Homesteads

Rural people throughout southern Africa continue to build their houses in much the same fashion as their forefathers did for generations before them. This text takes the reader on a tour of some of Africa's homesteads.

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Rural people throughout southern Africa continue to build their houses in much the same fashion as their forefathers did for generations before them. Thatched Zulu beehive huts may still be seen scattered around the KwaZulu-Natal countryside, while the Tsonga people decorate their homesteads with a variety of clays, producing beautiful patterns in rich autumnal shades. The Tswana ad South Sotho people also decorate their homes, sometimes with brightly coloured designs, sometimes with simple lines engraved in the wet mud surface of freshly prepared walls. The Ndebele people paint their homesteads with the highly distinctive geometric designs for which they have become famous world-wide. Some people also carry the bright patterns through to the interiors of their homes.