The Zulu People

KwaZulu Natal, one of South Africa’s nine provinces is the ancestral home to the Zulu people, probably the ethnic group with the most significant and influential history of all in South Africa. The Zulus rose to prominence under their King Shaka, who ruled the Zulu Kingdom from 1816 to 1828. Born as an unwanted child in 1789, Shaka soon distinguished himself as a ruthless and very strategic warrior, ultimately becoming the King of the Zulu Empire. Under his reign the Zulus won many battles and increased their territory to about 11.000square kilometres and the number of warriors from 1.500 to 50.000. Unfortunately, Shaka fell victim to family infighting and was killed in 1828 by his half-brothers Dingaan and Mhlangana. Dingaan was set to become the new King. However, the Zulu Kingdom never enjoyed such power and might as it did during King Shaka Zulu’s time. They were faced with many challenges and wars and finally lost in during the Anglo-Zulu War in 1906 to the British.

Around 10-11 million Zulus live directly in KwaZulu Natal with other spreading across the borders in neighbouring Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Zambia. The Zulu language is from the Bantu language tree and its subgroup is Nguni.  In Nguni, isiZulum, which is the Zulu word for ‘zulu’, means heaven or sky. Within South Africa the Zulus are by far the most numerous. The biggest majority of Zulus are Christians, although traditional beliefs surrounding ancestors and spirits are intertwined with Christianity and very widespread. President Jacob Zuma is the first Zulu to be president of the new South Africa since the end of apartheid.  

Gumboot Dance - South Africa 2

Have you ever heard of the Gumboots Musical? Probably not, because most people haven’t. But it is without doubt the most powerful and meaningful display of South African musical power, tradition, emotion and rhythmical talent I have seen for a long time. It shows the power of african dance, the power of transforming a story, in this case the story of suffering migrant workers in the gold mines of South Africa during apartheid, into a dance routine while supplementing it with emotional vocal performances. Today it is often linked with tap dance and stepping from the US.

The dance also offers a great way of intercultural exchange and has enjoyed great success in teaching all around the globe. For most cultures the gumboot dance appears unusual but very interesting. Especially groups of children and young adults enjoy the dance classes and many South African groups and individual performers have already taught them this traditional South African dance. 

Watch this video below to see a South African group perform the Gumboot Dance in front of 400 primary and high school students in Germany. Enjoy!

Gumboot Dance - South Africa

The Gumboot Dance has its origin in the South African goldmines during the apartheid regime. Migrant workers from either the neighboring countries, such as Mozambique, Swaziland, Botswana and Zimbabwe, or from the rural areas were not allowed to speak during work. Even in the evenings in their little huts they were not supposed to talk, laugh or have fun. However, they had to wear their gumboots (also known as wellies) for work. This allowed them to not only communicate during work, for example to warn fellow workers if a warden was on his way, but also to provide rhythmic support to their songs in the evenings. By stomping, clapping and hitting the gumboots against each other they were able to create whole frequencies of beats, which all carried a special meaning and one was even able to almost tell a whole story just by using their gumboots.

After the early implementation of their gumboots as a means to communicate, the gumboot dance developed into a recreational activity, which was later used by the apartheid regime to keep workers happy. They organised competitions between different mines and it was considered a achievement and pride to win those.

Today, the gumboot dance is one of South Africa's most famous traditional dances and it represents the pain and suffering the migrant workers went through while working in the mines. It is used in almost every South Africa musical (like Umoja, Gumboots and others).

Welcome to Traditional South African Zulu Music

Welcome to Traditional South African Zulu Music!!
This blog represents the best South Africa has to offer when it comes to traditional Zulu music. The artists you see in the videos are all from Durban, KwaZulu Natal. Many songs were written and composed by Siyabonga Cele and all credit goes to him.

We want to start with a rendition of "Ngoba wena" sung by Siyabonga and Sizwe.