Portrait photos of the people of South Africa

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Portraits of South Africa

These are the faces of what, in Apartheid days, would be described as “non-white” people, who had to live away from whites, use separate entrances and public conveniences and were restricted from jobs, reserved for Europeans, and education. A very varied population, with a rich history and culture.

Zulu woman
 
Zulu girl along road to Nkandla
 
Young girl, Ulundi
 
Young boy, Ulundi
 
Tembu woman, Cala
 
Tembu woman, face paint
 
Gcaleka girl
 
Xhosa uMkwetha initiate
 
Xhosa Umkwetha
 
Old man with a pipe
 
Woman smoking her pipe
 
Young boy, Ngqeleni
 
Mpondo (Pondo) woman
 
Boy, Pondoland
 
Mpondo woman with head ring
 
Mpondo medicine man
 
Little Mpondo boy
 
Mpondo woman profile
 
Young Mpondo man
 
Mpondo woman, Lusikisiki
 
Profile Xesibe girl
 
Young Xesibe woman
 
Griqua girl, Kokstad
 
Woman of District Six
 

The Zulus are the most populous ethnic group and are justly famous for their resistance against Boer and British; they live mainly in KwaZulu-Natal. The Xhosa are the second most populous and primarily live in the east of the Eastern Cape Province. When these photos were taken, they lived in what then was named Transkei, to be made “independent” in 1976. Xhosa boys have to undergo “Umkwetha” initiation rituals and may be seen with their faces painted white. The Mpondo and Xesibe women may wear very distinct headgear and hairstyles.

“Coloured” people are those of mixed ancestry, mainly with Dutch, Khoekhoe (Khoikhoi) and other European origins, but also black African; they may now identify with distinct ethnicities. The Griquas originated from intermarriages between Dutch colonists in the Cape and the Khoikhoi already living there. They spoke Dutch and, like the Boers, migrated inland. Some settled near Kimberley in the Northern Cape Province, named Griqualand West. In 1861 their chief Adam Kok III led his group from the Orange Free State, where they had been forced out by whites, to the area around what is now named Kokstad, in the west of KwaZulu Natal.

The Cape Coloured people still live around the Cape. District Six, one of Cape Town’s inner-city residential areas, was inhabited mainly by people classified as “Coloureds”. However, due to the racist Apartheid policies, this neighbourhood was declared a “whites only” area, its inhabitants were moved out, and their houses bulldozed.