Unravelling the Concept of Hunhu/Ubuntu among the Shona People in Zimbabwe

Unravelling the Concept of Hunhu/Ubuntu among the Shona People in Zimbabwe

Langton Muchenjekwa

Religion and Reconciliation Studies, Flensburg University

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2025.906000200

Received: 30 May 2025; Accepted: 03 June 2025; Published: 08 July 2025

ABSTRACT

This paper seeks to unravel the concept of Hunhu/Ubuntu among the Shona people in Zimbabwe. It does this, primarily, by providing an understanding and history of this concept in relation to African society. It looks at Hunhu in relation to ethics (ethical conduct) or morality among the Shona. It also establishes aspects of Hunhu ethics that influence family relations among the Shona. Thereafter, it looks at the impact of Hunhu in education and development in Shona society. Above all, it examines the nature of the family (mhuri) among the Shona. It concludes that while challenges such as Western values, migration, and changing family structures exist, Hunhu/Ubuntu continues to provide valuable insights and guidance for navigating these modern realities. It is a way of life which expresses an African view of the world anchored in its persons, culture, and society which is difficult to define in a Western context. It focuses on people’s allegiances and relations with each other. Among the Shona, Hunhu forms the core of their culture, and it embraces a spirit of caring and community, harmony and hospitality, as well as respect and responsiveness. Ubuntu principles of communalism, justice, love, humility, tolerance, and honesty can be used to address challenges besetting education in Africa and the world at large, and to promote national and human development. Its purpose is to redefine social relations so that they become more egalitarian, transparent, and democratic. It is recognised as an important source of community’s existence. In this sense, the continuous well-being of families relies on the behaviour and principles of individuals. Hence, it is the responsibility of everyone to nurture goodness in each other and acknowledge that one’s failure results in the failure of the whole society.

Keywords: hunhu/ubuntu, ethics, morality, mhuri (family), family relations

INTRODUCTION

This article seeks to unravel the concept of Ubuntu/Hunhu among the Shona people in Zimbabwe. It does this, primarily, by providing an understanding and history of this concept in relation to African society. It looks at Ubuntu in relation to ethics (ethical conduct) or morality among the Shona. It also establishes aspects of Hunhu ethics that influence family relations among the Shona. Thereafter, it looks at the impact of Hunhu in education and development in Shona society.  Above all, it examines the nature of the family among the Shona.

METHODOLOGY

This section discusses the approach and data-collection methods that informed the setup of this article as set out below.

Ethnographic Approach

This research has employed the ethnographic approach.  Ethnography is a qualitative method of studying people and cultures by observing and interacting with them in their natural environment (Caulfield 2020). It involves immersing oneself in a community to understand their behaviours, beliefs, and everyday practices from their perspective (ibid.). In this sense, this method allowed for an in-depth understanding of the concept of Hunhu/Ubuntu within the Shona culture.

Data-collection methods

Participant Observation and Informal discussions

I spent time within the Shona community participating in everyday activities, and observing their behaviours, interactions, and practices. In other words, my desire to carry out this research emanated from participant observation and informal discussions with the Shona. I used these data-collection methods to gain a deep, nuanced understanding of their shared culture, conventions, social dynamics, and how they practice Ubuntu in their daily lives. Therefore, the elements I discuss below are a result of the observation and informal discussions I had with the Shona as a Zimbabwean citizen.

An understanding and history of the concept of Ubuntu/Hunhu in relation to African society

The term Ubuntu comes from a group of sub-Saharan languages known as Bantu (Battle 2009). It is a Zulu/Xhosa/Ndebele/Sesotho/Shona word referring to the moral attribute of a person who is known as Munhu/Umuntu (among the Shona and Ndebele of Zimbabwe as well as the Zulu/Xhosa of South Africa), Muthu (among the Tswana of Botswana), and Omundu (among the Herero of Namibia) (Mangena in Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy 2023). Philosophically, Ubuntu emphasises the importance of a group or community and it finds its clear expression in the Nguni/Ndebele phrase: umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu which when translated to Shona, the majority spoken language in Zimbabwe after English, means munhu munhu muvanhu (a person is a person through other persons) (Samkange & Samkange 1980).  It is a term used to describe the quality or essence of being a person amongst many sub-Saharan tribes (Eze 2008).

