of the
Mapungubwe Collection dated c. 1250–1290 |thumb|right|227x227px
Early history Archaeological evidence suggests that
Homo sapiens inhabited the region for over 100,000 years, with agriculture occurring since at least 100 CE. With the
Bantu expansion (~1500 BCE), the latitudinal movement of original Bantu-speaking groups from west-central Africa brought some advancements with them, such as iron-worked tools and pottery unique to them. With the expansion, the language of the Bantu people spread throughout southern and central Africa, which evolved into the many languages spoken in the area today. Based on prehistorical archaeological evidence of pastoralism and farming in southern Africa, the findings in sites located in the southernmost region of modern
Mozambique, that are dated , are some of the oldest and most proximate ancient findings of archaeological evidence related to the South African Bantu-speaking peoples in the south African region. Ancient settlements remains found thus far similarly based on pastoralism and farming within South Africa were dated . Around 1220, the
Kingdom of Mapungubwe formed in the
Shashe-
Limpopo Basin, with
rainmaking crucial to the development of
sacral kingship.
Venda tradition holds the two kings were called
Shiriyadenga and
Tshidziwelele. Mapungubwe collapsed around 1300 for unknown reasons, although shifting trade routes north to
Great Zimbabwe likely contributed to its demise. The population dispersed, and didn't regroup.
Polity history and interactions with Europeans When the early
Portuguese sailors
Vasco Da Gama and
Bartholomew Dias reached the
Cape of Good Hope in the late , a number of Khoe language speakers were found living there and the indigenous population around the Cape primarily consisted of Khoisan groups. Following the establishment of the
Dutch Cape Colony, European settlers began arriving in Southern Africa in substantial numbers. Around the 1770s,
Trekboers from the Cape encountered more Bantu language speakers towards the
Great Fish River and frictions eventually arose between the two groups. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, there were two major areas of frictional contact between the white colonialists and the Bantu language speakers in Southern Africa. Firstly, as the Boers moved north inland from the Cape they encountered Xhosa, Basotho, and Tswana peoples. Secondly attempts at coastal settlement was made by the British in two regions now known as the Eastern Cape and
KwaZulu-Natal.
"Empty Land" myth The history of the Bantu-speaking peoples from South Africa has in the past been misunderstood due to the deliberate spreading of false narratives such as
The Empty Land Myth. First published by W.A. Holden in the 1860s, this doctrine claims that South Africa had mostly been an unsettled region and that Bantu-speaking peoples had begun to migrate southwards from present day
Zimbabwe at the same time as the Europeans had begun to move northwards from the Cape settlement, despite there being no historical or archaeological evidence to support this theory. This theory originated in Southern Africa during the period of
Colonisation of Africa, historians have noted that this theory had already gained currency among Europeans by the mid-1840s. Its later alternative form of note were conformed around the "1830s concept of
Mfecane", trying to hide and ignore the intrusion of Europeans on Bantu lands, by implying that the territory they colonized was devoid of human habitation (as a result of the
Mfecane). Modern research has disputed this historiographical narrative. By the 1860s, when Holden was propagating his theory, this turbulent period had resulted in large swathes of South African land falling under the control of either the
Boer Republics or British colonials, there was
denaturalisation accompanied with
forced displacement and
population transfer of these indigenous peoples from their land, the myth being used as the justification for the capture and settlement of Bantu-speaking peoples's land. The
Union of South Africa established rural reserves in 1913 and 1936, by legislating the reduction and voiding of ''South African Bantu-speaking peoples's'' land heritage
holistically, thereby land relating to Bantu-speaking peoples of South Africa legislatively became reduced into being those reserves. In this context, the
Natives Land Act, 1913, limited Black South Africans to 7% of the land in the country. In 1936, through the
Native Trust and Land Act, 1936, Union of South Africa's government planned to raise this to 13.6% but subsequently would not. The
National Party (South Africa) government, the
Apartheid government became the profundity action from the pre-1948 Union of South Africa's government rule, it introduced a series of measures that reshaped the South African society such that Europeans would take themselves as the demographic majority while being a minority group. The creation of false homelands or
Bantustans (based on dividing
South African Bantu language speaking peoples by
ethnicity) was a central element of this strategy, the Bantustans were eventually made nominally independent, in order to limit
South African Bantu language speaking peoples citizenship to those Bantustans. The Bantustans were meant to reflect an analogy of the various ethnic "-stans" of
Western and
Central Asia such as the
Kafiristan,
Pakistan, etc. But in South Africa, the association with Apartheid discredited the term, and the Apartheid government shifted to the politically appealing but historically deceptive term "ethnic homelands". Meanwhile, the
Anti-Apartheid Movement persisted in calling the areas Bantustans, to actively protest the Apartheid governments' political illegitimacy. The fallacy of
The Empty Land Myth also completely omits the existence of the
Saan (hunter-gatherers) and the
Khoikhoi (pastoralists) in southern Africans, who roamed much of the southwestern region of Africa for millenniums before the invasions, colonialism of Europeans.
