Religion. However, other religions are protected by the constitution. [16] 2.7 million are of various black African ethnic groups, such as Zulu, Xhosa, and Sotho. A minority of South African population does not belong to any of the major religions, but regard themselves as traditionalists or of no specific religious affiliation. Botha felt Israel had betrayed him", "World Jewish Population - Latest Statistics", "Chapter 9 – State institutions supporting constitutional democracy", "Investigation and Conflict Resolution (ICR)", "Current Investigations: Progress Report; Project 135: Review of witchcraft legislation", "South African Law Reform Commission Thirty Eighth Annual Report 2010/2011", "crl rights commission continues with the consultative community hearings on the possible review of public holidays", Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Religion_in_South_Africa&oldid=994735139, Articles with dead external links from January 2017, Articles with permanently dead external links, Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from June 2014, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. READ ALSO: Causes of conflict in Africa Christianity arrived in Africa in the late 1st or early 2nd century AD, making these Christian communities some of the earliest in the world. The church was begun in Rustenburg after church members refused to sing hymns from a hymn book that they considered blasphemous. A 2012 Win-Gallup International Religiosity and Atheism poll indicated that the number of South Africans who consider themselves religious decreased from 83% of the population in 2005 to 64% of the population in 2012. Today, the majority of South Africans identify as Christian (84.2%). Importantly, there is significant and sustained syncretism with African Traditional Religionamong most of the self-professed Christians in South Africa. [25] Modern South Africa has many Hindu temples, and its Hindu community observes major festivals of Hinduism such as Deepavali. The third phase, following the end of Apartheid, has been marked by the wave of African Muslims that have arrived on the shores and borders of South Africa. Recent figures estimate the number as between 75,000 and 100,000. I believe that with the advent of Christianity in parts of Africa, there has been a huge change is the amount of superstition. Religious minority groups are Hindus (1%), Muslims (1%) and Jews (0.2%). The Christian holidays of Christmas Day and Good Friday remained in post-apartheid South Africa's calendar of public holidays. Marina Carter and Khal Torabully (2002), Coolitude, Anthem Press, Bhana and Brain (1990), Setting down roots: Indian Migrants in South Africa, 1860-1911, Johannesburg, Witwatersrand University Press. South Africa’s religious composition was (and continues to be) deeply shaped by these early interactions. The Census 2001 provided the most recent national statistics for religious denominations. The investigation would focus on how … I will not argue that the Christian faith has not … Most white Catholics who are English Speaking are the descendants of the Irish immigrants. As we have seen above, religion of one kind or another has existed in South Africa for as long as there have been people living here. [3], The history of the Jews in South Africa mainly began under the British Empire, following a general pattern of increased European settlement in the 19th century. The first Hindu temples were in operation in the 1870s. "Religion and spirituality are closely woven into the fabric of South African public and private life - though not always seamlessly or in matching thread. As many as 6.76 million people, or … Christianity is the primary belief system in South Africa, with Protestantism being the largest denomination. [2] The Baháʼí community decided to limit membership in its national assembly to black adherents when a mixed-race assembly was prohibited under Apartheid. Mark the Evangelist made history in the year 43 when he became the first bishop to serve in the Orthodox Church of Alexandria. Today the government endorses and protects all beliefs including the African religion. The dominant role of Christian religion in the state of relationships among religions in South Africa was definitively influenced by the way in which Christianity was … Just 13% are followers of traditional African religions. The major faiths practiced in South Africa are Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, traditional African religions and Judaism. Hinduism is found in various provinces of South Africa, but primarily in KwaZulu-Natal. The Zion Faith is the religion of the black people in South Africa. In the apartheid regime where traditional beliefs were mocked and rejected, the system faced repulsion from the colonial government and regarded as a sect. Judaism came about when the Jewish astronomers and cartographers came to South Africa. [21] Many came from Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar, and some from other states of India. Almost 80% of South African population adheres to the Christian faith. Many others are Portuguese settlers who left Angola and Mozambique after they became independent in the 1970s, or their children. Religious Demography", "P.W. P.P. The system is independent and indigenous taking a 23.7% of the black community and constitutes 11.1% of the whole population of the country. The San community maintains the African Traditional Religion up to today. Today the church embraces the teachings embedded in the life and resurrection of Christ and 3.8% of the population in the country subscribe to this religion. Judaism in South Africa came about some time before the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope, by the participation of Jewish astronomers and cartographers in the Portuguese discovery of the sea-route to India. [14] Of the total national population of 44.8 million, 35.8 million or 79.8% identified as members of a Christian denomination.