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    Languages of Southern Africa: A guide to 9 countries

    Part 5 of 5 in our series on the languages of Africa
    Digital ReporterBy 6 Views
    Languages of Southern Africa
    This image is for illustrative purposes only

    Southern Africa has some of the world’s most ambitious language laws. South Africa recognises 12 official languages, and Zimbabwe recognises 16. Yet in most of the region, English or Portuguese still runs government, courts and higher education. This guide covers nine countries and separates what the law says from what people actually speak. Where sources disagree, I flag it.

    The big picture

    Most languages here are Bantu, and many cross borders. The same language family appears under different names in different countries. Sesotho is official in Lesotho, South Africa, and Zimbabwe [14]. SiSwati is official in Eswatini and South Africa [9]. Tsonga is official in South Africa, and in Zimbabwe under the name Shangani [34].

    Two other language groups add to the mix. The Khoe and San languages, known for click sounds, are recognised in Namibia, Botswana and South Africa. Colonial languages also differ: English in most countries, Portuguese in Mozambique, and Afrikaans and German in Namibia’s past.

    Snapshot by country

    CountryOfficial language(s)Widest everyday language
    BotswanaEnglishSetswana
    EswatinisiSwati, EnglishsiSwati
    LesothoSesotho, English (see note below)Sesotho
    MalawiEnglishChichewa
    MozambiquePortugueseEmakhuwa (north), Xichangana (south)
    NamibiaEnglishOshiwambo
    South Africa12 languagesisiZulu
    ZambiaEnglishBemba, Nyanja
    Zimbabwe16 languagesShona

    Botswana

    English is the official language and is used for official business and most writing. Setswana is the national language and is spoken by most people. More than 20 smaller languages are spoken, and some are in danger of extinction [6].

    The 2011 first-language shares were Setswana 77.3%, Sekalanga 7.4%, Shekgalagadi 3.4%, English 2.8% and Zezuru/Shona 2% [7]. Recognised minority languages include Kalanga, Shona, Mbukushu, Ndebele, Tshwa and !Xóõ [6].

    Eswatini

    siSwati and English are both official, and Parliament works in both. siSwati is spoken by about 95% of Swazis [8]. It has 2.3 million first-language and 2.4 million second-language speakers [9]. Government and commerce are conducted mainly in English [11]. Small minorities speak Zulu (about 76,000), Tsonga (about 19,000) and Afrikaans (about 13,000) [10].

    Lesotho

    Sesotho was recognised as the national language, and with English as an official language, by the 1966 National and Official Languages Bill. One summary says an amendment on 12 August 2022 added isiXhosa and SiPhuthi as official languages [12]. Other pages still list only Sesotho and English [13], so check the current legal text before quoting it.

    About 85% of people speak Sesotho, based on 1993 data [14]. Sesotho has about 5.6 million native speakers across Lesotho, South Africa and Zimbabwe [14]. Minority languages include Zulu, Phuthi and Xhosa [12].

    Malawi

    English is the only official language. Chichewa and Chitumbuka were official until 1968 [15]. President Hastings Banda withdrew both, and Chitumbuka was also dropped as a language of instruction [17]. Both are now listed as recognised regional languages [16].

    One summary gives Chichewa as spoken by over 57% of people, Chinyanja by 12.8% and Chiyao by 10.1% [18]. In the 2018 census, the Chewa were 34.4% of the population, the Lomwe 18.9%, the Yao 13.3% and the Tumbuka 9.2% [16].

    Mozambique

    Portuguese is the only official language. It was chosen as the language of the new state because it was ethnically neutral [20]. The 2017 census found Portuguese spoken by 47.4% of people aged 5 and over, and as a native language by 16.6%. That is 38.3% in cities but only 5.1% in rural areas [19]. In Maputo city, about 69% speak it as a first language [20].

    Emakhuwa is the biggest local language, with about 8.6 million native speakers (2017) [21]. Older census shares put Xichangana at 10.3%, Cisena at 7.5%, Elomwe at 7% and Echuwabo at 5.1% [22]. The constitution treats national languages as cultural and educational heritage, and primary education became bilingual from 2017, covering 16 Mozambican languages [19].

    Namibia

    English has been the sole official language since independence in 1990. Under South African rule, Afrikaans, German and English had equal status [23]. The recognised national languages are Afrikaans, German, Khoekhoegowab, Oshiwambo, Otjiherero, RuKwangali, Setswana and siLozi [24].

    The 2011 main household languages were Oshiwambo 48.9%, Khoekhoegowab 11.3%, Afrikaans 10.4%, Otjiherero 8.6%, RuKwangali 8.5%, Silozi 4.8% and English 3.4% [25]. Only about 3% speak English at home, and Afrikaans is the most widely understood national language [26].

