SOUTH AFRICAN CULTURE

By:Heidie Kemeng and Livhuwani Rapalalani

Characteristics of our culture

The different languages that we have in South Africa: unlike other countries who have one or two dominant langauges,we are known for the many diverse languages we have as a nation. We have eleven official languages, which are:

Sesotho Tshivenda Tsonga Setswana IsiNdebele IsiZulu Afrikaans English SiSwati IsiXhosa Sepedi

• These languages are what make up the diverse nation that we are.

Dress code With the different languages we have, each language has its own cultural dress

code which many wear to represent their culture. The following dress codes are examples of what is worn by the different

cultures ,mostly on special occasions like weddings, public holidays and cultural gatherings. Due to modernization not many people wear cultural clothing on a daily basis.

Tsonga Sesotho IsiXhosa

Cont. Dress Code Ndebele Tsonga

Setswana

Traditional Meals Traditional meals are shared across the different groups. Our traditional

foods are all the same. The only difference is the way they make the food.

The following are a few examples of typical traditional meals in South Africa:

Pap, tomato gravy and wors

Ingredients:•Maize Porridge•Wors (Minced meat tied into a sausage)•Tomato •Onions

Chicken feet

Ingredients:•Chicken feet (boil or deep fry)•Mushrooms

Traditional games

•Traditional games are usually played by children around the age of 2 to 13. These games are played all over South Africa.•The following are a few Traditional games:

Ladder HopscotchThe player throws the stone into square 1, hops over that square into square 2, then3, 4, and so on up to 10 and then lands on “home” with both feet. The player “jumps”around to again land on both feet in the “home” square and then hops back into each square up to 2. After picking up the stone from square 1, the player hops over that square and back to baseline.Continue to play as above.To the right: Hopscotch patterns and other games painted on school grounds.

Another traditional gameElastic jumping(umagalopha, umghusha)Players jump sequences on an elastic band held on the legs of two other players. Lengths of elastic can beused. If this is not available, players have often used old pantyhose pieces tied together or even woven grass strands. Play starts with the elastic “band” held on the ankles of support players and, at intervals, this is lifted to right up under the arm pits. Players take turns jumping the sequences and perfecting their skills.Every region has their own traditional jump sequences and rules vary.

Webliography

http://www.childrensrightscentre.co.za/site/files/6592/Chap%2012%20Traditional%20%20games.pdf

http://www.vuvuzelaeatandsleep.com/site_flash/Mogodu.html

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p27/voopohjin/BraisedChickenFeet009.jpg