Khoikhoi's Domination

The area that is now South Africa has been inhabited by humans for millennia. The San, the original inhabitants of this land, were migratory people who lived in small groups of about 15 to 20 people. They survived by fishing, hunting, and gathering roots and other wild foods. They did not build permanent dwellings but used rock shelters as temporary dwellings. Around 2,000 years ago, 103 Khoikhoi pastoralists migrated to the coast. In the eastern part of present-day South Africa, iron-working societies date from about 300 AD. The Sotho­Tswana and Nguni peoples arrived in this region around 1,200 AD. They lived by agriculture and stock farming, mined gold, copper, and tin, hunted for ivory, and built stone-walled towns. Over the centuries, these societies had diverse contacts with the Khoisan. Strife between the San and the Khoikhoi developed over competition for the game; eventually, the Khoikhoi became dominant. These people lived in the western part of present-day South Africa and are known collectively as the Khoisan.