Philip Copeman

Author and Activist

David Bullard, was fired from his column for racist remarks. Consequently, I can think of no better place to start than defining the race of South Africans. The message comes from the scientific world of population genetics. Get ready to rearrange the way that you think about your South African ancestry.




There have been revelations in population genetics over the last ten years. The South African Genome is certainly more complex than the rest of the world, but that is logical - it is the oldest. We are going to need the most sophisticated multivariate techniques to unravel it.




There are three basic racial groupings in South Africa:




Khoisan- Bantu Mix - 70%

Khoisan- European Mix - 20%

Immigrants -Eurasian and West African - 10%







There is little difference between the Eurasians - Indians, Jews, Germans, Brits, Chinese. This is all covered by extensive studies on mitochondrial and y chromosome DNA. All people originating outside of Africa carry the M168 marker and none within Africa carry this marker. Inside Africa there is a much bigger diversity and West Africans show a deep split with the Khoisan.




The Khoisan-European Mix comprises the San, Coloreds and Afrikaners. There are few, if any, pure San left, they have effectively been crossbred into the European and Bantu populations. The "Afrikaners" as a separate white race, was invented over a Brandy and Coke sometime in the 1940s. From under a genetic microscope, Coloreds and Afrikaners are the same race. Some Afrikaners may wish to believe that their ancestors come from the gutters of Europe, and deny their Khoisan heritage as the Royalty of Africa, but the underlying genetics will tell you otherwise.




The Bantu, is a name for the West African tribes that, on the back of cattle herding and agriculture, spread rapidly out of the Cameroon three thousand years ago. As they moved Southward, they pushed the Khoisan back all the way from present day Kenya. Their superior technology meant that they won all the confrontations with the hunter gatherers. The prize was women and children. Using the advantage of agriculture, the Bantu pushed forward until they got to the Fish River. Here their agricultural advantage was negated by the change to winter rainfall. Some Black South Africans would like to think of themselves as West African, rather than Khoisan, which is a nice idea, but the reality is that Black, Afrikaner and Colored South Africans, rather than being different, share a common African, Khoisan heritage.


For the Eurasians and West Africans immigrants, less than 10% of the population, we choose to be in South Africa, because we simply find this lifestyle and cultural mix most suitable. Get born here or live here for a few years and you become overwhelmed by the sense of being African. Stay here for a few generations and your children quickly transform into mixed Khoisan race.


An over simplification illustrates clearly just how rapidly mixing populations spread their genes. In a simplified model - two races meet and 1% mix per generation. After 1 generation, 1% is mixed. After 2 generations, another 1% plus the first 1% mix, so 3% is mixed. After 3 generations another 1% plus the 3% mix so 7% is mixed. After 4 generations 15% is mixed and after 5 generations 31% is mixed. Can you see where this is going? South African Khoisan have been mixing with Eurasians for 14 generations. They have been mixing with Bantu for over 30 generations. I tell ya, we ain't no Rainbow Nation. We are a mixed nation of Coloreds.



Why is this understanding important?



Scratch the surface of almost any member of the Republic and you will not find someone who thinks of themselves first as South African and then as a member of the World, but rather you will find someone who thinks of themselves first and foremost as a member of their tribe and how they react with the world is how their tribe reacts with the world.



The Khoisan have been in retreat for 3000 years, first from the Bantu and then from the Dutch. While the have been happy to marry and breed with the obviously attractive physical nature of the Khoisan, the invaders have forced their culture on the mixed children, to the point where the click languages are almost extinct, the religious culture of the Khoisan is long gone.



Do not confuse the fact that Black and White South Africans look so different. In genetics , human looks do not reflect the nature of the genes. Studies prove that over 85% of variation in humans comes within a race and not between a races. For example there is less genetic difference between an Australian Aboriginal and a Swede, genetically of the same race, than there is between a Nigerian and a Xhosa, genetically of different races.



The underlying genetics of the Khoisan are strongly represented in the genes of 90% of South Africans. It is time for us to let go of the concept of the Rainbow Nation and to replace this with a joint Khoisan nationalism that is our true endemic tribal ancestry. There are genes found jointly in Afrikaners and Zulus, that are found nowhere else in the world.





Philip Copeman is the Author of God's First Fishermen, the Story of how a humble tribe of Beachwalkers conquered the world. - www.philipcopeman.com

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