Heritage Day: Tsonga South Africans
South Africa celebrates National Heritage Day on 24 September 2015. We are a proud Rainbow Nation with 11 official languages across our beautiful country, and today we take a look at all our unique cultures that make us one of the most diverse countries in the world.
Tonga, Thonga or Tsonga people (Tsonga: Vatsonga) and languages span most of southern Africa, notable countries being South Africa, Swaziland, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
In these countries, there are regions where one or more languages and/or dialects are more dominant. For example, in South Africa, Tsonga people are mainly found in the Limpopo, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng with smaller populations in North West and the Free State.
Population: 5 370 000 (2011 Census)
Regions where Tsonga people live: South Africa, Mozambique, Swaziland, Malawi and Zimbabwe.
Languages: Tsonga and English.
Famous Tsonga people: Amukelani “Ammunition” Tshawane (rapper and producer), Collins Chabane (late cabinet minister), Graça Machel (former South African and Mozambican First Lady)
Traditional attire: In the early 1900s Tsonga women wore skirts made of imported cotton, and beaded jewellery. Later the skirts became shorter and fuller and are now made of wool.
The main changes over the last century involve the upper body, the beaded necklaces worn in the 1930s giving way to blouses and T-shirts, worn with the minceka, two rectangular pieces of cloth tied crosswise. Bold colors and patterns are popular.
The style was developed in the 19th century by migrants to northern Limpopo and is unrelated to Tsonga origins in Mozambique.
The Tsonga were among the first in the region to wear imported cloth, using ready-cut lengths, which Tsonga women adapted through decoration rather than shaping.
Mincekas are often embroidered with motifs reflecting wearers’ identities; they have become an iconic image in post-apartheid South Africa. This dress provides an alternative to formal Western attire. Distinctive Tsonga beadwork features coloured geometric shapes on a white ground.
The nxanga, a beaded belt associated with female fertility, is specific to the group. Most Tsonga men today mainly wear Western clothing, possibly because of more continuous contact with urban life.
Watch these videos on the Tsonga culture in South Africa:
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