[15]. The largest Protestant denomination in the country is Pentecostalism, followed by Methodism, Dutch Reformed and Anglicanism. There were many taboos intended to influence such superstitious beliefs. According to the Namibia Demographic and Health Surveys (2013), the proportions are: Even though the country prides itself on being a multi-dominion country, 15% of the population do not identify themselves with any religion, the second largest group after the Protestant Christians. These innocent victims are vulnerable to a double degree: as women and as older persons. Importantly, there is significant and sustained syncretism with African Traditional Religion among most of the self-professed Christians in South Africa. As of 2010, it had the world's ninth largest population of Baháʼís, with nearly 240,000 members. The number, however, continues to grow each year. The CRL Rights Commission held countrywide consultative public hearings in June and July 2012 to assess the need for a review of public holidays following the receipt of complaints from minority groups about unfair discrimination. Since its introduction in 1652 by the settlers, the system has gained popularity and has a majority following. Three quarters (75.6%) of … God, however, created the world and then remained distant. The Baháʼí Faith was introduced to South Africa in 1911. This is one of two main features of the early beginnings of Christianity in South Africa. By Benjamin Elisha Sawe on April 25 2017 in Society. [5][6][7] The Census 2011 form did not include any questions about religion due to low priority. Today the church, as opposed to the mainstream European churches, combines the aspects of African traditions with the values of Christianity. The 2001 census for South Africa found that 79.8% of the population (35,7 million people), were Christian, up from 75.5% in 1996. Nizamiye is fashioned after the 16th-century Selimiye Mosque in Turkey, a building that showcases spectacular Ottoman design. By the 2001 South African Census, its membership had increased to 4.97 million members. In the apartheid regime where traditional beliefs were mocked and rejected, thChristianity is the primary belief system in South Africa, with Protestantism being the largest denomination. It is not reported whether Bartolomeu Dias de Novaes took off his shoes when on 12 March 1488 he raised a padráo, dedicated to St Gregory, at Kwaaihoek on the East Coast and just west of the mouth of the Bushman’s River. The community grew tenfold between 1880 and 1914, from 4,000 to over 40,000. Added to this are a considerable number of Muslims from India and Pakistan that have arrived as economic migrants. He also told them to baptise people in the name of the Trinity. However, Jewish settlers only began to arrive in numbers from the 1820s. R Huttenback (1976), Racism and Empire: White Settlers and Colored Immigrants in the British Self-Governing Colonies 1830-1910, Cornell University Press, Michelangelo van Meerten, in History of Humanity: Scientific and Cultural Development, Editors: Peter Mathias and Nikolaj Tolorov, Volume 6, Originally published by. Despite the wide-ranging spectrum of South Africa's religions, 80 percent of all South Africans consider themselves Christian. [13], Christianity is the dominant religion in South Africa, with almost 80% of the population in 2001 professing to be Christian. However South Africa registered an almost 20% drop in religious affiliation over a seven year period from 2005 to 2012. 25 Downloads; Abstract. [9] However, an Ipsos Mori Poll of 2017 showed 88% declare that religion was an important part of their lives. Updated as of 2020. The San community maintains the African Traditional Religion up to today. Even though the country prides itself in being a multi-dominion country, 15% of the population do not identify themselves with any religion, the second largest group after the Protestant Christians. While Christ… Nearly 40% of the black colored South Africans are members of the African Independent Churches, commonly known as the Zionist Christian Churches, which include no less than 4,000 congregations. Today, however, Africa is overwhelmingly populated by followers of these two religions. The Auwal or Owal Mosque built in 1794, is a mosque in the Bo-Kaap neighbourhood of Cape Town, South Africa, it is recognised as the first mosque established in the country. The history of Protestantism in South Africa dates back to the initial European settlement on the Cape of Good Hope in 1652. The belief system is similar to the Anglican faith and forms 6.7% of the total population in the country. It is unclear when the first Hindus settled in parts of South Africa. The Dutch and the British introduced Christianity during the apartheid era. [11], The Association of Religion Data Archives (relying on World Christian Trends) estimated in 2010 that 82.0% of South Africans identified as Christian, 7.1% identified with indigenous religions, 5.4% identified as agnostic, 2.4% identified as Hindu, 1.7% identified as Muslim, 0.5% identified as Baháʼí, 0.3% each identified as Buddhist and atheist, 0.2% identified as Jewish, and less than 0.1% identified with each other group. Coloured and white South Africans each account for roughly 300,000. [20] This is the largest concentration of Hindus in Africa after Mauritius. After the British occupations of the Cape in 1795 and 1806, this Christian tradition prevailed. Christianity is now one of the most widely practiced religions in Africa along with Islam and is the largest religion in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Alexandria-based church initially used Greek, and it was not until the late 2nd century that both the liturgy and the scriptures were translated into three native languages. The Chinese immigrants introduced Buddhism in South Africa. According to the 1996 South African Census, the church numbered 3.87 million members. The first symbols of Christianity in southern Africa were in the form of crosses planted along the coast by early Portuguese seafarers. The third section analyses statistical data on the state of religion in South Africa, while the last section offers some concluding remarks on the relationship between modernisation and secularisation in South Africa thus far. The Indians who worked as laborers in the settlements introduced Hinduism and now forms 1.2% of the total population in the country. The church's headquarters are at Zion City Moria in Limpopo Province, South Africa (Northern Transvaal). The Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL Rights Commission) is a chapter nine institution established in 2004 to support democracy.[30][31]. While everyone is entitled to their religion, it is the same religion which has shaped Africa's history especially with the advent of imperialism and colonialism upon which it was built. People saw phenomena such as weather, disease and human fate as subject to the whims of varios gods. In conclusion, the multi-colored nation of South Africa is said to support Christianity as the primary belief system. Not everyone shares this view. Freedom of worship is guaranteed by the Constitution. The belief was introduced in the early 1916 under the guidance of Engenas Lekganyane, a once evangelical student of the Anglican system. In 1996, there were approximately 3.3 million Catholics in South Africa making up 6% of the total South African population. Islam, though a minor religion, was introduced by the Dutch settlers’ Cape Malay slaves and constitutes 1.5% of the total population in the country. Religious Pluralism and Christianity in South Africa. Below are the most notable Christian belief systems; Protestantism is the primary belief system in South Africa with 36% of the total population. It is often combined with elements of Christianity and Islam. The first phase brought the earliest Muslims as part of the involuntary migration of slaves, political prisoners and political exiles from Africa and Asia (mainly from the Indonesian archipelago) that lasted from about 1652 to the mid-1800s. By the end of the third century, Christians in the eastern Magrib were in the majority. About 80% of South Africa's population describes themselves as being Christian. With the growing force of colonialism, the religion dominated as more British settled in the Cape Town. Located in Johannesburg, South Africa, Nizamiye is believed to be the biggest mosque complex in the Southern Hemisphere. Some South African local governments banned temple building and property ownership by Hindus in 1910s. European and other foreign settlers brought most of these religions. Early Hindu settlements in South Africa suffered discrimination, abuse and persecution. 1 Introduction: Peoples, religions, Constitution and Charter. The European settlers believed that Africans did not have the true religion and so the implementation to extinct the traditional belief system. I seek, in this article, to contest the claim that the Christian faith, as one of the major religions in Africa, predominantly fosters negative effects (like conflicts, laziness, fear, lack of curiosity/creativity and violence), and argue that Christianity has been a contributor to progress and development and also a force for more peaceful societies in Africa and the world. [8] The 2016 Community Survey, and intercensal survey carried out by Statistics South Africa, reintroduced the religion question, and the results were reported in the pie chart. The members were exiled and together during the Great Trek of Afrikaner-Boer, the church developed. The system is independent and indigenous taking a 23.7% of the black community and constitutes 11.1% of the whole population of the country. The Roman Catholic Church is the main Catholicism in South Africa and 7.1 of the population in the country are followers of this religion.The belief system is common among the Zulu, Xhosa, and Sotho. No single denomination predominates, with mainstream Protestant churches, Pentecostal churches, African initiated churches, and the Catholic Church all having significant numbers of adherents. This was reinforced by the arrival of the French Huguenots shortly thereafter. Christian missionaries in Africa often thought the people served multiple Gods; in reality, all forms of African religion held a belief in one supreme God. Unfortunately, I have to limit myself to the constitutional position of just two of the many religions in the country, as space and time do not allow for more. Approximately 1.22% or 551,669 of the South African population professed to be Hindu, according to the 2001 census. Other major religious groups are Hindus, Muslims and Jews. Religion in South Africa (2016 Community Survey)[1]. In 1956, after members of various tribes in South Africa became Baháʼís, a regional Baháʼí Assembly which included South Africa was elected. [18] Although, the majority of South African Muslims are Sunni, smaller numbers are Ahmadi, particularly in Cape Town.