As we all know, South Africa is a country made up of different tribes of different origins. I've seen many claims online that South Africa's tribes are of common origin & can assure you that they are simply not. The very language structure of South Africa's major tribes resembles tribes & nations outside of South Africa more than tribes within South Africa. I've seen people trying to force a Sotho association with Zulu people, these are two seperate distinct people with their own systems, language, cultures & ancestors. As Mthoko Mpofana, I can assure you all that NOTHING of my heritage & my DNA is of Sotho or Tswana origin. I am more than content with not being Sotho or Tswana. I have seen people associate Xhosa people with Zulu people. AGAIN, these are two seperate people with DISTINCT languages & share very little in culture. Xhosa & Zulu have separate ancestors & ways of doing things. In fact, Tsonga & Ndebele are closer to Zulu than the Xhosa in terms of culture & origin.
The history of South Africa from my knowledge is as follows:
• The first humans in South Africa existed 1,8 million years ago. They were not San or Khoi as many would believe. Their language & culture would simply be unidentifiable to Khoi & San people as we know them. Whether these people stayed in South Africa or wondered elsewhere is up for debate.
• Carbon-dating technology estimates that the San, the arrived in South Africa 25 000 years ago & lived on the southwest of the Drakensberg mountains & not in present-day KwaZulu-Natal. These tribes would intermarry with Ngoni tribes that would live to the east of the Drakensberg Mountains.
N. B. : The Ngoni could also do cave & rock paintings. Many rock paintings are often incorrectly attributed to the San.
• The Khoi then arrived in South African territory in what is estimated to be 5000 years ago.
• Amatiti tribes from the Great Lakes region of Africa are said to have been the first iron-working tribes (i. e. Bantu) to arrive in South Africa, they settled in the northwestern part of present-day KwaZulu-Natal (i. e. Bergville area) & were also the first of the Dhlamini tribes to settle the region in what has been carbon-dated to have been 200 AD. They were followed by other Dhlamini tribes via (now) Mozambique who were settled at Delagoa Bay.
• Throughout the ages, the accumulation of these tribes would become the Mtiti, Hlubi, Bhaca, Nguni, Ndebele & Thonga tribes. All these tribes being of Swazi origin to some extent. At this time, the Xhosa had long separated from the "Nguni" core & went south, having their capital at Mthatha alongside the Mpondo to the northeast of them that lived south of the Mzimvubu River.
• The Sotho-Tswana tribes are said to have first set foot in South Africa in 800 AD, they lived mainly in the Northwest province. The Sotho & Pedi then broke away with the Sotho establishing themselves in present-day Lesotho in the early 1800s.
• The Zulu Empire of many tribes speaking different dialects was united by 1818 under it's first emperor/king. They would merge & speak one common dialect of the Ngoni family, this pan-Ngoni language became known as isiZulu or the Zulu language. The Zulu name & clan claiming it's origin in what is said to be the 15th century.
• The Khoi & San who had fled west upon the arrival of the Sotho-Tswana tribes in 800 AD, had now become hunter-gatherers in the Cape region of South Africa & southern parts of Namibia. They would encounter the Portuguese & Dutch, the latter would end Khoi existence at the Cape from 1652 onwards.
This is an elaborated version of a historical timeline that was done previously.