Northern Ndebele in Zimbabwe

Ndebele is a Southern Bantu language, and a Nguni variety alongside isiXhosa, isiZulu, siSwati and South African isiNdebele. However, some scholars argue that Ndebele is a dialect of Zulu. This debate is highly contentious and inconclusive. The history of the Ndebele language is intricately linked to the history of the Ndebele people. The term Ndebele refers to a broad range of ethnic groups, which fall under these three distinct, but related groups, Abezansi, Abenhla and Amahole. Abezansi who were the original Nguni who migrated from the present day KwaZulu Natal some years back under the leadership of King Mzilikazi. They broke away from King Tshaka after a successful raid. On his way to the present-day Matabeleland area, King Mzilikazi captured other ethnic groups who constituted the Abenhla (these were captured on the way) and Amahole (these were the inhabitants of the areas where King Mzilikazi and his people settled). The etymology of the term, AmaNdebele is highly debatable, but the most widely acceptable view is that this meant Matebele, a Sotho word, meaning men of long shields, since the Ndebele regiments were distinguishable by these long shields. Ndebele is an officially recognised language of Zimbabwe and it is predominantly spoken in the Matabeleland provinces, Bulawayo and some parts of Midlands. A sizeable number of Ndebele speakers is also found across the various provinces of Zimbabwe as well. The 2022 Census results showed that 1,599,324 (11.5%) of the population are mother-tongue speakers of the Ndebele language in Zimbabwe.