Tsonga people

Tonga, Thonga or Tsonga people (Tsonga: Vatsonga) 1 Languages and Dialects

and languages span most of southern Africa, notable
countries being South Africa, Swaziland, Mozambique, Tswa-Ronga people and languages are: Chopi, Ndau,
Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In these countries, Ronga, Tsonga, Tonga, Tswa and Thonga.
there are regions where one or more languages and/or
dialects are more dominant. For example, in South
1. Chopi (Chope, Copi, Tshopi, Txopi) dialects
Africa, Tsonga people are mainly found in the Limpopo,
are Copi, Khambani, Lambwe, Lenge (Lengue),
Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces,
Ndonge and Tonga.
with smaller populations in North-West and Free State.
Within these provinces, there are towns and cities where
2. Ndau (Ndzawu, Njao, Sofala, South-East Shona) dithey are most prevalent, although this is continually
alects are Changa (Shanga, Xanga), Danda, Dondo,
changing in the new South Africa as black people can
Gova, Ndau, and Senji.
now move freely. Most or all of southern Mozambique
3. Ronga (Rhonga) dialects are Kalanga, Konde, Putru,
is inhabited by Tsonga people, variously named as Copi,
and Ssonge.
Rhonga, Ndzawu, Tonga, Shangana, and Tshwa. Historically and currently the Tsonga people in Mozambique are
4. Tsonga (aka standard or South African Tsonga)
between the Limpopo and Save rivers. Their density lowdialects are Bila (Vila), Changana (Shangaan,
ers between Save and Zambezi, where the Tsonga/Shona
Shangana), Dzonga (Jonga), Gwamba (Gwapa),
group of Ndau starts to dominate. The provinces are MaHlanganu (Langanu, Nhlanganu), Hlave (Nhlave,
puto, Maputo City, Inhambane, Manica, Gaza, and SoMbayi, Nkuna, Pai), Kande, Khosa, Luleke, Lufala.
bimbi, N'walungu (Ngwalungu), Nkuma, Songa,
The Tsonga grouping is sometimes known as TswaXika, and Xonga.
Ronga. Double-barrel names have caused more prob5. Tswa (Tshwa) dialects are Dzibi (Dzivi), Dzibilems and confusion in the past, instead of fostering union.
Dzonga (Dzivi-Dzonga), Tshwa, Hlengwe (Lengwe,
The creation of the Gazankulu Bantustan in Apartheid
Lhenge),
Khambani,
Makwakwe-Khambani,
South Africa, led to a social cohesion drive between a
Mandla,
Ndxhonge,
and
Nhayi
(Nyai, Nyayi).
former invading clan, the Gaza-Ngoni-Ndwandwe, and
the original Tsonga speakers, who had ed Mozam6. Tonga can be divided into Valley Tonga and Plateau
bique when the Gaza-Ngoni-Ndwandwe rst arrived.
Tonga, and is spoken by Ila, Iwe, Leya, Toka and
This brought about the name Vatsonga-Machangana or
Tonga people.
Tsonga/Shangaan. The Gaza-Ngoni-Ndwandwe went
to what is now South Africa after 1897, whereas the
Tsonga group went there from 1820. The Gaza-Ngoni- Tswa-Ronga dialects not considered part of the family inNdwandwe later tried to claim to be Tsonga kings in clude Pulana (Xipulana, Sepulane). In Tsonga literature,
South Africa, when in fact, they had never ruled the Pulana is represented by the Mbayi (Pai) sub-dialect of
Tsonga in what later became South Africa. For this rea- Hlave. It has been said that the two dialects that unite all
son, the name Tsonga should be preferred over Tswa- Tswa-Ronga languages are Nkuna and Khosa (HP Junod,
Ronga. For example, the largest clan among the Tswa is Matimu ya Vatsonga). For language of, the various lanthe Hlengwe clan, and so Tswa-Ronga could have easily guages and dialects may use one or more of the prexes:
been Hlengwe-Ronga. At the same time, the largest clan Bi-, Chi-, Ci-, Gi-, Ici-, Ki-, Ma-, Shee-, Shi-, Txi-, Va-,
among the Ronga is the Tembe, and as such, Tswa-Ronga Wa-, and Xi-. For people of, they use either Ba-" or
could have been easily Tswa-Tembe. In light of that, the Va-".
more recent form of Thonga, which is Tsonga, is more
preferred as it refers to the entire ethnic group, and is not
likely to create dominant clans in the future. This also 2 History
means that the name Tsonga includes the Chopi, Tonga
and Ndau, and is beyond the Tsonga language heavily in- Like other Bantu people in South Africa, the Tsonga peouenced by the Dzonga dialect.
ple originate from Central Africa and arrived in South
Africa some 1000 years ago. Initially, the Tsonga people
settled on the coastal plains of Southern Mozambique but
1

