2.1.1 South Africa General History: Who came first?
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This article is from the South Africa FAQ, by Scott Hazelhurst scott@cs.wits.ac.za with numerous contributions by others.
2.1.1 South Africa General History: Who came first?
This topic has arisen at least three times in the year. It is based on
the belief that the first white settlers to South Africa found an
almost empty land, and that the ancestors of the black inhabitants of
the country arrived in South Africa at pretty much the same time as
the whites'. Such a belief has a very important political and
propaganda effect.
In summary, this belief does not have evidence to support it.
Historical and archaeological evidence shows to the contrary.
The myth, once held in innocence and long propagated, that the
Bantu-speaking peoples arrived as immigrants on the highveld of the
trans-Vaal at about the same time as the Europeans first settled in
Table Bay, has been demolished as a result of archaeological
research. More than one alternative still exists to explain the
arrival of Bantu-speakers, but this is no longer one of them."
- TRH Davenport _A Modern History of South Africa_
Past posting (can be found as:
ftp://ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/local/FAQ/african/sa/history.txt)
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