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People Profile Click here to see a map of Mozambique
The Shangaan
Religion: Christianity; Traditional Animism
Population: 1,600,000
Status: 56% Professed Christian
Location: The greatest concentration of Shangaan people is in the southern Mozambiquan province of Gaza. Smaller concentrations live in portions of the provinces of Inhambane, Maputo, Manica and Sofala. The Shangaan people also live in eastern portions of the Republic of South Africa, and eastern and southern Zimbabwe. There is also a very small population of Shangaan people living in Swaziland. International borders were established long after the arrival of these people in this area of Africa. There are basically no significant concentrations of Shangaan people living in Mozambique north of the Zambezi River, which more or less divides the country in two. The capital city of Maputo is now home to large numbers of Shangaan people as well, despite the major people group of the city being people of the Ronga group.
History: It is believed that ancestors of the Shangaan, who now primarily inhabit an area in southern Mozambique, originated farther north nearer the more central part of Africa. As these people moved into the southern area of Africa, they settled in places where they could carry on their traditional and pastoral way of life. More recently, the Shangaan came into their present area from farther south, as Soshangana fled with his people from the Zulu massacres of Shaka. Various clans made up the overall Shangaan people group. These clans were ruled by kings who held absolute authority. All the members of the clan were subject to him and he made all the major decisions. This social structure began to undergo changes as the influence of Portuguese colonialism increased.
Portugal claimed Mozambique as its colony in 1752. The Portuguese government allowed the local kings/rulers to continue ruling their respective peoples, but under the over-arching authority of Portugal. This more or less continued until Mozambique gained independence. In 1962, Mozambiquan nationalists had formed the Mozambiquan Liberation Front (FRELIMO) to try and negotiate independence. Eventually, under the leadership of Dr. Eduardo Mondlane, FRELIMO began an armed liberation struggle in 1964. Samora Machel assumed leadership of FRELIMO in 1969 after the assassination of Dr. Mondlane. In 1974 the fascist Portuguese regime was overthrown and Mozambique became independent on June 25, 1975.
Identity: The name of the people in their language is Vachangana. The singular form is Muchangana. In Bantu languages, grammatical markers are prefixes. Thus standard English grammar uses the word stem, Shangaan, as the name. Shangaan is another name for the Tsonga people, a southeastern Bantu people. The Shangaan people are part of a larger language/people group also called the Tsonga (Vatsonga) because of the fame of the Tsonga (Shangaan) people. The Tsonga encompass three sub-groups: Ronga, Tswa and Tsonga (Shangaan). These three groups are very similar in practically every respect. They originated from the same indigenous Bantu peoples who came down from the north to inhabit much of what is now called southern Mozambique and portions of several bordering countries. They were among the clans moving away from the ravage of Shaka, the Zulu conqueror.
It is extremely difficult to determine an estimated population of the Shangaan people. This is at least partially due to the fact that written information often confuses the Shangaan with the larger group of Tsonga people. The name of the Shangaan subgroup, Tsonga, is also often used to refer to the whole group. So, often when reading information, one cannot determine if a given population estimate is of the Shangaan people specifically, or of the overall larger group of the Tsonga people.
Language: Shangaan is one of three very closely-related Tsonga dialects. It is believed that these variations exist at least partly because different groups of the same original people inhabited slightly different sections of southern Mozambique, therefore developing a few liguistic variations. For historical and cultural reasons, the three Tsonga languages--Tsonga, Ronga and Tswa are given separate language (ROPAL) codes.
The language of the Shangaan people is called Xichangana (or "Shangaan" by outsiders). Shangaan has at least five differents variants:
Each variant is spoken by Shangaan people living in different areas of the overall Shangaan region.
