A Brief History of the Shangaan and Tsonga People.

History, at its heart, is the story of people finding ways to survive and thrive in the face of challenges.

The Shangaan people’s history is a pivotal chapter in Southern Africa’s story, shaped by the dynamics of migration, conflict, and cultural assimilation.

Their identity stems from the legacy of Soshangane Nxumalo, an AmaNdwandwe military leader whose vision carried them from the rolling hills of KwaZulu to the heart of Mozambique.

But the Shangaan story cannot be told without mentioning the Vatsonga (Tsonga people), who lived for centuries in Mozambique and South Africa.

Although these groups forged a legacy that persists to this day, the idea of it being a ‘shared’ one is not universally accepted.

The Vatsonga trace their roots to the great African migrations from Central and East Africa. By the mid-1300s, they had reached KwaZulu-Natal, and by the late 1400s, they had settled in eastern Limpopo.

Their decentralised society operated like a confederacy. Clans governed themselves and were united by language and culture.

The Vatsonga were skilled traders. Ivory destined for European markets, copper mined in Zimbabwe and Zambia, and salt from Mozambique’s coastline. Textiles also arrived via the Indian Ocean trade routes that linked Africa to India, Arabia, and beyond.

Their strategic location and linguistic abilities made them key players in connecting Africa with India, Arabia, and beyond.

In the 19th century, Soshangane fled KwaZulu after Shaka Zulu defeated him at the Mhlatuze River.

His defeat by Shaka symbolised the dramatic shifts in power sweeping the land.

Driven into exile, he led a small group of followers northward in search of refuge and opportunity – eventually entering Tsonga territory in Mozambique.

Historical accounts suggest that in 1822, British naval officer Captain William Owen encountered Soshangane near the Tembe River with no more than 300 people. Yet, from this small group, he built a vast empire.

Over the ensuing three decades, Soshangane built a kingdom, the Gaza Empire, uniting Tsonga-speaking communities under his leadership.

At the heart of the Shangaan identity is the legacy of Soshangane.

Refusing to bow to Shaka Zulu, he forged his own path during the Mfecane— a time of great upheaval in Southern Africa between 1815 and 1840.

Soshangane’s Gaza Kingdom stretched across southeastern Zimbabwe, southern Mozambique, and parts of South Africa.

Soshangane’s legacy was not only territorial. He disrupted Portuguese slave trading, asserting control over critical routes and forcing the Portuguese to negotiate on his terms.

Soshangane died in 1856 in Chaimite, Mozambique. But his vision shaped the Shangaan and Tsonga people for generations.

The Shangaan people’s roots lie in the 19th-century Gaza Kingdom, but their story reaches back much further.

Like the Vatsonga, they share a lineage connected to the great African migrations that brought people southward over millennia.

Genetic studies of a Shangaan man called Renias Mhlongo reveal ancestral links to tropical rainforest hunter-gatherers from Gabon. A lineage that dates back 60,000 years.

Around 4,000 years ago, his ancestors began migrating southwards. They likely moved eastwards through the Lake Victoria Basin and south into eastern Southern Africa.

My visits to old homesteads of Renias Mhlongo’s family offered insights into the traditional Shangaan lifestyle of the 1960s.

They lived simply in mud huts, for a few years at a time. Farming, hunting and gathering what nature provided. When the soil was depleted, they moved to new grounds.

It was a life shaped by necessity and an understanding of nature’s cycles.

Colonial policies in Southern Africa significantly disrupted Shangaan and Tsonga life.
In the early 20th century, they were forcibly removed from ancestral lands, including areas now part of Kruger National Park.

The first park warden, Colonel James Stevenson-Hamilton, evicted thousands, earning the nickname “Skukuza,” loosely meaning “he who sweeps clean.”

Ironically, he later acknowledged the wisdom of the indigenous land use practices he had displaced.

In his book “South African Eden”, he reflects on the environmental impact of different land uses and states: “The damage they [indigenous people] do in a year will not equal that done by a few Boers in a week.”

Renias Mhlongo recalls his grandfather lamenting the decline of wildlife. Colonial sport hunting decimated herds that once roamed freely. By the mid-1800s, large mammals had been nearly wiped out.

In the 1960s, the apartheid government created a Tsonga-Shangaan “homeland” called Gazankulu, with Giyani as its capital.

Homelands were created to move Black South Africans into underdeveloped areas, under the pretence of giving them independence.

Today the Gaza kingdom ‘head kraal’ is situated in Giyani, Limpopo province in South Africa.

The term “Shangaan” technically refers to those who lived under Soshangane’s rule. However, the truth is more nuanced.

While he attempted to impose Nguni customs, most of his subjects retained their Tsonga identities. Over time, his followers adopted Xitsonga as their primary language, blending it with Nguni influences.

Xitsonga is widely spoken and holds official language status in South Africa, while Shangaan is not formally recognised.

The terms ‘Tsonga’ and ‘Shangaan’ are often used interchangeably, which can easily cause offense. Because it overshadows the broader Tsonga history by focusing on a Soshangane’s era of domination.

An article by an anonymous Tsonga journalist for News24 summarises, “Let it be clear that the Tsonga tribe is not from the Nguni tribe. Let it be known that we are all Tsonga; we speak and live the Tsonga way, this is inclusive of the famous amaShangana tribe.”

The Shangaan and Tsonga people’s story is one of quiet strength and enduring relevance.

Renowned for their naturalist skills, they have become indispensable in South Africa’s conservation sector, serving as rangers, trackers, guides, researchers, and wildlife managers.

Beyond this, they have excelled as entrepreneurs, artists, and thought leaders, contributing richly to the social fabric of the nation.

Understanding the history of the Shangaan and Tsonga people is to grasp the broader narrative of Southern Africa—its migrations, its struggles, and its triumphs.

It is a legacy of resilience, and a profound connection to the land.

• Genetic lineage confirmed by Renias Mhlongo’s test results.
• Junod, Henri. The life of a South African tribe.
• Parsons, Neil. A New History of Southern Africa.
• Carruthers, Jane. The Kruger National Park – A Social and Political History.
• Mathebula, Mandla. Tsonga History Perspective.