The Tsonga people (Tsonga: Xitsonga) are a Bantu ethnic group of Southern Africa inhabiting the southern coastal plain of Mozambique, parts of Zimbabwe and Swaziland, and Mpumalanga and Limpopo Province ofSouth Africa. They numbered some 4.6 million in the late 20th century. The word Shangaan is a name given to the people of Gaza Empire by their founder King Soshangane Manukuso Nxumalo derived fromSoshangane. Tsonga is spoken by about 2.3 million people in South Africa, 1.5 million people in Mozambique, and 25,000 people in Swaziland. There are also 100,000 speakers in Zimbabwe. In South Africa, Tsonga people are concentrated in the following Municipal areas; Greater Giyani Local Municipality 248 000 people, Bushbuckridge Local Municipality 306 000 people, Greater Tzaneen Local Municipality 180 000 people, Ba-Phalaborwa Local Municipality 70 000 people, Makhado Local Municipality150 000 people and Thulamela Local Municipality 202 000 people. In the following municipalities, Tsonga people are present but they are not large enough or are not significant enough to form a dominant community in their shere of influence, in most cases, they are less than 50 000 people in each municipality. At the same time, they are not small enough to be ignored as they constitute the largest minority language group. They are as follows; Greater Letaba Local Municipality 28 000 people, Mbombela Local Municipality 26 000 people, Nkomazi Local Municipality 28 500 people,Mogalakwena Local Municipality 31 400 people, Madibeng Local Municipality 51 000, Moretele Local Municipality 34 000 and Rustenburg Local Municipality 30 000 people. The provincial breakdown of Tsonga speakers, according to 2011 census, are as follows; Limpopo Province906 000 people, Mpumalanga Province 415 000 people, Gauteng Province 800 000 people and North West Province 110 000 people. Overall, Tsonga speakers constitutes 4.4% of South Africas total population.
Posted on: Fri, 15 Aug 2014 20:15:29 +0000
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