By creating an account, I agree to the
Terms of service and Privacy policy
Choose your country and language:
Africa
Americas
Asia Pacific
Europe
IIn Limpopo, there are a number of sites sacred to the Venda, the most well-known being Lake Fundudzi which is so sacred that outsiders are seldom allowed to visit its shores. It's said to be the dwelling place of the ancestors and that there is a white crocodile that lives under the water here. Also, this was once reputed to be a place of sacrifice.
In KwaZulu-Natal, the most revered Zulu sacred sites are in the hills and valleys of eMakhosini near Ulundi, among them being the homestead of Shaka's grandfather Jama, 'the place of unity and strength.
South Africa also has what many spiritualists believe are 'energy centres', the best known of them being Table Mountain in Cape Town, the Three Rondavels in Mpumalanga and the Magaliesberg in North West province.
And for the first people of southern Africa, the San, there are many thousands of rock art sites around the Karoo and various mountain ranges that are places where their sacred communion with the spirit world took place.
Mosques, kramats (the holy graves of revered devotees of Islam) and Hindu temples also abound in South Africa, as slaves from the east in the 17th and 18th centuries, and Indian sugar-cane workers who began arriving in KwaZulu-Natal in 1860, brought these faiths to our shores.
Among the most visited of these is the Juma Masjid, or Grey Street Mosque, in Durban, which was the first mosque built in KwaZulu-Natal. The mosque is of geometrical design and is the oldest in the southern hemisphere, its first two minarets rising in 1904.
Another is the Lord Vishnu Temple in Ladysmith, which boasts a fine statue of the great spiritual leader Mohandas Ghandi. In Ladysmith too is the beautiful Sufi Mosque on the banks of the Klip River, one of the most exquisite in the world.
Then there are 20 Islamic grave shrines, or kramats, which encircle Cape Town, and with the aid of a booklet from the Cape Mazaar Society these can be visited in a day. The kramat of Sheikh Yusuf of Macassar, on the farm Zandvliet at Faure, is the most important, as he is regarded as the father of Islam in South Africa. He lies beneath ornamented quilts in a miniature mosque.
Did You Know?
South Africa on social media
Useful links
Explore
