The Tsonga People R1 Gold Series

The Design
The reverse of the R1 Cultural 24-carat gold coin for 2003 depicts a young Tsonga man dancing to the traditional drumming by a Tsonga woman. The obverse features the new South African Coat of Arms with the words “South Africa” and “Afrika-Dzonga” (the Tsonga words for South Africa) and the year “2003”.

The Tsonga nation’s forefathers came from present-day Mozambique and settled in small groups in South Africa in the 19th century. The Tsonga’s are not a homogenous ethnic group and their roots cannot be traced to a single founder. The Tsonga were essentially traders who followed rivers inland where they bartered cloth and beads for ivory, copper and salt. Their small groups could offer only limited resistance to the invading Nguni and they were easily incorporated into other groups such as the Ndwandwe or Shangaans. They were constantly trapped within fierce battles between the Nguni’s and the Zulus, which resulted in their being scattered throughout South Africa.

The largest single group of Tsonga speakers are to be located in the Ingwavuma-Nbombo districts of northern Zululand. These groups were the descendants of the Maputo (Mabudhu in Zulu) whose kingdom was cut in two by the border between South Africa and Mozambique. The Tsonga are well known for their rich musical heritage, which is based on the playing of a wide variety of musical instruments. For over a century, Tsonga men have worked in the South African mines and have become celebrated for their “mine” dancing. Dance movements are taken to mines from isolated homesteads and return home as ethnic dances. The dancing reaches fever pitch with vigorous drumming accompanying the participants.

Artist
Natanya van Niekerk – Marketing Manager and chief artist at the South African Mint designed the R1 gold coin.

Engravers
The obverse design was engraved by the South African Mint’s chief die-engraver, Arthur Sutherland. South African Mint resident die-engraver, Aldred Minnie engraved the reverse design.