Mzansi

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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, as in the following example from 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 popular digital 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

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