Heritage Day: Ndebele South Africans

The South African Ndebele are one of the Nguni tribes. The Nguni tribes represent nearly two thirds of South Africa’s African population and can be divided into four distinct groups; the central Nguni (the Zulu-speaking peoples), the Southern Nguni (the Xhosa-speaking peoples), the Swazi people from Swaziland and adjacent areas and the Ndebele people of the Mpumalanga, Gauteng and Limpopo.

The two Ndebele groups are separated not only geographically but also by differences in their languages and cultures. The Ndebele of the Northern Province consist mainly of the BagaLanga and the BagaSeleka tribes who, by and large, adopted the language and culture of their Sotho neighbours.

The North Ndebele people resided in areas stretching from the town of Warmbaths/BelaBela in the south, to the Limpopo river in the north and from the Botswana border in the west to the Mozambique border in the east.

Population: 1.1 million (2011 Census)

Language: Southern Ndebele

Famous Ndebele South Africans: Nothembi Mkhewebane

Traditional attire: After marriage, dresses became increasingly elaborate and spectacular. In earlier times, the Ndebele wife would wear copper and brass rings around her arms, legs and neck, symbolising her bond and faithfulness to her husband, once her home was built.

She would only remove the rings after his death. The rings (called idzila) were believed to have strong ritual powers. Husbands used to provide their wives with rings; the richer the husband, the more rings the wife would wear. Today, it is no longer common practice to wear these rings permanently. In addition to the rings, married women also wore neck hoops made of grass (called isigolwani) twisted into a coil and covered in beads, particularly for ceremonial occasions.

Isigolwani are sometimes worn as neck pieces and as leg and arm bands by newlywed women whose husbands have not yet provided them with a home, or by girls of marriageable age after the completion of their initiation ceremony.

Married women also wore a five-fingered apron (called an ijogolo) to mark the culmination of the marriage, which only takes place after the birth of the first child. The marriage blanket (nguba) worn by married women was decorated with beadwork to record significant events throughout the woman’s lifetime.

Regions where most Ndebele South Africans live: Mpumalanga, Gauteng and Limpopo

Watch these videos on the Ndelebele South African culture:

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