    South Africa

    The constitution recognises 12 official languages: Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, isiXhosa, isiZulu, Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga and, since 2023, South African Sign Language [1]. Under colonialism and apartheid, official languages were European, and the 1996 Constitution gave the major African languages protection [1].

    The 2022 census shows these home languages: isiZulu 24.4%, isiXhosa 16.3%, Afrikaans 10.6%, Sepedi 10.0%, English 8.7%, Setswana 8.3%, Sesotho 7.8%, Xitsonga 4.7%, siSwati 2.8%, Tshivenda 2.5% and isiNdebele 1.7% [2]. About 14.6 million people speak isiZulu at home [1].

    In practice, English and Afrikaans remain the main languages of government and education [4]. South Africa has about 34 historically established languages, of which 30 are living, and four are extinct Khoisan languages [1]. The name “Sepedi” or “Sesotho sa Leboa” for Northern Sotho is still debated [5].

    Zambia

    English is the official language. Seven regional languages are recognised: Bemba, Kaonde, Lozi, Lunda, Luvale, Nyanja and Tonga [27]. They are used with English in early primary school and some government publications [29].

    Recent shares list Bemba at 34.0%, Tonga 12.8%, Nyanja 11.4%, Chewa 6.7% and Lozi 5.4%, with English at 1.9% [28]. The 2000 census counted first and second-language use together: Bemba 52%, Nyanja 37%, Tonga 15% and Lozi 11% [29]. Urban “town” forms of Bemba and Nyanja also exist [29].

    Zimbabwe

    The 2013 constitution recognises 16 official languages: Chewa, Chibarwe, English, Kalanga, Koisan, Nambya, Ndau, Ndebele, Shangani, Shona, sign language, Sotho, Tonga, Tswana, Venda and Xhosa [30]. The 1980 constitution named only three: English, Shona and Ndebele [31].

    Practice lags behind the law. Only Shona, Ndebele and English are fully represented in education, government services and media [33]. There has never been a scientific survey of who speaks which language, so figures are rough guesses [32]. One summary gives Shona at about 85%, while others say 70% to 80% [30] [31].

    Patterns across the region

    Languages cross borders under different names. Sesotho, siSwati, Tsonga and Setswana appear as official or national languages in several countries [14] [9] [24] [30].

    Post-independence choices differ sharply. Namibia chose English alone, Mozambique chose Portuguese for neutrality, and Malawi dropped its two local official languages in 1968 [23] [20] [17].

    Laws keep expanding. Zimbabwe added languages in 2013, South Africa added sign language in 2023, and Lesotho reportedly amended its law in 2022 [30] [1] [12].

    Click languages are recognised but small. Khoekhoegowab and !Kung are recognised in Namibia, and !Xóõ in Botswana [24] [6].

    Connections beyond Africa

    South Africa gives special status to community languages including Gujarati, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Arabic, Hebrew and Sanskrit, alongside German, Greek and Portuguese [3]. Mozambique’s immigrant languages include Arabic, Punjabi and Hindi [19]. Zimbabwe lists Punjabi, Hindi and Chinese among its immigrant languages [30].

    Myths versus documented facts

    • Myth: English is the most common home language in South Africa. Documented: isiZulu leads at 24.4%, while English is 8.7% [2].
    • Myth: South Africa has 11 official languages. Documented: It has 12 since South African Sign Language was added in 2023 [1].
    • Myth: All 16 official languages of Zimbabwe are used equally. Documented: Only Shona, Ndebele and English are fully represented in education, services and media [33].
    • Myth: Afrikaans and German are official in Namibia. Documented: English has been the sole official language since 1990, and they are national languages [23] [24].
    • Myth: Chichewa is an official language of Malawi. Documented: It lost that status in 1968 and is now a recognised regional language [15] [16].
    • Myth: Most Mozambicans speak Portuguese as a mother tongue. Documented: It is native for 16.6%, though 47.4% speak it [19].
    • Contested figures: Lesotho’s official languages (two or four), South African Sign Language users (under 10,000 in the census versus about 600,000 in other estimates), and Zimbabwe’s Shona share (70% to 85%) all differ by source [12] [13] [1] [30] [31].

    A note on Part 1

    The 2022 census puts isiZulu at 14.6 million first-language speakers, higher than the 12 million used in Part 1’s ranked table. isiXhosa’s 16.3% share works out to roughly 9.8 million by my calculation from the census percentage, above the older figure of 7.6 million [1].

    Disclaimer

    Most figures come from Wikipedia summaries of censuses, Ethnologue and other studies of different ages. Language laws change, and Lesotho’s status in particular should be checked against official texts. Speaker figures depend on how “speaker” is defined. Please contact us with feedback or corrections.

    References

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