Mzansi

From ESAT
Revision as of 16:19, 30 December 2020 by Satj (talk | contribs)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Mzansi is a South African word used as an informal name for the country or the people of South Africa in recent years.

According to the Lexico.com[1], it derives from the Xhosa word "uMzantsi", (um- + -zantsi = low or south).


The term if often used by the popular press as a general term to refer to country and/or its people, for example as in the following article by the populace , for example by arts journalist Kyle Zeeman: "Mzansi mourns the death of theatre legend & 'Skeem Saam' actor Mahuma Paul Rapetsoa" (Sowetan Live 30 December, 2020)[2]


The term is also found as the name of a TV channel (Mzansi Magic[3], founded in 2010) and of a low-cost national bankinɡ account in South Africa.

Sources

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/mzansi

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/mzans

https://www.lexico.com/definition/mzansi

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mzansi_Magic

Go to ESAT Bibliography

Return to

Return to The South African Context/General Terminology and Thematic Entries

Return to South African Theatre/Terminology and Thematic Entries

Return to South African Film /Terminology and Thematic Entries

Return to South African Media/Terminology and Thematic Entries

Return to The ESAT Entries

Return to Main Page