Cape Frontier Wars The longest running military action from the period of
colonialism in Africa, which saw a series of nine wars during 1779 till 1879. Involving the
Xhosa Kingdom and the
British Empire, mainly in the present day South African region of Eastern Cape. (1779–1803): After European invasion of the present day
Western Cape, South Africa region, colonialist's frontiersmen in the 18th century started encroaching the land farther inland present-day South African region, encountering more of the indigenous population, conflict of land and cattle grew sparking the
first war that set to drive Xhosa people out of
Zuurveld by 1781. The
second war involved a larger Xhosa territory between the
Great Fish River and the
Sundays River, the
Gqunukhwebe clans of the Xhosa started to penetrate back into the Zuurveld and colonists under Barend Lindeque, allied themselves with Ndlambe, a regent of the Western Xhosas, to repel the Gqunukhwebe. The second war concluded when farms were abandoned due to panic in 1793. In 1799 the
third war began with the Xhosa rebellion – discontented
Khoekhoe revolted and joined with the Xhosa in the Zuurveld, and started retaking land through farms occupied by colonialist, reaching
Oudtshoorn by July 1799. The colonial officials made peace with the Xhosa and Khoe in Zuurveld. In 1801, Graaff-Reinet rebellion started forcing more Khoekhoe desertions and farm abandonment. The commandos could not achieve any result, so in February 1803 a peace was arranged with the Xhosas and Khoekhoes. (1811–1819): Zuurveld became a buffer zone between the Cape Colony and Xhosa territory, empty of the Boers, the British to the west and the Xhosa to the east. In 1811 the
fourth war began when the Xhosa took back the rest of their territory of Zuurveld, conflicts with the settlers followed. Forces under Colonel
John Graham drove the Xhosa back beyond the Fish River. The
fifth war, the war of Nxele, started after the Battle of Amalinde. This happened after a civil war broke out within the Xhosa Nation when the British-allied chief Ngqika of the Right Hand House allegedly tried to overthrow the Government and become the king of the Xhosas but was defeated. Then Ngqika appealed to the British who seized 23,000 head of cattle from a Xhosa chief. The Xhosa prophet,
Nxele (Makhanda) emerged, under the command of
Mdushane, Ndlambe's son, led 6,000 Xhosa force attack on 22 April 1819 to
Grahamstown, which was held by 350 troops repulsed Nxele. Nxele was captured and imprisoned on
Robben Island. The British pushed the Xhosa further east beyond the Fish River to the
Keiskamma River. The resulting empty territory was designated as a buffer zone for loyal Africans' settlements. It came to be known as the "Ceded Territories". (1834–1879): The Xhosa remained expelled from their territory dubbed "Ceded Territories", that was then settled by Europeans and other African peoples. They were also subjected to territorial expansions from other Africans that were themselves under pressure from the expanding Zulu Kingdom. Nevertheless, the frontier region was seeing increasing amounts of multi-racial issues because Africans and Europeans living and trading throughout the frontier region. The indecision by the Cape Government's policy towards the return of the Xhosa territories did not dissipate Xhosa frustration toward the inability to provide for themselves, hence the Xhosa resorted to frontier cattle-raiding. In response on 11 December 1834, a Cape government commando party killed a chief of high rank, incensing the Xhosa army of 10,000 led by
Maqoma, that swept across the frontier into the Cape Colony. A string of defeats by
Sir Benjamin d'Urban combining forces under Colonel
Sir Harry Smith stopped the Xhosa, most Xhosa chiefs surrendered but the primary leadership Maqoma and Tyali retreated, a treaty was imposed and hostilities finally died down on 17 September 1836. Aftermath the
sixth war, a chief believed to be actually the paramount chief or the King of the Gcaleka Xhosa by the
Cape Colony, Chief
Hintsa ka Khawuta, was shot and killed by George Southey, brother of
Richard Southey. The era also saw the rise and fall of
Stockenström's treaty system. The
seventh war became a war between the imperial British troops collaborating with the mixed-race "Burgher forces", which were mainly Khoi,
Fengu, British settlers and Boer commandos, against the Ngcika assisted by the Ndlambe and