Political Situation: The Shangaan people, along with other Mozambiquans had greatly suffered during these years. Infortunately, the period between 1975 and the mid 1980s, the Mozambiquan government (under FRELIMO rule) went down the trail of Marxism, leading the country into still more political, economic and social upheaval. Another nationalist movement called The National Resistance of Mozambique (RENAMO) began a terrible guerrilla war after independence to depose FRELIMO and its Marxist bent. After much negotiation, a peace accord was signed in October 1992.
Today, as with most people groups in southern Mozambique, the Shangaan people are living intertwined with other peoples. Though the Shangaan dialect has a few differences, the people are not easily distinguishable/differentiated from other Bantu people groups that inhabit the southern portions of Mozambique.
Customs: Traditionally, the Shangaan have been agriculturalists and to some degree pastoralists. For the most part, they are no different from the vast majority of all southern Bantu peoples. Their way of life and customs run very parallel. One distinction however, is that the Shangaan people were among the first to be used as laborers in the diamond and gold mines of South Africa. The Shangaan people were considered superior to other Bantu peoples in this type of work.
There is a certain percentage who have migrated to the cities and towns in search of employment. This was dramatically increased as a result of war and famine. Thousands of Shangaan people were forced to flee their traditional way of life as farmers in the countryside to cramped conditions in the towns and cities. Because of these changes, today, many Shangaan people do not practice or reflect the traditional livelihood and customs.
Religion: Historically, the Shangaan people have adhered to African traditional religions (animism/ancestoral spirit worship). This is still common, especially among those living in rural areas. It was estimated that, like other Tsonga people, the Shangaan are about 43% followers of traditional religion.
Christianity: Even though many began identifying with Roman Catholicism or one of the Protestant denominations many years ago, a large percentage remain faithful to some form of animism or ancestral spirit worship. During the Marxist years (1975 - mid 1980s), the practice of religious beliefs was outlawed and made very difficult to the point of widespread severe persecution and suffering. Those who adhered to animism and ancestral spirit worship, especially in the rural areas, continued to a certain degree with their practices. Even though religious practice in any form was greatly suppressed by the government, practically all religious practices survived and were not eliminated altogether. In 1988, as the government was making its transition from Marxism to multi-party democracy, the Ministry of Justice created the Department of Religious Affairs. This department was responsible for registering and establishing relations with various churches. By the middle of 1995, approximately 300 religious groups had been registered.
THIS PEOPLE'S COUNTRY: MOZAMBIQUE (Also in South Africa and Zimbabwe)
Major Crops: Maize, Rice, Cotton, Groundnuts, Sugar cane, Cashew nuts.
Annual Income per Person: $80
PRAYER ITEMS
- Pray that peace will continue in Mozambique.
- Pray that the government will continue to allow religious freedom.
- Pray that the Lord would continue to raise Godly church leaders to lead the growing number of new churches.
- Pray that there would be unity among Christians.
- Pray that the Shangaan people would continue to respond acceptingly to the Gospel.
- Pray that ways would be discovered and employed to help meet the tremendous physical needs of the Shangaan people in such a way as to enhance evangelistic and church growth opportunities.
Bibliography
What else to read?
A Guerra Dos Reis V tuas. Maputo, Mozambique: Arquivo Hist¢rico Nacional, 1995.
Anu rio Estat¡stico. Maputo, Mozambique, 1992.
Brochmann, Grete and Arve Ofstad. Mozambique: Norwegian Assistance in a Constext of Crisis, 1990.
Hist¢ria de Mo‡ambique. Maputo, Mozambique: Departamento de Hist¢ria da UEM e Tempo, Vol. 1, 1988.
Chigwedere, Aeneas. Birth of Bantu Africa. Bulawayo, Zimbabwe: Books for Africa, 1982.
Henriksen, Thomas H. Mozambique: A History, 1978.
Johnstone, Patrick: Operation World. Michigan, U.S.A.: Zondervan Publishing House, 1993.
Mo‡ambique Em Numeros, 1993.
Mo‡ambique: Informa‡ƒo Estat¡stica. Maputo, Mozambique, 1980/1.