later migrated to the Transvaal Province in South Africa

during the early 1800s. Within apartheid South Africa, a
Tsonga homeland, Gazankulu, was created out of part
of northern Transvaal Province (Now Limpopo Province
and Eastern Transvaal (Now Mpumalanga) during the
1960s and was granted self-governing status in 1973.[2]
This bantustan's economy depended largely on gold and
on a small manufacturing sector.[2] However, only an estimated 500,000 peopleless than half the Tsonga population of South Africaever lived there.[2] Many others joined township residents from other parts of South
Africa around urban centres, especially Johannesburg and
Pretoria.[2]

TRADITIONAL BELIEFS AND HEALERS

most cases, they are less than 50 000 people in each municipality. At the same time, they are not small enough to
be ignored as they constitute the largest minority language
group. They are as follows; Greater Letaba Local Municipality 28 000 people, Mbombela Local Municipality 26 000 people, Nkomazi Local Municipality 28 500
people, Mogalakwena Local Municipality 31 400 people,
Madibeng Local Municipality 51 000, Moretele Local
Municipality 34 000 and Rustenburg Local Municipality 30 000. The provincial breakdown of Tsonga speakers, according to 2011 census, are as follows; Limpopo
Province 906 000 people, Mpumalanga Province 415
000 people, Gauteng Province 800 000 people and North
West Province 110 000 people. Overall, Tsonga speakers
constitutes 4.4% of South Africas total population.

Population

The problem with Tsonga population counts is that

they don't include all Tsonga people. They are usually
just counts of the Tsonga people in the Gaza Province
of Mozambique and the Tsonga people in the former
Gazankulu homeland of South Africa. This leaves out
a great number of Tsonga people. The reason why this
happens is that Tsonga people are called by so many different names: Shangani (Gaza Province, Zimbabwe and
Swaziland), Ronga (Maputo Province and Maputo City),
Tswa, Chopi, Tonga, Ndau, Hlengwe, and the list goes on.
Also, the Tsonga (Ronga) people of northern KwaZuluNatal (South Africa) have been reclassied as Zulu.
There are 5,370,000[3] standard Tsonga speakers,
945,000[4] Ronga speakers and 1,546,000[5] Tswa
speakers in South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
They constitute the central Tswa-Ronga family and
are mutually intelligible. There are 995,000[6] Chopi
speakers and 491,000[7] Coastal Tonga speakers in
Mozambique. This is the Chopi family of languages.
There are 2,984,000[8] Ndau speakers in Mozambique
and Zimbabwe. Ndau is somewhere between Tsonga and
Shona, but dierent enough from both to constitute a
separate language branch. There are 737,000[9] Plateau
Tonga and 1,154,000[10] Zambezi Valley Tonga speakers
in Zimbabwe and Zambia. There are 242,000[11] Lake
Malawi Tonga speakers. That makes for 14.5 million of
the people variantly known as Tonga, Thonga or Tsonga
in Southern and Eastern Africa.
In South Africa, Tsonga people are concentrated in the
following Municipal areas; Greater Giyani Local Municipality 248 000 people, Bushbuckridge Local Municipality 320 000 people, Greater Tzaneen Local Municipality
195 000 people, Ba-Phalaborwa Local Municipality 80
000 people, Makhado Local Municipality 170 000 people and Thulamela Local Municipality 220 000 people,
City of Tshwane 280 000 people, City of Johannesburg
290 000 people and Ekurhuleni 260 000 people. In the
following municipalities, Tsonga people are present but
they are not large enough or are not signicant enough to
form a dominant community in their shere of inuence, in

4 Economy
The Tsonga traditional economy is based on mixed agriculture and pastoralism. Cassava is the staple; corn
(maize), millet, sorghum, and other crops are also grown.
Women do much of the agricultural work, although some
men grow cash crops. Most Tsongas now depend on wage
labour for cash, many migrating to Zimbabwe or South
Africa to nd work.[12]

5 Culture
Tsonga men traditionally attend the initiation school for
circumcision called Matlala (KaMatlala) or Ngoma (a
Ngomeni) after which they are regarded as men.
The Tsonga people living along the Limpopo River in
South Africa have recently gained a signicant amount of
attention for their low-tech, lo- electronic dance music.
Shangaan electro has been pioneered by South African
producer 'Dog' (also known as Nozinja). The Tsongas are
also known for a number of traditional dances such as the
Mchongolo, Xigubu, Makwaya and Xibelani dance.

