Religion in South Africa

More than three quarters of South Africans call themselves Christians. The largest single church is the Zion Christian Church (ZCC), which has over 4 million followers.

During Christian festivals, each year more than a million ZCC members come together at Zion City in Limpopo province. The next largest church is the Nederduitse Gereformeerde (NG) or Dutch Reformed Church, which has a congregation of about 3.5 million.

A small proportion of South Africans - about 6% - is made up of Jews, Muslims, and Hindus. Most South African Indians retain the Hindu faith of their original homeland.

The Islamic community, concentrated mostly in the Western Cape, is a small but growing one, while the Jewish community consists of approximately 100,000 followers, mostly situated in Johannesburg.

The remainder of the population is made up of atheists or agnostics, and a small number of people follow traditional African beliefs. The traditions of the latter pervade nominally Christian communities, with African rituals and traditional medicine (muti) still very popular.

Religion is very important to most South Africans. On Sundays you can see people from rural communities walking miles to go to church, even through the coldest weather and the most unforgiving terrain.

For many who endure poverty and material hardship, faith is a great source of hope and strength.

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