For most of the past 100 000 years, South Africa has been inhabited by small, mobile groups of hunter-gatherers called the San (Bushmen). The San are believed to be the descendants of the people who have lived in the subcontinent from time immemorial - their true origins being shrouded in the mists of time. These mysterious little men called the whole wide expanse of South Africa ‘home’; the mountains, deep valleys and wide plains: all were their dwelling places. And, contrary to popular belief, they did not spend their lives wandering around aimlessly. They knew each
region well and were able to plan their seasonal wanderings to coincide with the ripening of fruits, berries and roots. They spent hours observing the wild animals around them until they, more than any other southern African tribe, had an intimate knowledge of the animal’s behaviour, whereabouts and movements. Fortunately they expressed their appreciation of their environment and their beliefs and rituals in beautiful rock paintings all over South Africa. With their rock art they turned the South African countryside into one big open-air art gallery for those who came after them to
enjoy!

Swaziland is one of the smallest self-contained sovereign states in the world. Although it is only 180 km long and 130 km wide, it boasts a surprisingly large variety of scenic delights. Almost the whole of the country can be seen from the summit of its highest mountain, the 1 863 metre high Emlembe, (“the place of the spider”). Emlembe lies on Swaziland’s western border and is one of the peaks of the granite range known as the uKhahlamba, (“the barrier”).

To the west of this range lies the basin of the South African central plateau with its numerous rivers snaking their way to the distant sea. These rivers make the tiny country of Swaziland one of the best-watered areas in Africa.

According to early Portuguese accounts, the Tsonga people were already living in the central and southern areas of Mozambique, between the Indian Ocean and the Lebombo Mountains, during the early 16th century. Being fairly isolated, they lived a peaceful life in dispersed settlements, having some customs in common, but lacking a common political identity. However, the arrival of the Nguni refugees rudely shattered this peaceful way of life. These refugees had been displaced from their KwaZulu-Natal homeland by Shaka, the Zulu king. They subsequently entered the interior of the country and migrated as far as Mozambique where they subjected the local Tsonga people to their rule. The Nguni group with the strongest influence over the Tsonga groups was the Ndwandwe or Shangaan under the rule of Soshangane. They were known to the local people as the Angoni and later as the Amashangana. This group eventually built up a realm that stretched from the Zambesi River to Delagoa Bay (the site of present day Maputo) and was known as the Gaza Kingdom.

The ancestors of the Sotho people entered the area to the south of the Limpopo River in several separate migrations. In the course of time, they were dispersed over the vast interior plateau between the eastern escarpment and the arid western regions to form four subgroups - the Tswana, North Sotho, South Sotho and East Sotho. Those who settled in the western regions preferred
to be called Batswana (Tswana) while those living in the southern regions called themselves Basotho. Today, the Tswana people live in parts of Gauteng Province, the Northwest Province and the eastern parts of Botswana. Oral tradition traces the ruling lineage of the Tswana states to the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg) area. Historical evidence suggests that the Tswana states developed on the basis of royal control of cattle and on the profits of mining, manufacture and trade. The lineages of all the ruling Tswana families can be traced back to one of the following ancestors;
Morolong, Masilo, and Mokgatla.

During the 18th century, a group of people belonging to the Karanga- Rozvi tribe in present-day Zimbabwe, migrated south, crossing the Limpopo River. As they wandered up the valley of the Nzhelele River, they had the good fortune to stumble upon a beautiful new homeland at the foot of the mysterious Soutpansberg Mountain Range in the Northern Province. They promptly named the mountain range, Venda, (pleasant place), and settled there. Their new home was a beautiful place with fertile soil and rolling hills thickly wooded with forests of subtropical wild fig and stinkhout trees and indigenous ferns and flowers. The mountain itself was often shrouded in mist and whereas the surrounding countryside was hot and dry, the mountains received an annual rainfall of nearly 2 000 millimetres in places. Here the Oribi, Klipspringer, Bushbuck and tiny Duiker antelope flourished and the awesome crowned and black eagles had their home. Clear mountain streams abounded with fish and to top it all, they even had an enchanted lake high up in the wildest part of the mountain range. The only other inhabitants of this paradise were the Bushmen (San), and
they were soon driven out. However, they left behind the spirits of their dead who, according to Venda legend, roamed freely in the forests and waited for weary travellers in the shadows of trees that stood alone, inviting the unsuspecting traveller to rest in its shade.

The Xhosa, also often called the “Red Blanket People”, are of Nguni stock, like the Zulu. The name Xhosa is a generalised term for a diversity of proud clans, the Pondo, Bomvana, Thembu and the Xhosa tribe itself. Red and the orange of ochre were the traditional colours of the Xhosa, Tembu and Bomvana (“the red ones”). The first group of early Nguni immigrants to migrate to South Africa consisted of the Xhosa, (made up of the the Gcaleka, Ngqika, Ndlambe and Dushane clans), the Thembu and Pondo. However, a second group of Nguni-speakers joined these tribes later. These were the tribes that Shaka, the Zulu king, drove out of Zululand. Some returned to Zululand when peace was declared, but those who remained became known as the Mfengu and were assimilated into the Xhosa nation. The early immigrants formed the backbone of the Xhosa nation and have good reason to be proud. Not only were they to become the second largest group of Black Africans in
South Africa but they were also the only ones that were never defeated or enslaved by any other tribe. They even repulsed the mighty Zulu chief, Shaka. Ex-President Nelson Mandela belongs to this ethnic group.

The Xhosa live mainly in the Eastern Cape Province (the former Ciskei and Transkei). The Kei (Great) River marks the boundary of what was once the southern border of the
former Transkei. The Mtamvuna River, also called “the reaper of mouthfuls”, (when it overflowed its banks), marks the border between KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. South of this river lie the beautiful, rolling grass-covered downlands of the Eastern Cape. Characteristic of this area is its many rivers, rapids, waterfalls, deep gorges and alluvial valleys. Along the East Coast, east of the present-day city of Port Elizabeth, patches of high forest abound on mountain slopes and in other scenic settings. The most notable of these is the Pirie Forest near King William’s Town. The forests of the Eastern Cape were the natural retreats of the Xhosa people during the many Frontier Wars that raged in this area. Some of the fiercest clashes took place here and the forests were left full of memories and spirits from these mighty battles. This was also the place where the great chief of the Xhosa, Zandile, was wounded and died, hidden beneath a blanket of leaves.

The eastern portion of southern Africa, the area known as KwaZulu- Natal, was settled at the beginning of the 17th century by the clans who would collectively become known as the Nguni people and, individually, as the Zulu, Xhosa, Pondo and Swazi people. To this day they all speak related languages and share similar cultures. The land they came to was a land of “milk and honey”, a fertile land of savannah and grass with patches of dense bush and high forests; with numerous rivers and streams, their banks covered with fig trees so huge and dense that their boughs touched overhead.

Every spring this lovely place erupted into colour as the extravagantly beautiful Erythrina caffra trees started showing off their crimson flowers. Vast numbers of antelope and other game roamed the green hills and valleys, each having a special name - the lion was iNgonyama (a wild beast of prey), the elephant was iNdlovu (the trampler) and the giraffe was called iNdlulamithi (taller than
the trees). This then was the birthplace of the mighty Zulu nation.