Churches in towns and villages
While the South African constitution calls for freedom of religion, Christianity is largely dominant. In South Africa, the Abrahamic religion is represented by most of the classical movements: Catholics, Anglicans, Protestants, Methodists, Congregationalists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Baptists, etc. There are also Adventists and the Dutch Reformed Church, also called Nederlandse Gereformeerde, which has a very important place in the Afrikaans community. This church is infamous for being the main ideological supporter of apartheid and often cited the Bible to justify the separation of the races. The Eastern Orthodox, such as the Greek Orthodox, are also present in South Africa and have some beautiful religious buildings that you can see on your travels if you have a keen eye for them. However, the vast majority of South Africans belong to independent African churches that combine traditional ancestral beliefs with Christianity. The largest of these churches is the famous Zion Christian Church, which attracts about 12% of South Africans. Today, the cult is estimated to have more than 16 million members. Its members are easily recognizable by the colorful green, white or blue uniforms they wear on Sundays, the day of worship. These uniforms vary according to age, gender and occasion. This very conservative church decided to leave the South African Council of Churches, which it considered too progressive for its worship.
Deep-rooted traditional beliefs
While traditional beliefs may be a natural addition to the Christian faith, the remaining 20 per cent of the South African population is divided among various faiths. Of these, it is estimated that about 15% of South Africans remain very faithful to traditional beliefs, which would make it the second largest religion in the country after Christianity. Traditional ceremonies derived from ancient African mythologies, such as Zulu animal sacrifices and Xhosa male circumcision, are still very common and practiced by a significant proportion of the population.
Hindus and Muslims from India
Among the population of Indian origin, about 80% are Hindu. They are most prevalent in Durban, in the northeast of the country, where you can see and visit their beautiful temples. Durban is sometimes referred to as the little India of South Africa, although all major cities have their share of Hindu architecture. As for commemorations, the Kavadi festivals are vibrant and colorful public celebrations. Within the Indian community, about two thirds are Hindus and the remaining third are Muslims. It should not be forgotten that Durban was home to the world's most famous Hindu, Gandhi, in 1893. The young lawyer stayed twenty-one years in South Africa, and of course in Johannesburg where his greatest struggles began. In the 17th century, the Dutch deported many slaves from Malaysia and the rest of Asia who practice Sunni Islam. Today, their descendants make up just under 2 per cent of the South African population. A second wave of Muslim migrants arrived in the late 19th century, this time from India and Pakistan. One can visit many mosques, including the magnificent Juma Mosque in Durban, or attend traditional festivals such as Eid el-fitr celebrating the end of Ramadan. As in all mosques, legs and shoulders must be covered. But Islam was there long before colonization. The religion, present in particular among the mixed population, called here the coloured, arrived at the time when the Arab merchants were dealing with East Africa via the road of India.
The Jewish community committed to fighting apartheid
Judaism has a community of about 120,000 people. Mostly from Lithuania, they arrived in South Africa in the late 19th century. They never experienced any persecution until the 1930s, when Nazi propaganda crossed the borders. Persecuted by Afrikaner nationalist leaders, many Jews had to flee the country that had welcomed them half a century earlier. However, those who remained were very active in the ANC and the Communist Party to oppose discrimination and the apartheid regime.
0.1% Buddhists
A very small part of the population, but still a part, is Buddhist. Buddhists are not very well represented in South Africa. But in Pretoria, a Buddhist place of worship is nevertheless unmissable. The largest Buddhist temple on the African continent is surely here, a symbol for a whole minority, which has made the Nan Hua temple a real place of pilgrimage.
Discovering history through places of worship
Whether you are religious or not, there is nothing to stop you from visiting the magnificent places of worship throughout South Africa: St. George's Cathedral with its sublime stained glass windows in Cape Town, the Mormon Temple in Parktown, Johannesburg, with its six spires that light up the sky at night, or the largest Buddhist temple in Africa, the Nan Hua Temple, located in Bronkhorstspruit in the Pretoria region. Many of these buildings have played an important role in the country's history, such as the Regina Mundi Catholic Church in Soweto, which housed anti-apartheid activists during the freedom struggle, or the Anglican Church of Christ the King in Sophiatown, where Archbishop Trevor Huddleston stood up against oppression. The church also served as a springboard for Archbishop Desmond Tutu, winner of the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize, to publicly denounce apartheid, expose his country to the world and advocate an economic boycott of South Africa. But on the other hand, we must not forget the darker side of history, that a very large part of the men of religion are at the origin and have put in place the system of apartheid.
