Tjwao Language Expo/Language Party

The San in Zimbabwe are largely of the Tjwa language group and  presently speak Kalanga and Ndebele; a few old San still remembered the San language but do not use it in their day-to-day interactions. Schools use Kalanga and Ndebele as vernacular languages of instruction and examination, but over the four years of primary schooling Ndebele becomes the sole vernacular taught and examined. San use Kalanga or Ndebele surnames (e.g. Moyo, Ndlovu and Ncube), which some argue are equivalents of their San names. A slow process of social assimilation is taking place, which will result in the San becoming either extinct. One of hundreds of San youths in the western part of Tsholotsho district go out of their way to hide their true identity in order to be accepted as either Ndebele or Kalanga. This self-denial is a culmination of discrimination by their Ndebele and Kalanga neighbours who also dominate local community leadership positions.