[19]. Factbook > Countries > South Africa > Demographics. Non-Christian entities in the country include Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, and Buddhism. This is a decline of 2 % (Lugo & Religion in Namibia is dominated by various branches of Christianity, with more than 90 percent of Namibian citizens identifying themselves as Christian.According to the United States DRL, in 2007 up to 75% were Protestant, including as much as 50% Lutheran.. Currently, there are 3.8 million Catholics. Facts and statistics about the Religions of South Africa. Traditional African religion is very popular and arrived here with our North and West African ancestors. By 1300 it had spread to Iceland, China and Russia, and from there to southern Africa, Asia and the Americas through … Traditional, animist religion saw humans as being subject to the whims of local gods. Kumar (2012), Hinduism in South Africa, in Elias Kifon Bongmba (Editor) - The Wiley Blackwell Companion to African Religions, Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference, Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities, "History of the Baháʼí Faith in South Africa", "QuickLists: Most Baha'i (sic) Nations (2010)", "Table: Census 2001 by province, gender, religion recode (derived) and population group", "Census 2011 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)", "Believers in Christ from a Muslim Background: A Global Census", http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1107&context=totem, "South Africa - Section I. The Muslim population has grown 20-fold, and now nearly three-in-ten (29%) Sub-Saharan Africans are Muslim. Hindus comprised about 0.9% of the population of South Africa; however 3.3% of the population of KwaZulu-Natal are Hindus. Religious groups in South Africa . In 2005 Baháʼís were estimated at about 240,100 adherents. The early patterns of Jewish South African history are almost identical to the history of the Jews in the United States but on a much smaller scale, including the period of early discovery and settlement from the late 17th century to the early 19th century. Christianity spread from Israel, around the Mediterranean Sea, to Egypt, Syria and the rest of the world. In 1995, after a prolonged period of growth and oppression during Apartheid and the homelands reuniting with South Africa, the Baháʼí National Spiritual Assembly of South Africa was formed. Christianity is the dominant religion in South Africa, with almost 80% of the population in 2001 professing to be Christian. Other high populations of Buddhist are found in the Indian Ocean and Mauritius. No single denomination predominates, with mainstream Protestant churches, Pentecostal churches, African initiated churches, and the Catholic Church all having significant numbers of adherents. Economic immigrants from India and Pakistan also contributed to the Muslim community before the end of apartheid. [28] South Africa's Jewish community differs from its counterparts in other African countries in that the majority have remained on the continent rather than emigrating to Israel (62% of the maximum 120,000 still remain). In accordance with section 5 of the Civil Union Act, any religious organisation may apply to the Department of Home Affairs for designation as a religious organisation and when designated as such must formally nominate suitable candidates from within their organisation to be designated by the Department of Home Affairs as religious marriage officers for the purpose of solemnising marriages according to the rites of that religious organisation. Even though the country prides itself on being a multi-dominion country, 15% of the population do not identify themselves with any religion, the second largest group after the Protestant Christians. The Dutch and the British introduced Christianity during the apartheid era. South Africa Religions. The Civil Union Act, which came into effect on 30 November 2006, legalised same-sex marriage and also allowed for the legal designation of religious marriage officers without any religious restriction in accordance with the Constitution. [10], A 2015 study estimated some 6,500 believers from a Muslim background have converted into Christianity and numbers have increased recently. Some would argue that both Islam and Christianity are indigenous African religions. Of the approximately 176,000 Indians of all faiths who were transported to the Natal province, almost 7-10% of the first shipment were Muslims. It is mostly women advanced in age that are persecuted as witches by communities holding traditional beliefs. Most of those