The founding provisions of South Africa’s constitution recognise 12 official languages: Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, isiXhosa, isiZulu, Sepedi (also known as Sesotho sa Leboa), Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga and, since 2023, South African Sign Language or SASL.

During colonialism and apartheid official languages were European – Dutch, English and Afrikaans. African languages, spoken by at least 80% of the people, were ignored. In 1996 a new constitution gave official protection to all of the country’s major languages.

South Africa has about 34 historically established languages. Thirty are living languages and four extinct Khoesan (Khoisan) languages.

Data from Statistics South Africa’s Cultural Dynamics in South Africa (March 2025), based on Census 2022.

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The 12 languages: overview and origins

South Africa’s 2022 census lists the languages most often spoken at home – the first or home language – of people aged one year and older.

IsiZulu is the largest language. According to the census, it’s the home language of almost a quarter (24.4%) of the population. Second is isiXhosa, spoken at home by 16.3%.

Afrikaans (10.6%) and Sepedi (10%) have roughly the same number of home language speakers, as do English (8.7%) and Setswana (8.3%).

Nationally, smaller official languages are Sesotho (7.8%), Xitsonga (4.7%), siSwati (2.8%), Tshivenda (2.5%) and isiNdebele (1.7%). But these languages are widely spoken in individual provinces.

Census 2022 estimates that South African Sign Language is used by fewer than 10,000 people – way under 0.1% of the population. But other estimates put its number of users at around 600,000. An official language since 2023, SASL is distinct from the hundreds of other sign languages deaf and hard of hearing people use elsewhere in the world.

The census also lists significant but unofficial home languages in South Africa. These are the Khoi, Nama and San languages (0.1%) of the Northern and Western Cape, and Namibia, as well as the Shona of Zimbabwe (1.2%), Malawi’s Chichewa (0.3%), and Portuguese (1.2%). Portuguese is the official language of both Mozambique and Angola, colonies of Portugal until 1975.

Another 2.1% of people in South Africa speak “other”, unspecified languages.

Maps of first-language speakers in South Africa, based on Census 2011 data.

South Africa’s language origins

English is an urban language of public life, widely used in the media, business and government. It’s estimated that nearly 31 million people – more than half the population – speak and understand the language. Out of the 5.2-million who speak English at home, more a third (34%) are white, a tenth (11%) black, 30% Indian/Asian and 23% coloured. Two-thirds of South Africa’s home-language English speakers are not white.

Afrikaans evolved out of a South Holland Dutch dialect brought to South Africa in the 1600s. Over the centuries it has picked up influences from African languages and from European colonial languages such as English, French and German. More than half (56%) of Afrikaans home-language speakers are coloured, 40% are white, 4% black and just 0.2% Indian/Asian.

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South Africa’s nine African official languages are almost entirely spoken at home (99% or more) by black people.

The languages all fall into the Southern Bantu-Makua subfamily, part of the broad and branching Niger-Congo language family. They arrived in South Africa during the great expansion of Bantu-speaking people from West Africa eastwards and southwards into the rest of the continent. The expansion began in around 3,000 BCE and was largely complete by 1,000 CE.

Like all Niger-Congo languages they are tonal. Either a high or low tone gives a word a different meaning.

The nine African languages can be divided in two:

• Nguni-Tsonga languages: isiNdebele, isiXhosa, isiZulu, siSwati, Xitsonga
• Sotho-Makua-Venda languages: Sesotho, Sepedi (Sesotho sa Leboa), Setswana, Tshivenda

In the first group Xitsonga alone falls into the Tswa-Ronga subfamily, while isiZulu, isiXhosa, isNdebele and siSwati are Nguni languages.

Sesotho, Sepedi and Setswana are closely related Sotho languages, and Tshivenda something of a standalone in the Sotho-Makua-Venda subfamily.

Multilingual South Africa

South Africa’s people are more than bilingual. A rough estimate based on Census 2001 first-language data and a 2002 study of second-languages speakers is that the average person – man, woman and child – uses 2.84 languages. Some may speak only one language, but many others may chat freely in three, four or more languages.

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English- and Afrikaans-speaking people (mostly coloured, Indian/Asian and white people) tend not to have much ability in African languages, but are fairly fluent in each other’s language. Multilingualism is common among black people.

For this reason, South African censuses ask people which two languages they speak. The question in the 2011 census was:

Which two languages does (member of household) speak most often in this household?

Thirteen options were given: South Africa’s official languages,  and “other”. If a person did not speak a second language, that too was recorded.

The contrast between first language and second language is shown in the maps at right. While the geographical pattern of dominant first languages neatly conforms to the facts of history and urbanisation, the picture of second languages is more complicated, more of a mess.

The second map reveals a couple of things. The first is how few people in South Africa speak just one language. The second is that while English is the dominant first language only in the cities – Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban – it is widely used as a second language across the country. English is spread by the media and used as a common language of communication.

But many are compelled to learn English and Afrikaans simply to get a job. These are often poorer people denied an education.

Elsewhere in the world the ability to speak many languages is a sign of sophistication. In South Africa, multilingualism – a complex undertaking, especially in languages from different families – is a common achievement of the poor.

Code-switching South Africa

Language is fluid. In South Africa, languages are and have for centuries been in a constant swirl, mixed by work, migration, education, urbanisation, the places we live, friendship and marriage.

Code-switching is common. This simply means the use of one or more language in a single conversation. Every adult in South Africa does it, even if they aren’t aware of it.

Here’s an example of code-switching overheard at a football match. IsiZulu is in regular type, Afrikaans in bold and English in italics:

“I-Chiefs isidle nge-referee’s ngabe ihambe sleg.
Maar why benga stopi this system ye-injury time?”

A rough translation:

“Chiefs [the football club] won because the referee’s decisions were bad.
Why is this system of injury time not stopped?”

Influenced by other languages around them, South Africa’s languages change.

Who speaks what?

South Africa’s 2011 census recorded language breakdown by population group:

Data source: Statistics South Africa Census 2011

An increasingly intermingled society means it’s less easy to assign a single language to a single population group. But for the population as a whole, here’s a breakdown:

The languages of the provinces

The languages you hear in South Africa depend on where you are in the country.

In the Eastern Cape isiXhosa is spoken by 82% of the population, according to the 2022 census. IsiZulu is the largest language in both KwaZulu-Natal, where 80% speak it, and Gauteng, where it makes up 23% of languages. Sesotho is the language of the Free State, spoken by 72% people there. And so on …

South Africa’s provincial language distribution, from Census 2011 data:

Data source: Statistics South Africa Census 2011

According to the 2022 census, the main languages of each province are:

• Eastern Cape – isiXhosa (81.8%), Afrikaans (9.6%)
• Free State – Sesotho (72.3%), Afrikaans (10.3%)
• Gauteng – isiZulu (23.1%), Sesotho (13.1%), Sepedi (12.6%)
• KwaZulu-Natal – isiZulu (80%), English (14.4%)
• Limpopo – Sepedi/Sesotho sa Leboa (55.5%), Tshivenda (17.4%), Xitsonga (17.3%)
• Mpumalanga – siSwati (30.5%), isiZulu (27.8%)
• Northern Cape – Afrikaans (54.6%), Setswana (35.7%)
• North West – Setswana (72.8%), Sesotho (5.9), Afrikaans (5.2%)
• Western Cape – Afrikaans (41.2%), isiXhosa (31.4%), English (22%)

The languages

All figures are from Census 2022 and refer to first language – the language most often spoken at home by people aged one and older. South Africa is a multilingual country, so many speak one or more other languages.

Afrikaans

Also known as: isiBhuru (isiNdebele), isiBhulu (isiXhosa), isiBhunu (isiZulu), siBhunu (siSwati), Seburu (Sepedi), Xibunu (Xitsonga)
First-language users: 6,365,488 (10.6% of total population)
Most often spoken in: Western Cape (home to 46.4% of Afrikaans speakers), Gauteng (17.7%) and Northern Cape (10.9%)
Largest language in: Northern Cape (54.6% of provincial population) and Western Cape (41.2%)

All figures are from Census 2022 and refer to first language – the language most often spoken at home by people aged one and older.

Afrikaans evolved out of a 17th-century Dutch dialect introduced to South Africa in 1652 when the Dutch first colonised the Cape of Good Hope. It became an official language with the Official Languages of the Union Act of 1925. This retroactively dated its official status to 1910, when the Union of South Africa, a British dominion, was formed.

The 6,365,488 people who speak Afrikaans make up 10.6% of the country’s population. More than half (56%) are coloured, 40% white, 4% black, 0.2% Indian/Asian, and 1% “other”.

Among South Africa’s population groups, Afrikaans is spoken by 0.5% of black people, 72.6% of coloured people, 0.7% of Indian/Asian people, 58% of white people and 22.2% of people who describe themselves as “other”.

Data from Statistics South Africa’s Cultural Dynamics in South Africa (March 2025), based on Census 2022.

Most Afrikaans speakers (46.4%) live in the Western Cape, and 17.7% in Gauteng. For the rest, 10.9% are in the Northern Cape, 10.6% in the Eastern Cape and 4.6% in the Free State.

Afrikaans is the majority language of the Northern Cape (spoken by 54.6% of the provincial population) and the largest in the Western Cape (41.2%). It’s the second largest language (10.3%) in the Free State after Sesotho (72.3%), and in the Eastern Cape (9.6%) after isiXhosa (81.8%).

It makes up 7.7% of Gauteng’s languages and 5.2% of languages in North West.

English

Also known as: Engels (Afrikaans), isiNgisi (isiNdebele and isiZulu), isiNgesi (isiXhosa), Senyesemane (Sesotho), Seisemane (Sepedi), siNgisi (siSwati), Xinghezi (Xitsonga)
First-language users: 5,228,301 (8.7% of total population)
Most often spoken in: KwaZulu-Natal (home to 33% of English speakers), Western Cape (30.2%) and Gauteng (25.6%)
Minority language in all provinces

All figures are from Census 2022 and refer to first language – the language most often spoken at home by people aged one and older.

English is a prominent language in South African public life, widely used in government, business and the media. As a first language it is mainly confined to the cities.

In 1910 English and Dutch were declared the official languages of the new Union of South Africa, a dominion of Britain. English has retained this official status ever since.

The 5,228,301 people who speak English make up 8.7% of the country’s population. About 34% are white, 30% Indian/Asian, 23% coloured, 11% black and 2% “other”.

Among South Africa’s population groups, English is spoken by 1.2% of black people, 25.1% of coloured people, 94.6% of Indian/Asian people, 41.1% of white people and 32.3% of people who describe themselves as “other”.

Data from Statistics South Africa’s Cultural Dynamics in South Africa (March 2025), based on Census 2022.

A third (33%) of English speakers live in KwaZulu-Natal, another 30.2% in the Western Cape and a quarter (25.6%) in Gauteng. A further 6.4% live in the Eastern Cape.

Small minorities of English speakers (1.4% to 0.6%) are scattered across the remaining five provinces.

English is the second-largest language (14.4% of the provincial population) in KwaZulu-Natal after isiZulu (80%). It’s the third-largest in the Eastern Cape (4.8%) after isiXhosa (81.8%) and Afrikaans (9.6%), as well as in the Western Cape (22%) after Afrikaans (41.2%) and isiXhosa (31.4%).

• Read more: The online dictionary of South African English

isiNdebele

Also known as: Ndebele, Southern Ndebele, Ndzundza, isiKhethu
First-language users: 1,044,377 (1.7% of total population)
Most often spoken in: Mpumalanga (home to 47% of isiNdebele speakers), Gauteng (42.5%) and Limpopo (6.9%)
Minority language in all provinces

All figures are from Census 2022 and refer to first language – the language most often spoken at home by people aged one and older.

IsiNdebele is the second-smallest official language – after South African Sign Language – confined mainly to Mpumalanga and Gauteng.

It is an Nguni language, like isiZulu, isiXhosa and siSwati. Also called Southern Ndebele, it is not to be confused with Northern Ndebele, more commonly known as Matabele, which is closer to isiZulu and an official language of neighbouring Zimbabwe.

The 1,044,377 people who speak isiNdebele make up just 1.7% of the country’s population. Almost all (99.7%) are black.

Among South Africa’s population groups, IsiNdebele is spoken by 2.1% of black people, 0.1% of Indian/Asian people and 0.6% of people who describe themselves as “other”.

Data from Statistics South Africa’s Cultural Dynamics in South Africa (March 2025), based on Census 2022.

Most isiNdebele speakers (47%) live in Mpumalanga, followed by Gauteng (42.5%) and Limpopo (6.9%).

But it’s only the fifth-largest language (9.9% of the provincial population) in Mpumalanga, the 10th-largest (3.1%) in Gauteng and the seventh-largest (1.1%) in Limpopo.

Small minorities of isiNdebele speakers (1.4% to 0.6%) are scattered across the remaining six provinces.

isiXhosa

Also known as: Xhosa
First-language users: 9,786,928 (16.3% of total population)
Most often spoken in: Eastern Cape (home to 58.7% of isiXhosa speakers), Western Cape (23%) and KwaZulu-Natal (3.8%)
Largest language in: Eastern Cape (81.8% of provincial population)

All figures are from Census 2022 and refer to first language – the language most often spoken at home by people aged one and older.

The dominant language of the Eastern Cape, isiXhosa is also the second-largest language in South Africa after isiZulu. It is an Nguni language, like isiNdebele, isiZulu and siSwati, but also shows some influence from Khoisan languages.

The 9,786,928 people who speak isiXhosa make up 16.3% of the country’s population. Almost all (99.7%) are black.

Among South Africa’s population groups, isiXhosa is spoken by 20% of black people, 0.5% of coloured people, 0.3% of Indian/Asian people, 0.1% of white people and 3.3% of people who describe themselves as “other”.

Data from Statistics South Africa’s Cultural Dynamics in South Africa (March 2025), based on Census 2022.

Most (58.7%) isiXhosa speakers live in the Eastern Cape, with nearly a quarter (23%) in the Western Cape. A tenth (9.9%) live in Gauteng and 3.8% in KwaZulu-Natal.

Small minorities of isiXhosa speakers (1.8% to 0.1%) are scattered across the remaining five provinces.

IsiXhosa is the majority language in the Eastern Cape, where it is spoken by 81.8% of the population. It’s the Western Cape’s second-largest language (31.4%) after Afrikaans (41.2%).

IsiXhosa is also the third-largest language in the Free State (5.5%) after Sesotho (72.3%) and Afrikaans (10.3%), in KwaZulu-Natal (3.1%) after isiZulu (80%) and English (14.4%), and in the Northern Cape (4.5%) after Afrikaans (54.6%) and Setswana (35.7%).

isiZulu

Also known as: Zulu; Zoeloe, Zoeloetaal, Zulutaal (Afrikaans)
First-language users: 14,613,202 (24.4% of total population)
Most often spoken in: KwaZulu-Natal (home to 65.7% of isiZulu speakers), Gauteng (23%) and Mpumalanga (9.5%)
Largest language in: KwaZulu-Natal (80% of provincial population) and Gauteng (23.1%)

All figures are from Census 2022 and refer to first language – the language most often spoken at home by people aged one and older.

IsiZulu is the most widely spoken language in South Africa, the first language of close to a quarter of the population. It is the dominant language of KwaZulu-Natal. Like isiNdebele, isiXhosa and siSwati, isiZulu is an Nguni language.

The 14,613,202 people who speak isiZulu make up 24.4% of the country’s population. Almost all (99.4%) are black.

Among South Africa’s population groups, isiZulu is spoken by 29.9% of black people – more than any other language – as well as by 0.7% of coloured people, 0.6% of Indian/Asian people, 0.1% of white people and 1.6% of people who describe themselves as “other”.

Data from Statistics South Africa’s Cultural Dynamics in South Africa (March 2025), based on Census 2022.

Almost two-thirds (68.2%) of isiZulu-speaking people live in KwaZulu-Natal and nearly a quarter (23%) in Gauteng. A tenth (9.5%) live in Mpumalanga, which borders KwaZulu-Natal to the northwest.

Small minorities of isiZulu speakers (0.7% to 0.03%) are scattered across the remaining six provinces.

IsiZulu is the majority language in KwaZulu-Natal, spoken by 80% of the provincial population, and the largest in Gauteng (23.1%).

It’s the second-largest language (27.8%) in Mpumalanga after siSwati (30.5%).

Sepedi (Sesotho sa Leboa)

Also known as: Northern Sotho
First-language users: 5,972,255 (10% of total population)
Most often spoken in: Limpopo (home to 59.1% of Sepedi speakers), Gauteng (30.7%) and Mpumalanga (8.6%)
Largest language in: Limpopo (55.5% of provincial population)

All figures are from Census 2022 and refer to first language – the language most often spoken at home by people aged one and older.

Sesotho sa Leboa or Sepedi?
The 1993 interim Constitution named the language Sesotho sa Leboa. It was then changed to Sepedi in the final Constitution of 1996. Debate on the name continues.

Sepedi is South Africa’s third-largest African language after isiZulu and isiXhosa, mainly spoken in Limpopo. Like Sesotho and Setswana, it belongs to the Sotho-Tswana subfamily of languages.

The 5,972,255 people who speak Sepedi make up 10% of the total population. Almost all (99.7%) are black.

Among South Africa’s population groups, Sepedi is spoken by 12.2% of black people, 0.2% of coloured people, 0.2% of Indian/Asian people, 0.1% of white people and 0.3% of people who describe themselves as “other”.

Data from Statistics South Africa’s Cultural Dynamics in South Africa (March 2025), based on Census 2022.

Most (59.1%) Sepedi speakers live in Limpopo, almost a third (30.7%) in Gauteng and 8.6% in Mpumalanga.

Small minorities of Sepedi speakers (1.3% to 0.02%) are scattered across the remaining six provinces.

Sepedi is the majority language in Limpopo, spoken by 55.5% of the provincial population. It’s the third-largest language in Gauteng (12.6%) after isiZulu (23.1%) and Sesotho (13.1%).

