The social, political and economic organization of the San

Social organization.

The family was very important in society because it formed the basic social unit.
The San lived in small communities consisting of 50- 70 people.

The san led a nomadic life i.e. they moved from place to place in search of wild game and fruits
The girls of around 8 years could be married to the boys of about 13 and 14 years.
They slept in caves and temporary shelters .Their caves were beautifully covered by the paintings of animals on the walls.
The boys underwent initiation where their hunting skills were tested. Use of traditional medicine and dances were also tested.
After marriage ceremony, the husband joined the family of the bride/girl in order to hunt for them till the birth of the first child.
Polygamy was common among the san but produced few children due to their nomadic way of life.
They used traditional healing medicine. In fact the parents passed the knowledge of traditional medicine to the young ones

The San believed in God called Kaggen. Kaggen was also known as Thora or Hish. Kaggen was regarded as the creator and therefore prayers were made to him for blessings.
The preying- mantis was highly respected among the San for it represented fortune and good luck.
The San were great artists .For example they decorated walls of their caves with pictures of animals and daily experience.
The san lived by dancing .They dance at new and full moon .At the dace, hunters prayed for good fortune in hunting.
The most important social ceremony among the san was the sacrifice to the rain because they lived in drier areas.
They celebrated important days in life such as at birth puberty, marriage, and death. On such days, animals were slaughtered/killed.

The San were great hunters. They lived by hunting wild animals.In fact they kept no animals except their hunting dogs.
The hunters used bows and poisoned arrows for small animals and large animals were caught by digging pits. They also domesticated / kept dogs to help them in hunting.
Food gathering was also common among the San to supplement wild game. Women gathered fruits, honey, locusts and roots to enrich their diet.
Fish was caught in rivers like Kei,Tsomo, Umzimuhuru and Tugela to supplement on their diet.
The San also raided their neighbours like the Khoikhoi for cattle at times.

Trade was also carried out among the San as they mainly exchanged goods for other goods.
The wealth of the San consisted of the hunting dogs, hunting grounds and temporary shelters.
Land among the San was communally owns as no could individually own land.

They had no centralized system of government instead; the administrative work was done by the head man in each settlement.
The head man was assisted by the council of elders.
The work of the headman was to put in practice what was decided by the council of elders.
Council meeting were held on regular basis and were open to all adult males in society.

The youth were responsible for the security of their society and in times of food shortages, they raided their neighbours.
The San were friendly to the outsiders unless attacked or their hunting grounds interfered with.