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The Tswana of South Africa

The Tswana of South Africa, numbering approximately 4,240,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Sotho-Tswana people of southern Africa descended from Bantu-speaking communities that established chiefdoms across the interior grasslands of present-day South Africa and Botswana. They mostly adhere to Independent Christianity and Tswana is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Tswana

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: South Africa
People Cluster: Bantu, Sotho-Tswana
Primary Language(s): Tswana (tsn)
Primary Religion(s): Independent Christianity
Population: 4,240,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, Concentrated CP Activity
People Group ID: PG015544
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Pray for the Tswana of South Africa

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Independent Christianity
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

85%
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tswana
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

95%
%
Setswana Speakers

Media Resources in Tswana:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Tswana:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Tswana bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Tswana are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Tswana:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Pray specifically for the Tswana of South Africa

Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me! O LORD, be my helper!
readPsalm 30:10

Pray that people in the depths of despair and suffering and living outside of relationship with Christ will cry out to the Lord and find help, peace, and joy in Him.

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
readRomans 10:14

Pray that the gospel will advance among those who don’t know the good news of salvation in Jesus so that they might believe and trust in Jesus.

I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.
readPsalm 3:5-6

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and experience isolation or other persecution, God will sustain them and give them confidence and rest in Him.

You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.
read2 Corinthians 1:11

Pray that many people will join in praying for the spread of the gospel here, and that God will answer these prayers by drawing more people to Himself.

Tswana Across Countries (ROP3 - 110225) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

4 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion ▼
TswanaPG015544TswanaSouth Africa4,240,000Engaged yet UnreachedTswanaIndependent Christianity
TswanaPG015264TswanaBotswana2,115,000Engaged yet UnreachedTswanaEthnoreligion
TswanaPG015463TswanaNamibia6,600Engaged yet UnreachedTswanaEthnoreligion
TswanaPG015682TswanaZimbabwe95,000Engaged yet UnreachedTswanaEthnoreligion

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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