Sesotho

Also known as: Southern Sotho, Sesoeto (Afrikaans)
First-language users: 4,678,964 (7.8% of total population)
Most often spoken in: Free State (home to 44.2% of Sesotho speakers) and Gauteng (40.6%)
Largest language in: Free State (72.3% of provincial population)

All figures are from Census 2022 and refer to first language – the language most often spoken at home by people aged one and older.

Sesotho is the language of the Free State, a bean-shaped province whose inner curve fits around the northwest border of Lesotho, a country where it is the dominant language.

It is one of South Africa’s three Sotho-Tswana languages, with Sepedi and Setswana.

The 4,678,964 people who speak Sesotho make up 7.8% of the total population. Almost all (99.5%) are black.

Among South Africa’s population groups, Sesotho is spoken by 9.6% of black people, 0.3% of coloured people, 0.1% of Indian/Asian people and 2.4% of people who describe themselves as “other”.

Data from Statistics South Africa’s Cultural Dynamics in South Africa (March 2025), based on Census 2022.

Most of the Sesotho-speaking population is almost equally divided between the Free State (44.2%) and Gauteng (40.6%). Another 4.6% live in North West, 3.5% in the Eastern Cape and 2.4% in Mpumalanga.

Small minorities of Sesotho speakers (1.6% to 0.3%) are scattered across the remaining four provinces.

It is the majority language in the Free State, where 72.3% of the population are Sesotho-speakers. It’s also the second-largest language (13.1%) in Gauteng after isiZulu (23.1%), and in North West (5.9%) after Setswana (72.8%).

Setswana

Also known as: Tswana, Sechuana, Chuana
First-language users: 4,972,787 (8.3% of total population)
Most often spoken in: North West (home to 53.7% of Setswana speakers), Gauteng (30.5%) and Northern Cape (9.2%)
Largest language in: North West (72.8% of provincial population)

All figures are from Census 2022 and refer to first language – the language most often spoken at home by people aged one and older.

The language of North West and its neighbouring country of Botswana, Setswana is the Tswanaic language in the Sotho-Tswana subfamily, which it shares with Sesotho and Sepedi.

The 4,972,787 people who speak Setswana make up 8.3% of the total population. Almost all (99.6%) are black.

Among South Africa’s population groups, Setswana is spoken by 10.2% of black people, 0.4% of coloured people, 0.1% of Indian/Asian people and 0.5% of people who describe themselves as “other”.

Data from Statistics South Africa’s Cultural Dynamics in South Africa (March 2025), based on Census 2022.

More than half (53.7%) of Setswana speakers live in North West, nearly a third (30.5%) in Gauteng, and close on a tenth (9.2%) in the Northern Cape. Both North West and the Northern Cape lie on the border of Botswana, a country where about 77% of the population speak Setswana.

Another 3.1% live in the Free State. Small minorities of Setswana speakers (1.7% to 0.05%) are scattered across the remaining five provinces.

Setswana is the majority language in North West, spoken by 72.8% of the provincial population. It’s the second-largest language in the Northern Cape (35.7%) after Afrikaans (54.6%).

siSwati

Also known as: Swati, Swazi
First-language users: 1,692,719 (2.8% of total population)
Most often spoken in: Mpumalanga (home to 89.7% of siSwati speakers) and Gauteng (30.5%)
Largest language in: Mpumalanga (30.5% of provincial population)

All figures are from Census 2022 and refer to first language – the language most often spoken at home by people aged one and older.

SiSwati is mostly spoken in Mpumalanga, whose curved eastern border almost encircles Eswatini, a country where it is the major language. It is an Nguni language, like isiNdebele, isiXhosa and isiZulu.

The 1,692,719 people who speak siSwati make up 2.8% of the total population. Almost all (99.6%) are black.

Among South Africa’s population groups, siSwati is spoken by 3.5% of black people, 0.1% of coloured people, 0.1% of Indian/Asian people and 0.2% of people who describe themselves as “other”.

Data from Statistics South Africa’s Cultural Dynamics in South Africa (March 2025), based on Census 2022.

The vast majority of siSwati speakers (89.7%) live in Mpumalanga, with the remaining third (30.5%) in Gauteng. Small minorities (1.1% to 0.02%) are scattered across the other seven provinces.

It’s also the largest language in Mpumalanga, spoken by 30.5% of the provincial population.

Tshivenda

Also known as: Venda, Chivenda
First-language users: 1,480,565 (2.5% of total population)
Most often spoken in: Limpopo (home to 75.6% of Tshivenda speakers) and Gauteng (23.2%)
Minority language in all provinces

All figures are from Census 2022 and refer to first language – the language most often spoken at home by people aged one and older.

Tshivenda is something of a standalone among South Africa’s major African languages, falling into the broader Sotho-Makua-Venda subfamily but not part of the Sotho group. It is mostly spoken in the far northeast of Limpopo.

The 1,480,565 people who speak Tshivenda make up 2.5% of the total population. Almost all (100%) are black.

Among South Africa’s population groups, Tshivenda is spoken by 3% of black people and by 0.2% of people who describe themselves as “other”.

Data from Statistics South Africa’s Cultural Dynamics in South Africa (March 2025), based on Census 2022.

Close to three quarters (74.6%) of Tshivenda speakers live in Limpopo and almost a quarter (23.2%) in Gauteng. Small minorities (0.95% to 0.04%) are scattered across the other seven provinces.

Tshivenda is the second-largest language in Limpopo, spoken by 17.4% of the provincial population. The largest is Sepedi (55.5%).

Xitsonga

Also known as: Tsonga, Shangaan, Shangana, Vatsonga
Most often spoken in: Limpopo (home to 39.4% of Tshivenda speakers), Gauteng (36.6%) and Mpumalanga (19%)
Minority language in all provinces

All figures are from Census 2022 and refer to first language – the language most often spoken at home by people aged one and older.

Xitsonga is a minority language concentrated along South Africa’s northeast border with the country of Mozambique, where it is also spoken.

It is part of the broader Nguni-Tsonga language subfamily, which it shares with isiNdebele, isiXhosa, isiZulu and siSwati. But it alone falls into the Tswa-Ronga group, while the others are Nguni.

The 2,784,279 people who speak Xitsonga make up 4.7% of the country’s population. Almost all (99.7%) are black.

Among South Africa’s population groups, Xitsonga is spoken by 5.7% of black people, 0.1% of coloured people, 0.1% of Indian/Asian people and 1.2% of people who describe themselves as “other”.

Data from Statistics South Africa’s Cultural Dynamics in South Africa (March 2025), based on Census 2022.

Nearly two-fifths (39.4%) of Xitsonga-speaking people live in Limpopo, over a third (36.6%) in Gauteng, 19% in Mpumalanga and 4% in North West. Small minorities (0.44% to 0.03%) are scattered across the other seven provinces.

Xitsonga is the third-largest language in Limpopo (spoken by 17.3% of the provincial population) after Sepedi (55.5%) and Tshivenda (17.4%). It’s also the third-largest in Mpumalanga (10.6%) after siSwati (30.5%) and isiZulu (27.8%).

Sources and notes

• Statistics South Africa: Cultural Dynamics in South Africa (2025)
• Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996
• Statistics South Africa Census 2022
• Statistics South Africa Census 2011
• Adrian Frith: Census 2011
• Glottolog – Comprehensive reference information for the world’s languages, especially the lesser known languages.
• Ethnologue: Languages of South Africa, 20th edition data (2017)
• Pharos South African Multilingual Dictionary (2014) ISBN 9781868901975
• Language in South Africa: The role of language in national transformation, reconstruction and development (2002) by Victor Webb. ISBN 9789027297631
• “The twelve modern Khoisan languages” (2013) by Matthias Bretzinger. In Khoisan languages and linguistics, Proceedings of the 3rd international symposium. ISBN 9783896458735

Researched, written and designed by Mary Alexander
Updated July 2025
Comments? Email mary1alexander@gmail.com

The graphics on this page are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence.

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Nelson Mandela’s descendants include six children, 17 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren – and more. Download full-size image. (Mary Alexander, CC BY 4.0)

Mandela’s father was Mphakanyiswa Gadla Henry Mandela, who died in 1930. His mother was Nonqaphi Fanny Nosekeni, who died in 1968.

Mandela was married three times and had six children.

• READ MORE: Nelson Mandela 1918-2013: the timeline of a lifetime

Marriage and children

In 1944, at the age of 26, Mandela married Evelyn Ntoko Mase (1922-2004). They had four children together, three of whom died tragically.

Mandela’s first child, Madiba Thembekile Mandela – known as Thembi – was born in 1945. Thembi died in a car accident in 1969 while his father was in prison. Mandela was not allowed to attend his son’s funeral.

A second child, daughter Makaziwe (or Maki) Mandela, died in infancy in 1948.

Mandela and Evelyn Mase’s third child was Makgatho Lewanika Mandela, a son born in 1950. He died of an Aids-related illness in 2005.

Their fourth and surviving child was a daughter, Pumla Makaziwe Mandela – also known as Maki and named for her infant sister – who was born in 1954.

Mandela and Evelyn Mase divorced on 19 March 1958.

On 14 June 1958 Mandela, aged 40, married Winnie (Winifred) Nomzamo Zanyiwe Madikizela, who was born in 1936.

They had two children, both daughters.

Zenani Dlamini-Mandela was born in 1959.

Zindziswa Mandela, Nelson Mandela’s youngest child, was born in 1960. Zindzi, as she was known, died on 13 July 2020 in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. She was buried next to her mother on 17 July, the day before 18 July – her father’s birthday, known worldwide as Mandela Day.

Mandela and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela divorced on 19 March 1996.

On 18 July 1998 – his 80th birthday – Mandela married Graça Machel, who was born in 1945. Machel is the widow of slain Mozambican president Samora Machel.

Grandchildren

Nelson Mandela had 17 grandchildren, nine born to the children of Evelyn Mase and eight born to the children of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.

Grandchildren with Evelyn Mase

Thembi Mandela had two daughters: Ndileka Mandela (born in 1965) and Nandi Mandela (born in 1968).

Makgatho Mandela had four sons: Mandla Mandela (born in 1974), Ndaba Mandela (born in 1983), Mbuso Mandela (born in 1991) and Andile Mandela (born in 1993).

Pumla Maki Mandela has three children: daughter Tukwini Mandela (born in 1974) and sons Dumani Mandela (born in 1976) and Kweku Mandela (born in 1985).

Grandchildren with Winnie Madikizela-Mandela

Zenani Dlamini-Mandela has four children: daughters Zaziwe Manaway (born in 1977) and Zamaswazi Dlamini (born in 1979), and sons Zinhle Dlamini (born in 1980) and Zozuko Dlamini (born in 1992).

Zindzi Mandela also has four children: daughter Zoleka Mandela (born in 1980, died 2023) and sons Zondwa Mandela (born in 1985), Bambatha Mandela (born in 1989) and Zwelabo Mandela (born in 1992).

Great-grandchildren

The eldest of Mandela’s 19 great-grandchildren was born in 1984, while he was still in prison, and the youngest in 2017 – a span of 33 years.

Great-grandchildren with Evelyn Mase

Thembi Mandela’s family:

Nandi Mandela has a son: Hlanganani Mandela, born in 1986.

Ndileka Mandela has two children: son Thembela Mandela (born in 1984) and daughter Pumla Mandela (born in 1993).

Makgatho Mandela’s family:

Mandla Mandela has two sons: Qheya II Zanethemba Mandela (born in 2011) and Mntwanenkosi Mandela Ikraam Mandela (born in 2017).

Ndaba Mandela also has two sons: Lewanika Ngubencuka Mandela (born in 2010) and Makgabane Sandlasamadlomo Mandela (born in 2015).

Great-grandchildren with Winnie Madikizela-Mandela

Zenani Dlamini-Mandela’s family:

Zaziwe Manaway has three children: son Ziyanda Manaway (born in 2000), daughter Zipokhazi Manaway (born in 2009), and son Zenkosi John Brunson Manaway (born in 2012).

Zamaswazi Dlamini has a daughter: Zamakhosi Obiri (born in 2008).

Zinhle Dlamini has two daughters: Zinokuhle Marlo Dlamini (born in 2014) and Zenzelwe Marli Mandela Dlamini (born in 2016).

Zindzi Mandela’s family:

Zoleka Mandela had four children, two of whom have tragically died. Her daughter Zenani Mandela was born in 1997, and died in 2010. Her son Zenawe Zibuyile Mandela died in infancy in 2011. Zoleka’s surviving children are a son, Zwelami Mandela (born in 2003), and a daughter, Zanyiwe Zenzile Bashala (born in 2014).

On 25 September 2023 Zoleka Mandela herself died after a long battle with cancer. In a statement, the Nelson Mandela Foundation acknowledged her as a “tireless activist for healthcare and justice”.

Zondwa Mandela has two children: daughter Zazi Kazimla Vitalia Mandela (born in 2010) and son Ziwelene Linge Mandela (born in 2011).

Sources

• Nelson Mandela Foundation
• South African History Online
• Globe and Mail
• Daily Dispatch

Researched, designed and written by Mary Alexander.
Updated on 29 September 2024.
Comments? Email mary1alexander@gmail.com

The post Nelson Mandela’s family tree appeared first on South Africa Gateway.

Images from South Africa’s nine provinces. An Nguni cow on a beach on the Wild Coast of the Eastern Cape. The Brandwag rock in the eastern Free State. Street art in the Maboneng Precinct in Johannesburg, Gauteng. The Durban harbour in KwaZulu-Natal. Entabeni game reserve in Limpopo. Traditional Ndebele domestic artwork in Mpumalanga. Quiver trees in the Northern Cape. Mining in North West. A view of Lion’s Head from the suburb of Bo-Kaap in Cape Town, Western Cape.

South Africa’s nine provinces are the Eastern Cape, the Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, the Northern Cape, North West and the Western Cape.

Jump to:

History

Before 1996, South Africa had four provinces: the Transvaal and Orange Free State – previously Boer republics – and Natal and the Cape, once British colonies.

In 1910 these four states were united into a single country, the Union of South Africa, under British rule. This became the Republic of South Africa in 1960, under apartheid rule.

In the 1970s and eighties, under the apartheid doctrine of “separate development”, the map of South Africa was gradually spattered with the odd outlines of the “homelands”.

These unsustainable states were set up on disjointed parcels of land with no economic value. Laws were passed to make black South Africans citizens of these barren regions, denying black people’s citizenship of South Africa as a whole.

Click image for more information.

In 1996, under South Africa’s new democratic constitution, the homelands were dismantled, citizenship restored and South Africa consolidated into today’s nine provinces.

Land area of the provinces

There are vast differences in the size of the provinces, from the small and crowded city region of Gauteng to the vast and empty Northern Cape.

Data source: Statistics South Africa Census 2022

The land area of South Africa’s nine provinces, from smallest to largest:

• Gauteng: 18,178 square kilometres (1.5% of total)
• Mpumalanga: 76,495 square kilometres (6.3%)
• KwaZulu-Natal: 94,361 square kilometres (7.7%)
• North West: 104,882 square kilometres (8.6%)
• Limpopo: 125,755 square kilometres (10.3%)
• Western Cape: 129,462 square kilometres (10.6%)
• Free State: 129,825 square kilometres (10.6%)
• Eastern Cape: 168,966 square kilometres (13.8%)
• Northern Cape: 372,889 square kilometres (30.5%)
• South Africa: 1,220,813 square kilometres (100%)

READ MORE: How big is South Africa?

Population of the provinces

The population of the provinces also varies considerably. Gauteng, the smallest province, has the largest number of people living there – over a quarter of South Africa’s population. The Northern Cape, which takes up nearly a third of the country’s land area, has the smallest population: just over 2.2% of the national total.

In 2024 South Africa’s provincial populations, and their share of the total, were:

• Eastern Cape: 7,176,230 (11.4%)
• Free State: 3,044,050 (4.8%)
• Gauteng: 15,931,824 (25.3%)
• KwaZulu-Natal: 12,312,712 (19.5%)
• Limpopo: 6,402,594 (10.2%)
• Mpumalanga: 5,057,662 (8.%)
• Northern Cape: 1,372,943 (2.2%)
• North West: 4,155,303 (6.6%)
• Western Cape: 7,562,588 (12.%)

READ MORE: South Africa’s population

CENSUS COUNTS OF PROVINCIAL POPULATIONS

South Africa has held three censuses in its recent democratic history: in 1996, 2001 and 2011. Over those 15 years, the population of the provinces shifted.

Data: Statistics South Africa

Gauteng’s population grew dramatically, overtaking that of KwaZulu-Natal – which saw significant growth of its own. Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West and the Western Cape also had notable increases in population. By contrast, the populations of the Eastern Cape, Free State and Northern Cape remained fairly static, as people migrated to other provinces.

READ MORE: Infographic: Census counts of South Africa’s population

Population density in the provinces

The variation in land area and population among South Africa’s population translates into huge differences in population density, according to 2017 data. Gauteng has an average of 785 people per square kilometre, while the Northern Cape has only three people for each square kilometre.

Click image to learn more.

Population density in South Africa’s nine provinces in 2017, from smallest to largest:

• Northern Cape: 3 people per square kilometre
• Free State: 22 people per square kilometre
• North West: 37 people per square kilometre
• Eastern Cape: 38 people per square kilometre
• Limpopo: 46 people per square kilometre
• Western Cape: 50 people per square kilometre
• Mpumalanga: 58 people per square kilometre
• KwaZulu-Natal: 117 people per square kilometre
• Gauteng: 785 people per square kilometre

Map of population density in South Africa’s nine provinces.

READ MORE: South Africa’s population

Provincial migration

South Africans migrate away from poverty to where the jobs are, moving from poorer provinces to the richer ones.

Gauteng is South Africa’s wealthiest province, mostly a city region and the centre of the country’s economy. It has the largest population, constantly swelled by migration. The province’s net migration rate (the number of people moving in minus people moving out) was nearly a million between 2011 and 2016.