Thembu. Tension had been simmering between colonialist farmers and Xhosa raiders, on both sides of the frontier since the dismantlement of Stockenstrom's treaty system. This began when Governor Maitland imposed a new system of treaties on the chiefs without consulting them, while a severe drought forced desperate Xhosa to engage in cattle raids across the frontier to survive. In addition, politician
Robert Godlonton continued to use his newspaper the Graham's Town Journal to agitate for
1820 Settlers to annex and settle the land that had been returned to the Xhosa after the previous war. The war concluded after the announcement of the annexation of the country between the Keiskamma and the Kei rivers to the British crown by order of Lord Glenelg. It was not, however, incorporated with the Cape Colony, but made a crown dependency under the name of
British Kaffraria Colony with King William's Town as its capital. Large numbers of Xhosa were displaced across the Keiskamma by Governor
Harry Smith, and these refugees supplemented the original inhabitants there, causing overpopulation and hardship. Those Xhosa who remained in the colony were moved to towns and encouraged to adopt European lifestyles. In June 1850 there followed an unusually cold winter, together with an extreme drought. It was at this time that Smith ordered the displacement of large numbers of Xhosa squatters from the Kat River region. The war became known as "Mlanjeni's War", the
eighth war, after the prophet Mlanjeni who arose among the homeless Xhosa and preached mobilization, large numbers of Xhosa began leaving the colony's towns and mobilizing in the tribal areas. In February 1852, the British Government decided that Sir Harry Smith's inept rule had been responsible for much of the violence, and ordered him replaced by
George Cathcart, who took charge in March. In February 1853 Xhosa chiefs surrendered, the 8th frontier war was the most bitter and brutal in the series of Xhosa wars. It lasted over two years and ended in subjugation of the Ciskei Xhosa. The cattle-killing movement that began in 1856 to 1858, led Xhosa people to destroy their own means of subsistence in the belief that it would bring about salvation from colonialism through supernatural spirits. First declared by a prophetess
Nongqawuse no one believed in the prophecy and it was considered absurdity, but more and more people started believing Nongqawuse. The cult grew and built up momentum, sweeping across the eastern Cape. The return of the ancestors was predicted to occur on 18 February 1857, when the day came, the Xhosa nation waited en masse for the momentous events to occur, only to be bitterly disappointed. Famine set in and disease was also spread from the cattle killings, this forced the remainder of the Xhosa nation to seek relief from colonialists. In 1877 the
ninth of the Cape frontier war happened, known as the "Fengu-Gcaleka War", and also the "Ngcayechibi's War" — the name stemming from a headman whose feast was where the initial fight occurred that traces from the conflicts of this war.
Creation of the Zulu Kingdom Before the early 19th century the indigenous population composition in KwaZulu-Natal region was primarily by many different, largely Nguni-speaking clans and influenced by the two powers of the
Mthethwa and the
Ndwandwe. In 1816,
Shaka acceded to the Zulu throne (at that stage the Zulu was merely one of the many clans). Within a relatively short period of time he had conquered his neighbouring clans and had forged the Zulu into the most important ally of the large Mthethwa clan, which was in competition with the Ndwandwe clan for domination of the northern part of modern-day KwaZulu-Natal. After the death of the Mthethwa king
Dingiswayo around 1818, at the hands of
Zwide, the king of the Ndwandwe, Shaka assumed leadership of the entire Mthethwa alliance. The alliance under his leadership survived Zwide's first assault at the
Battle of Gqokli Hill. Within two years he had defeated Zwide at the
Battle of Mhlatuze River and broken up the Ndwandwe alliance, some of whom in turn began a murderous campaign against other Nguni communities, resulting in a mass migration of communities fleeing those who are regarded now as Zulu people too. Historians have postulated this as the cause of the Mfecane, a period of mass migration and war in the Southern African interior in the 19th, however this hypothesis is no longer accepted by most historians, and the idea itself of
Mfecane/
Difaqane has been thoroughly disputed by many scholars, notably by
Julian Cobbing.
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 the
Ndwandwe. A period of dislocation followed, after which the polity was re-stabilised under Thulare's son Sekwati.
