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The Tswa of South Africa

The Tswa of South Africa, numbering approximately 31,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a southeastern Bantu ethnolinguistic group indigenous to southern Mozambique and southern Zimbabwe. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Tswa is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Tswa

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: South Africa
People Cluster: Bantu, Central-Southeast
Primary Language(s): Tswa (tsc)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 31,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG015543
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Pray for the Tswa of South Africa

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

—
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tswa
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Tswa Speakers

Media Resources in Tswa:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Tswa:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1972 Bible Society of Mozambique✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Tswa bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Tswa are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Tswa:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Pray specifically for the Tswa of South Africa

And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
readActs 4:12

Pray that those walking in darkness among them will come to know the name by which they must be saved, and call upon Him in faith.

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
readMatthew 6:10

Pray that God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven, and that people will seek His kingdom and righteousness above all else, trusting in His provision.

For the LORD, the Most High, is to be feared, a great king over all the earth.
readPsalm 47:2

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will exalt the Lord, recognizing His reign over the nations and His sovereignty over all things.

And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
readColossians 1:20

As believers cross cultures to tell others about Jesus, praise God for allowing them to be a part of His reconciling all things to Himself, asking Him to help them remember their role in His beautiful plan of salvation for others.

Tswa Across Countries (ROP3 - 110224) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

3 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
TswaPG015425TswaMozambique1,875,000Engaged yet UnreachedTswaEthnoreligion
TswaPG015681TswaZimbabwe200,000Unengaged and UnreachedTswaAnimism
TswaPG015543TswaSouth Africa31,000Engaged yet UnreachedTswaEthnoreligion

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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