Click animation to view from the start. Data: Statistics South Africa mid-year population estimates 2017

The Eastern Cape is the poorest province. Between 2011 and 2016 nearly half a million of its people migrated to other provinces, while only 170 000 or so moved into the province.

READ MORE: South Africa’s population

Province and population group

There is also a wide variation in the racial composition of the different provinces’ populations.

Census 2011 figures reveal that black people were the majority population group in seven of the nine provinces, comprising from 75% to 97% of the provincial total. Yet they made up less than a third of the population in the Western Cape (26.7%) and under a half in the Northern Cape (46.5%).

Click image to learn more.

The distribution of a population group can reflect that people’s history in the country.

In 2011, coloured people were found mainly in the Western, Eastern and Northern Cape (respectively 61.1%, 12% and 10.7% of South Africa’s total coloured population). People of this group are largely descended from a mixture of slaves brought to what was then the Cape Colony, white immigrants to the colony, and indigenous Africans, particularly the Khoisan.

The majority (71.6%) of Indian/Asian people lived in KwaZulu-Natal in 2011. Many members of this group descend from indentured labourers brought to colonial Natal in the early 20th century to work on sugarcane plantations. Only 0.3% of Indians lived in the Free State (0.1% of the total Free State population), as they were forbidden by law to enter what was then the Orange Free State during the apartheid era.

Provincial distribution also reflects a group’s socioeconomic position. White people, the beneficiaries of the apartheid system, were largely found in the more developed and urbanised provinces of Gauteng (in 2011, 40.4% of the total white population, and 18.9% of the total Gauteng population) and the Western Cape (19.4% of the total white population, and 18.4% of the Western Cape population).

READ MORE: South Africa’s population

Languages of the provinces

There’s considerable variation in home languages between the provinces, according to Census 2011.

Click image to find out more.

IsiXhosa, for instance, is spoken by almost 80% of people in the Eastern Cape, while around 78% of those in KwaZulu-Natal speak isiZulu. IsiZulu is also the most common home language in Gauteng, but at a much smaller percentage. In the Western Cape and Northern Cape, Afrikaans comes into its own.

READ MORE: The languages of South Africa

The main languages in each province, according to Census 2011:

• Eastern Cape: isiXhosa 78.8%, Afrikaans 10.6%
• Free State: Sesotho 64.2%, Afrikaans 12.7%
• Gauteng: isiZulu 19.8%, English 13.3%, Afrikaans 12.4%, Sesotho 11.6%
• KwaZulu-Natal: isiZulu 77.8%, English 13.2%
• Limpopo: Sesotho 52.9%, Xitsonga 17%, Tshivenda 16.7%
• Mpumalanga: siSwati 27.7%, isiZulu 24.1%, Xitsonga 10.4%, isiNdebele 10.1%
• Northern Cape: Afrikaans 53.8%, Setswana 33.1%
• North West: Setswana 63.4%, Afrikaans 9%
• Western Cape: Afrikaans 49.7%, isiXhosa 24.7%, English 20.3%

Click image to learn more.

Economy of the provinces

Gauteng dominates almost all industries in South Africa, except agriculture and mining.

Click animation to see a static version, and to learn more.

In 2016 the main industries in each province were:

• Eastern Cape: government services 21%, trade, catering and accommodation 18%, finance 16%
• Free State: government services 15%, finance 14%, trade, catering and accommodation 13%
• Gauteng: finance 23%, government services 19%, manufacturing 14%
• KwaZulu-Natal: manufacturing 16%, finance 15%, government services 15%
• Limpopo: mining 25%, government services 18%, trade, catering and accommodation 13%
• Mpumalanga: mining 20%, trade, catering and accommodation 13%, manufacturing 13%
• Northern Cape: mining 19%, government services 15%, finance 12%
• North West: mining 30%, government services 12%, finance 12%
• Western Cape: finance 23%, trade, catering and accommodation 15%, manufacturing 14%

THE PROVINCE’S SHARE OF SOUTH AFRICA’S ECONOMY

Population size correlates with each province’s contribution to the national economy, with Gauteng having the biggest.

The tiny province punches way above its weight, making up 33.8% of South Africa’s gross domestic product in 2016 and around 5% of the GDP of Africa as a whole. Next is KwaZulu-Natal with 16%, followed by the Western Cape with 13.7%. These three provinces together contribute nearly two-thirds to total economy of South Africa.

In 2016 the value of each province’s economy, and its share of the total GDP of South Africa, was:

• Northern Cape: R91 billion (2.1% of South Africa’s GDP)
• Free State: R218 billion (5%)
• North West: R280 billion (6.4%)
• Limpopo: R312 billion (7.2%)
• Mpumalanga: R324 billion (7.4%)
• Eastern Cape: R331 billion (7.6%)
• Western Cape: R596 billion (13.7%)
• KwaZulu-Natal: R692 billion (15.9%)
• Gauteng: R1.5 trillion (34.6%)

Government of the provinces

The eye-catching architecture of the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature in Galeshewe, Kimberley. Click image for a larger view. (Graeme Williams, MediaClub)

South Africa’s provinces are governed, in different ways, on a national, provincial and local level.

NATIONAL GOVERNMENT

On the national level, South Africa has two houses of parliament: the National Assembly, and the National Council of Provinces. The second exists to ensure that the interests of each province are protected in the laws passed by the National Assembly.

Each one of South Africa’s nine provinces sends 10 representatives to the National Council of Provinces. Six of these are permanent members of the council, and four are special delegates.

PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT

Each province has its own provincial government.

The provincial legislature has the power to pass laws in certain limited areas. The legislature has between 30 and 80 members depending on the province’s portion of the national voters’ roll.

The premier – the head of government in the province – governs the province together with other “members of the executive council”, known as MECs. Each MEC has a specific responsibility, such as health, education, tourism and transport.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

The nine provinces are each further divided into municipalities. Metropolitan municipalities are densely populated urban areas with major cities – such as Johannesburg or Durban – at their core. District municipalities are larger, less urban regions centred on one or more town or small city. District municipalities are further divided into local municipalities.

The cities of the provinces

Pietermaritzburg, the capital of KwaZulu-Natal. A contemporary statue of Mahatma Ghandi, an icon of resistance to colonial rule, stands against the heavily ornate facade of the Pietermaritzburg city hall, a building constructed during the era of the British Natal Colony. (E, CC BY-NC 2.0)

Each of the nine provinces has a provincial capital, the seat of provincial government. These are usually the largest city in the province – Johannesburg in Gauteng, for example, or Mahikeng in North West.

The exceptions are the Eastern Cape (Bhisho) and KwaZulu-Natal (Pietermaritzburg), which have smaller cities as their capitals for reasons of history. Cape Town in the Western Cape and Bloemfontein in the Free State also stand out for being both provincial capitals and two of the three capital cities of South Africa.

The provincial capitals and major cities of South Africa’s nine provinces are:

• Eastern Cape: Bhisho (capital) and Port Elizabeth (major city)
• Free State: Bloemfontein (capital and major city)
• Gauteng: Johannesburg (capital and major city)
• KwaZulu-Natal: Pietermaritzburg (capital) and Durban (major city)
• Limpopo: Polokwane (capital and major city)
• Mpumalanga: Mbombela (capital and major city) – also known as Nelspruit
• North West: Mahikeng (capital and major city) – formerly known as Mafeking, then as Mafikeng
• Northern Cape: Kimberley (capital and major city)
• Western Cape: Cape Town (capital and major city)

Data: Statistics South Africa Census 2011

Sources

• Census South Africa public database
• Statistics South Africa Census 2022
• Statistics South Africa Census 2011
• Statistics South Africa Community Survey 2016
• Statistics South Africa mid-year population estimates 2017
• Statistics South Africa gross domestic product, fourth quarter 2017
• United Nations Statistics Division World Statistics Pocketbook 2017
• World Bank Open Data
• MediaClub

Researched, written and designed by Mary Alexander.
Updated July 2025.
Comments? Email mary1alexander@gmail.com

The post The nine provinces of South Africa appeared first on South Africa Gateway.

A child plays in a restaurant in Vosloorus, a large township in Gauteng province. (Media Club)

The country has the sixth largest population in Africa – after Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania – and the 24th largest in the world.

Jump to:

South Africa’s population: overview

According to Statistics South Africa’s 2024 mid-year population estimates, South Africa is home to 63,015,904 people.

Black people are in the majority, with a population of 51.5 million – 81.7% of the total. The remaining 18.3% is made up of 5.3 million coloured people (8.5%), 1.6 million Indian/Asian people (2.6%) and 4.5 million white people (7.2%).

Data source: Statistics South Africa mid-year population estimates 2024

These ratios have changed since the country became a democracy in 1994. The percentage of black people has increased, that of coloured and Indian/Asian people has stayed roughly the same, while the share of white people has shrunk.

The 1996 census, the first of the democratic era, recorded a population of 40.6 million. Black people made up 76.7% of the total, coloured people 8.9%, Indian/Asian people 2.6%, white people 10.9% and an uncategorised group 0.9%.

In about 2013 the coloured population overtook the white population as South Africa’s second-largest group.

READ MORE: Geographic distribution of South Africa’s races

Population of the provinces

The population of South Africa’s nine provinces varies enormously.

Data source: Statistics South Africa mid-year population estimates 2024

The most striking difference is between Gauteng and the Northern Cape. Gauteng is a city region of just 18,178 square kilometres – 1.4% of South Africa’s land area – yet it’s home to over a quarter of the country’s people. The arid and rural Northern Cape takes up almost a third of South Africa, but only 2.2% of the population live there.

Then there’s KwaZulu-Natal, home to almost a fifth of the population, and the larger Free State, home to only 4.8%.

Data source: Statistics South Africa Census 2022

In 2024 South Africa’s provincial populations, and their share of the total, were:

• Eastern Cape: 7,176,230 (11.4%)
• Free State: 3,044,050 (4.8%)
• Gauteng: 15,931,824 (25.3%)
• KwaZulu-Natal: 12,312,712 (19.5%)
• Limpopo: 6,402,594 (10.2%)
• Mpumalanga: 5,057,662 (8.%)
• Northern Cape: 1,372,943 (2.2%)
• North West: 4,155,303 (6.6%)
• Western Cape: 7,562,588 (12.%)

READ MORE: The nine provinces of South Africa

Population density

South Africa’s population density is about 46 people per square kilometre, according to 2017 data.

In the provinces, differences in size and population mean different population densities. Gauteng, small but populous, has an average of 785 people for every square kilometre. KwaZulu-Natal has 117 people per square kilometre. The empty Northern Cape has just three people for each square kilometre.

READ MORE: The nine provinces of South Africa

Life, death and HIV

The 2024 estimate of average life expectancy at birth in South Africa is 66.5 years – 69.2 years for females and 63.6 years for males. This is up from a predicted life expectancy of 54.7 years in 2002, before any serious effort to tackle the HIV and Aids epidemic began.

The crude birth rate is 19.6 babies born for every 1,000 people. The total fertility rate is an average of 2.4 babies born to a woman over her lifetime. The crude death rate is 8.7 per 1,000.

Infant mortality (babies who die in their first year of birth) is 22.9 deaths for every 1,000 live births. The under-five mortality rate is 28.6 deaths per 1,000 live births.

These rates show an improvement on child survival since 2002, when infant mortality was 57 deaths and under-five mortality 79.7 deaths per 1,000 live births.

Some 8 million people are HIV positive, making up 12.7% of South Africa’s total population of 63 million. Women are hardest hit by the disease: over a fifth (20.5%) of all women aged 15 to 49 are HIV positive.

The total HIV prevalence rate was lower in 2002, at 8.9% of the population. The higher rate in 2024 reflects progress in the rollout of antiretroviral therapy, as more people live with HIV instead of dying of Aids.

READ MORE: HIV and Aids in South Africa

Age structure

South Africa has 17.3 million children aged 14 or younger, making kids the largest age group in the country and nearly a third (27.5%) of the population.

Poorer provinces tend to have a larger share of children and wealthier provinces a smaller share. In the Limpopo 33.1% of the population is aged 0 to 14 and in the Eastern Cape it’s 31.7%. By contrast, children make up 23% of Gauteng’s population and 22.9% of the Western Cape’s.

For the country as a whole, the second largest age group is from 30 to 44 (24.8%), closely followed by 15 to 29 (24.2%). Older groups are smaller: 13.8% are 45 to 59, 7.5% aged 60 to 74, and 2.2% 75 or older.

Age and race

Click image to find out more.

Data from 2017 reveals that when it comes to age structure and race, South Africa’s population reflects the facts of history and continued inequality.

While black South Africans are in the majority in every age group, this majority decreases as the age of the population rises. Coloured, Indian and especially white South Africans tend to live longer.

Click to view from the start.

Migration

Click image to find out more.

South Africans migrate away from poverty to where the jobs are. They move from poorer provinces to the richer ones, and from rural areas to the cities.

Gauteng is South Africa’s wealthiest province, mostly a city region and the centre of the country’s economy. It has the largest population, constantly swelled by migration.

In the 10 years from mid-2011 to mid-2021, net migration (number of people moving in minus people moving out) into Gauteng increased the province’s population by almost 1.9 million people.

The Western Cape, the third-largest provincial economy with the lowest poverty level, had net migration of 646,529 over the same 10 years. Conversely, KwaZulu-Natal – the second-largest – lost 18,333 of its people to migration from 2011 to 2021. While the province has a large economy, it also has relatively high levels of poverty.

The Eastern Cape has, by far, the highest level of poverty of all the provinces – and the highest number of people moving elsewhere. Its net migration for 2011 to 2021 was a negative 603,044. Limpopo had the second-highest rate of outward migration, at -300,527.

Net migration (people moving in minus people moving out) for South Africa’s provinces, 2011 to 2021:

• Eastern Cape: -603,044
• Free State: -23,128
• Gauteng: 1,856,006
• KwaZulu-Natal: -18,333
• Limpopo: -300,527
• Mpumalanga: 178,386
• Northern Cape: 17,063
• North West: 228,675
• Western Cape: 646,529

Click animation to view from the start.

READ MORE: The nine provinces of South Africa

International migration

South Africa’s international migration rates tend to be positive – more people move here, particularly from the rest of Africa, than leave.

From mid-2011 to mid-2021 net international migration into the country was 2.7 million. Most of the migrants (2.8 million) were from elsewhere in Africa, with a further net migration of 176,120 Indian/Asian people.

The total was offset by the net loss of 286,611 white people to other countries.

Net international migration for South Africa, 2011 to 2021:

• African: 2,850,656
• Indian/Asian: 176,120
• White: -286,611
• Total: 2,740,165

Trends in South Africa’s population from 1960

Age structure

There’s a lot of talk of South Africa’s population being dominated by the youth. But as the graphic below shows, we’re less youthful than we have been for decades.

The end of apartheid, better healthcare, widespread social welfare and greater economic opportunities all mean South Africans are now able to live longer lives – reducing the proportion of children and youth in our total population. See the actual figures for selected years.

READ MORE: Infographic: South Africa’s population and age structure from 1960 to 2015

Urbanisation

From 1960 to the late 1980s, apartheid laws kept families and communities in poor rural areas. Young men alone were allowed to move to the cities, where their labour was valuable.

After the end of apartheid, from the mid-1990s, urbanisation increased rapidly. In the last 20 years, much of the migration from rural areas has been to Johannesburg, South Africa’s largest city since 1950.

READ MORE: Infographic: South Africa’s urban and rural population from 1960 to 2015

Life expectancy

Charting South Africans’ life expectancy is to track the country’s modern history. In 1960, a time of terrible apartheid abuse, an average newborn child was expected to have a lifespan of only 52 years – 50 years for boys. In 2015, life expectancy was 62 years.

In between, life expectancy has risen and fallen. The most severe drop was during the crisis of the HIV and Aids epidemic from 1995 to 2005. In 2005, life expectancy was the same as it had been in 1960.

READ MORE: Infographic: Life expectancy in South Africa from 1960 to 2015

Child mortality

The death rate of children is the starkest indicator of the health of a country’s society and economy. In 1974 South Africa’s mortality rate – deaths per 1,000 live births – was 88.1 for infants under a year and 125.5 for under-fives. By 2016 it had dropped to 34.2 for infants and 43.3 for under-fives – the lowest rate yet recorded.

READ MORE: Infographic: Child mortality in South Africa from 1974 to 2016

Researched, written and designed by Mary Alexander. Updated August 2025.
Comments? Email mary1alexander@gmail.com

The post South Africa’s population appeared first on South Africa Gateway.

Kids at a community meeting in Elsies River, Cape Town. South Africa’s Bill of Rights includes a section dedicated to the specific rights of children. (Image: GCIS)

South Africa’s Bill of Rights, chapter 2 of the constitution, is one of the most progressive in the world. It protects the human rights of everyone in the country – citizen, visitor, refugee or migrant.

Its preamble reads:

This Bill of Rights is a cornerstone of democracy in South Africa. It enshrines the rights of all people in our country and affirms the democratic values of human dignity, equality and freedom.

The bill was adopted in 1996, just two years after the first democratic elections that finally ended formal apartheid. All laws and organs of state must respect the Bill of Rights. The state must protect and promote the rights it sets out, and make sure they are fulfilled.

But do you really know your rights? Our no-nonsense guide will help you understand your rights, and the rights of everyone else.

You can also read the full text of the Bill of Rights in 11 of South Africa’s official languages.

Jump to your rights:

Equality

Everyone is equal.

You have the right to the same protection by the law as everyone else.

Nobody is allowed to unfairly discriminate against you because of your race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language or birth.

Human dignity

You have inherent dignity.

You have the right to have your dignity respected and protected.

Life

You have the right to life.

Freedom and security of the person

You have the right to freedom.

You have the right not to be deprived of your freedom for no reason, or for an unjust reason.

You have the right not to be put into jail without a trial.

You have the right not to be a victim of violence, whether it’s violence done by other people, or by the state.

You have the right not to be tortured.

You have the right not to treated in a cruel, inhuman or degrading way.

You have the right to control your own body.

You have the right to make your own decisions about pregnancy, childbirth and whether or not you want to have children.

