Religion in South Africa
A diverse variety of African Traditional Religions of the early Khoisan and later Bantu speakers were practiced in the region prior to contact with European seafarers and settlers.
The first symbols of Christianity in southern Africa were in the form of crosses planted along the coast by early Portuguese seafarers.
With the establishment of a trading post at the Cape of Good Hope by the Dutch in 1652, Christianity obtained a permanent foothold and gained converts among the indigenous population.
[3] The socially marginalized African Traditional Religion adherents have become more publicly visible and organised in a democratic post-apartheid South Africa and today number over 6 million, or approximately 15 percent of the population.
StatSchriA data has provided that Northern Cape, 97.9%, and Free State, 95.5%, provinces have the highest percentage of Christians.
Importantly, there is significant and sustained syncretism with African Traditional Religion among most of the self-professed Christians in South Africa.
The church's headquarters are at Zion City Moria in Limpopo Province, South Africa (Northern Transvaal).
[7] (More recent official statistics are unavailable, since the last South African Census – 2011 – did not ask any questions about religious affiliation.)
The history of Protestantism in South Africa dates back to the initial European settlement on the Cape of Good Hope in 1652.
According to the General Household Survey published in 2015; 86% of the South African population identifies as someone who correlates with the Christian faith.
[17] This history indicates that there is a strong trust toward Christianity, which is still evident today as a high percentage of people still identify as somewhat associated with the religion.
The proportion of Catholics among the predominantly Calvinist white Afrikaans speakers, or South African Indians, is extremely small.
Islam in South Africa is a minority religion, practiced by less than 1.6% of the total population, according to estimates [by whom?].
The third phase, following the end of Apartheid, has been marked by the wave of African Muslims that have arrived on the shores and borders of South Africa.
The vast majority of current Hindus in South African provinces are descendants of indentured laborers brought in by the British colonial government, from 1860 to 1919, to work in plantations and the mining operations owned by European settlers.
Early Hindu settlements in South Africa suffered discrimination, abuse and persecution and forced conversions by islamic revolutionaries.
[26][27] Hindu Indians were among the people who were referred to as coolies,[28] racially segregated, and their discrimination continued through the Apartheid era until 1994.
Some South African local governments banned temple building and property ownership by Hindus in 1910s.
However, estimates from the 2010s show that the Buddhist community, including those following Taoism and Chinese folk religions increased to between 0.2% and 0.3% of the population, or about 100,000 to 150,000 people.
[32] The history of the Jews in South Africa mainly began under the British Empire, following a general pattern of increased European settlement in the 19th century.
During apartheid, a number of Jews were prominent in the Anti-Apartheid Movement, while others were instrumental in promoting the extension of diplomatic military ties between Israel and the country's white government.
Among potential Jewish emigrants, many were likelier to select a destination popular among other South Africans, such as Australia.
Local preachers told their congregations not to feed or house the missionaries and encouraged new converts to leave the church.
[35] Most members travelled or returned to the United States due to issues stemming from plural marriage, and in 1903 the mission to South Africa was reestablished and the Church has maintained a presence there since then.
A majority of the Chinese community in South Africa practices eclecticism – giving them the freedom to choose their religion and philosophical beliefs.
However, with the rise of democracy in South Africa, now other religions share influence in social and political affairs.
[37] According to a Pew Research Center report in 2010, 74% of South Africans agree that religion is a crucial part of everyday life.
[46][47] One of the SALRC's other new projects, the review of witchcraft legislation, will support the constitutional guarantee to freedom of religion, but will also serve to protect vulnerable groups.
For example, the songs Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika (God Bless Africa), Thuma Mina (Send Me, Oh Lord), and Makubenjalo kuthe kube kunaphakade (May it be so until eternity) were used secularly in the church, and for protest outside of it.
