THE EARLIEST SOUTH AFRICANS South Africa has provided a home for human settlement since very early times. The presence of homo sapiens goes back perhaps 125 000 years. These first South Africans" were followed much later by hand-toolmakers of the Middle Stone Age (probably 40 000 years ago), the so-called Wilton-Smithfield cultural system (small flake tools, weapons, pottery) has been uncovered. There are three reasons for the linkage between these Late Sone Age people and the earliest negroid inhabitants, …showed first 75 words of 4595 total…

…showed last 75 words of 4595 total…make the elders perfect persons for the specific role. First the elders are regarded with respect and dignity by the people under the authority of the elders such that the people respect the elders as much as their fathers. Second the elders are closer to the death than everyone else. Their age and status make the elers as representative of the ancestors. The people regard the actions of the elders as actions of the ancestors.