Slavery, servitude and forced labour

Nobody is allowed to enslave you, make you work for no pay, or force you to work.

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Privacy

You have the right to your privacy.

Nobody is allowed to search you or your home, take your belongings, or monitor your private conversations, texts, phone calls or emails.

Freedom of religion, belief and opinion

You have the right to practise any religion you want. Nobody may force you to follow a religion.

You have the right to your own opinions and beliefs.

Freedom of expression

You have the right to express yourself freely, to say what you want to say.

You have the right to get information from a free and open media.

You have the right to be told new information and ideas, and to tell other people new information and ideas.

You have the right to create any art you want.

You have the right to learn and research whatever you want.

But you can’t abuse your freedom of expression to encourage war or other violence, or promote hatred for other people because of their race, ethnicity, gender or religion.

Assembly, demonstration, picket and petition

You have the right to come together with other people to demonstrate, picket or present petitions – as long as you do it peacefully, and don’t carry weapons.

Freedom of association

You have the right to spend time with anyone you choose.

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Political rights

You have the right to make your own political choices.

You have the right to take part in the activities of any political party, and recruit members for that party.

You have the right to campaign for any political party.

If you are a citizen, you have the right to free, fair and regular elections.

If you are an adult citizen, you have the right to vote in elections for the political party of your choice – and to keep your vote secret. You also have the right to stand for public office and, if elected, to hold that office.

Citizenship

If you are a citizen of South Africa, no-one can take that citizenship away from you.

Freedom of movement and residence

You have the right to freedom of movement – to travel anywhere in South Africa.

You have the right to leave South Africa.

You have the right to live anywhere in South Africa.

If you are a citizen, you have the right to a passport.

Freedom of trade, occupation and profession

You have the right to choose your own trade, job or profession.

Labour relations

You have the right to fair labour practices at work.

Workers have the right to form and join a trade union.

Employers have the right to form and join an employers’ organisation.

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Environment

You have the right to live in an environment that does not harm your health or wellbeing.

You have the right to have the environment protected now, and for future generations.

Property

No-one may take your property away from you.

The state may only take your property for specific reasons – for a public purpose or in the public interest. If it does have to take your property, it has to pay you the right price for it.

Housing

You have the right to proper housing.

The state must work to make sure you have housing.

You have the right not to be evicted from your home, or have your home torn down, without a court ordering it.

Healthcare, food, water and social security

You have the right to basic healthcare. This includes the right to reproductive health care – for contraception, pregnancy and childbirth.

You have the right to the food and water you need.

You have the right to emergency medical treatment. If your life is in danger, no hospital or healthcare worker may refuse to treat you.

If you can’t afford to support yourself or your family, the state must help you.

Children

Every child – anyone under 18– has the right to a name and nationality from birth.

Children have the right to be cared for by their parents or family, or to get proper foster care if needed.

They have the right to basic food, shelter, healthcare and social support.

Children must be protected from abuse and neglect.

They also have the right to be protected from work that is harmful or takes advantage of them.

Find out more about children’s rights.

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Education

You have the right to basic education, whether you are a child or an adult.

You have the right to further education.

In public schools, universities and colleges, you have the right to be educated in the official South African language of your choice – where this is possible.

Language and culture

You have the right to use whatever language you want, and take part in any cultural life – as long as this doesn’t infringe on the rights of others.

Cultural, religious and linguistic communities

You have the right to enjoy your culture, practise your religion and use your language.

You may also form, join and maintain cultural, religious and language organisations.

But you can’t exercise these rights in a way that infringes on the rights of others.

Access to information

You have the right to access any information held by the state.

You have the right to get any information held by someone else if you need it to protect or exercise your rights.

Just administrative action

You have the right to fair, legal and reasonable decisions by government or public officials.

If a decision harms your rights, you must be given written reasons.

The law must allow you to challenge unfair decisions in court or through an independent body. It must also make sure the government respects your rights and that public services run efficiently.

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Access to courts

You have the right to have any legal dispute settled in a fair public hearing by a court or by another independent and unbiased body.

Arrested, detained and accused people

If the police arrest you, you have the right to remain silent. They must tell you this right as soon as possible, and explain what could happen if you do speak.

You have the right to speak to a lawyer.

No-one can force you to say anything that could be used against you in court.

You must be brought to court as soon as possible – within 48 hours, or by the end of the first court day after 48 hours.

At your first court appearance, the court must either charge you with a crime or explain why you are being kept in jail. Otherwise, you must be released.

Limitation of rights

Some of your rights are limited if exercising those rights would infringe on the rights of others. Rights may also be limited under strict conditions such as a state of emergency.

These limitations may only be set out in laws that apply to everyone, and only if the limitation is reasonable and can be justified in a democratic society. The importance of the right must be examined, as must the purpose of the limitation and whether there are less restrictive ways to achieve the purpose.

Rights can never be limited without good reason. And some core rights – non-derogable rights – may never be limited, even under a state of emergency.

The non-derogable rights are:

• Equality
• Human dignity
• Life
• Freedom from torture and cruel treatment
• Freedom from slavery and forced labour
• Children’s rights
• The rights of arrested, detained and accused people

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The text in all languages

Read the full text of the Bill of Rights (PDF) in 11 of South Africa’s official languages:

Afrikaans | English | isiNdebele | isiXhosa | isiZulu | Sepedi | Sesotho | Setswana | siSwati | Tshivenda | Xitsonga

Constitutional and statutory bodies

Constitutional Court of South Africa – The highest court in South Africa on constitutional matters. It interprets, protects and enforces the constitution.

South African Human Rights Commission – Independent state institution established by the constitution to promote, monitor and assess observance of human rights.

Public interest law centres and legal advocacy organisations

Legal Resources Centre – Nonprofit public interest law centre that provides legal services to poor and marginalised communities.

Section27 – Public interest legal organisation focusing on access to healthcare services and basic education.

Lawyers for Human Rights – Nongovernmental organisation offering legal services and advocacy, including refugee and migrant rights programmes.

Centre for Applied Legal Studies at Wits University – Human rights law clinic engaged in legal research, strategic litigation and advocacy.

Academic and research-based human rights centres

Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria – Academic department and advocacy centre working to promote human rights through education, research and litigation.

African Centre for Migration & Society at Wits University – Research institute focused on human mobility, migration and related policy issues in the Southern African region.

Social justice and community advocacy organisations

Black Sash – Nongovernmental organisation promoting social justice and access to social protection in South Africa.

Equal Education – Movement advocating for equality and quality in public education, involving learners, parents and community members.

Sonke Gender Justice – Civil society organisation that supports gender equality and works to prevent gender-based violence.

Ahmed Kathrada Foundation – Nonprofit organisation promoting nonracialism, constitutional democracy and active citizenship.

Migrant, refugee and anti-xenophobia organisations

Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town – Nonprofit organisation providing support and advocacy for migrants, asylum seekers and refugees.

Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa (CoRMSA) – Civil society network that promotes the rights of asylum seekers, refugees and migrants in South Africa.

International human rights bodies in South Africa

Unicef South Africa – South African office of the United Nations Children’s Fund, focusing on child rights, education, health and protection.

UNHCR regional office for Southern Africa – The United Nations Refugee Agency’s regional office supports and protects refugees and asylum seekers in South Africa and neighbouring countries.

Amnesty International South Africa – Branch of the global human rights organisation, focusing on advocacy, campaigns and research on human rights in South Africa.

Human Rights Watch (Africa division) – Monitors and reports on human rights developments in South Africa and across the region, with periodic investigations and advocacy.

News and information

GroundUp – Independent news service reporting on community-level issues, socioeconomic rights, service delivery, housing, education, migration and legal developments.

Spotlight – Public interest health journalism platform monitoring South Africa’s response to TB, HIV, health systems performance and health rights.

Bhekisisa Centre for Health Journalism – Nonprofit health media organisation producing evidence-based reporting on public health policy and social justice impacts.

Africa Check – Nonprofit fact-checking organisation verifying public claims and data across Africa to support informed public debate and counter misinformation affecting policy and rights.

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Image credits

All images are in the public domain, licensed as Creative Commons (CC). Credit for specific images as follows:

• Political rights, citizenship, children, communities, just administration, arrested & accused people courtesy of GCIS. Licensed CC BY-ND 4.0.
• Slavery, servitude & forced labour courtesy of Image Journeys. Licensed CC BY-ND 2.0.
• Limitation of rights courtesy of JackAZ Photo. Licensed CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
• Human rights bodies courtesy of Brian Smithson. Licensed CC BY 2.0.
• All other images courtesy of MediaClub. Licensed CC BY-SA 2.0.

Researched, written and designed by Mary Alexander.
Updated August 2025.
Comments? Email mary1alexander@gmail.com.

Disclaimer: This is a guide. It is not legal advice.

The post The plain language guide to South Africa’s Bill of Rights appeared first on South Africa Gateway.

In 1990 Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo reunited after three decades apart – the first in prison, the second in exile. (University of the Western Cape Robben Island Mayibuye Museum Archive, courtesy of GCIS)

“Mandela and Tambo” read the brass plate on the door of the attorneys’ shabby offices in downtown Johannesburg. It was late 1952, four years after the National Party victory, and the two young partners of South Africa’s first black-owned law firm were busy.

“Mandela and Tambo was besieged with clients,” Nelson Mandela wrote in his autobiography Long Walk to Freedom, published in 1994. “We were not the only African lawyers in South Africa, but we were the only firm of African lawyers.

“For Africans, we were the firm of first choice and last resort. To reach our offices each morning, we had to move through a crowd of people in the hallways, on the stairs, and in our small waiting room.”

Oliver Tambo’s memories presaged Mandela’s. “For years we worked side by side in our offices near the courts,” he wrote in his 1965 introduction to Ruth First’s No Easy Road to Freedom. “To reach our desks each morning, Nelson and I ran the gauntlet of patient queues of people overflowing from the chairs in the waiting room into the corridors.”

• READ MORE: Nelson Mandela 1918-2013: the timeline of a lifetime

An exhibit at today’s Chancellor House Museum shows the famous 1952 photograph by Jürgen Schadeberg of Nelson Mandela inside the law offices he shared with Oliver Tambo. (Johan Wessels / CC BY SA 2.0)

Tambo and Mandela were highly educated young men, the products of independent missionary schools and the University of Fort Hare. They thought they knew what racial injustice was all about. But their experience of overflowing human misery in their cramped lawyers’ offices opened their eyes to the real suffering of ordinary people.

“Handcuffed blacks were arrested for being in white area illegally.” Ernest Cole describes this image from the 1960s in his book House of Bondage. (© Ernest Cole Family Trust / The Hasselblad Foundation)

Tambo wrote: “South Africa has the dubious reputation of boasting one of the highest prison populations in the world.

“Jails are jam-packed with Africans imprisoned for serious offences – and crimes of violence are ever on the increase in apartheid society – but also for petty infringements of statutory law that no really civilised society would punish with imprisonment.

“To be unemployed is a crime … To be landless can be a crime … To brew African beer, to drink it or to use the proceeds to supplement the meagre family income is a crime … To cheek a white man can be a crime. To live in the ‘wrong’ area – an area declared white or Indian or coloured – is a crime for Africans.”

Beginnings

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela and Oliver Reginald Tambo met at Fort Hare in the 1930s.

The institution was renowned for producing leading African intellectuals for more than 40 years until its proud academic standards were gutted by the apartheid government in 1959. Govan Mbeki was a graduate, as was Robert Sobukwe, Dennis Brutus and Can Themba.

Fort Hare was the start of a partnership – as friends, attorneys and comrades – that would last 60 years.

Mandela would become South Africa’s most famous political prisoner and first democratically elected president, while Tambo joined the struggle in exile and served as president of the African National Congress from 1967 to 1991.

The Union Hall and gardens of the University of Fort Hare in 1930. (Wikimedia Commons)

The two had different memories of their first meeting. Mandela, always the sportsman, recalled it being on a football field. Tambo, a studious young man, remembered it as at a campus protest.

On Sundays, Mandela would venture out to teach bible classes at rural villages near Fort Hare.

“One of my comrades on these expeditions was a serious young science scholar whom I had met on the soccer field,” he wrote.

“He came from Pondoland, in the Transkei, and his name was Oliver Tambo. From the start, I saw that Oliver’s intelligence was diamond-edged; he was a keen debater and did not accept the platitudes that so many of us automatically subscribed to … It was easy to see that he was destined for great things.”

In 1965 Tambo wrote: “At the age of l6, Nelson went to Fort Hare and there we first met: in the thick of a student strike.”

Tambo recalled that he and Mandela were “both born in the Transkei, he one year after me. We were students together at Fort Hare University College. With others we had founded the African National Congress Youth League. We went together into the Defiance Campaign of 1952, into general strikes against the government and sat in the same Treason Trial dock.”

The landscape near the village of Qunu in the Transkei region of the Eastern Cape. Nelson Mandela was born in Mvezo village, but spent his childhood in Qunu. (Rodger Bosch, Media Club South Africa)

Life in Johannesburg

After Fort Hare, Tambo went on to teach maths at St Peter’s School in Johannesburg. The school was eventually shut by the Nationalist government because, like Fort Hare, it gave its black students a quality education.

“From this school, killed by the government in later years because it refused to bow its head to government-dictated principles of a special education for ‘inferior’ Africans,” Tambo wrote, “graduated successive series of young men drawn inexorably into the African National Congress, because it was the head of our patriotic, national movement for our rights.”

An aerial view of Johannesburg in the late 1940s shows a prosperous young city fed by gold mining. It doesn’t show the daily suffering and indignity of the black labour needed to mine the gold. (SA Ports and Railways Archive, View from Above)

Mandela, meanwhile, fled to Johannesburg from his Transkei home to escape an arranged marriage.

In the city, Tambo wrote, Mandela “had his first encounter with the lot of the urban African in a teeming African township: overcrowding, incessant raids for passes, arrests, poverty, the pinpricks and frustrations of the white rule”.

In Johannesburg both joined the ANC. They became part of a group of young ANC members who increasingly thought the organisation was not taking strong enough action to fight white rule.

The Youth League

Mandela wrote: “Many felt, perhaps unfairly, that the ANC as a whole had become the preserve of a tired, unmilitant, privileged African elite more concerned with protecting their own rights than those of the masses.” They proposed forming a youth league “as a way of lighting a fire under the leadership of the ANC”.

In 1943, a delegation including Mandela, Tambo, Anton Lembede, Peter Mda and Walter Sisulu visited Alfred B Xuma, the head of the ANC.

“At our meeting, we told him that we intended to organise a youth league and a campaign of action designed to mobilise mass support,” Mandela wrote. “We told Dr Xuma that the ANC was in danger of becoming marginalised unless it stirred itself and took up new methods.”

The ANC Youth League was formed in 1944 with Lembede as president and Tambo as secretary. Sisulu became the treasurer and Mandela was part of the executive committee.

The Defiance Campaign

The National Party victory in the white elections of 1948 came as a surprise to many – including Mandela. The stated election manifesto was overtly apartheid: cementing, legislating and extending black repression and white minority rule.

“The victory was a shock,” Mandela wrote. “I was stunned and dismayed, but Oliver took a more considered line. ‘I like this,’ he said. ‘I like this.’ I could not imagine why. He explained, ‘Now we will know exactly who our enemies are and where we stand.’”

The battle lines were drawn. The softer policies of negotiation and compliance with white leadership had achieved nothing. The next year, 1949, there was a jump in ANC membership, which previously had lingered at around 5 000. It began to establish a firm presence in South African society.

In 1952, Mandela and Tambo were key in organising the Defiance Campaign. The ANC joined other anti-apartheid organisations in defiance against the restriction of political, labour and residential rights, during which protesters deliberately violated oppressive laws. The campaign was called off in April 1953 after the apartheid parliament voted in new laws prohibiting protest meetings.

Arrest and exile

In June 1955, the Congress of the People, organised by the ANC and Indian, coloured and white organisations at Kliptown near Johannesburg, adopted the Freedom Charter. This became the fundamental document of the struggle. In the same year, Tambo became secretary-general of the ANC after Sisulu was banned under the Suppression of Communism Act.

In December 1956, Mandela and Tambo were among 156 leaders, key members of the Congress Alliance, arrested and charged with treason. They included almost all of the executive committee of the ANC, as well as the South African Communist Party, the South African Indian Congress, and the Congress of Democrats. A total of 105 Africans, 21 Indians, 23 white and seven coloured leaders were arrested.

The trial was to last until 1961, with the state gradually reducing the number of accused until all charges were eventually dismissed.

In 1958, Tambo became deputy president of the ANC. But in 1959 he was served with a five-year banning order. Tambo was sent abroad by the ANC to mobilise opposition to apartheid. In 1967, he became president of the ANC after the death of Chief Albert Luthuli.

In the year after Tambo’s exile, 1960, came the Sharpeville massacre. The ANC leadership concluded that non-violence was no longer the answer to the struggle against apartheid.

In 1961 the ANC army, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), was formed. Mandela was its first leader. MK operations in the 1960s mostly targeted government facilities. Mandela was arrested in 1962, convicted of sabotage, and in 1964 sentenced to life imprisonment on Robben Island.

Endings

“Nelson Mandela is on Robben Island today,” Tambo wrote in 1965.

He added:

His inspiration lives on in the heart of every African patriot. He is the symbol of the self-sacrificing leadership our struggle has thrown up and our people need. He is unrelenting, yet capable of flexibility and delicate judgment.
He is an outstanding individual, but he knows that he derives his strength from the great masses of people, who make up the freedom struggle in our country.

Tambo died in April 1993, a year short of South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994. South Africa’s future was still uncertain.

Mandela gave the eulogy at Tambo’s funeral.

“Go well, my brother, and farewell, dear friend,” he said.

He added:

As you instructed, we will bring peace to our tormented land.
As you directed, we will bring freedom to the oppressed and liberation to the oppressor. As you strived, we will restore the dignity of the dehumanised. As you commanded, we will defend the option of a peaceful resolution of our problems. As you prayed, we will respond to the cries of the wretched of the Earth.
In all this, we will not fail you.

