Ndebele people (South Africa)

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This article relates to the Ndebele people of the Transvaal region of South Africa. For information about the Ndebele people of Zimbabwe and their language please see Matabele and Sindebele language.

Ndebele

The women of Loopspruit Cultural Village, near Bronkhorstspruit, in front of a traditionally-painted Ndebele dwelling.
Total population
588,000^[1]
Regions with significant populations
Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Gauteng provinces in South Africa
Languages
Ndebele language
Religions
Christian, Animist
Related ethnic groups
Nguni

The Ndebele people are three tribes or nations of people living in South Africa and Zimbabwe; there are three main groups of Ndebele:

The Southern Transvaal Ndebele, who live around Bronkhorstspruit
The Northern Transvaal Ndebele, who live in Limpopo Province (formerly Northern Transvaal or Northern Province) around the towns of Mokopane (Potgietersrus) and Polokwane (Pietersburg).
The Ndebele people of Zimbabwe, often called the Matabele

The Northern Transvaal Ndebele have largely adopted the language and culture of their Sotho and Tswana neighbours. Their spoken language is sometimes mistakenly grouped under the Northern Sotho group of dialects, and is becoming extinct. The new generation mostly speaks Northern Sotho. This article refers to the Southern Transvaal Ndebele people.

[edit] History

The Ndebele are part of the larger Nguni ethnic group. They are thought to have travelled from kwaZulu to the Transvaal region, led by a chief called Musi and settling near Pretoria in about 1600. In the mid-seventeenth century, the nation split over a succession dispute between his two sons, Manala and Ndzundza.

In 1882, following friction with Afrikaner settlers over land and other resources, the Boer leader Piet Joubert led a campaign against the Ndebele leader Nyabela. Nyabela was imprisoned, finally being released in the late 1890s, and many of his people were indentured to white farmers.

During the apartheid era, Nyabela's successor as leader, Cornelius, was forcibly moved with his people to a tribal "homeland" called KwaNdebele, which was given nominal self-government.