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The Shangaan

 
 

Our expert South Africa

The Shangaan

The Shangaan The Shangaan people For the most part, the Shangaans live in the Kruger Park region. Vladimira Dvorakova / age fotostock;

Their other common name is Tsonga due to being akin to the tribe of Tsonga in Mozambique. Some 750,000 Shangaan live near the popular Kruger National Park. Their houses with thatched cone-shaped roofs are circular in form. The Shangaan women are known for wearing long pearl necklaces and impressively heavy, metal bracelets. Men from the tribe are detectable for their long coloured tunics, which hang over only one shoulder. The practice of scarification, traces of which are easily visible on their faces, used to protect them from being captured and enslaved by slave traffickers. Today their face scars are perceived as a sign of beauty and status as fire-made tattoos mark the rite of passage from childhood to adulthood.

Arts and culture

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  2.   Coasts

  3.   Towns

  4.   The fauna

  5.   Lodges and hotels

  6.   Parks and reserves

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