Bantu peoples of South Africa

Black South Africans, *South African Bantu-speaking peoples*
	One of the seven terracotta artifacts referred to as the Lydenburg heads (c. 500 CE)
Total population
	85% of South Africans ()
Languages
	Pedi; 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 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.

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