Heritage Day: Khoisan South Africans
South Africa celebrates National Heritage Day on 24 September 2015. We are a proud Rainbow Nation with 11 official languages across our beautiful country, and today we take a look at all our unique cultures that make us one of the most diverse countries in the world.
“Khoisan” is a unifying name for two groups of peoples of Southern Africa, who share physical and putative linguistic characteristics distinct from the Bantu majority of the region. Culturally, the Khoisan are divided into the foraging San, or Bushmen, and the pastoral Khoi, or more specifically Khoikhoi.
The San include the indigenous inhabitants of Southern Africa before the southward Bantu migrations from Central and East Africa
reached their region, which led to the Bantu populations displacing the Khoi and San to become the predominant inhabitants of Southern Africa. The distinct origin of the Khoi is debated.
Over time, some Khoi abandoned pastoralism and adopted the hunter-gatherer economy of the San, probably due to a drying climate, and are
now considered San. Similarly, the Bantu Damara people who migrated south later abandoned agriculture and adopted the Khoi economy. Large Khoisan populations remain in several arid areas in the region, notably in the Kalahari Desert.
Population: Unknown
Languages spoken by the Khoisan: Khoisan languages
Regions where Khoisan people live: The entire South Africa
Traditional attire: Generally the Khoisan wore a bundle of cloth around the genital area, similar to underwear, and braided necklace for men. The women covered their breasts with a stip of cloth and wore skirts of the same fabric.
Watch these videos on the Khoisan culture in South Africa:
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