Bantu peoples of South Africa

Africans of the South/Black South Africans
	Proportion of Black South Africans in each municipality according to the census
Total population
	50,486,856 (2022 census); 81.45% of South Africa's population
Languages
	Afrikaans; English; Northern Sotho; Southern Ndebele; Southern Sotho; Swazi; Tsonga; Tswana; Venda; Xhosa; Zulu;
Religion
	Christianity; Irreligious; Traditional African religions; Undetermined; Further information: Religion in South Africa;
Related ethnic groups
	Other Indigenous Southern Africans; Relating Coloureds; Relating South African diaspora;

Bantu speaking people of South Africa are the majority, ethno-linguistic people of South Africa. They are indigenous southern Africans from Southern Bantu-speaking peoples; whose earliest presence through surviving evidence, in the now "South Africa", is noted between 350 BCE and 300 CE from either the speculated prehistoric migrations called Bantu expansion (5000 BCE to 500 CE), or due to localized back and forth seasonal migratory culture(s) based on shifting cultivation. They are referred to in various census as African, Black, or Native South African.