Thread by @tlsibanda

1. THE XHOSA PEOPLE OF ZIMBABWE

A thread.....

Xhosa people are predominantly found in the Mbembesi area near Bulawayo. Other Xhosa communities are found in Fort Rixon, Goromonzi (in Chief Rusike's area), Msengezi, Makwiro, Chitomborwizi, Marirangwe, Chinhoyi & Gwatemba.

2. Xhosa is an official language in terms of section 6 of the constitution of Zimbabwe. The late Xhosa King from the Eastern Cape Zwelonke Sigcawu visited Zimbabwe in 2011 to connect with his people & advance their culture.

3. The Xhosa people are divided into several ethnicities with related yet distinct heritages. The main ethnicities are the amaGcaleka, amaRharhabe, amaHlubi, imiDange, imiDushane and amaNdlambe.

4. The Xhosa people of Zimbabwe arrived in Rhodesia in 1899 /1900 with Cecil John Rhodes. They came by train via Mafeking. They worked as drivers, cleaners, general hands etc. They were allocated land in Mbembesi near Bulawayo.

5. Leader of Xhosa community in Zimbabwe, Prince Mcleod Isolengwe Tshawe of Mbembesi , (second from right) with his wife on his right.Cousin to late King Sigcawu, Dr. Zolani Mkiva (second from left.)Next to him is young sister to the late king, Princess Sheila Sigcawu.

6. The Xhosas who settled in the rest of Rhodesia were working as professionals like nurses & teachers. Others were missionaries deployed by their churches to establish churches & missionary bases with schools & hospitals. In the process their communities grew.

7. Like the Sotho, the professional Xhosas bought farms in the Native Purchase Areas & established their communities. Sometimes little mention/credit is given to the South Africans who worked as teachers, nurses, missionaries etc training black Rhodesians in the process.

8. The late Zimbabwe liberation war heroine Ruth Lottie Nomonde Chinamano (nee Nyombolo) was of Xhosa origin. She was born in Cape Town, South Africa & was married to the late nationalist, Josiah Chinamano. She was a teacher in Rhodesia & a legislator in independent Zimbabwe.

9. In 2017, Dr. Hleze Kunju of Rhodes University published the first PhD to be written in isiXhosa It is based on his research on the language & culture of the Xhosa people of Zimbabwe : siXhosa ultimo lwabantu abangesonininzi eZimbabwe: Ukuphila nokulondolozwa kwaso.

10.For over a century Xhosa people have been integrated into the Zimbabwean fabric. People like Macleod Tshawe, a senior traditional Xhosa community leader participated in the liberation war. At some point he was the driver for the late liberation icon Dumiso Dabengwa in Zambia.

11. SOURCES
-Zimbabwe's Cultural Heritage : Phathisa Nyathi
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