Bantu peoples of South Africa

South African Bantu-speaking peoples are the majority of black South Africans. Occasionally grouped as Bantu, the term itself is derived from the word for "people" common to many of the Bantu languages. The Oxford Dictionary of South African English describes its contemporary usage in a racial context as "obsolescent and offensive" because of its strong association with white minority rule with their apartheid system. However, Bantu is used without pejorative connotations in other parts of Africa and is still used in South Africa as the group term for the language family.

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Black South Africans, *South African Bantu-speaking peoples*
Total population
One of the seven terracotta artifacts referred to as the Lydenburg heads (c. 500 CE)
48,153,727[1] 80.8% of South Africa's Population
Languages
Northern Sotho Southern Ndebele Southern Sotho Swazi Tsonga Tswana Venda Xhosa Zulu
Religion
Christianity Irreligious Traditional African religions Undetermined Further information: Religion in South Africa
Related ethnic groups
Other Indigenous Southern Africans Relating Coloureds Relating South African diaspora

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