Researched and written by Mary Alexander
Updated July 2024

The post Mandela and Tambo: A lifetime as comrades appeared first on South Africa Gateway.

Lemogang Tsipa plays the legendary – and often misunderstood – Zulu king Shaka kaSenzangakhona in the South African TV series Shaka iLembe. (Mzansi Magic/Bomb Productions)

22 July 2025 • Bongephiwe Dlamini-Myeni, University of Zululand

Shaka Zulu is one of the most storied figures in South African history. Believed to have been born around 1787, the man also known as uShaka kaSenzangakhona is regarded as the founder of the country’s Zulu nation.

Shaka has been the subject of numerous novels, poems, films and TV series. Many have offered distorted versions of Zulu culture.

But the award-winning 2023 drama series Shaka iLembe seems different. It has been lauded by both critics and viewers for its epic storytelling and cultural authenticity. A second season is now streaming.

As scholars of isiZulu (the Zulu language) and Zulu culture we decided to analyse the first season of uShaka iLembe to see how faithful it is to aspects of Zulu culture.

Zulu people are the country’s largest ethnic grouping, with almost a quarter of South Africans speaking isiZulu as a mother tongue. Shaka’s legacy remains significant in South Africa’s history, symbolising both strength and controversial authority. His story and customs are a marker of Zulu culture.

Read more: Shaka Zulu is back in pop culture – how the famous king has been portrayed over the decades

So can a series like Shaka iLembe serve as a way of preserving this rich culture and language? We found it used various aspects of Zulu language and dress in a way that’s not only authentic, but could be effective for preserving Zulu culture, especially for a new generation.

The series

The series traces the origins of its main character, King Shaka, and the various extraordinary events and experiences that characterised his life. Other important characters include his mother Nandi, his brother King Dingiswayo and their rival King Zwide, all authentic historical figures.

Although Shaka iLembe is designed for entertainment, the producers have always emphasised that it’s a true reflection of the era and of Zulu culture, even though some scenes are fictional. Even historians are unclear on many details of Shaka’s early life and character.

Shaka iLembe features popular local stars and high production values and is filmed in rich natural landscapes in KwaZulu-Natal province, where many Zulu people live. It took about six years to make and the writers consulted widely with cultural and historical experts (including the late King Goodwill Zwelithini and Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi).

What really caught our interest was Shaka iLembe’s use of language and costumes.

Language

Nomzamo Mbatha plays Queen Nandi kaMbengi, Shaka’s mother. (Mzansi Magic/Bomb Productions)

Language is not just a means of communication, it’s an organiser of knowledge and a mirror of culture. As a social behaviour it reflects people’s cultural, political, economic, religious and ethnic backgrounds. So language is an important tool of identity for any nation. The Zulu nation takes great pride in its language, demonstrated by the use of a wide range of techniques in both oral and written forms.

What’s particularly visible in the growth and spread of isiZulu is the richness of figures of speech – the artistic use of the language through things like proverbs and idioms.

In Shaka iLembe proverbs, idioms and respectful language are not just linguistic flourishes – they are powerful tools of cultural expression, storytelling and characterisation. They enrich the series and ground it in the traditions of the Zulu people.

Proverbs

A proverb is a wise saying that’s generally thought to be true. Many hands make light work. Or, in isiZulu, Izandla ziya gezana (Hands wash each other). Proverbs are common in African languages, passed on by word of mouth through oral traditions.

Zulu proverbs preserve traditional wisdom, beliefs and lessons. They can do many things – advise people on how to behave and treat one another to live well and harmoniously; what to do in good or bad situations; warnings about things to be careful of.

We found that proverbs are often used in Shaka iLembe and these add authenticity to the series while also keeping traditional wisdom alive for modern audiences.

In one episode, for example, Shaka is having a conversation about his father rejecting him. His aunt, Mkabayi, tries to console him by telling him to persevere and using a proverb: “insimbi ibunjwa ngokugazingwa” (difficulties are meant to make you strong).

The series shows how proverbs are deeply rooted in cultural contexts and cannot be fully grasped outside them. For example, Shaka tells of an upcoming war and his mother Nandi says, “Ayihlome ihlasele. (Let it arm itself and attack.)” This saying means that his warriors should go ahead. She’s encouraging and supporting her son so he can be brave in battle.

Idioms

Dawn Thandeka King plays Mkabayi kaJama, a princess, politician and kingmaker of the Zulu. (Mzansi Magic/Bomb Productions)

An idiom is a figure of speech that has a meaning of its own that can’t be understood from its individual words.

Wishing someone will “break a leg”, for example, is used in the theatre to wish someone good luck. There isn’t an isiZulu equivalent because idioms are bound by their culture and language.

But there are many isiZulu idioms and Shaka iLembe makes use of these too.

A narrator, for example, calls the land of the nearby Ndwandwe people a place “izwe elingafelwa nkonyane (where even a calf does not die)”. A fertile, bounteous place. “Siyinkukhu nempaka (we are chicken and wild cat)” is how the relationship between Zulu and Qwabe people is described. They are enemies because they are so different: predator and prey.

Hlonipha language

In Zulu culture, hlonipha refers to a system of respectful behaviour. Respect was of great importance during the reign of Shaka and still holds value today. It takes different forms – it can be expressed in dress, behaviour or the way people speak. Those who were particularly expected to show respect included brides or women.

Shaka iLembe taps into this system. When it comes to language, certain words are spoken in a respectful manner rather than being bluntly stated. Chief Mayinga, for example, refers to alcohol as amankwebevu (grey hair) instead of the more blunt word utshwala.

Attire

Nations have their own unique ways of dressing and Shaka iLembe has done everything possible to accurately showcase how Zulu people used to dress. Married women and maidens, for example, decorated themselves differently, allowing others to easily distinguish between the two.

The use of traditional Zulu clothing in the series also provides an opportunity to demystify colonial perspectives. Leopard skin attire, for example, was not worn by just anyone, as colonial depictions of the Zulu might show. Indeed, in Shaka iLembe, only King Shaka adorns himself with leopard skin because only royalty was allowed to. It distinguished a king from ordinary people.

Why this matters

Since television is especially popular in urban areas and particularly among young people, it can play an important role in preserving culture for future generations.

TV has an impact on social behaviour – what is seen and heard on screen is often copied in real life. A series like Shaka iLembe helps to preserve isiZulu in a time of social media, shifting language use and the marginalisation of many indigenous African languages in social, economic and educational spaces.

Our study recommends an increased use of indigenous languages like isiZulu in the entertainment space, where Shaka iLembe shows that it can be a source of preservation and pride.

Bongephiwe Dlamini-Myeni is a senior lecturer at the University of Zululand. Postgraduate students Sibusiso Xhakaza, Nontobeko Ngqulunga and Lungile Mkhwanazi contributed to this research.
This article was originally published by The Conversation on 12 June 2025 under a Creative Commons licence.

The post Shaka iLembe: finally, a TV series on the Zulu king that’s true to language and culture appeared first on South Africa Gateway.

Fossil technician Sipho Makhele deep underground in the darkness of the Sterkfontein Caves near Johannesburg. The caves are part of the Cradle of Humankind, one of South Africa’s 12 Unesco World Heritage Sites. (Photo: Ihsaan Haffejee)

11 July 2025 • Photos and text by Ihsaan Haffejee

Itumeleng Molefe remembers the day neighbours came rushing into his family’s home in Rustenburg, a town northwest of Johannesburg. His father was famous because they had just seen him on TV, they said. “People were screaming, yelling and celebrating. It was very cool to experience.”

Nkwane Molefe, Molefe’s father, and his colleague Stephen Motsumi had just made one of the greatest discoveries in our bid to understand human origins. Fossil technicians at the Sterkfontein Caves, the pair worked under paleoanthropologist Ron Clarke to unearth the fossil skeleton of an ancient hominin known as Little Foot.

Discovered in the 1990s, it is the most complete hominin fossil yet found, with 90% of the skeleton unearthed. Little Foot was a female Australopithecus who died nearly four million years ago. Her brain was about the size of a chimpanzee’s but she walked upright on the ground, like us.

The Sterkfontein Caves near Johannesburg lie within the Cradle of Humankind, one of South Africa’s 12 Unesco World Heritage Sites. Some of the science’s most important fossils have been discovered there.

Fossil technician Itumeleng Molefe working in the Sterkfontein Caves, as his father did before him. (Photo: Ihsaan Haffejee)

Today Molefe continues the work of his now-retired father. He too is a fossil technician in the caves, searching for fossils that may help unlock the mysteries of our past.

“Our work is important,” he said. “It helps our understanding and knowledge of the world we live in. The best part of my job is that we are constantly learning, discovering new things.” He added: “You have to have passion for this job to do it well, because it’s not easy.”

Fossil technicians play a vital role in Sterkfontein, doing far more than just extracting rocks. They spend hours painstakingly separating fossil from rock without damaging the fossil. They then cast replicas of the fossils for scientists to study, with the precious originals stored away for safekeeping. They also catalogue the finds, making sure everything is properly labelled and organised.

Fossil technician Abel Molepolle with an undated photo of his father David Molepolle, who joined the Sterkfontein Caves team in 1967. (Photo: Ihsaan Haffejee)

Many of the fossil technicians have been doing this job for decades, amassing huge knowledge of the caves and their fossils.

Dr Job Kibii, head of the Sterkfontein Caves, said the technicians’ knowledge and experience was an invaluable resource for researchers. “These guys might not have degrees, but they actually know everything. In fact, a number of them have actually taught the professors and researchers who come to the site.

“They show them how to distinguish between different fossils: which are from [non-human] animals, and which are from hominins. And then the professors eventually would go ahead and do the description. But initially they learned from these guys that this is what you should be looking for.”

Fossil technician Abel Molepolle casting a replica of a fossil from the Sterkfontein Caves. (Photo: Ihsaan Haffejee)

The legacy of colonialism and the skewed power dynamics of race and class have meant that, over the years, the work of fossil technicians – often black and with no formal higher education – has not been recognised. Their important contributions have been relegated to the footnotes of the pages that document their findings.

Technician Andrew Phaswana with fossil casts. Phaswana and his team create moulds from the original fossils and then cast replicas. These are used for scientific study while the precious originals are stored for safekeeping. (Photo: Ihsaan Haffejee)

‘It is an academic contribution’

Kibii said the scientific community’s lack of recognition had been a disservice to fossil technicians. He is now actively working to educate scientists doing research at the site on the importance of the technicians’ work.

“I want them to be included in the actual publications, in the actual descriptions of those specimens, so they can be recognised with academic contribution,” he said. “Because it is an academic contribution.”

Sipho Makhele excavates in the Sterkfontein Caves’ Silberberg Grotto, close to where the Australopithecus fossil Little Foot was discovered. (Photo: Ihsaan Haffejee)

“We are not asking for much,” said technician Sipho Makhele. “We are just asking to be acknowledged for the work we do.”

Makhele too has family ties to the site, as the third generation to work in the caves. It may go on to a fourth. “Now my young daughter is also interested and has begun her university studies in anthropology,” he said.

“So, we will keep digging and digging. There’s still plenty to find down there.”

An undated old photo of fossil technicians at the Sterkfontein Caves. Itumeleng Molefe’s’s father, Nkwane Molefe, is second from right. Steven Motsumi is fifth from right. The pair unearthed the famous Australopithecus fossil Little Foot while working under paleoanthropologist Ron Clarke.

Inside the Sterkfontein Caves, where some of the world’s most important human fossils have been discovered. (Photo: Ihsaan Haffejee)

Originally published by GroundUp on 30 June 2025.
© 2025 GroundUp. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The post The workers who hunt for fossils in South Africa’s Cradle of Humankind appeared first on South Africa Gateway.

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English has been spoken in South Africa for more than 200 years, at least since the British military seized the Cape of Good Hope settlement from the Dutch in 1795 to keep the Cape out of the hands of revolutionary France, then a Dutch ally.

Since then South Africa’s everyday English has gradually absorbed many words from African languages.

These influences include Afrikaans, a South African language that grew out of a variety of Dutch spoken in the 1500s. South African English also borrows from African languages such as isiZulu, isiXhosa, Sesotho and Setswana, and the indigenous languages of the Khoesan and Nama people.

Here and there are words imported by people from British, Portuguese and Dutch colonies: India, Mozambique, Malaysia and Indonesia. Later immigrants – people from Greece, Lebanon, Hungary, and European Jewish communities – added new words to local English.

English is the language of public life: government, business and the media. It’s estimated that half of South Africa’s people have a speaking knowledge of the language.

This glossary explains some of the words used when English is spoken in South Africa.

A: aardvark to aweh

aardvark (noun) – African burrowing mammal Orycteropus afer, with a tubular snout and long tongue which it uses to feed on ants and termites. From the Afrikaans aard (earth) and vark (pig).

aardwolf (noun) – African burrowing mammal Proteles cristatus, a member of the hyena family, which feeds mainly on termites. From the Afrikaans aard (earth) and wolf (wolf)

An aardwolf in the Hamerton Zoo in the UK. (Spencer Wright / CC BY 2.0)

abakwetha (noun, plural) – Young Xhosa men being initiated into manhood at initiation school. From the isiXhosa umkwetha, plural abakwetha.

abba (verb) – Carry an infant secured to your back with a blanket. From the Khoesan.

accrual (noun) – South African legal principle whereby a person going through a divorce may, if the value of their property has increased less than that of their spouse, claim at half of the difference in the accumulated value of their joint property.

Africanis (noun) – Indigenous African dog, thought to be related to other landrace dogs such as the dingo. Known for its intelligence, disease resistance and adaptation to its environment, the dog evolved in association with humans, instead of being artificially bred. The name was coined by University of KwaZulu-Natal expert Johan Gallant, from “Africa” and “canis”, the Latin for dog.

Afrikaans (noun) – South African language, developed out of the Dutch spoken in the country since the first Dutch East India Company settlement in the Cape, established in 1652. Afrikaans was considered a dialect of Dutch – known as “Cape Dutch” – until recognised as a language in the late 19th century. From the Dutch for “African”.

Afrikaner (noun) – Afrikaans-speaking South African. From the Dutch Afrikaan (an African).

Afrikaner (noun) – Indigenous South African Bos indicus breed of long-horned beef cattle.

ag (exclamation) – Expression of frustration, outrage, impatience or resignation: “Ag no! I spilled coffee on my keyboard again!”

Amakhosi (noun) – Affectionate term for the Kaizer Chiefs football club. From the isiZulu for “chiefs”.

amakhosi (noun, plural) – Traditional leaders; chiefs (plural). From the isiZulu.

amasi (noun) – Thick curdled milk, also known as maas; similar to yoghurt. A traditional drink, amasi is now produced commercially. From the isiXhosa and isiZulu.

Anglo-Boer War (noun) – War between the British and the Boers, the forebears of today’s Afrikaners, from 1899 to 1902. While strictly the Second Boer War – the first being fought from 1880 to 1881 – it was by far the more significant conflict. Today the Anglo-Boer War is better known as the South African War. This recognises that while the declared war was ostensibly between the British and Boers, other people – Africans and Indians – also took part, and were victims of the conflict.

Anglo-Zulu War (noun) – War between the British and the Zulus, fought in 1879. Most famous for the battle of Isandlwana, in which the British colonial army suffered their greatest single military defeat ever.

apartheid (noun) – Literally “apartness” in Afrikaans, apartheid was the policy of racial segregation implemented by the National Party from 1948 to 1994. It continued British colonial labour exploitation of South Africa’s black majority, and their exclusion from the country’s mainstream economic, educational and social life.

askies (exclamation) – Sorry, excuse me, I apologise. From the Afrikaans “ekskuus” (excuse me).

atchar (noun) – A spicy relish of Indian origin, much like a mix between chutney and a pickle and usually made from green mangoes. From Persian.

aweh (exclamation) – Enthusiastic yes, absolutely.

B: babbelas to bushveld

babbelas (noun) – Hangover. From the isiZulu ibhabhalazi (hangover).

bagel (noun) – Overly groomed materialistic young man, and the male version of a kugel. From the Yiddish word for the pastry.

bakgat (exclamation and adjective) – Fantastic, cool, awesome. From the Afrikaans.

bakkie (noun) – Utility truck, pick-up truck. Diminutive of the Afrikaans bak (container).

Basotho (noun, plural) – The South Sotho people, principally those living in Lesotho. The singular is Mosotho.

Downtown Maseru, the capital of Lesotho. The demonym for the country’s citizens is Basotho. (Stefan Krasowski / CC BY 2.0)

berg (noun) – Mountain. From the Afrikaans.

bergie (noun, derogatory) – Originally referred to homeless people who sheltered in the forests of Cape Town’s Table Mountain. It’s now a derogatory word for homeless people, generally. From the Afrikaans berg (mountain).

big five, the (noun) – Africa’s famous five wildlife species: lion, elephant, buffalo, leopard and rhino.

biltong (noun) – Dried and salted meat, similar to beef jerky, although it can be made from ostrich, kudu or any other red meat. The privations of early white colonialism made drying and salting, often with vinegar and spices, an essential means of preserving meat. From the Afrikaans, originally from the Dutch bil (rump) and tong (strip or tongue).

bioscope (noun, dated) – Cinema or movie theatre, originally a word widespread in Commonwealth countries such as South Africa and Australia that, although generally out of use, has survived longer in South Africa because of the influence of the Afrikaans bioskoop.

biscuit (noun) – Both a cookie and a term of affection for a person.

bittereinder (noun) – Bitter-ender or diehard; Boer who refused to surrender and continued to resist after defeat at the end of the Anglo-Boer War.

blesbok (noun) – South African antelope Damaliscus dorcas phillipsi, with a reddish-brown coat and prominent white blaze on the face. From the Afrikaans bles (blaze) and bok (buck).

bliksem (verb and noun) – To beat up, hit or punch – or a mischievous person. From the Afrikaans for “lightning”. See donder.

blooming (adjective and adverb) – Very, extremely, used with irritation: “My laptop’s a blooming mess after I spilled coffee on the keyboard.”

bobotie (noun) – Dish of Malay origin, made with minced meat and spices, and topped with an egg sauce. The recipe arrived in South Africa during the country’s Dutch occupation, via slaves from Dutch East India Company colonies in Jakarta, in today’s Indonesia. From the Indonesian bobotok.

boekenhout (noun) – The Cape beech tree Rapanea melanophloeos, or its wood. From the Afrikaans beuk (beech) and hout (wood).

boep (noun) – Pot belly, paunch; generally associated with the conformation of older – or beer-drinking – men. Shortened form of the Afrikaans boepens (paunch), from the Dutch boeg (bow of ship) and pens (stomach).

boer (noun) – Farmer. From the Afrikaans and Dutch.

