We trace the origins, totems, praise names and folk-tales of the Nguni, Sotho-Tswana, Shangaan-Tsonga and Venda peoples — carried for generations around the fire, and now written down before they’re lost.
Zulu, Xhosa, Swati, Ndebele and Hlubi — the largest language family, spanning KwaZulu-Natal to the Eastern Cape.
Sotho, Pedi and Tswana clans — Bafokeng, Batlhaping, Batabe and dozens more, from the highveld and beyond.
Tsonga clans of Limpopo and Mozambique — Nxumalo, Mabesa, Nkuna and the Shangaan sub-group’s own royal lines.
Vhavenda clans with Karanga-Rozvi roots — Vhanyai, Vhalembethu, Mphephu and Tshivhase among the royal houses.
Search any surname to find its clan praises, totem and the people it belongs to.
Zulu, Xhosa, Sotho, Tswana, Tsonga and Shangaan proverbs, and what they actually mean.
Why clans carry animal names, and how totems mark kinship across the Nguni and Sotho-Tswana worlds.
How the Bantu-speaking peoples moved south over two thousand years, region by region.
Create a free account, add your relatives, and tag each one to their clan – your tree links straight into the izithakazelo and clan histories documented across this site. Living relatives stay private by default; only you can see their details.
A lot of this history still lives only in rondavels and in people’s memories. If you know a clan praise, totem or story passed down around the fire, we want to add it — properly verified, and credited to you.