Sekwati succeeded King Thulare as paramount chief of the Bapedi in the northern
Transvaal (
Limpopo). He engaged in maintaining his domain from other indigenous polities, mostly in frequent conflict with
Mzilikazi's army who then had established and residing in Mhlahlandlela (present day
Centurion, Gauteng) after retreating King
Sigidi kaSenzagakhona's forces, before they moved on to found the
Kingdom of Mthwakazi, the
Northern Ndebele Kingdom. Sekwati was also engaged in struggles over land and labour with the invading colonialists. These disputes over land started in 1845 after the arrival of
Boers and their declaring of
Ohrigstad in King Sekwati's domain, in 1857 the town was incorporated into the
Transvaal Republic 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 for waging war though, as Sekwati and his heir,
Sekhukhune I were able to procure firearms, mostly through migrant labour from the
Kimberley diamond fields and as far as
Port Elizabeth. On 16 May 1876,
Thomas François Burgers, president of the South African Republic (ZAR), not to be confused with the modern-day Republic of South Africa, caused the First of the Sekhukhune Wars when he declared war against the Bapedi Kingdom, the Burgers' army was defeated on 1 August 1876. The Burgers' government later hired the Lydenburg Volunteer Corps commanded by a German mercenary Conrad von Schlickmann, they were repelled and Conrad was killed in later battles. On 16 February 1877, the two parties, mediated by
Alexander Merensky, signed a peace treaty at Botshabelo. This led to the British annexation of the South African Republic (ZAR) on 12 April 1877 by Sir
Theophilus Shepstone, a secretary for native affairs of Natal at that time. The Second of Sekhukhune Wars commenced in 1878 and 1879 with three British attacks that were successfully repelled but Sekhukhune was defeated in November 1879 by
Sir Garnet Wolseley's army of twelve thousand, made up of the 2,000 British, Boers and 10,000 Swazis, Swazis joined the war in support of
Mampuru II's claim to the Bopedi (Pedi Kingdom) throne. This brought about the
Pretoria Convention of 3 August 1881, which stipulated Sekhukhune's release on reasons that his capital was already burned to the ground. Sekhukhune I was murdered by assassination on alleged orders from his half brother Mampuru II due to the existing dispute to the throne, as Mampuru II had been ousted by Sekhukhune before being reinstalled as King of Bopedi by the British after the British invasion of Bopedi. King Mampuru II was then arrested and executed by the treaty restored Boer
South African Republic (ZAR) on charges of public violence, revolt and the murder of his half brother. The arrest was also well claimed by others to be because of Mampuru's opposition to the
hut tax imposed on black people by the South African Republic (ZAR) in the area. Mampuru II has been described as one of South Africa's first liberation icons. Potgieter Street in Pretoria and the prison where he was killed was renamed in his honour, in February 2018 a statue of Mampuru was proposed to be erected in Church Square, Pretoria where it will stand opposite one of Paul Kruger who was President of the British's South African Republic (ZAR) at the time of Mampuru's execution. The Pedi paramountcy's power was also cemented by the fact that chiefs of subordinate villages, or kgoro, take 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 inflated bohadi or bride wealth, mostly in the form of cattle, to the Maroteng house.
Apartheid The Apartheid government retained and continued on from 1948 with even more officiation and policing on racial
oppression of Bantu-speaking peoples of South Africa for 48 years. Decades before the inception of Apartheid there was a
Rand Rebellion uprising in 1922 which eventually became an open rebellion against the state, it was against mining companies whose efforts at the time, due to economic situations, were nullifying irrational oppression of natives in the work place. The pogroms and slogans used in the uprising against
blacks by whites articulated that irrationally oppressing
Bantu-speaking peoples of South Africa was much more a social movement in European communities in the 20th century South Africa, before ever becoming government in 1948 which happened through a discriminatory vote by only white, minority people in South Africa, that formed a racist, well resourced and a
police state of an illegitimate government for nearly 50 years. In the 1930s, this irrational oppression/discrimination was already well supported by propaganda,
e.g. the
Carnegie Commission of Investigation on the Poor White Question in South Africa, it served as the blueprint of Apartheid.
Democratic dispensation A non-racial system franchise known as
Cape Qualified Franchise was adhered to from year 1853 in the
Cape Colony and the early years of the
Cape Province which was later gradually restricted, and eventually abolished, under various
National Party and
United Party governments. It qualified practice of a local system of multi-racial
suffrage. The early Cape constitution which later became known as the Cape Liberal tradition. When the Cape's political system was severely weakened, the movement survived as an increasingly liberal, local opposition against the Apartheid government of the National Party. In the fight against Apartheid, African majority took the lead in the struggle, as effective allies the remaining Cape liberals against the growing National Party, engaged to a degree in collaboration and exchange of ideas with the growing African liberation movements, especially in the early years of the struggle. This is seen through the non-racial values that were successfully propagated by the political ancestors of the
African National Congress, and that came to reside at the centre of
South Africa's post-Apartheid Constitution. (1918–2013), the first democratically elected president of South Africa, a
Thembu (Xhosa ethnicity), one of the Bantu-speaking peoples of South Africa|alt=Nelson Mandela The year 1994 saw the
first democratic election in South Africa, the majority of the population, Black South Africans, participating in
political national elections for the first time in what ceremonially ended the Apartheid era and also being the first time a political party in South Africa getting legitimately elected as government. The day was ideally hailed as
Freedom Day and the beginning of progress to the conclusion of Black South Africans existential struggle that began with
European colonisation in the South African region. As a consequence of Apartheid policies, black Africans are regarded as a race group in South Africa. These groups (blacks,
whites,
Coloureds and Indians) still tend to have a strong racial identities, and to classify themselves, and others, as members of these race groups and the classification continues to persist in government policy, to an extent, as a result of attempts at redress such as
Black Economic Empowerment and
Employment Equity. ==Ethnic groups==