Lesedi Cultural Village

About Lesedi Cultural Village

If you want to get an idea of traditional South African culture, then the Lesedi cultural village, less than an hour's drive north of Johannesburg and set amongst rocky hills and bushveld, is a perfect outing.

Did you know? Although it is a bit "touristy", you can expect an authentic African experience. At Lesedi Cultural Village you will meet real people (not actors in make-up and fancy dress), go into real homes where people live, and listen to people tell you about their individual cultures and daily lives.

Lesedi, which is seSotho for 'light', was initiated in 1995 as a tourist attraction and today features five traditional dwellings, each representing a South African culture: Pedi, Zulu, Xhosa, Basotho and Ndebele.

Each of these families lives here permanently, looking after cows, chickens and tourists, and tours through their homes offer interesting cross-cultural comparisons of the customs and social organisation of the different cultures. The idea is quite novel. If you're staying overnight, you are welcomed by the family of the homestead in which you will be staying, and the head of the house then becomes your personal guide for the duration of your stay.

Day visitors too get to experience the origins of today's colourful South African nation and receive a guided tour of the Zulu, Basotho, Xhosa and Pedi homesteads, after a multi-visual presentation.

There are two 3-hour tours, one in the morning and one late afternoon, which is definitely the more preferable because of the atmosphere the traditional singing and dancing session, held in the boma right at the end of the tour, creates at night.

The Nyama Choma restaurant offers a Pan African Buffet in true African style, after which visitors are invited to gather around a fire to share in some ‘mamba juice', a unique Lesedi drink, before the story telling and singing and dancing begin.