Boer (noun) – Member of a nation descended from the Dutch settlers who arrived in South Africa in 1652, with some intermingling with French Huguenots, German immigrants, indigenous people and others. The Boers trekked by oxwagon from the Cape into the South African hinterland, formed short-lived republics, and went on to fight a major war with the British empire, the Anglo-Boer War. Today’s white Afrikaners are the descendants of the Boers. From the Afrikaans and Dutch for “farmer”.

Boer Goat (noun) – Hardy and productive South African goat breed, a cross between indigenous and European goat types. From the Afrikaans boer (farmer).

Boerboel, Boerbul, Boerbul (noun) – Large and powerful South African breed of dog, crossbred from the Mastiff and indigenous breeds such as the Africanis and Ridgeback, originally for farm work. From the Afrikaans boer (farmer) and Dutch bul (Mastiff).

boerewors (noun) – Savoury sausage developed by the Boers, the forebears of today’s Afrikaners, some 200 years ago, and still popular at braais across South Africa. Also known as wors. From the Afrikaans boer (farmer) and wors (sausage, Dutch worst).

Boerperd (noun) – South African horse breed, the product of cross-breeding indigenous horses with breeds introduced by early European settlers. From the Afrikaans boer (farmer) and perd (horse).

boet (noun) – Term of affection, from the Afrikaans for “brother”.

bok (noun) – Buck. From the Afrikaans.

bokkom, bokkem (noun) – South African salted fish hung on an outdoor rack for wind-drying – a kind of fish biltong. From the Dutch bokking, bokkem (smoked herring).

Bokkom for sale in a Western Cape farm shop. (Andy Carter / CC BY 2.0)

boma (noun) – In South Africa, an open thatched structure used for dinners, entertainment and parties. Originally a form of log fortification used to keep livestock in or enemies out. The word is used across Africa and is of uncertain origin.

bonsella (noun) – Bonus, surprise gift, something extra, or bribe. From the isiZulu bansela (offer a gift in gratitude).

Bonsmara (noun) – South African breed of beef cattle, cross-bred for both hardiness in local conditions and high production from Shorthorn, Hereford and indigenous Afrikaner cattle. The name comes from Professor Jan Bonsma, who developed the breed, and the Mara research station where it was first produced.

bontebok (noun) – African antelope (Damaliscus dorcas dorcas) with a white-and-brown hide, related to the blesbok. From the Afrikaans bont (pied) and bok (buck).

boom (noun) – Marijuana, dagga. From the Afrikaans for “tree”.

bosberaad (noun) – Strategy meeting or conference, usually held in a remote bushveld location such as a game farm. From the Afrikaans bos (bush) and raad (council).

brah (noun) – Brother, friend, mate. Shortening of “brother”.

braai (noun) – Meat cooked outside; equivalent of barbeque. From the Afrikaans for “roast”.

bredie (noun) – Originally mutton stew, introduced by Malay slaves brought to South Africa by the Dutch East India Company. It now refers to any kind of stew. Tomato bredie – stewed tomato and onions served with pap at a braai – is a favourite. From the Afrikaans, originally perhaps from the Portuguese bredo.

broekie lace (noun) – Ornate wooden or metal fretwork found on the verandahs of Victorian and Edwardian houses, mainly in the Western Cape. “Broekie” is Afrikaans for panties.

bru (noun) – Term of affection, shortened from Afrikaans and Dutch broer, meaning “brother”.

Buccaneers (noun) – Affectionate term for the Orlando Pirates football team. From the historical word for “pirate”.

bunny chow (noun) – Curry served in a hollowed-out half-loaf of bread, with the hollowed-out piece of bread placed on top. The dish originated in Durban’s immigrant Indian community, who arrived in what was then the colony of Natal from 1860 onwards.
It is believed that bunny chow was a convenient food on the go for Indian labourers working in the colony’s sugarcane plantations.
“Chow” is a South African informal for food, perhaps from “chow-chow”, a relish that gets its name from the French chou (cabbage). The origin of “bunny” in bunny chow is, according to one theory, that the meal was first sold at a Durban restaurant run by Banias, an Indian caste. Also see “kota“.

Bushman (noun) – Member of a population group indigenous to southern Africa, with a far deeper history than any other settlers in the region. Bushmen are also known as San. There is some debate on the political correctness of the use of “San” versus “Bushman”.

bushveld (noun) – South Africa’s tropical savannah ecoregion, a terrain of thick scrubby trees and bush in dense thickets, with grassy ground cover between. From the Afrikaans bos (bush) and veld (field).

C: café to cousin

café, caffee (noun) – Convenience store, similar to a bodega. See spaza shop.

A Casspir armoured vehicle on display at Ysterplaat Air Force Base in Cape Town. (Bob Adams / CC BY-SA 2.0)

Casspir (noun) – South African armoured vehicle, infamously deployed in townships during the anti-apartheid uprisings of the 1980s. Originally designed as a landmine-proof vehicle for use in South Africa’s border war with Angola, in the same era. Casspir is an anagram of SAP and CSIR: the customer was the South African Police (SAP), and the developer the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

chakalaka (noun) – a spicy vegetable dish traditionally served as a sauce or relish with bread, pap, samp, stews or curries

check you (exclamation) – Goodbye, see you later.

china (noun) – Friend, mate. From the Cockney rhyming slang “china plate” = “mate”.

chiskop, chizkop, cheesekop, kaaskop (noun) – Bald person, particularly one with a shaved head. Kop is Afrikaans for head; the origin of the chis part is unclear. Otherwise known as kaaskop; kaas is Afrikaans for “cheese”.

chommie (noun) – Friend, mate. From the UK English chum, with the Afrikaans diminutive “ie”.

chop (noun) – Fool, idiot; often used affectionately.

Clever Boys, the (noun) – Affectionate term for the University of the Witwatersrand football club, Wits FC.

cooldrink, colddrink (noun) – Sweet fizzy drink such as Coca-Cola.

cousin, cuzzy (noun) – Friend, mate.

D: dagga to dwaal

dagga (noun) – Marijuana. From the Khoesan dachab.

dagha (noun) – Building mortar or plaster traditionally made with mud mixed with cow-dung and blood. Today it also refers to regular cement mortar and plaster. From the isiZulu and isiXhosa udaka (clay, mud).

dassie (noun) – Rock hyrax or Cape hyrax (Procavia capensis), a small herbivore that lives in mountainous habitats. From the Afrikaans das (badger).

deurmekaar (adjective) – Confused, disorganised or stupid, from the Afrikaans word of the same meaning.

dinges (noun) – Thing, thingamabob, whatzit, whatchamacallit, whatsizname or person with a forgotten name: “When is dinges coming around?” From the Afrikaans and Dutch ding (thing).

An unnamed man is photographed with his dompas in 1985. (UN Photo / CC BY-NC-ND)

doek (noun) – Woman’s head scarf. From the Afrikaans.

dolos (noun) – Blocks of concrete in an H-shape, with one arm rotated through 90º. The dolos is a South African invention, with the interlocking blocks piled together to protect harbour seawalls and preserve beaches from erosion. The word comes from the Afrikaans for the knuckle bones in a sheep’s leg. The plural is dolosse.

dompas (noun) – Passbook black South Africans were required by law to carry at all times in “white” urban areas during the apartheid era. From the Afrikaans dom (dumb, stupid) and pas (pass).

donga (noun) – Ditch or deep fissure caused by severe soil erosion. From the isiZulu and isiXhosa udonga.

donner (verb) – Hit, beat up. From the Afrikaans donder (thunder). See bliksem.

dop (noun and verb) – Small tot of alcoholic drink. Also failure: “I dopped the test.” From the Afrikaans.

dorp (noun) – Small rural town. From the Afrikaans and Dutch dorp (village).

droë wors (noun) – Dried boerewors, similar to biltong. From the Afrikaans droe (dry) and wors (sausage).

Durbs (noun) – The city of Durban.

dwaal (noun and verb) – Lack of concentration or focus: “Sorry, I was in a bit of a dwaal. Could you repeat that?” Or, as a verb: “I was dwaaling down the street, going nowhere.” From the Afrikaans for err, wander or roam.

E: Egoli to ekasi

Egoli (noun) – Johannesburg, and the title of a local soap opera set in the city. From the isiXhosa and isiZulu for “place of gold”; Johannesburg is historically South Africa’s primary gold-producing area, and the country’s richest city.

eina (exclamation and adjective) – Ouch! or Ow! Can also mean “sore”. Example (exclamation): “Eina! I just cut my finger.” Example (adjective): “That cut was eina.” From the Khoesan /é + //náu.

eish (exclamation) – Expression of surprise, wonder, frustration or outrage. Example: “Eish! That cut was eina!” From the isiXhosa and isiZulu.

ekasi See kasie

F: Fanagolo to fynbos

Black, white and Chinese labourers in a South African gold mine some time between 1890 and 1923. The pidgin language Fanakolo developed to allow communication between the many different people brought to work on the mines. (Carpenter Collection, US Library of Congress)

Fanagolo, Fanakolo (noun) – Pidgin language that grew up mainly on South Africa’s gold mines to allow communication between white supervisors and African labourers during the colonial and apartheid era. It combines elements of the Nguni languages, English, and Afrikaans. From the Nguni fana ka lo, from fana (be like) and the possessive suffix -ka + lo (this).

fixed up (exclamation) – That’s good, yes, sorted. Example: “Let’s meet at the restaurant.” The reply: “Fixed up.”

flog (verb) – Sell. “I’ve had enough of this laptop. I think it’s time I flogged it.”

for sure, sure, sure-sure (exclamation) – Yes; general affirmative.

frikkadel (noun) – Meatball or rissole. From the Afrikaans, originally from the French fricandeau (fried sliced meat served with sauce).

fundi (noun) – Expert. From the Nguni umfundisi (teacher, preacher).

fynbos (noun) – “Fine bush” in Afrikaans, fynbos is a vegetation type unique to the Cape Floral Region – a Unesco World Heritage Site – made up of some 6 000 plant species, including many types of protea.

G: gatvol to Griqualand

gatvol (adjective) – Fed up. From the Afrikaans.

gemsbok (noun) – Large African antelope (Oryx gazella) with long, straight horns. From the Afrikaans gems (chamois, a European goat-antelope) and bok (buck).

gogga, goggo (noun) – Insect, bug. From the Khoikhoi xo-xon.

A gogga. (Pimthida / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

gogo (noun) – Grandmother or elderly woman. From the isiZulu.

gramadoelas (noun) – Wild or remote country. From the Afrikaans, perhaps originally from the isiXhosa and isiZulu induli (hillock).

grand apartheid (noun) – The most systematic and rigid implementation of apartheid, such as the creation of the “homelands” under the policy of “separate development”, during the 1960s and 1970s.

graze (verb) – Eat.

Griqua (noun, plural and singular) – South African population group, or a member of that group, descended from a mix of early (from 1652) European blood with that of the indigenous Khokhoi, San and Tswana. They generally speak Afrikaans, and have their own church, the Protestant Griqua Church. “Griqua” is a Nama word.

Griqualand (noun) – Two South African regions historically occupied by the Griqua. Griqualand East, on the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal frontier, was settled by Adam Kok III and over 2 000 Griquas after a trek across the Drakensberg mountains in 1861. Today the region is centred around the town of Kokstad (Kok’s city). Griqualand West is the area around Kimberley, the capital of the Northern Cape. “Griqua” is a Nama word.

H: hamerkop to howzit

Howzit Kitty! (JD Hancock / CC BY 2.0)

hamerkop (noun) – South African marsh bird (Scopus umbretta), related to the storks, with a prominent crest on the head. From the Afrikaans hamer (hammer) and kop (head).

Hanepoot (noun) – Sweet wine made from the muscat blanc d’Alexandrie grape cultivar, and an alternate name for this cultivar.

hang of a (adjective) – Very or big, as in: “It’s hang of a difficult” or “I had a hang of a problem”.

hey (exclamation) – Expression that can be used as a standalone question meaning “pardon?” or “what?” – “Hey? What did you say?” Or it can be used to prompt affirmation or agreement, as in “It was a great film, hey?”

homelands (noun) – The spurious “independent” states in which black South Africans were forced to take citizenship under the policy of apartheid. Also known as bantustans.

howzit (exclamation) – Common South African greeting that translates roughly as “How are you?”, “How are things?” or just “Hello”. From “How is it?”

I: imbizo to isiZulu

imbizo (noun) – Gathering called by a traditional leader, or any meeting or workshop. From the isiZulu biza (call, summon)

imbongi (noun) – Traditional praise singer. From the isiXhosa and isiZulu.

indaba (noun) – Conference or expo. From the isiZulu and isiXhosa for “matter” or “discussion”.

inyanga (noun) – Traditional herbalist and healer. From the Nguni.

is it (exclamation) – Is that so?

Iscamtho, isiCamtho (noun) – Tsotsitaal (gangster language), a widely-spoken township patois made up of an amalgam of words from isiZulu, isiXhosa, Afrikaans and some English. From the isiZulu camto (speak).

isiNdebele (noun) – Nguni language of the Ndebele people.

isiXhosa (noun) – Nguni language of the Xhosa people.

isiZulu (noun) – Nguni language of the Zulu people.

J: ja to just now

Johannesburg, a city also known as Joeys, Jozi and Egoli. (South African Tourism / CC BY 2.0)

ja (exclamation) – Yes. From the Afrikaans.

jawelnofine (exclamation) – Literally, “yes (ja in Afrikaans), well, no, fine”, all in a single word. An expression of resignation or puzzlement similar to “How about that?”

jislaaik (exclamation) – Expression of outrage, surprise or consternation: “Jislaaik, I spilled coffee on my laptop!” From the Afrikaans.

Joburg (noun) – Johannesburg, South Africa’s largest city. Once informal, it is now used on the City of Johannesburg logo.

Joeys (noun) – Johannesburg, South Africa’s largest city

jol (noun, verb and adjective) – Celebration, fun, party (noun); celebrate, have fun, party, dance and drink (verb). A person who does these things is a joller. From the Afrikaans for “dance” or “party”; perhaps related to “jolly”. Occasionally spelled “jawl” or “jorl”.

Jozi (noun) – Johannesburg, South Africa’s largest city

just now (adverb) – Soonish, not immediately.

K: kaaskop to kwela-kwela

kaaskop, chiskop, chizkop, cheesekop (noun) – Bald person, or person with a shaved head. “Kop” is Afrikaans for head. “Kaas” is the Afrikaans for cheese. Why “cheese head” means bald person is not clear.

kasie (noun) – Shortened form of the Afrikaans lokasie (location), the older word for township – the low-income dormitory suburbs outside cities and towns to which black South Africans were confined during the apartheid era.

Kasie street scene. (Jason Sayer / CC BY-ND 2.0)

khaya (noun) – Home. From the Nguni group of languages.

Khoekhoe (noun) – Standardised spelling of “Khoikhoi” in the Khoekhoe Nama languages.

Khoikhoi [also Quena] (noun) – Indigenous Khoesan people living in southwestern South Africa, Namibia and Botswana, including the Nama, and their languages. From the Nama for “people people” or “real people”.

Khoisan (noun) – Collective term for the Khoi and San people of South Africa. Also Khoesan.

kiepersol (noun) – Cabbage tree. From the Afrikaans, originally perhaps from the obsolete Indian English kittisol (parasol). The tree has some resemblance to an umbrella.

kif (adjective) – Cool, good, enjoyable. From the Arabic kayf (enjoyment, wellbeing).

kikoi (noun) – Patterned cotton cloth. From the Kiswahili.

Kiswahili (noun) – Swahili, the language.

knobkierie (noun) – Fighting stick with a knob on the business end. From the Afrikaans knop (knob) and the Khoesan kirri or keeri, (stick).

koeksuster (noun) – Also spelled koeksister. Traditional Malay and Afrikaner sweet, made from twisted yeast dough, deep fried and dipped in syrup. The right-wing enclave of Orania in the Northern Cape even has its own statue to the koeksister. The word comes from the Dutch koek (cake) and sissen (to sizzle).

koki (noun) – Coloured marker or felt-tip pen. From a local brand name.

kombi (noun) – Minibus taxi. From the Volkswagen proprietary name Kombi, from the German Kombiwagen. Volkswagen minibuses were the first used in the initial stages of South Africa’s minibus taxi transport revolution of the early 1980s, although today other vehicle makes are used.

konfyt (noun) – Sweet fruit preserve. From the Afrikaans, originally from the Dutch konfit.

koppie (noun) – Small hill. From the Afrikaans.

korhaan (noun) – Group of species of long-legged African bird (genus Eupodotis) found in open country. From the Dutch korhaan (black male grouse), from korren (too coo) and haan (cock).

