in South Africa in the 19th cent...
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Pedi was previously used to describe Sotho-speakers of Mpumalanga and Northern Province in South Africa. More recently, these groups have be...
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The Basotho have been identified as part of a larger Sotho cohort, comprising three broad divisions: Basotho (Southern Sotho), Pedi (Norther...
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Although classified as Northern Sotho, the Ntwana are believed to be of Tswana (Western Sotho) origin. They can be traced to the Bakwena-Bam...
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