The Sunday News
Robin Muchetu and Lungile Tshuma
THE San language faces possible extinction in Zimbabwe as only eight elderly people can speak four of the language’s dialects, while two dialects no longer have speakers in the country.
According to a research by Lupane State University’s Department of Language and Communication Studies, the remaining San dialects are Jitshwa, Xhwache, Xhaise and Tsika.
The San language has six dialects but Kaistum and Ganade are no longer spoken in Zimbabwe.
One member of the San community, Mrs Margaret Maphosa (68) from Tsholotsho, is the only surviving person who can still speak the Tsika dialect. The dialect, originally spoken in Botswana, has no takers in the San community of Tsholotsho and fears are high that it will die with Mrs Maphosa.
A Sunday News crew travelled to Mgodimasili in Tsholotsho where they caught up with Mrs Maphosa.
“I am the only one who can speak this dialect in Tsholotsho and it is very sad as I cannot communicate with other people well. This language originates from Botswana and no one alive here can speak it,” she said.
Mrs Maphosa, who is now the sole custodian of the Tsika culture, was born in Nata, Botswana, in 1947 and moved to Zimbabwe where she got married and learnt how to speak Ndebele.
In an interview with our reporters, Mrs Maphosa was quick to express her dismay over the possible extinction of her language saying no efforts were being made to ensure it remains alive.
“I do not want to talk about my language. There is nothing being done about it here so why talk about it? People always come here wanting to hear what I know about the language but nothing seems to materialise. Look at me, I am struggling but I give so much information about this language day in day out,” she said.
“I did not even grow a single melon or maize cob and I will die of hunger one day, so of what benefit is it to me if I speak this rare language? Will I benefit when I am dead?” she asked.
With Mrs Maphosa was her daughter-in-law, Salu Tshuma (28), who cannot speak her native Jitshwa dialect.
“I can’t even say a single word in Jitshwa. My grandfather is the one who is very fluent. None of his children can speak our language. Our grandfather used to come to talk in Jitshwa with our great grandmother and for us, we only know how to sing because he used to teach us songs whenever he was drunk,” she said, before bursting out in laughter.
Asked on whether her children could speak Tshwao (San), Mrs Maphosa said none of her five children could speak the language as they were Ndebele speakers. She said the language was difficult to understand, hence her children were reluctant to learn.
Chapter 1 Section 6 (1) of the Constitution states that Koisan is among the 16 official languages that are recognised in Zimbabwe. The other official languages are Chewa, Chibarwe, English, Kalanga, Nambya, Ndau, Ndebele, Shangani, Shona, Sign language, Sotho, Tonga, Tswana, Venda and Xhosa.
Mr Davy Ndlovu, the co-ordinator for the San Community, said Tshwao was nearing extinction as the number of speakers in the country were dwindling at an alarming rate.
“At the moment, we just have eight people who speak four out of six dialects of Tshwao that were available here. Three people who could also speak the language died in the past three years. This is not a good sign for the language,” he lamented.
The causes of the extinction of Tshwao have been linked directly to hunger. Leaders in the community have always said the San, who are not farmers by nature, have been forced to travel to various Tsholotsho villages to ask for food and offer their labour in return.
This is how they began to speak other languages like Ndebele and Kalanga as they wanted to be able to communicate with the locals; this then diluted their own language.
Village head Mr Amos Sibanda said the language should not die as the few who can speak it should make an effort to teach the younger generation.
“This language is very old so we cannot watch it die. The language should be taught in schools in order to keep it alive. It does not make sense to say a language perished when there were people who could speak it,” he said.
Chief Tategulu also weighed in saying it was disturbing to note that a language so rich was facing extinction.
“The language is there but it seems it is disappearing and I feel that parents who are still able to speak Tshwao are the ones who are not teaching their children how to speak it. These children should know who they really are and where they come from and books should be made available to help revive this dying language,” he said.
He also said there should be schools built in areas where the San are found in order to aid in the preservation of their language. Chief Tategulu said he hoped there would be teachers in schools that would be able to teach the children their language.
He further stressed the need for Tshwao to be spoken at home so that children find it easy to learn it at school.
Another San community member, Mr Magazine Moyo from Gariya One Village, said his forefathers were living in what is now a game park before the coming of white settlers who moved them from their natural habitat.
“When we left the game park we moved nearer to other people and our children began to speak Ndebele and even married into the Ndebele and that is where we lost our language and now it is a challenge to revive it,” he said.
“We married each other as relatives and there was no problem. I could have married my aunt’s daughter and there would be no problem as this is how we kept our language alive. We stayed together as Tshwao speakers in one clan and there were no problems.
“Now that we moved from our habitats we changed our way of life and lost our language. I eventually married a Ndebele woman and this has affected our language as the Tshwao,” he said.
He said despite the fact that he and his children could no longer speak any dialect of Tshwao fluently, he wanted to ensure that his grandchildren learn the language.
He said there should be conscious efforts to ensure that the language is taught in schools.
The San co-ordinator said it was disturbing to note that the Tshwao had lost their identity by infiltrating into other languages and culture such as the Kalanga and Ndebele.
“It is now difficult to classify the people as people are identified by the language that they speak. Now that our elders are now speaking other languages what is their real identity?” Mr Ndlovu said.
In an effort to further try and preserve Tshwao, the San community has engaged a teacher who is teaching children basic Tshwao at a pre-school.
Ms Thandiwe Vundla teaches children 42 songs, body parts and other Tshwao words. She said pupils are learning well and will soon be able to speak the language fluently but said the elderly were unable to speak and unwilling to learn.