While Battle (2009) does not refer to the Shona equivalence of Ubuntu and recognises the words Ubuntu and Bantu by the common root of –ntu (human); Ramose (1999) uses the Zulu/Ndebele word Ubuntu concurrently with its Shona equivalent hunhu to denote the idea of existence. “Hu– is ontological, whilst –nhu is epistemological and so is Ubu– and –ntu” (Ramose 1999:50). Having lived in Africa and Zimbabwe in particular, Ramose knows with some degree of certainty the ontological and epistemological status of the words Hunhu and Ubuntu (Mangena in Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy 2023). This is because it takes an insider to correctly discern the meanings of such words.

Hunhu/Ubuntu also says something about the character and conduct of a person (Samkange & Samkange 1980). What this translates to is that it is not only an ontological and epistemological concept; but it is also an ethical concept (Mangena in Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy 2023). Ubuntu is the interdependence of persons for the exercise, development, and fulfilment of their potential to be both individuals and community (Battle 2009). In the same manner, Desmond Tutu (1999) aptly captures this when he uses the Xhosa proverb, ungamuntu ngabanye abantu whose Shona equivalence is munhu unoitwa munhu nevamwe vanhu (a person is made a person by other persons). This proverb means that everyone’s humanity is ideally expressed in a relationship with others (Battle 2009). This view was also expressed by Eze (2008:107) who put it as set out below:

More critical…is the understanding of a person as located in a community where being a person is to be in a dialogical relationship in this community. A person’s humanity is dependent on the appreciation, preservation, and affirmation of another person’s humanity. To be a person is to recognise therefore that my subjectivity is in part constituted by other persons with whom I share the social world.

However, it is important, at this juncture, to briefly consider the historical roots of the term Ubuntu. In his attempt to trace the history of the concept of Ubuntu, Eze (2010:90) remarks “thus, when it comes to the idea of Ubuntu, history adopts a new posture…where it is no longer a narrative of the past only but of the moment, the present, and the future.” Sadly, other than asking a series of questions relating to “history as a narrative of the moment, present, and future,” he does not adequately explain why this is so (Mangena in Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy 2023). Instead, he goes further to explain the view of history “as a narrative of the past” (ibid.). In this regard, Eze (2010:93) argues that:

Ubuntu is projected to us in a rather hegemonic format; by way of an appeal to a unanimous past through which we may begin to understand the socio-cultural imaginary of the “African” people before the violence of colonialism; an imagination that must be rehabilitated in that percussive sense for its actual appeal for the contemporary African society.

Eze seems to be suggesting that there is too much romanticisation of the past when it comes to the conceptualisation and use of the term Ubuntu (Mangena in Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy 2023). Hence, he seems to question the idea of the unanimous character of Ubuntu before “the violence of colonialism” reducing this idea to some kind of imagination that should have no place in contemporary African society (ibid.). As a result, scholars of Ubuntu are compelled to agree with him to that extent. Therefore, unlike many scholars of Ubuntu who have tended to gloss over the limitations of Ubuntu, Eze is no doubt looking at the history of this concept with a critical eye (ibid.). One of the key arguments he presents which is worthy of other scholars’ attention is that of the status of the individual and that of the community in the definition and conceptualisation of Ubuntu (Eze 2008).

In other words, while many Ubuntu scholars have tended to glorify community over and above the individual, Eze (2008:106) is of the view that, “the individual and the community are not radically opposed in the sense of priority but engaged in contemporaneous formation.” So, whilst scholars agree with Eze that both the individual and the community put together define Ubuntu, they maintain that their relationship is not that of the equals but that the individual is submerged within the community and the interests and aspirations of the community matter more than those of the individual (Mangena in Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy 2023). This should not be interpreted to mean that the individual plays an ancillary role in the definition of Ubuntu. However, below, I look at ethical conduct or morality among the Shona.

Ethical Conduct (EC) or Morality among the Shona

It is important to point out that the question of an African morality is one that arises against the background of the denial that a system of morality existed in indigenous communities, like the Shona, in Africa way before the arrival of the whites. The argument is that no society can exist without a set of rules to guide their conduct or the behaviour of their members no matter how rudimentary (Mungwini 2019). “Morality in the strictest sense is universal to human character” (Wiredu 2002b:287). This is because from their indigenous wisdom, the Africans articulated an ‘art of living’ including morality, on whose basis social relationships were defined (ibid.). Hence, to argue for the legitimacy of an African morality is to draw attention to the existence of ‘a set of principles, values, and norms that guide or are intended to guide the conduct of people in a society’ (Wiredu 2002b). These are a set of principles on whose basis beliefs about right or wrong conduct that results in rules being issued and norms established, is grounded (ibid.). By African morality, “we are also talking about good or bad character, which is ultimately crucial in the observance of rules and in conforming to the norms” (Gyekye 2000:73).

