Ndau in Zimbabwe

The Ndau people are a group of people found in Zimbabwe and Mozambique in places between Pungwe and Save Rivers. In that regard, a considerable number of Ndau speakers are currently domiciled in Mozambique’s Sofala Province. In Zimbabwe, the speakers of Ndau are mostly residents of Chimanimani and Chipinge districts. Some speakers are found in Buhera, Marange and Gudo area in Masvingo. Although it is not certain how the Ndau came to be called Ndau, there are several explanations proffered by different people. Scholars postulate that the name Ndau is derived from the Nguni word ‘indawo’ which refers to a place to stay or even something bigger like a country. The dialects of Ndau are ChiGarwe, ChiTonga, ChiNdau Ndau, ChiNdau-Hlanga, ChiMachanga, ChiGowa, ChiJaijai and ChiDanda. There are 372,607 (2.7%) mother-tongue speakers of the Ndau language in Zimbabwe.