A korhaan in the Kruger National Park. (Bernard Dupont / CC BY SA 2.0)

kota (noun) – A quarter loaf of bread hollowed out and filled with combinations of atchar, polony (Bologna), Russian sausages, slap chips, cheese, eggs, chilli sauce and more. A street food variant of the more suburban bunny chow. From the English “quarter”.

kraal (noun) – Enclosure for livestock, or a rural village of huts surrounded by a stockade. The word may come from the Portuguese curral (corral), or from the Dutch kraal (bead), as in the beads of a necklace – kraals are generally round in shape.

krans (noun) – Cliff; overhanging wall of rock. From the Afrikaans.

kudu (noun) – Large African antelope (Tragelaphus strepsiceros and Tragelaphus imberbis). From the Afrikaans koedoe, originally from the isiXhosa i-qudu.

kwaito (noun) – Music of South Africa’s urban black youth, which first emerged in the 1990s. Kwaito is a mixture of South African disco, hip hop, R&B, ragga, and a heavy dose of house music beats. From the Tsotsitaal or township informal amakwaitosi (gangster).

kwela (noun) – Popular form of township music from the 1950s, based on the pennywhistle – a cheap and simple instrument used by street performers. The term kwela comes from the isiZulu for “get up” or “climb on”, also township slang for police vans, the kwela-kwela. It is said that the young men who played the pennywhistle on street corners also acted as lookouts to warn those drinking in illegal shebeens of the arrival of the cops.

kwela-kwela (noun) – Police van, or minibus taxi. From the isiXhosa and isiZulu for “climb on”.

L: laatlammetjie to loerie

Central Johannesburg at night, without loadshedding. (Pascal Parent / CC BY NC-ND)

laatlammetjie (noun) – Youngest child of a family, born to older parents and much younger than their siblings. The word means “late lamb” in Afrikaans.

laduma! (exclamation) – A yell to celebrate a goal scored in a football match, from the isiZulu for “it thunders”.

lapa (noun) – Open-sided enclosure, usually roofed with thatch, used as an outdoor entertainment area. From the Sesotho for “homestead” or “courtyard”.

lappie (noun) – Cleaning cloth. From the Afrikaans, originally from the Dutch for “rag” or “cloth”.

lekgotla (noun) – Planning or strategy session. From the Setswana for “meeting” or “meeting place”.

lekker (adjective and adverb) – Nice, good, great, cool or tasty. From the Afrikaans.

load-shedding (noun) – Planned electricity blackout in a specific area, to relieve pressure on South Africa’s national power grid.

location (noun) – South African township; lokasie or kasie in Afrikaans.

loerie (noun) – Number of species of large fruit-eating African bird (genus Tauraco and others). From the Afrikaans, originally from the Malay luri (parrot).

loskop (noun) – A ditz, a scatterbrain. Afrikaans for “loose head” or “lost head”.

M: maas to Mzansi

maas, amasi (noun) – Thick curdled milk, similar to yoghurt. Maas is both made at home and can be bought ready-made. From the isiXhosa and isiZulu.

Madiba (noun) – Affectionate name for Nelson Mandela, and the name of his clan.

madumbe (noun) – South African potato-like tuber (Colocasia esculenta and Colocasia antiquorum), cultivated mostly in KwaZulu-Natal, greyish in colour and rather tasty. From the isiZulu amadumbe.

makarapa (noun) – A plastic miner’s helmet cut, moulded and painted to make headgear worn by fans at football matches. From isiXhosa.

mal (adjective) – Mad. from the Afrikaans.

mama (noun) – An affectionate or polite name for older women.

mamba (noun) – Species of large and venomous African snake – the black mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis), the green mamba (Dendroaspis angustipecs), and other species. From the isiZulu imamba.

mampara (noun) – An idiot; a stupid or silly person. The Sunday Times newspaper shames wrongdoers in public life with its Mampara of the Week award. From Fanagolo.

mampoer (noun) – Strong brandy made from peaches or other fruit, similar to moonshine. An Afrikaans word with uncertain etymology; perhaps from the Pedi chief Mampuru. See witblitz.

A mampoer still in the town of Groot Marico, North West province. (South African Tourism / CC BY 2.0)

marula, maroela (noun) – South African woodland tree (Sclerocarya birrea caffra) with sweet yellow fruit. The fruit is now used in a locally produced commercial liqueur marketed as Amarula. From the Sesotho morula.

Matabele (noun) – Nguni-language-speaking people of Zimbabwe, and the majority population group in that country.

mbube (noun) – Style of South African township music developed in the 1940s by Zulu migrants to urban areas. The first example of the style was the song Mbube by Solomon Linda and the Evening Birds. The song was copied as Wimoweh by Pete Seeger in 1952, and as The Lion Sleeps Tonight by The Tokens in 1961. It also featured in Disney’s hit animated film The Lion King. Solomon Linda died in 1962 with less than R100 in his bank account. His family couldn’t afford a headstone for his grave. The song is said to have generated some US$15-million in royalties. Linda’s descendants were only compensated for seven decades of copyright infringement in 2007, for an undisclosed amount. “Mbube” is isiZulu for “lion”.

mealie (noun) – Maize or corn. A mealie is a maize cob, and mealie meal is maize meal, mostly cooked into pap, South Africa’s staple food. From the Afrikaans mielie.

melktert (noun) – “Milk tart”, a traditional Afrikaner dessert. From the Afrikaans.

MK (noun) – Abbreviation of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the African National Congress army in exile.

mlungu (noun) – White person. From the Nguni. The plural is abelungu.

moegoe (noun) – Fool, buffoon, idiot or simpleton. From Afrikaans and Tsotsitaal.

moer (verb) – Hit, punch, beat up. From the Afrikaans “murder”.

mokoro (noun) – Dugout canoe used in Botswana.

mopani, mopane (noun) – South African tree of the northern bushveld, Colophospermun mopane, and the bioregion associated with the tree.

mopani worm (noun) – Moth caterpillar that feeds on the leaves of the mopani tree. Fried, the caterpillar is also a traditional dish.

morogo (noun) – Spinach; more specifically African spinach. From the Setswana and Sesotho “wild spinach” or “vegetables”.

Mosotho (noun) – A South Sotho person. The plural is Basotho.

mossie (noun) – Cape sparrow or house sparrow, but sometimes used to refer to any small undistinguished wild bird. From the Afrikaans, originally from the Dutch mosje, a diminutive of mos (sparrow).

mozzie (noun) – mosquito.

muti, muthi (noun) – Medicine, typically indigenous African medicine, from the isiZulu umuthi.

Mzansi (noun) – South Africa. From the isiXhosa for “south”.

N: naartjie to now-now

An Nguni cow showing the breed’s distinctive patterned hide, on a beach in Morgan’s Bay on the Wild Coast of the Eastern Cape. (GarethPhoto / CC BY NC-ND 2.0)

naartjie (noun) – Tangerine (Citrus reticulata). From the Afrikaans, originally from the Tamil nārattai.

Nama, Namaqua, Namaqualander (noun) – Khoikhoi people of South Africa’s Northern Cape province and southwest Namibia, one of those people, and the language they speak. From the Nama word for themselves.

Namaqualand (noun) – Arid region of South Africa’s Northern Cape province and southwestern Namibia, inhabited largely by the Nama people and known for its annual explosion of desert flowers.

Namaqualand daisy (noun) – South African daisy Dimorphotheca sinuate, with bright yellow, orange or white flowers, which once a year carpets the arid northwest region of Namaqualand with colour.

Ndebele (noun) – Two groups on Nguni people, one found in southwest Zimbabwe and the other in northeast South Africa, or a member of one of these groups. Their language is isiNdebele.

nê (exclamation) – “Really?”, “Oh yeah?” or “Is that so?”. Used sarcastically or as an invitation to agreement, similar to “yes?”, as in: “This is a lekker kota, nê?” From the Afrikaans.

Nguni (noun) – Breed of indigenous South African long-horned cattle (Bos indicus) long associated with the Zulu and Xhosa people, with beautiful and varied black, brown, white and tan patterns on their hide.

Nguni (noun) – Wide and diverse group of people who speak Bantu languages, or one of these languages, living mainly in southern Africa. Nguni peoples include the Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele and Swazi (also known as Swati), with the corresponding languages of isiZulu, isiXhosa, isiNdebele and siSwati.

Nkone (noun) – Breed of indigenous long-horned Zebu (Bos indicus) beef cattle, with a piebald hide.

now-now (adverb) – Shortly, in a bit: “I’ll be there now-now.”

O: oke to oribi

oke, ou (noun) – Man, similar to guy or bloke. The word ou can be used interchangeably. From the Afrikaans ou (old).

ola (exclamation) – Hello, greetings, how are you.

oribi (noun) – Small African antelope (Ourebia ourebi) with a reddish tan back and white underparts.

P: pap to protea

pap (noun) – Porridge made from mealie meal (maize meal) cooked with water and salt to a fairly stiff consistency – “stywepap” being the stiffest. The staple food of South Africa. “Pap” can also mean weak or tired. From the Afrikaans.

papsak (noun) – Cheap box wine sold in its foil container, without the box. From the Afrikaans pap (soft) and sak (sack).

pasop (verb) – Beware or watch out. From the Afrikaans.

Perlé (noun) – Semi-sweet, slightly sparkly and somewhat cheap South African wine. From the German Perlwein (slightly sparkling wine).

The flat land of the platteland. A misty road in the Karoo. (Johann Barnard / CC BY NC-ND 2.0)

perlemoen (noun) – Abalone (Haliotis midae), a large shellfish much like a giant mussel. A delicacy, perlemoen fetch a high price internationally, putting the species under constant threat from poachers.From the Middle Dutch perlemoeder, mother of pearl: perl means pearl, moeder means mother.

phuza (noun) – Alcohol, liquor. “Phuza face” describes a person with a face puffy and bloated from drinking. From the isiXhosa and isiZulu, “drink”.

piet-my-vrou (noun) – The red-chested cuckoo (Cuculus solitarus). The name, mimicking the bird’s call, means “Peter my wife” in Afrikaans.

platteland (noun) – Farmland, countryside. Literally “flat land” in Afrikaans (plat means flat), it now refers to any rural area in which agriculture takes place.

potjie (noun) – Rounded and three-legged cast-iron pot, with a lid, used for cooking stew over an open fire. From the Afrikaans diminutive for “pot”.

potjiekos (noun) – Food – mostly long-stewed meat and vegetables – cooked in a potjie. A potjie, in Afrikaans, is a three-legged cast-iron pot used for cooking over an open fire; kos is Afrikaans for “food”.

protea (noun) – Group of South African fynbos plant species (genus Protea) with distinctive cone-like flower heads. The king protea is the country’s national flower.

Q: quagga to quiver tree

quagga (noun) – Extinct South African zebra (Equus quagga), with stripes only on its forequarters and a reddish-brown hide behind its stripes, native to South Africa’s Cape provinces. The species was indiscriminately hunted in the colonial era, until its last living specimen died at the Amsterdam zoo on 12 August 1883.

Quena (noun) – Khoikhoi

quiver tree (noun) – Tree-like aloe plant (Aloe dichotoma), mostly found in the desert regions of Namibia and South Africa’s Northern Cape province. The plant’s branches were used by the San Bushmen to make quivers for their arrows.

R: rand to rooinek

Red ants remove people’s belongings during a mass eviction at Fatti Mansions in Hillbrow, Johannesburg in July 2017. (YouTube)

rand (noun) – South Africa’s currency, made up of 100 cents. The name comes from the Witwatersrand (Dutch for “white waters ridge”), the region in Gauteng province in which most of the country’s gold deposits are found.

ratel (noun) – Honey badger, (Mellivora capensis). Found throughout Africa, as well as in the Middle East and Asia, the ratel is one of the world’s smallest but fiercest carnivores. The animal has been classed the world’s most fearless animal for many years. “Ratel” is also the name given to the basic infantry fighting vehicle of the South African military’s mechanised infantry battalions.

red ants (noun) – Security forces used by the Johannesburg city council to evict people from shacks, flats and other dwellings. The name comes from the red overalls they wear.

Ridgeback (noun) – Formerly Rhodesian Ridgeback, a breed of southern African dog developed from a mix indigenous dogs such as the Africanis and sturdy working European breeds. The Ridgeback has short reddish fur, rising to a distinctive ridge on its back.

robot (noun) – Traffic lights.

rock up (verb) – Arrive somewhere, often unannounced or uninvited. Example: “I was going to go out but then my china rocked up.”

rooibos (noun) – Afrikaans for “red bush”, this popular South African tea made from the Cyclopia genistoides bush is gaining worldwide popularity for its health benefits.

rooinek (noun) – English-speaking white South African, from the Afrikaans for “red neck”. It was first coined by Afrikaners to refer to immigrants from England, whose white necks were particularly prone to sunburn. See soutpiel.

S: samoosa to Swazi

samoosa (noun) – Small, spicy, triangular-shaped savoury pie deep-fried in oil, introduced to South Africa by the Indian and Malay communities. In the UK they are called “samosas”. From the Persian and Urdu.

San (noun) – Southern African Bushmen, a member of that group, or their language. From the Nama sān (meaning “aboriginals”, “settlers” or gatherers). There is some debate on the use of “San” versus “Bushman”.

sangoma (noun) – Traditional healer or diviner. From the isiZulu isangoma.

sarmie (noun) – Sandwich.

scale, scaly (verb and adjective) – To scale something means to steal it. A scaly person is not to be trusted.

separate development (noun) – Grand apartheid euphemism for segregation and the “homelands” policy. The argument was that the different races, separated in a single country, would be allowed to develop according to their own ability and culture. The reality was gross exploitation and poverty for black South Africans, and undeserved and unbalanced prosperity for the country’s white people.

Sepedi (noun) – Another name for Sesotho sa Leboa, the Northern Sotho language of the Basotho people.

Sesotho (noun) – Southern Sotho language of the Basotho people.

Sesotho sa Leboa (noun) – Northern Sotho (literally “Sotho of the north”) language of the Basotho people. Identified in Founding Provisions of the South African Constitution, which deals in part with language rights, as “Sepedi”.

Setswana (noun) – Bantu language of the Tswana people.

shame (exclamation) – Broadly denotes sympathetic feeling or pleasure. Someone admiring a baby, kitten or puppy might say: “Ag shame!” to emphasise its cuteness. Also used to express sympathy. As writer Jacob Dlamini says: “Only in South Africa would people use the word shame when a baby is born (“Shame, what a beautiful baby!”); when that baby falls and hurts itself (“Shame, poor thing!”) and when that baby dies (“Ag shame, what a shame!”). To us, shame is just one of those words that have become something of an omnibus. We use it to mean whatever we want it to mean.”

sharp (exclamation) – Often doubled up for effect as “sharp-sharp!”, the word is used as a greeting, a farewell, for agreement or just to express enthusiasm.

shebeen (noun) – Township tavern, illegal under the apartheid regime, often set up in a private house. Similar to a US prohibition-era speakeasy. From the 18th-century Anglo-Irish síbín, from séibe, “mugful”.

Shona (noun) – A member of a Bantu-language-speaking group of people found in northern parts of South Africa, but mostly in southern Zimbabwe, and their language.

Songololo. (Marco Zanferrari / CC BY SA 2.0)

shongololo, songololo (noun) – Large brown millipede, from the isiXhosa and isiZulu ukushonga (to roll up).

shot (noun) – Good, yes, it’s been done.

shweet (noun) – Good, yes.

siSwati (noun) – Nguni language of the Swazi people.

sjambok (noun and verb) – Stout leather whip made from animal hide. As verb, to hit someone or something with the whip. From the Dutch tjambok, from the Urdu chābuk.

skelm (noun and adverb) – Shifty or untrustworthy person; a criminal. As an adverb, to do something on the sly. From the Afrikaans, from the Dutch schelm.

skinner (noun and verb) – Gossip, to gossip. A person who gossips is known as a skinnerbek (gossip mouth). From the Afrikaans.

skollie (noun) – Gangster, criminal, from the Greek skolios, crooked.

skop, skiet en donner (noun) – Action movie. Taken from Afrikaans, it literally means “kick, shoot and beat up”.

skrik (noun) – Fright: “I caught a big skrik” means “I got a big fright”. From the Afrikaans.

skrik vir niks (adjective) – Scared of nothing. From the Afrikaans.

slap chips chips) (noun) – French fries, usually soft, oily and vinegar-drenched. Slap is Afrikaans for “limp”.

smokes (noun) – Cigarettes.

snoek (noun) – A fish (Thyrsites atun) of the southern oceans. From the Afrikaans.

snotsiekte (noun) – Malignant catarrhal fever, a disease to which wildebeest are prone, characterised by excessive production of nasal mucous, or snot. From the Afrikaans snot (snot) and siekte (sickness).

sosatie (noun) – Kebab on a stick. Afrikaans, from the South African Dutch sasaattje, from the Javanese sesate. Java, like the Cape, was a Dutch East India Company colony.

Sotho (noun) – Member of a group of people living mainly in Lesotho, Botswana and the northern parts of South Africa, and their languages.

South African War (noun) – Modern term for the Anglo-Boer War of 1880 to 1881, to more accurately reflect that while the named combatants were the British and Boers, other communities – such as Africans and Indians – also took part.

soutpiel (noun) – English-speaking white South African, literally “salty penis” in Afrikaans. The idea is the soutpiel has one foot in South Africa, the other in England, with the penis dipped in the ocean between. See rooinek.

Soweto (noun) – South Africa’s largest township, in the south of the City of Johannesburg municipality. From the abbreviation of South Western Townships.

Base jumping off the Orlando Towers in Soweto. (Annette Lyn O’Neil / CC BY NC-ND)

spanspek (noun) – Cantaloupe, an orange-fleshed melon. The word comes from the Afrikaans Spaanse spek, meaning “Spanish bacon”. The story goes that Juana Smith, the Spanish wife of 19th-century Cape governor Harry Smith, ate melon instead of bacon for breakfast, and her Afrikaans-speaking servants coined the word.

spaza shop (noun) – Convenience store, similar to a bodega. From slang for “camouflaged”. See cafe.

spookgerook (adjective) – Literally, in Afrikaans, ghost-smoked – mad, paranoid or high.

springbok (noun) – South African gazelle Antidorcas marsupialis, known for leaping in the air (“pronking”) when disturbed, under predator attack or as display. The springbok is South Africa’s national animal. From the Afrikaans spring (jump or spring) and bok (buck).

