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Amalgamation of ethnic influences
The Shangaan people
Shangaan medicine women in a Mpumalanga village.
© Chris Marais
The Shangaan people of the Lowveld have a mixed ancestry that includes strains from various other South African ethnic groups, including the Zulu and Tsonga.
The history of Shangaan culture is a complex one. It started around the 18th Century when the first Tsonga traders came to southern Africa to barter cloth and beads for ivory, copper and salt.
Enter Soshangane, the great Ndwandwe fighting general, in 1819. His force, under Zwide, had just been defeated by the legendary King Shaka in battle. Shoshangane fled north, through Swaziland, finally settling in Mozambique. His men found wives among the locals - among them Tsongas - and thus the Shangaan people were established.
Soshangane imposed the strict Zulu military system and tribal wear on Shangaan traditions, but retained the beautiful Tsonga homesteads that include round huts with patterned thatch roofs. He also incorporated their love of music that features a variety of ingenious stringed, wind and percussion instruments.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Shangaan tribe were forcibly removed from much of their ancestral lands in the Lowveld to make way for the formation of what is now the southern section of the Kruger National Park. Today they are found mainly between the Kruger Park and the Eastern Escarpment.
The Shangaan people, through Tsonga influence, are one of the few ethnic groups in South Africa to practice fishing and include fish in their diet. Because of the wealth of game in the area they also enjoy venison and crocodile, which they bake in a delicious groundnut (peanut) sauce.
The most unusual aspect of their diet, however, is their love of the mopani worm found in the mopani forests of the Lowveld. These are either dried or pan fried in butter, which is an experience no adventuruous traveller should miss.