The Xitsonga Princess has spoken.

Back in primary school I remember being teased and laughed at because Xitsonga is my mother tongue, even though I was fluent in English and abit fair in Afrikaans that didn’t stop them from being cruel and mean to me because I was Tsonga speaking. This really got to me to a point that I hated it so much when my mom spoke Xitsonga in front of my friends, I’d always ignore her in public or reply to her in Setswana especially when my class mates were around, to avoid being teased and laughed at.

In high school I then started to get over the shame that other learners made me feel towards my mother tongue. I started realising what a beautiful language Xitsonga is and how awesome it felt and sounded whenever I communicated with my family.

Just when I thought I won the battle of being shamed by other learners, I’d always hear taxi drivers speak ill of Tsonga speaking people, they even refer to us as “Machangane”. A woman Mochangane is supposedly to be dark, ugly, have big breasts and have big feet. On the other hand, a male “mochangane” is supposedly smelly, dark, have big breasts and only be good enough as someone who does hard labour.

As I got older people learnt that I speak Xitsonga. The more people realised this, the more I was told how I didn’t fit the description of a Tsonga person… “because Khensi happens to be light in completion and that I’m too beautiful to be Tsonga”. This really hurt my feelings and broke my heart because I didn’t understand who died and made these people God or maybe everyone who discriminates against my culture is a deputy Jesus Christ, is something I just failed to understand.

People out there can really be mean, creul and heartless, the awful names that we are called by most cultures are just appalling for example the old time favourite “Makwapa” It just goes to show that South Africans will never be united because we discriminate amongst ourselves. We don’t appreciate how diverse our country is, we always looking for the worst in others instead of embracing and uplifting the good in others.

In February 2012, I met a guy by the name of Mathala, he overheard my conversation with my mother over the phone then he just turned and complemented me by saying “you make Xitsonga sound so sexy, please teach me”. Then i later later I met Andiswa and Akhona Madikane, they just love Xitsonga, we even have a deal, they teach me Xhosa and I teach then Xitsonga, such people I consider true friends and South Africans. They just make a South Africa a better place, not because they want to learn how to speak Xitsonga and Akhona wants a Tsonga boyfriend hahahahahaha, but because they are opened minded and willing to meet others half way, they just appreciate how diverse our country is.

But on the other hand, South Africa doesn’t deserve to be called a rainbow nation, if some of the people living in the country are so narrow minded to a point they’d ask you if Xitsonga is one of the 11 official languages. Like really?? Under which rock do these people live under or maybe I’m the one leaving under a rock and I’m just not aware of it. Is there a requirement for one to be called South African? It’s high time people got up and started feeding their brains with some knowledge and stop being ignorant because the only good thing we seem to be so good at is crushing one another.

I don’t think it is fair for anyone to be shamed for being different from the next person, imagine how boring life could be if we all looked the same, dressed the same, spoke the same language and just looked like twins. It’s okay to have a good laugh every now and then but our happiness shouldn’t come at the expense of other people pain. We have the power of change within ourselves; it’s not hidden under a rock.

So on the 2^nd of January 2012, I was invited to work at DSDC College and help out with some marketing…

whilst I was working one of the students who was upgrading approached me for help but instead i turned to assist this specific student something just kept pushing me to ask her about her home-language and she then said “Ke mo Changane” (I’m Tsonga).

Since she was Tsonga speaking I got all excited and started speaking the language, it always feels good speaking one’s home language after a few hours of non-stop English. Then something about this young girl caught my attention, she kept replying in Setswana. I asked “why are you replying in Setswana, when you are Tsonga speaking?” she then said this to me “ai, a kesi rati” (I don’t like the language). For me that was just so heart breaking.

I blame society to a certain extend because they treat Tsonga people like a disease, like for what? We are people that may smell, look, speak, walk and dance different. Being different doesn’t make it okay for people to speak ill of us. The very same people that treat us like outsiders are the very same people that are walking around in clubs, parties and get togethers and driving in their cars singing or playing Xigubu like they know what it means. You hate Xitsonga speaking people hence you want to dance to a song that is dominated by Xitsonga lyrics. WOW.

I love the work Dj Ganyani and Fiesta black put into Xigubu. Its songs and dances like these that remind me why I’m a proud Xitsonga woman.

By discriminating and belittling one another we actually forget to embrace the beauty of our country and its diversity. South- Africa is my home as much as it is your home. Just because I sound different from you it doesn’t make me less of a person or a South-African.

So my fellow South-Africans lets embrace and celebrate one another and our beautiful cultures at all times. I won’t apologize for speaking out, I’m out-spoken and you better learn to deal. Let’s be independent thinkers and start informative dialogues amongst our peers and we can only do that if we open minded and willing to learn from one-another.