Springboks (noun) – South African national rugby team, known affectionately as the Bokke. From the springbok, South Africa’s national animal.

stoep (noun) – Porch or verandah. From the Dutch (via Afrikaans) stoep, steps or a raised elevation in front of a house, related to “step”.

stokvel (noun) – Informal savings club, where members make a regular equal payment very week, fortnight or month. Every month or year a single member is then given the entire pot.

stompie (noun) – Cigarette butt. From the Afrikaans stomp (stump). The term “picking up stompies” means intruding into a conversation towards its end, without knowing what had been discussed.

stroppy (adjective) – Difficult, uncooperative, argumentative or stubborn. Originated in the 1950s, perhaps as a shortening of obstreperous.

struesbob (exclamation) – “As true as Bob”, as true as God, the gospel truth.

sure, sure-sure, for sure (exclamation) – Yes; general affirmative.

Swallows (noun) – Moroka Swallows, a South African Premier Soccer League football team with a home base in the Soweto suburb of Moroka.

Swazi, siSwati (noun) – The Swazi people, and their language.

T: takkie to tune

takkie, tekkie (noun) – Basic running shoe or sneaker. Possibly from “tacky”, meaning “cheap” or “of poor quality”.

tannie (noun) – “Auntie” in Afrikaans, but used for any older woman.

The long morning wait for a ride in a taxi. (Rafiq Sarlie / CC BY ND 2.0)

taxi (noun) – Generally a minibus used to transport a large number of people, and the most-used form of transport in South Africa.

to die for (adjective) – Wonderful, beautiful, coveted: “That lipstick is to die for.”

tokoloshe (noun) – Evil imp or spirit, thought to be most active at night. Part of South African folklore and today often the subject of tabloid journalism. From the isiZulu utokoloshe and isiXhosa uthikoloshe (river-spirit).

tom (noun) – Money. Uncertain origin.

toppie (noun) – Middle-aged or elderly man, or father. From either the isiZulu thopi (growing sparsely, a reference to thinning hair), or the Hindi topi (hat).

township (noun) – Low-income dormitory suburb outside a city or town in which black South Africans were required by law to live, while they sold their labour in the city or town centre, during the apartheid era.

toyi-toyi (noun) – A knees-up protest dance. From the isiNdebele and Shona.

trek (noun) – Long and often arduous journey. Best known from the Great Trek, the long journey by oxwagon the forebears of the Afrikaners took from the Cape Colony into the South African interior to escape British colonialism, beginning in the 1820s.

tsessebe (noun) – African antelope (Damaliscus lunatus) found in southern and eastern Africa.

Tshivenda (noun) – Language of the Venda people.

tsotsi (noun) – Gangster, hoodlum or thug – and the title of South Africa’s first Oscar-winning movie. Perhaps a corruption of “zoot suit”, the type of flashy clothing worn by township thugs in the 1950s.

Tsotsitaal (noun) – Township patois, derived from 1950s gangster slang, made up of a mixture of Afrikaans and isiZulu, and largely spoken in Gauteng. From the Tostsitaal tsotsi (gangster) and Afrikaans taal (language).

Tswana (noun) – Member of a group of people mainly found in Botswana and northern South Africa, and their language.

tune, tune me, tune grief, tune me grief (verb) – Cause trouble; challenge me.

U: ubuntu to uMkhonto weSizwe

ubuntu (noun) – Southern African humanist philosophy of fellowship and community, based on the notion that a person is a person because of other people: “I am who I am because of you”. From the isiZulu for “humanity” or “goodness”.

Umkhonto (noun) – Short form of Umkhonto we Sizwe.

uMkhonto weSizwe (noun) – Army of the exiled African National Congress during the struggle against apartheid; since 1994 amalgamated into the South African National Defence Force. From the isiZulu for “spear of the nation”. Not the same as the new uMkhonto weSizwe Party, a political party.

V: veld to vuvuzela

Vetkoek for sale at a food stall in Cape Town. (Gavin Bloys / CC BY NC-ND 2.0)

veld (noun) – Open grassland. From the Afrikaans, from the Dutch for “field”.

veldskoen, velskoen (noun) – Simple unworked leather shoes. From the Afrikaans veld (field) or vel (skin or hide) and skoen (shoe).

Venda (noun) – South African population group largely found in Limpopo province, who speak the Tshivenda language.

verkramp (adjective) – Extremely politically conservative or reactionary. From the Afrikaans for “narrow” or “cramped”.

vetkoek (noun) – Doughnut-sized bread roll made from deep-fried yeast dough, often served with savoury mince-meat. From the Afrikaans vet (fat) and koek (cake).

voema (noun) – Variant spelling of woema.

voetsek (exclamation) – Go away, buzz off. From the Afrikaans, originally from the 19th-century Dutch voort seg ik (be off I say).

voetstoets (adjective) – “As is” or “with all its faults”. A legal term, used in the sale of a car or house. If the item is sold voetstoets the buyer may not claim for any defects, hidden or otherwise, discovered after the sale. From the Afrikaans, originally from the Dutch met de voet te stoten (to push with the foot).

vrot (adjective) – Rotten or smelly. From the Afrikaans.

vuvuzela (noun) – Large, colourful plastic trumpet with the sound of a foghorn, blown by crowds at football matches. From the isiZulu for “making noise”.

W: walkie-talkie to wors

walkie-talkie (noun) – South African delicacy made from the heads and feet of a chicken.

wildebeest (noun) – Gnu; large African antelope of two species (the blue or black wildebeest, genus Connochaetes) with a long head and sloping back. From the Afrikaans wilde (wild) and beest (beast).

windgat (noun) – Show-off or blabbermouth. From the Afrikaans wind (wind) and gat (hole).

witblitz (noun) – Potent home-made distilled alcohol, much like the American moonshine. From the Afrikaans wit (white) and blitz (lightning).

woema (noun) – Speed or power, oomph. From the Afrikaans.

woes (adjective) – Angry, irritated or aggressive. From the Afrikaans.

wonderboom (noun) – Wild fig (Ficus salicifolia), native to southern Africa. Also the name of a suburb of the city of Pretoria, and a South African pop group. From the Afrikaans wonder (wonder or marvel) and boom (tree).

wors (noun) – Short for “boerewors”, a savoury sausage developed by the Boers, the forebears of today’s Afrikaners, some 200 years ago, and still popular at braais across South Africa. Also known as wors. From the Afrikaans boer (farmer) and wors (sausage, Dutch worst).

XYZ: Xhosa to Zulu

Xhosa (noun) – Nguni-language-speaking people of South Africa, found mainly in the Eastern Cape province.

Xitsonga (noun) – Nguni language of the Tsonga people.

yellow rice (noun) – Rice cooked with turmeric and raisins, often served with curry.

zamalek (noun) – Carling Black Label beer.

Zebu (noun) – Long-horned and often hump-backed varieties of cattle (Bos indicus), originally from India but now found in a large number of breeds across Africa. South African breeds include the Nguni and Afrikaner.

zol (noun) – Hand-rolled cigarette or marijuana joint.

Zulu (noun) – Nguni-language-speaking South African population group found mainly in KwaZulu-Natal. Their language is isiZulu.

Sources

Additional information sourced from:

• A Dictionary of South African English by Jean Branford, Oxford University Press USA (1980). ISBN 0195701771
• A Dictionary of South African English on Historical Principles, Rhodes University Dictionary Unit for South African English
• Glossary of South African English Regionalisms, Wiktionary
• List of South African slang words, Wikipedia

Researched and written by Mary Alexander.
Updated June 2025
Questions? Email mary1alexander@gmail.com

The post The online dictionary of South African English appeared first on South Africa Gateway.

History overlooks the role he played in the protests that led to the 1960 Sharpeville massacre, and the first global condemnation of the apartheid state.

“The Africanists take the view that there is only one race to which we all belong, and that is the human race,” Robert Sobukwe said in 1959. “In our vocabulary therefore, the word ‘race’, as applied to man, has no plural form.”

Born in 1924 as the youngest of six children of working-class parents, Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe was an academic, a lawyer, a lyrical writer and a persuasive orator. He helped found South Africa’s Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) and was one of the first to propose a “nonracial” rather than “multiracial” future for the country.

For a time, apartheid authorities saw Sobukwe as more dangerous than leaders like Nelson Mandela.

In 1960, as president of the newly formed PAC, Sobukwe was key in organising protests against the pass laws.

The “dompas” (literally, dumb pass) was a document all black South Africans had to carry to allow them “pass” into apartheid South Africa’s cities – places many had lived all their lives.

In the late 1950s, the pass laws had been extended to include black women. Both the PAC and the African National Congress (ANC) responded with nationwide civil disobedience campaigns.

Breaking the system

Click animation to view from the start.

On the morning of 21 March 1960, aged 35, Sobukwe left his home in Mofolo, Soweto, to lead a small crowd on an eight-kilometre march to Orlando police station.

The crowd had one goal. To be arrested.

The pass laws made every black woman and man in the country a potential criminal – simply for being somewhere without the right documents.

Sobukwe and his comrades were trying to expose the absurdity of those laws by forcing the authorities to arrest, well, everyone. The hope was that with this many “criminals” to process, the pass law system would break down.

Just days before, Sobukwe had resigned his post as a lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand and made arrangements for the safety of his family.

A week earlier he had written to South Africa’s commissioner of police, major-general Corrie Rademeyer, informing him that the PAC would be holding a five-day, nonviolent and disciplined protest against the pass laws.

As Sobukwe and his followers approached Orlando police station, they were arrested – as they expected.

What wasn’t expected was that 21 March 1960 would be Robert Sobukwe’s last real taste of freedom.

Sobukwe was so feared by the apartheid government that he would spend the rest of his life confined – in prison and then in internal exile under house arrest.

The Sharpeville massacre

On 21 March 1960, about 70 kilometres to the south of Mofolo in the township of Sharpeville outside Vereeniging, other tragic events were unfolding.

As a crowd of 5,000 peaceful protesters organised by the PAC approached the local police station, police opened fire.

Sixty-nine people were killed and more than 200 wounded, many of them shot in the back.

The Sharpeville massacre, as it became known, was a turning point in South Africa’s history.

It made headlines across the world and sharply intensified international pressure on the apartheid state.

In its aftermath the government imposed a state of emergency, banning both the ANC and PAC as illegal organisations and detaining 18,000 people.

The liberation movements responded by abandoning passive resistance for military struggle, with the ANC forming its armed wing Umkhonto we Sizwe, and the PAC its armed wing Poqo.

On 1 April 1960, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 134 after a complaint by 29 member states regarding “the situation arising out of the large-scale killings of unarmed and peaceful demonstrators against racial discrimination and segregation in the Union of South Africa”.

The resolution voiced the council’s anger at the policies and actions of the South African government, and called on the government to abandon apartheid.

With world authority behind it, UN Resolution 134 became a powerful weapon for the international anti-apartheid movement.

‘We are the first glimmers of a new dawn’

Sobukwe was born on 5 December 1924 in an apartheid-era “township”, a type of settlement in which black people were forced to live, outside the town of Graaff-Reinet in today’s Eastern Cape province.

The youngest of six children, his family was poor, celebrating Christmas with a new suit of clothes for each child – the only clothes bought during the year.

His father Hubert was a labourer and his mother Angelina a cleaner and cook at a local hospital. Both parents encouraged their children to pursue education, an education Sobukwe’s parents had been denied.

Sobukwe’s education followed the pattern of Nelson Mandela and other African intellectuals of the time.

Like Mandela, he went to high school at the Healdtown Institute, where he rose to be head boy. He then, like Mandela, went on to the University of Fort Hare, enrolling in 1947.

At university, Sobukwe registered for a Bachelor of Arts in English – he had a passion for poetry and drama – as well as Xhosa and Native Administration.

Before Fort Hare he had little time for politics, but his Native Administration studies sparked his interest and set the path for his life.

In 1948 Sobukwe joined the campus branch of the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL). A year later he was elected president of the Fort Hare Students’ Representative Council (SRC), where he revealed his talents as a leader and orator.

His speech as outgoing SRC president in October 1949 gave a sense of ideas to come:

Let me plead with you, lovers of my Africa, to carry with you into the world the vision of a new Africa, an Africa reborn, an Africa rejuvenated, an Africa recreated, a young Africa. We are the first glimmers of a new dawn. And if we are persecuted for our views, we should remember, as the African saying goes, that it is darkest before dawn, and that the dying beast kicks most violently when it is giving up the ghost.

After university, Sobukwe took a teaching job in Standerton in today’s Mpumalanga province.

From 1950 to 1954 he was also secretary of the ANC’s Standerton branch.

During this time he became increasingly influenced by the writings of veteran ANC leader, lawyer and academic Anton Lembede, and started to adopt a more Africanist position in the organisation.

‘Race has no plural’

In 1954 Sobukwe was appointed lecturer in African Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand – earning him the nickname “the Prof” among his friends and fellow activists – and settled his family in Mofolo, Soweto, south of Johannesburg.

He joined the local ANC but was increasingly critical of what he saw as the organisation’s “liberal-left-multiracialist” policies.

Sobukwe’s antagonism to “multiracialism” – as opposed to “nonracialism” – and his Africanist philosophy came directly out of his appreciation of the absurdity of “race” as a real thing. He set out this view in a famous speech in 1959:

The structure of the body of man provides evidence to prove the biological unity of the human species. All scientists agree that there is no “race” that is superior to another, and there is no “race” that is inferior to others.

The Africanists take the view that there is only one race to which we all belong, and that is the human race. In our vocabulary therefore, the word “race”, as applied to man, has no plural form.

He continued:

Against multi-racialism we have this objection, that the history of South Africa has fostered group prejudices and antagonisms, and if we have to maintain the same group exclusiveness, parading under the term of multiracialism, we shall be transporting to the new Africa these very antagonisms and conflicts.

Further, multiracialism is in fact a pandering to European bigotry and arrogance. It is a method of safeguarding white interests, implying as it does, proportional representation irrespective of population figures. In that sense it is a complete negation of democracy.

Wesley House, the Methodist hostel at the University of Fort Hare where Robert Sobukwe likely stayed during his studies.

Founding the Pan African Congress

As an Africanist, Sobukwe was also a strong advocate for the political unity of the African continent, particularly in the context of the Cold War:

We regard it as the sacred duty of every African state to strive ceaselessly and energetically for the creation of a United States of Africa, stretching from Cape to Cairo, Morocco to Madagascar.

The days of small, independent countries are gone.

The pan-African movement was inspired by Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana, the first African state to gain independence.

Sobukwe said:

Dr Kwame Nkrumah has repeatedly stated that in international affairs, Africa wishes to pursue a policy of positive neutrality, allying herself to neither of the existing blocs but … remaining ‘independent in all things but neutral in none that affect the destiny of Africa’.

It is not the intention of African states to change one master (western imperialism) for another (Soviet hegemony).

In 1957 Sobukwe became editor of the well-regarded newspaper The Africanist, using it as an increasingly critical platform against the ANC’s domination by “liberal-left-multiracialists”. A year later he was instrumental in initiating an Africanist breakaway from the ANC, helping form the Pan Africanist Congress and becoming its first president.

Robert Sobukwe (front row, second from left) with the other founding members of the Pan Africanist Congress in 1957.

Solitary confinement and the Sobukwe Clause

After his arrest on 21 March 1960, Sobukwe was sentenced to three years in prison. He refused the help of an attorney and would not appeal the sentence. He said the apartheid court had no jurisdiction over him, as it was not a court of law or justice.

Just as his three-year term was up the South African government passed the General Law Amendment Act on 3 May 1963. This contained a special clause allowing the minister of justice to prolong the imprisonment of any political prisoner indefinitely.

The Sobukwe Clause, as it became known, was only ever applied to Robert Sobukwe.

• Read testimony by Zondeni Veronica Sobukwe, Robert Sobukwe’s widow, at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 1997

Sobukwe was moved to Robben Island, where he served a further six years in solitary confinement.

He had separate living quarters and was denied contact with other prisoners. But he was allowed books and study materials, and during this time earned a degree in Economics from the University of London.

In 1964, a year after his sentence was supposed to have ended, Sobukwe was offered a job by the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People in the US.

But John Vorster, then the minister of justice and later prime minister of South Africa, refused to allow him to leave the country.

Release and house arrest

Robert Sobukwe with his friend Benjamin Pogrund after Sobukwe’s release from Robben Island in 1969. Pogrund, a journalist, is the author of the biography Robert Sobukwe – How can Man Die Better.

Sobukwe was finally released from jail in May 1969, but banished to the dusty township of Galeshewe outside Kimberley, in today’s Northern Cape province – a place some 500 kilometres equidistant from both Johannesburg and Sobukwe’s home town of Graaff Reinet.

There he was held under house arrest for 12 hours a day, and forbidden from taking part in any political activity.

In 1970 Sobukwe was again offered a job in the US, this time at the University of Wisconsin.

Again apartheid officials refused to allow him to leave South Africa.

While under house arrest Sobukwe studied law, completing his articles in Kimberley and opening his own legal practice in 1975. But soon after, he fell ill.

In July 1977 he applied for permission to seek treatment in Johannesburg. He was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer.

Despite his failing health, the government deliberately made it hard for Sobukwe to get the treatment he needed by insisting he comply with the conditions of his restrictions.

On 27 February 1978 he died from lung complications at Kimberley General Hospital. He was buried in Graaff Reinet, the town of his birth.

At the launch of the PAC in 1959, Sobukwe said:

We aim, politically, at government of the Africans by the Africans, for the Africans, with everybody who owes his only loyalty to Africa and who is prepared to accept the democratic rule of an African majority being regarded as an African.

Here is a tree rooted in African soil, nourished with waters from the rivers of Africa.

Come and sit under its shade and become, with us, the leaves of the same branch and the branches of the same tree.

Read more

• The 16 June 1976 students’ uprising – as it happened
• Nelson Mandela: the timeline of a lifetime
• Mapping poverty in South Africa
• Gallery: the Eastern Cape province

Researched and written by Mary Alexander
Updated 21 September 2024
Comments? Email mary1alexander@gmail.com

The post Robert Sobukwe: ‘There is only one race. The human race’ appeared first on South Africa Gateway.