Bantu peoples of South Africa

South African Bantu-speaking peoples represent the majority indigenous ethno-racial group of South Africans. Occasionally grouped as Bantu, the term itself is derived from the English word “people”, common to many of the Bantu languages. The Oxford Dictionary of South African English describes “Bantu”, when used in a contemporary usage or racial context as “obsolescent and offensive”, because of its strong association with the “white minority rule” with their Apartheid system. However, Bantu is used without pejorative connotations in other parts of Africa and is still used in South Africa as the group term for the language family.

Ethnic partitioning

African – ethnic or racial reference in South Africa is a synonym to Black South Africans. It is also used to refer to expatriate Black people from other African countries who are in South Africa.

South Africa’s Bantu language speaking communities are roughly classified into four main groups: Nguni, Sotho–Tswana, Vhavenda and Shangana–Tsonga, with the Nguni and Basotho-Tswana being the largest groups, as follows:

A. Nguni people (alphabetical):

1.Bhaca people 2. Hlubi people 3. Southern Ndebele people 4. Swati people 5. Xhosa people a. Korana people 6. Zulu people

B. Shangana–Tsonga people

C. Sotho–Tswana people:

1.Southern sotho a.Basotho 2. Northern Sotho a. BaPedi people 3. Batswana

D. Venda people:

1. Vhavenda

The Southern Bantu languages are a large group of Bantu languages, largely validated in Janson (1991/92). They are nearly synonymous with Guthrie’s Bantu zone S, apart from the debated exclusion of Shona and inclusion of Makhuwa. They include all of the major Bantu languages of South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, and Mozambique, with outliers such as Lozi in Zambia and Namibia, and Ngoni in Zambia, Tanzania and Malawi.
Languages

Language groups are followed by their code in the Guthrie classification. Both Shona and Makhuwa languages are included in this tree.

Southern Bantu languages

1.Makua (P30)

1. Makhuwa

2. Koti

3. Sakati (Nathembo)

4. Lomwe

5. Chuwabu

6. Moniga

2.Chopi (S60)

1.  Chopi

2.  Guitonga

3.Nguni languages (S40)

1. Zunda

. Xhosa

. Zulu

. Ndebele

Northern Ndebele (Zimbabwe Ndebele)

Southern Ndebele

2. Tekela

. Swati

. Phuthi

. Sumayela Ndebele (Northern Transvaal
Ndebele)

. Lala

. Bhaca

. Hlubi

.  Nhlangwini

4.Sotho–Tswana (S30 + K20):

1. Tswana (“West Sotho”)

2. Birwa

3. Tswapong

4. Kgalagadi

5. Sotho

. Northern Sotho (Sepedi)

. Southern Sotho (Sesotho)

. East Sotho (Pulana, Khutswe and Pai)

. Lozi

5. Tswa–Ronga (S50):

1. Tsonga

2. Ronga

3. Tswa

6. Venda (S20)

7. Shona

1. Eastern Shona group

. Ndau (S.15)

2. Central Shona group

. Korekore (S.11) and Tawara

. Zezuru (S.12)

. Manyika (S.13) and Tewe

. Karanga (S.14)

3. Western Shona group

. Kalanga (S.16)

. Nambya