The original 'locals'

Black South Africans make up around 80% of the population and belong to a variety of ethnic groups.

Because of its colonial past, South Africa has a large number of Afrikaans- (descended from Dutch settlers) and English speakers (the British began colonising the region in the 1800s).

French Huguenots, Germans and Portuguese arrived from the 1600s and brought many slaves from India and modern-day Indonesia. Islam and Hindu traditions and culture are also therefore prominent.

In South Africa, there is no such a thing as 'one spoken language', like we have in the Netherlands. South Africa has 11 official languages. English is the language of administration and is spoken throughout the country. The other official languages are: Afrikaans, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Southern Sotho, Swazi, Tsongo, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa and Zulu.