practising Buddhism are of Vietnamese, Chinese and Japanese ethnicity, due to the high number of immigrants from those three countries. • Sixty per cent (60%) of South African Christians attend worship services on a weekly basis (Lugo & Cooperman 2010:27). He most probably did not. It is believed that Mark the Evangelist brought Christianity from Jerusalem to Alexandria in the year 43 before becoming the first bishop to serve the Alexandria Orthodox Church. The majority are descended from Irish and Italian immigrants. Of the total national population of 44.8 million, 35.8 millio… Although the largest Buddhist population lives in South Africa, it only makes up between 0.2 to 0.3% of the population. The Calvinist Afrikaans is not so into the religion, and their population is almost insignificant. This Supreme Being was the creator of the known world. During the country’s 2011 population census, the religious demographics of the… African traditional religions have been washed away, and especially with Christianity, they are viewed as pagan and heathen in nature. Later each of the constituent countries successively formed their own independent Baháʼí National Spiritual Assembly. Islam in South Africa is a minority religion, practiced by less than 1.5% of the total population, according to estimates[by whom?]. Once it was introduced to Africa, Christianity slowly spread from Alexandria to Ethiopia. The charismatic churches have, therefore, become centers of power in their own right. The Zion Faith is the religion of the black people in South Africa. Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK) – 1.1 million Christian Evangelical Church in Minahasa – 0.7 million [145] United Church in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands – … Other notable Christian belief systems in South Africa include the Methodist Christian with a 6.8% of the population and the Charismatic Christians with a fascinating 8.2%. The most important thing is that in the new South … The Zion Christian Church (or ZCC) is the largest African initiated church in Southern Africa. Freedom of worship is guaranteed by the Constitution, and official policy is of non-interference in religious practices. The South African authorities have noticed this. The belief was introduced in the early 1916 under the guidance of Engenas Lekganyane, a once evangelical student of the Anglican system. During the twentieth century the majority of people from European descent were Christian Protestants. During apartheid, a number of Jews were prominent in the Anti-Apartheid Movement, while others were instrumental in promoting the extension of diplomatic military ties between Israel and the country's white government. In the infant years, the church ran by the doctrines of the Christian Catholic Church based on Zion, Illinois. This minority group forms less than 1% of the total population.e system faced repulsion from the colonial government and regarded as a sect. The Catholic Church in South Africa is part of the universal Catholic Church composed of the Roman Rite and 22 Eastern Rites, of which the South African church is under the spiritual leadership of the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference and the pope based in Vatican City. Religion in South Africa is dominated by various branches of Christianity. They assisted Bartolomeu Dias and Vasco da Gama who first sailed around the Cape of Good Hope in 1488 and 1497 respectively. The new Constitution did not result in immediate reform of discriminatory legislation infringing on the right to religious freedom. Christianity achieved a major thing in Africa: to teach the black Africans to forsake all their traditions … It is made up of 26 dioceses and archdioceses plus an apostolic vicariate. [29], Post-apartheid South Africa's Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of religion, belief and opinion among other freedoms. In the infant years, the church ran by the doctrines of the Christian Catholic Church based on Zion, Illinois. [27] A small population of Baháʼís remained until 1950 when large numbers of international Baháʼí pioneers settled in South Africa. Since then, Protestantism has been the predominant religion of the European settlers and today, of South Africa as a whole. By 180 AD the new religion had spread throughout the whole Roman Empire, into Persia (Iran), North Africa and India. Christianity, the faith of almost three-quarters of the diverse South African population, has long been pushed to the margins of historical writing on South Africa, yet for more than two centuries it has shaped South African society and its diverse subcultures. The vast majority of current Hindus in South African provinces are descendants of indentured laborers brought in by the British colonial government, from 1860 to 1919, to work in plantations and the mining operations owned by European settlers. Thus both religions have been on the continent of Africa for over 1,300 years. Since its introduction in 1652 by the settlers, the system has gained popularity and has majority following. Many religions are represented in the ethnic and regional diversity of the population. The popularity of the belief system is due to its liberated reforms that entertain ordination of women and surprisingly, homosexuality as compared to most evangelical counterparts. 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