6 Traditional beliefs and healers

Like most Bantu cultures, the Shangaans have a strong
acknowledgment of their ancestors, who are believed to
have a considerable eect on the lives of their descendants. The traditional healers are called n'anga.[13] Legend has it that the rst Tsonga diviners of the South
African lowveld were a woman called Nkomo We Lwandle (Cow of the Ocean) and a man called Dunga Manzi
(Stirring Waters).[13] A powerful water serpent, Nzunzu
(Ndhzhundzhu), allegedly captured them and submerged
them in deep waters. They did not drown, but lived underwater breathing like sh. Once their kin had slaughtered a cow for Nzunzu, they were released and emerged

3
The kind of spirits that inhabit a person are identied by
the language they speak. There are generally the Ngoni
(derived from the word Nguni), the Ndau and the Malopo.
The Ndau spirit possesses the descendants of the Gaza
soldiers who had slain the Ndau and taken their wives.[14]
Once the spirit has been converted from hostile to benevolent forces, the spirits bestow the powers of divination
and healing on the n'agna.[13]

7 Notable Tsonga People

The following is a list of notable Tsonga people who have
their own wikipedia articles.
1. Sello Chicco Twala (Musician and Godfather of
Disco Music)
2. Cassius Baloyi (South African Boxer)
3. Collins Chabane (South African politician)
4. Eduardo Mondlane (Founding President of FRELIMO)
Senior n'angas relax and celebrate after an initiation dedicated
to the Ndau spirit.

from the water on their knees as powerful diviners with

an assortment of potent herbs for healing.[13] Nkomo We
Lwandle and Dunga Manzi became famous healers and
trained hundred of women and men as diviners.

5. Gito Baloi (Mozambicam musician)

6. Graa Machel (Former South African and Mozambican First Lady)
7. Herman Mashaba (Founder of Black Like Me and
Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg)
8. Donald Nghonyama (Vice President of the South
African Council of Social Services)
9. Joaquim Chissano (Former President of Mozambique)
10. Jomo Sono (South African Football Legend; Owner
of Jomo Cosmos)
11. Lizha James (Mozambican musician and celebrity)
12. Mbhazima Shilowa (former Gauteng Premier)

Senior N'angas help a new n'agna out of the water during an

initiation

Among the Tsongas, symptoms such as persistent pains,

infertility and bouts of aggression can be interpreted as
signs that an alien spirit has entered a persons body.[13]
When this occurs, the individual will consult a n'anga to
diagnose the cause of illness. If has been ascertained that
the person has been called by the ancestors to become
a n'anga, they will become a client of a senior diviner
who will not only heal the sickness, but also invoke the
spirits and train them to become diviners themselves.[13]
The legend of the water serpent is re-enacted during the
diviners initiation, by ceremoniously submerging the initiates in water from which they emerge as diviners.

13. Samora Moiss Machel (Former President of

Mozambique)
14. Samuel Dickenson Nxumalo (Third Chief Minister
of Gazankulu)
15. Sam Nzima (Photographer of famous Hector Pieterson, his sister Anotinette Sithole and Mbuyisa
Makhubo picture)
16. Tito Mboweni (Former South African Reserve Bank
Governor)
17. Thomas Chauke (Tsonga musician)
18. DJ Brian Rikhotso (Radio personality and an entrepreneur)

10

References

[1] Tsonga joshuaproject.net. Retrieved 11 February 2015.

[2] Rita M. Byrnes, ed. (1996). Tsonga and Venda. South
Africa: A Country Study. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
[3] http://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/15596
[4] http://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/14576
[5] http://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/15600
[6] http://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/11368/MZ
[7] http://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/19123/MZ
[8] http://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/13273
[9] http://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/19619/ZA
[10] http://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/16082
[11] http://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/18890/MI
[12] Tsonga People. Encyclopdia Britannica. Retrieved 31
July 2015.
[13] Liebhammer, Nessa (2007). Dungamanzi (Stirring Waters). Johannesburg: WITS University Press. pp. 171
174. ISBN 1-86814-449-6.
[14] Broch-Due, Vigdis (2005). Violence And Belonging:The
Quest For Identity In Post-Colonial Africa. Psychology
Press. p. 97. Retrieved 10 July 2012.

Bibliography
Junod, Henri Alexandre. (1927). The Life of a
South African Tribe. London (second edition).
The Fader Ghetto Palms 90: New Styles/Shangaan
Electro/South Africa Road Epic!
Mandla Mathebula, et al. (2007) Tsonga History
Perspective.
First Online Tsonga Dictionary.

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External links

Ethnologue entry on Shangaan language

Shangaan

EXTERNAL LINKS

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