Beyond the Labels: Why Shona and Ndebele Are Languages, Not Tribes

Shona is not a Tribe and Ndebele is not a tribe

One of the greatest misconception and misinformation that has been shared among Zimbabweans and beyond is that Shona and Ndebele are tribes which is entirely wrong. Shona is a language and Ndebele is a language something that has not been said out loud. Zimbabwe is largely living in a post tribal era a piece of information that many could have missed.

Shona is a language that was made up of five interrelated dialects before the Zimbabwean Government in 2013 decided to recognise Ndau as a standalone language. These languages were largely distinct that a person from one dialect could not understand another person speaking another dialect before Shona was standardized. Today, they have converged towards one language and are now highly mutually intelligible.

There are four dialects in Shona which are Karanga spoken around Masvingo, Zezuru spoken around Harare, Manyika spoken around Mutare and KoreKore spoken in the North and North Eastern parts of Zimbabwe.  These dialects also are not tribes.  Different tribes could speak one dialect. The dialect had different variations depending on the tribe that speaks it and the people that borders them. You can take an example of the VaBudya people of Mutoko who speak Korekore, The Vabudya people bordering Murehwa speak a language closer to Zezuru whilst the VaBudya people in Mudzi speak a language close to Nyungwe in Mozambique. If Nambya was spoken in Midlands, it could have been classified as Shona bringing us to how Shona was created.

The Creation of Shona

Before 1930 there was nothing called Shona.  There were different languages which were mutually intelligible to varying degrees. These languages were grouped together into one language called Standard Shona for ease of administration. In the 1940s there were also plans to harmonise Nguni languages into one standard language since Nguni languages are mutually intelligible. This could have made Nguni the default language in South Africa like what latter happened in Zimbabwe.

The Shona Problem

The problem was that languages were not put together but Zezuru was designated as the standard Shona. This meant that all other people speaking a different dialect from Zezuru were forced to know Zezuru because it became the default language only accepted in indigenous language examinations.
The designation of Zezuru as the standard Shona and also the capital city of the country being in the Zezuru speaking region made Zezuru the superior language. People speaking other dialects travelling to Harare were often met with experiences they described as tribalism and their dialects were often made fun of.

The Creation of Ndebele

Ndebele was also designated as the default language in Matebeland region. The Matabeleland region had various languages with some not mutually intelligible with Ndebele. These languages included Venda, Nambya, Kalanga, Sotho, Tswana, Tonga, Koisan and Karanga. People who spoke these languages were forced to learn Ndebele at school.

Ndebele is actually Zulu language that has changed over time due to assimilation of other languages when Mzilikazi migrated from modern day Kwazulu-Natal into modern day Zimbabwe. Ndebele was a Zulu speaking nation which comprised of three tier caste system. AbeZanzi were the original Zulu elite, abeNhla were the middle caste and they comprised mostly of the Tswana and Sotho. AmaHole were the lower caste that comprised of Karanga (Shona), Kalanga and Venda.

The Shona Dominance

With the standardisation of Shona and different dialects converging towards Zezuru, Shona became the dominant language in Zimbabwe. This translated into more than 70 percent of the population having one language as their first language. This resulted in all languages besides Shona being overlooked. A person speaking Shona felt that they did not need to learn any other language since they could navigate much of Zimbabwe and they could still speak Shona in that region.

Beyond the year 2000, Shona quickly became a business language and was used in many formal settings reinforcing its use as the main language in the country. The use of English in businesses and schools even went down. Instruction was in English whilst almost everything oral was Shona. This also forced many people who did not speak Shona to learn it.

To non-Shona speakers, Shona speakers were arrogant, they did not want to learn other people’s languages. To Shona people, they spend their whole lives without meeting an alternate language and they just got used to one language such that they did not even want to speak in English. To them, everyone who could not speak Shona was viewed as too proud.

The dominance amounts to Shona privilege which Shona speakers do not realize and other language speakers interpret to be tribalism. Shona people are likely to enjoy a systematic advantage of their language being majority.

Why Tribal labels Do not make sense in Zimbabwe

A lot of internal migration has happened in Zimbabwe for a very long time and it predates the colonial times. When people migrated, they could change their totems, languages and even culture.

The colonial era also saw the colonial government using divide and rule tactic. They would gladly employ a person of different dialect or language in a certain area.  Land apportionment act displaced many people from their ancestral areas moving them to different areas.

It is believed that between 10 to 20 percent of Zimbabwean population in the 21st century consist of people of Malawian, Zambian and Mozambican descent. When they came in Zimbabwe, they assimilated and adopted the languages of where they stayed as their own. Som became Ndebele, some Shona, some Tonga and many other groups.

In Zimbabwe today, a person speaks the language of the place where they grew up in not their origin. People with Ndebele surnames cannot even speak Ndebele and people with Shona surnames cannot even speak Shona.

Media framing

For the longest time, when the western media has talked about Africa, it has talked about tribes mostly. When they talk about Zimbabwe even though it lives in post tribal era, they have always said Shona or Ndebele tribe. That is grossly erroneous.

The government of Zimbabwe has been silent about tribes, races or languages on official languages. This has been to foster unity and for the country to move as a single entity. Since the adoption of the 2013 constitution, the government has been pro active in preserving minority languages in Zimbabwe. From the very year, Ndau was recognised as a standalone language.

Conclusion
Above all, it must be noted that Zimbabwe largely lives in a post tribal era. Culture has been diluted, languages changed and identity changes however it must be noted that there are people who still lives in remote areas as vibrant tribe like the VaDoma people who speak Korekore.

Author’s Note

This article presents analysis and research that might not be in the public domain but serves as a primary knowledge and is an analysis to educate on Zimbabwe cultural dynamics based on my observations and experiences also.