MENZI APEDEMAK MASEKO

Many have searched for a definitive explanation of what the word Bantu means, yet the question never ceases to invoke new ideas and avenues of interpretation every time it is raised. To understand what the term means one has to begin with the people that have used it for millennia.

The peoples of Southern Afrika are not the only ones who have had this word used among them, the Nile Valley civilisations from Uganda through Ethiopia all the way up to Egypt also possess words with the root Ntu in them, and some even referred to divine beings or what the West calls gods. Many of as Southern Afrikans even have Ancestors whose names have this root word as a code or key.

The founding family of the land known as Eswatini, the former Swaziland are called the Ngcamane-Maseko and they trace their founding progenitor to an actual patriarch called Ndlovu Ka Ntu, (Elephant of Ntu). There are even others within the same lineage called Ntungwa, Ntuli or Ndabezitha Wa Ntuli. The ruling dynasty today can be referred to as the cousins of the same Ndlovu Ka Ntu (some say Ntungwa) who begat Ngwane, Bhele, Nkomo and so onwards. Their clans have scattered throughout the SADC regions.

While this genealogical information may not explain what the actual word Ntu means, it does trace at least a single kingdom that has kept this term alive through many generations. It also speaks of the reverence and sacredness of this root or Ancestral appellation. The Nguni or Swati-Nguni designation gives the term a time and a place.

The term Bantu or Abantu is most often loosely translated as meaning ‘people’ or ‘humans’, it is based on the plural prefix ‘Ba’ which is found throughout Africa, and the stem/suffix ‘Ntu’ which appears in various forms as Ntu, Ndu, Tu, Nu, Tho, To, etc. Variations of the term Bantu exist throughout Southern, Central and East Africa, among Basotho and Batswana it is “Batho” and:

"Anthu" in Chichewa (Malawi)
"Watu" in KiSwahili
"Batu" in Bangala
"Bato" in Kiluba 
"Vanhu" in Shona 
"Andu" in Kikuyu/Embu
"Banu" in Lala, 
"Vhathu" in Venda
"Antu" in Meru 
"Bantu" in isiZulu/isiXhosa/Kikongo/Duala /Kirundi etc. 

In western anthropology ‘Bantu people’ are commonly defined as African people who inhabit the geographical area of South, Central and East Africa. This notion was created by European ethnographers when they noticed cultural and language similarities between African ethnic groups inhabiting this region, and these Peoples’ use of the term Bantu in various forms, however in the African reality this is not the case. Although the peoples of these aforementioned geographical regions have cultural, genetic, and linguistic ties and a common origin the term Bantu is not an exclusive designation for this geographic group.

Abantu/Bantu are Black/African people, be they in South, West or Central Africa or even Jamaica, Haiti, America etc.

According to our Culture Ba-ntu is a term that defines our origin and essence as Black/African people. Batwa or Abatwa are an Ancestral people of Africa and Abantu or Bantu are a modern type of Black humanity. Culture teaches that we have a divine origin and thus our essence is divine, this is our higher nature and we must always strive to live according to our higher nature which is our true nature.

In the Nguni languages the term Bantu is a plural of Muntu, a Muntu is a divine being, a person who lives according to their higher nature. The word ‘nto’ or ‘into’ (pronounced ‘een-toh’ ) in the Nguni languages means ‘a thing’, ‘a thing that merely exists’, this is in reference to animate or inanimate objects that are not human. In contradistinction ‘ntu’ is the divine essence, this is the suffix ‘ntu’ in the term Mu-ntu. The concepts of ‘nto’ and ‘ntu’ inform our understanding of classification cosmologically and in moral philosophy.

Ubuntu is a related term and means having the character of being a Muntu, values of Ubuntu being good character, righteousness, compassion, humanity towards others etc.., a Muntu has Ubuntu, and when one loses Ubuntu that individual cannot be truly classified as Muntu. They lose the ntu essence and become ‘into’, a thing, a being without a soul so to speak.

Nto is vocalised as Kintu in Ki Kongo the language of Kongo/Congo, meaning inanimate objects or things that are not Muntu, and Muntu is vocalised the same way in both Nguni languages and Ki Kongo. We find in Kamit terms that mirror these concepts. This is no suprise as the Culture and language of Kamit is Ancestral to our people.

In the language of Kamit ‘nt’ or ‘nti’ as written in Mdw Ntr (hieroglyphs) is a reference to ‘things that exist’, ‘that which is’, ‘what is’, nti is also a relative particle ‘who, which etc..’ , rules, ordinances and regulations are known as ‘nt’ and those who are righteous are called ‘Ntiu’. In African Cultures those who uphold divine laws/rules are the righteous, they live a righteous existence, these are ”Ba-Ntu” in contemporary African Culture.

Ntu (or read Nut) in Kamit means ‘those who’ and is written with a determinative symbol of a person or a deity, these determinative symbols are important to note because Ntu in contemporary culture references that which is divine, and Muntu is a person, therefore these determinative symbols of deity and person affirm the philosolosophical meaning we still have today.

Nto: 'a thing' 'that which exists' (Nguni)
Kintu: 'things' (KiKongo) 
Untu: 'things' (Mdw Ntr) 
Nti: 'what is', 'that which exists' (Mdw Ntr)
Ntu: 'divine essence' (Nguni/KiKongo)
Mu-Ntu: 'Person, Righteous human (Nguni/Kikongo)
Ntu: 'those' i.e. Human or Deity (Mdw Ntr)
Ntu/Nuturu/Ntoro: 'Deities' (Mdw Ntr) 
Ntiu: 'the righteous' (Mdw Ntr) 

We also find in the Mdw Ntr of Kamit hieroglyphs of the term ‘Bantu’, this is rendered as ‘Nutu’ in the ancient language. The term Nutu from ancient Kamit means ‘natives’, ‘citizens’, ‘townsmen’, ‘inhabitants’, and is written with a determinative symbol of people, the determinative symbol in the Mdw Ntr writing system gives the reader an idea of the meaning of the word.

Nutu is spelled with the gridded circle symbol which represents the sound ‘Nu’, followed by the half loaf symbol representing the sound ‘t’, and followed by a determinative symbol of a man or a man and woman (people), and three dashes representing the sound ‘u’ which denotes plurality, we thus have ‘Nutu’.

In the Nguni languages of South Africa we have another isiXhosa term Luntu meaning ‘population’, inhabitants, ‘natives’ or ‘citizens’ , this term is intercheangeable with the term Bantu. All these terms (Nutu, Luntu, Bantu) correspond in sound and meaning, Nutu from ancient Kamit contracts into Ntu, inserting the Ba prefix we thus have Ba-Ntu in contemporary Culture.

Nutu: 'people, natives' (Mdw Ntr)
Luntu: 'people, natives' (isiXhosa)
Ba-Ntu: 'people' (isiZulu/Kikongo/Duala/IsiXhosa/Kirundi)