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The Bantu-speaking communities.
The groups which followed the San and the Khoikhoi in occupying the
Makgabeng area were the Bantu-speaking communities of the Venda,
Bakone, Bahananwa, as well as the smaller groups of the Batau, Bakwena,
Baroka, Batšhadibe, Matebele and Babirwa. There are different theories
and sub-theories about the actual origin of the Bantu-speaking
communities. However, much evidence points to the fact that the Bantu-
speaking communities originated from central and eastern Africa.
Archaeologists and linguists point to the Niger-Cameroons area as the most
likely point of emergence of Bantu-speakers more than 2 500 years ago 185 .
The Bantu-peaking communities then began to move southwards in
different waves of migration in various periods. The mass exodus of the
Bantu-speaking communities is attributed to the population explosion which
followed technological innovations such as the iron hoes which
revolutionised agriculture 186 . Population explosion led to increased
competition on resources resulting in wars – fought with iron assegais – and
then migration of people to different directions, Makgabeng being one of the
eventual destinations.
Although it is not possible to point to the actual year in which the Bantu-
speaking communities arrived in South Africa and the Makgabeng area in
185 B. Tyrrel, and P. Jurgens, African Heritage, p. 18.
186 B. Barrow, South African people, p. p. 6.
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