Bantu peoples of South Africa

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Bantu South Africans

Proportion of Black South Africans in each municipality according to the census
Total population
50,486,856 (2022 census)[1] 81.45% 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

South African Bantu-speaking peoples represent the majority indigenous ethno-racial group of South Africans. Occasionally grouped as Bantu, the term itself is derived from the English word "people", common to many of the Bantu languages. The Oxford Dictionary of South African English describes "Bantu", when used in a contemporary usage or racial context as "obsolescent and offensive", because of its strong association with the "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.