Editing Southern Ndebele language (section)

==Overview==
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The Ndebele (Southern and Northern) people's history has been traced back to King Ndebele, King Ndebele fathered King Mkhalangana, King Mkhalangana fathered King Mntungwa (not to be confused with the Khumalo Mntungwa, because he was fathered by Mbulazi), King Mntungwa fathered King Jonono, King Jonono fathered King Nanasi, King Nanasi fathered King Mafana, king Mafana fathered King Mhlanga and Chief Libhoko, King Mhlanga fathered King Musi and Chief Skhube.

Ndebele – Some of his sons were left behind with the [[Hlubi people|Hlubi tribe]]<br/>
Mkhalangana – Some of his sons branched north and formed the Kalanga tribe<br/>
Mntungwa – Founder of the amaNtungwa clan<br/>
Njonono – He died in Jononoskop near [[Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal|Ladysmith]] – Surname Jonono is in the Hlubi tribe<br/>
Nanasi – He died in Jononoskop near Ladysmith – Surname Nanasi is in the Hlubi tribe<br/>
Mafana – He died in [[Randfontein]] (Emhlangeni)<br/>
Mhlanga – He died in Randfontein (Emhlangeni)<br/>
Musi – He died in kwaMnyamana (Pretoria)

King Musi's kraal was based at eMhlangeni a place named after his father Mhlanga, the name of the place is currently known as Randfontein (Mohlakeng) and later moved to KwaMnyamana which is now called Emarula or [[Bon Accord Dam|Bon Accord]] in Pretoria. King Musi was a polygamist and fathered the following sons, Skhosana (Masombuka), Manala (Mbuduma), Ndzundza (Hlungwana), Thombeni (Kekana or Gegana), Sibasa, Mhwaduba (Lekhuleni) and Mphafuli and others.

Southern Transvaal Ndebele is one of the eleven official languages in the Republic of South Africa. The language is a Nguni or Zunda classification (UN) spoken mostly in the Mpumalanga Province, Gauteng, Limpopo and the Northwest.

The expression ''isikhethu'' can be loosely translated to mean 'the Southern Ndebele way of doing or saying'. ''Isikhethu'' means Southern Ndebele in the same way that ''sikitsi'' will mean Swazi and ''se harona'' will mean Sotho.

The language has been severely marginalised over the years. Until the formation of the apartheid Southern Ndebele [[bantustan|homeland]] ([[KwaNdebele]]), speaking the language publicly was discouraged. Most Southern Transvaal Ndebele speakers preferred Zulu especially because the latter was learned at school. Today the Southern Ndebele speakers, mostly those who are educated still prefer to use Southern Ndebele as home language for their children and will use Southern Ndebele as a language to communicate with other Southern Ndebele speakers.