New Ndebele literature (Tixolongwani) is available, Peter Lamola, a Soweto resident, and his cousin (Peter Kekana) are the authors.
Ndebele is also the language of famous cultural icon, Esther Mahlangu.
The Ndebele language, is dying slowly, some authors suggest it is because there is no orthography (some kind of a spelling system) for the language. This also means it is not taught in schools, although it is one of South Africa’s official languages.
Lamola says “It is true that Sindrebele is a spoken language, that was going to be forgotten and set to die a natural death.”
But a joint effort with his cousin, led to the development of a dictionary, which started in 2016. He used his own resources to conserve a dying language, which is his mother tongue.
The literature, now available, contains grammar, Lord’s Prayer in Sindrebele, biblical books in preparation for aspiring bible translators, Ndrebele pronunciations and a dual English and Sindrebele translation.
Just over 1, 258,000 people speak Ndebele in SA, another 2,644,000 in Zimbabwe and some estimated 34,000 in Botswana.
Most Ndebele speakers are located in Mpumalanga and Limpopo, provinces with the most elephant populations.
Lamola says “as descendants of Geganas, our totem is represented by an elephant displaying strength and endurance in our character. The title of the dictionary relates to our heritage with the hope of encouraging aspiring authors, content producers, poets, musicians and traditional writers on aspects relating to traditional weddings in general.”
He says he has received support from his family and a researcher from Western Cape after having attended a Jozi FM book review last month.
” In the new year I will embark on an extensive marketing drive in predominantly Ndrebele provinces and towns to sell my approach to Sindrebele with an open mind clearing misconceptions about Southern Ndebele, Northern Ndebele and various dialects of Sindrebele though they basically are Sindrebele that they speak with minor differences here and there.”
Picture (L to R) : Peter Kekana, Peter Lamola, his son, Lesiba Lamola