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EDITOR – The article entitled “Xibalene” remains an internal identity for the Shangani people authored by Thupeyo Muleya and appeared in the Sunday News of March 17, 2019. 

It was a reminder of some of the colonial left overs we are still feeding on. However, the writer deserves a part on the back for covering stories from so called remote areas.

I really symphathised with the writer as he struggled with the word “Xibhelana” as it was written as “Xibalene and Xibelani” in the same article.

The whites had a terrible time pronouncing African words and had no choice but to find something to wriggle out of the situation. 

For example Tugwi River was called Tokwe. Ironically up to this day many Zimbabweans are more comfortable with Tokwe than Tugwi. 

At most work places people with difficult names to pronounce were given new names liken Peter, Paul or John.

In the same vein the Africans had problems in pronouncing the white people’s words. 

I know of Mr Peter Wenham who was called Peter Wenhamo by the locals and Wenhamo became popular. 

Glengarry in Bulawayo is known by the locals as “Ngerengere”.

If you do not live in Bulawayo you would think these two mean different places and yet they are one.

Places like Fairfield were called “Fiyo Fiyo”. To the locals Fair and Field meant the same as shown by translation.

It is however unfortunate that these colonial failures appear even in our constitution. One of the officially recognised languages is written as Shangani.

When the whites came across the people called “Matshangana” they simply called them Shangaans for convenience’s sake.

The Matshangana speak Xitshangana, simply changing the word Shangaan to Shangani is a case of two wrongs which can never be right.

Paul Mutcha, Bulawayo