South Africa is said to be home to a rainbow nation. Unfortunately
the very first inhabitants of southern Africa have
almost been totally assimilated into what generally is today
referred to as “Coloureds” – a mixture of Khoi, Europeans,
Slaves in the early Cape and perhaps to a lesser extent Bantu
living mostly in the Cape. These people are however not
‘coloured’ but the offspring of the Khoi, the ancient people
group who ruled Southern Africa together with the San
(Bushmen) for millennia.
The Khoi people were living as herders at least 2000 years
prior to the arrival of the first Europeans at the southern tip of
Africa. It is estimated that when Jan van Riebeeck arrived in
1652 approximately 45 000 Khoi people were settled in the
southern and western Cape. They were organized in clans and
lived a nomadic lifestyle with their herds of livestock pursuing
the best grazing dictated by rainy seasons.
Like in so many other continents the advent of the Europeans
brought a permanent change to the status quo. The final
purpose of history has everything to do with His story. God
sent missionaries to Africa to preach and spread the gospel to
the Koi people who were rich in their own way of life but poor
in knowledge about God and Christ. George Schmidt, a
Moravian missionary undoubtedly acted on the call of the Lord
in 1737 and went as a missionary to the “Hottentot” people
at the Southern tip of Africa. God confirmed his call by giving
him Isaiah 43:21 concerning the Khoi people:
‘This people I have formed for Myself; They shall
declare My praise.’
Today the cultural and spiritual heritage and purpose of the
Khoi is almost forgotten. The click Khoi language that
influenced Xhosa and Zulu languages so uniquely is scarcely
spoken anymore. The ancient Khoi culture has disappeared.