ABSTRACT
The native inhabitants of what is now the Union of South Africa belong to three different ethnic groups, commonly known as the Bushmen, the Hottentots, and the Bantu. Under the irnpaƸt of European civilization the Bushmen and the Hottentots have declined so considerably in strength and in numbers that they are relatively negligible as far as problems of interracial adjustment are concerned. Their modes of life and forms of social organization have become almost completely broken down, while the people themselves have virtually disappeared as racial entities. 1 The Bantu, on the other hand, are still vigorous and powerful; and their relations with the European community constitute one of the most vital problems confronting South Africa. They outnumber their white rulers in a proportion of roughly three to one, and show no perceptible signs of a decline in population. Their tribal system, too, is so superior to those of the other native peoples that they have managed still to preserve much of their original cohesion, and in some cases to offer a strong resistance to the disintegrating effeƸts of contaƸt with Western civilization.
