Postcards Scoop Articles Related Weblinks Culture South Africa is a multiracial society and defining distinct subgroups by skin colour will only begin to get you into trouble. Those of Afrikaner and British descent won't be too happy to be confused with one another and there are several major and many minor groupings in the traditional black cultures. All the traditional cultures are based on beliefs in a masculine deity, ancestral spirits and supernatural forces.
Cattle play an important part in many cultures, as symbols of wealth and as sacrificial animals.
The art of South Africa's indigenous populations can be one of the only ways to connect with lost cultures. In other cases, such as the elaborate 'coded' beadwork of the Zulus, traditional art has been adapted to survive in different circumstances. Zulu is one of the strongest surviving black cultures and massed Zulu singing at Inkatha Freedom Party demonstrations is a powerful expression of this ancient culture. The Ndebele are a related group, who live in the Northern Transvaal in strikingly painted houses. The Afrikaners' distinct culture has developed in a deliberate isolation, which saw them wandering around with cows and a Bible while 19th-century Europe experimented with democracy and liberalism.