Xhosa

Xhosa, members of the Bantu-speaking peoples of South Africa. Numbering approximately 5 million, the Xhosa, along with the Thembu, Mpondo, and Bomvana, comprise the southern Nguni tribes who have traditionally occupied the area between Natal and the Eastern Cape. All of these peoples speak different dialects of the Niger-Congo language, Xhosa.

The Xhosa culture embraces a rich and extensive folklore, their religion being deeply rooted in ancestor worship. As pastoral nomads, the economy and social system of the Xhosa were traditionally dependent on their cattle, which provided currency for lobola (dowries) and valuable prestige for the chiefs. As the lines of descent were patrilineal (that is, passing down from father to son), it was common for the sons of the reigning monarch to break away and form new chieftaincies, leading their followers in search of fresh grazing land. This search for land brought the Xhosa into inevitable conflict with the British and Dutch settlers resulting in the nine Cape Frontier Wars (1778-1878).

The growth of industry in South Africa's major cities and the creation, following apartheid policy, of the primarily Xhosa “homelands” of Transkei (1976) and Ciskei (1981) have forced most of the Xhosa to migrate to towns in search of work, leaving the cultural heritage of the people in the hands of a few. In 1990 the Xhosa experienced a resurgence of national pride as fellow Xhosa and African National Congress (ANC) member Nelson Mandela was released from prison, and subsequently became president of South Africa.