Evidence has shown that South Africa’s southern Cape region is one of the most likely places where our shared human journey began. Meet the San, the indigenous people of this region, also known as ‘First People’, with a special story about their unique relationship to the earliest people of human existence.
First people
The San consider themselves to be First People because their ancestors were the earliest inhabitants of Southern Africa. Their DNA indicates that their ancestors evolved in Southern Africa and stayed here, while other smaller groups of Homo sapiens immigrated out of Africa about 70 000 years ago and eventually populated the rest of the world.
“San wellbeing is critically connected to a healthy environment. Our stories, all the norms and values we learn, they are connected to the way of life and the environment.”
– Gakamotho Satau, Khwe –
The pre-colonial culture of the San, also referred to as Bushmen, has been the object of interest around the world for hundreds of years. Filmmakers, photographers, countless articles and considerable research make the San the most documented people in the world.
The San could once be found throughout southern Africa. When the Dutch established a permanent refreshment station at current day Cape Town in 1652, there were an estimated 150 000 to 300 000 that lived across the region. They lived free as hunters and gatherers with a deep connection to nature.
The Nama in Namibia and the Richtersveld have persisted longest as pastoralists and are still speaking their Khoekhoe language.
In the 1600’s one Khoekhoe group, the Nama, headed northwards again, crossing the Orange River into present day Namibia.
Today the last 130 000 descendants of this historical nation now live in scattered communities across six regions of southern Africa.
Tracing the San identity – Khoisan, Khoekhoe and Bushmen
The San, or Bushmen, are among the world’s last living hunter-gatherers.
Khoisan
This label has brought much confusion to the study of San and Khoekhoe history. The term became popular after its introduction by academics in the early 1900’s. Although its original meaning related to the physical similarities Khoekhoen and San, it is used as a convenient way of referring to people whose histories, languages and cultures have been entangled for 2000 years.
Khoe-Kwadi
The first herders to enter southern Africa were the ‘click speaking’ ancestors of modern-day Khoe-Kwadi speakers. They migrated into the northern Kalahari Basin about 2000 years ago.
Khoekhoe
Khoekhoe means “people people” in their click-based language, part of the Khoe Kwadi family. Their history is closely linked with the San and, post-Dutch settlement, most Khoekhoe groups were defeated, leading many to work on farms or integrate into lower colonial society.
San
Known for their tracking skills, the San can read the emotions of people in their tracks, identifying if the person was sitting, fast or slow walking, running, coming or going and even if the tracks were those of lovers. Rock paintings and engravings suggest the persistence of San beliefs and rituals possibly as far back as 30 000 years.
Many Europeans could not differentiate between San and Khoekhoen and used the term ‘Hottentots’ and Bushmen interchangeably. These terms would sometimes be combined in forms such as ‘Bosjesmans-Hottentots’.
San and Khoekhoe interacted in different ways, they sometimes clashed violently, especially when the San stole the herders’ livestock. At other times they worked well together.
Hunter or the herder?
Academics debate whether hunter-gathering San could have shifted their way of live to become herders and whether herders may have become hunter-gatherers.
Key differences:
Herders
- Main source of food is their herds which provide milk and meat.
- Build up livestock for long term investment.
- Consider status and the accumulation of ‘wealth’ to be important.
Hunters
- All food is wild animals and plants.
- More concerned with immediate consumption.
- Egalitarian – equal access to resources and rely on sharing, cooperation and equal decision making.
The grim reality of unequal power relations
History has not been kind to the San.
The San lived differently, and to colonial eyes, their distinct lifestyle was misunderstood to the point where they fell victim to the mindset carried by some Europeans in the 1700’s. The San’s different lifestyle made them the object of an attitude rooted in ethnocentrism. Placed on the bottom of an invented evolutionary ladder, they were casted as “primitive” and “impoverished.” At times their humanity was not even acknowledged.
Within 250 years of European settlement San as independent hunter-gathers had disappeared from South Africa. In the rest of southern Africa San life was affected severely but hunter-gathering remained possible for some San into the 1950’s and for a few into very recent times.
Genetic research among the San shows the grim reality of unequal power relations during the colonial period in the 1700’s and the 1800’s when the San population suffered terrible losses in the name of colonisation.
The men were massacred; women and children were removed from their land forced into labour. Their language, way of live and culture were forgotten as their identity was subsumed in the melting pot of the emerging Cape population.
“The Bushmen were shot like dogs. They believed a dead Bushman was better.” – Kuela Kiema │Guikhoe
Between 1850 and 1890 the last independent hunter-gatherer San groups disappeared from South Africa. They became scattered all over Africa. By 1955 colonisation and Bantu assimilation reduced the San numbers in southern Africa to an estimated 45 000 – 55 000.
Well into the 20th century, even as late as the 1930s, San communities were still hunted as trophy’s and dehumanised as study topics by the colonial settler.
With the disappearance of San in South Africa, a rock art tradition that was possibly tens of thousands of years old came to an end. The last phase of the art included images colonisation.
Award winning Heritage Centre builds bridges
!Khwa ttu offers an extraordinary experience where the traveller is drawn into the daily rhythm of the San and experience the San way of life in an authentic way.
The history of the !Khwa ttu San Heritage Centre officially started in 1999. The need to bring heritage, learning, skills, opportunity and community to the San descends became a passion project for Anthropologist Michael Diaber. His vison was to have a space where networks could be built with San communities across southern Africa to support San tertiary education and the growing integration of San values.
With the help of a Swiss investor, he set out to find the perfect location to set up a heritage centre, dedicated to the San and they can meet visitors as equals.
The reserve sits within an old wheat farm, Grootwater (Afrikaans for Big Water). !Khwa ttu means ‘water pan’ in the language of the extinct │Xam San. Like all San, the │Xam San treated the rain like a person, and they named that person !Khwa. The name symbolises a place of life, growth and coming together to share.
!Khwa ttu is a San heritage site and aims to preserve the traditional knowledge of the San and to restore hope, dignity and cultural pride to the San people. With intern programmes they help develop San descents the skills to equip them to thrive in the modern world.
Three museums, First people, Encounters and Way of the San, was opened in September 2018. Perfectly designed to tell the San story, it engages the traveller’s mind, body and soul.
!Khwa ttu also offers:
- Walking/Hiking and Bicycle trials
- San guided tours
- Restaurant
- Shop
- Accommodation
As top destination for visitors in the Western Cape, !Khwa ttu has received several nominations and awards. These accolades recognize its commitment to responsible tourism, community empowerment, and exceptional visitor experiences.
2025 Global Responsible Tourism Gold Award for Increasing Local Sourcing and Creating Shared Value.
2025 Golden Shield Award 2025 for Preferred Heritage Destination.
2019 African Responsible Tourism Award for Best Responsible Cultural or Heritage Experience.
2018 Sanlam Top Destinations Award for responsible tourism practices.
TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice: Best of the Best Award.
Conclusion
The endurance of the San is hidden in their DNA. Although the number of San who perished in South Africa during colonial period was very high, a significant population survived. Keeping in pace with modernisation and social and cultural changes in the regions they live, their heritage is still deeply in tune with their ancient roots.
The San’s heritage is one of remarkable worth and their skills, knowledge and connection with the earth a valuable one. Protecting their legacy with respect, protection and appreciation will benefit the descendants of all humankind.
“At !Khwa ttu we tell our own story. The story is one that few people know, but it is one that everyone will recognize. It is the story of humankind. It is your story.
Welcome home.”
