South African Zulu people holding traditional spears and shields

Over and above their warmth towards meeting whoever visits the country, one of the abiding characteristics of Zulu people today is their belief in their traditional customs and indigenous belief systems. From time immemorial, the Zulus have always held a strong belief that the closest human link the living have with God, uMvelinqangi is through the connection they have with amadlozi, a Zulu term for ancestors. This link is deeply spiritual, and helps to explain the Zulu people’s attitudes to ideas of fertility, life, fortune and misfortune as well as their general quest for a life lived purposefully and with integrity. The appreciation and elevation of amadlozi in the Zulu world and cosmological view say that there is never a stage where descendants of a family bloodline must sever their ties with the elders who preceded them. The living are dead without their beloved, and revered living-dead.