History of South Africa
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The first modern humans are believed to have inhabited South Africa more than 100,000 years ago. In 1999, Unesco designated the region the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage site. South Africa's first known inhabitants have been referred to as the Khoisan, the Khwe and the San. Starting in about 1,000 BCE, these groups were then joined by the Bantu tribes who migrated from Western and Central Africa during what is known as the Bantu expansion.
Looking out over the floodplains of the Luvuvhu River (right) and the Limpopo River (far distance and left)
Statue of Bartolomeu Dias at the High Commission of South Africa in London. He was the first European navigator to sail around the southernmost tip of Africa.
Replica of an East Indiaman of the Dutch East India Company/United East Indies Company (VOC). The Dutch East India Company was a major force behind the Golden Age of Dutch exploration (c. 1590s–1720s) and Netherlandish cartography (c. 1570s–1670s).
View of Table Bay with ships of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), c. 1683.
Cape Malays
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Cape Malays also known as Cape Muslims or Malays, are a Muslim community or ethnic group in South Africa. They are the descendants of enslaved and free Muslims from different parts of the world, specifically Indonesia and other Asian countries, who lived at the Cape during Dutch and British rule.
Bo-Kaap, Cape Town's Malay Quarter
Cape Malay flower-seller
Cape Malay samoosas, adapted from South Asia