The existence of such rules is testimony to the prevalence of an abstract thinking among the indigenous peoples from time immemorial (Gyekye 2000). In this regard, the terms ethics and morality are used interchangeably. The term ‘ethics’ is technically used by philosophers to mean a philosophical study of morality (ibid.). Morality is understood as a set of social rules, principles, and norms that guide or are intended to guide the conduct of people in a society, and as beliefs about right and wrong conduct as well as good or bad character (ibid.). Therefore, even though morality is the subject matter of ethics, it is most often used interchangeably with ‘ethics’ and it can be said that these terms, refer essentially to the same moral phenomenon, that is, human conduct, and, thus, can be used interchangeably (ibid.).

Even the etymology of the terms ethics and morality brings out this affinity between them (Gyekye 2010). Etymologically, the term ‘moral’ comes from the Latin word mos, which means custom or habit, and it is a translation of the Greek term ethos, which means roughly the same thing, and is the origin of the term ‘ethics’ (ibid.). For instance, Mungwini (2019) employed the terms ethics and morality interchangeably as he attempted to articulate the Shona conception of morality. He had no doubt in his mind that a system of morality existed among the Shona in precolonial Africa. His argument is that the fact of being in existence and occupying a particular space as beings living in community with each other created the conditions that made a system of morality a prerequisite for any such life to be possible (ibid.).

However, Murove (2009a) draws our attention to the fact that in the history of ethics much emphasis has been given to presenting Western and Eastern moral traditions in the form of anthologies for the world to read while little was being said on African ethics and what it could contribute to humanity. As a result, this unfortunate tendency has perpetuated the impression that there is nothing that the world can learn from African institutions of morality (ibid.). Like African philosophy itself, the ideas and beliefs of the African society that bear on ethical conduct have not been given elaborate investigation and clarification and, thus, stand in real need of profound and extensive analysis and interpretation (Gyekye 2010).

Regarding the ethical conduct or morality among the Shona, it should be noted that morality across Africa has been defined as a social morality that is characterised by an unrelenting preoccupation with human welfare, harmonious social relations, and human solidarity (Mungwini 2019). The individual identifies himself or herself through communal social belonging since social relationships are regarded as necessary and not contingent (ibid.). In this sense, in moral terms, what defines the individual in the African context is characterised as “a set of concentric circles of obligations and responsibilities matched by rights and privileges” (Wiredu 2002b:291). These revolve around levels of relationships radiating from the consanguinity of household kith and kin, through the ‘blood’ ties of lineage and clan, to the wider circumference of human familyhood (ibid.). In other words, a common social life forms the basis of the ethics of responsibility that characterises African communities.

African morality also places high value on good character because it is at the heart of the African moral system and is the lynchpin of the moral wheel (Gyekye 2010). It is for this reason that as part of their socialisation of the young, the elders emphasize the cultivation of virtues of character from which good actions would follow (ibid.). Central to understanding Shona morality is the concept of Hunhu also translated as Ubuntu in other variants of the Nguni languages of Southern Africa (Mungwini 2019). Hunhu/Ubuntu is the foundation of African morality and by extension Shona morality (ibid.). “The attention one human being gives to another; the kindness, courtesy, consideration, and friendliness in the relationship between people; a code of behaviour, an attitude to other people and to life, is embodied in Hunhu or Ubuntu” (Samkange & Samkange 1980:39).

Hunhu as the embodiment of morality within the Shona culture is expressed in a  number of maxims such as: iva munhu pavanhu (be humane and always respect other human beings);  munhu vanhu (a person is a person through other persons); kuva munhu (exhibit personhood); chinonzi munhu hunhu (what constitutes a person are good morals); kuva munhu chaiye (be a true person you must not be found lacking on the normative dimension); ‘rurama somunhu kwete semhuka’ (exhibit personhood and recognise others as human beings, and never live like an animal) (Samkange & Samkange 1980). A person is, however, usually called an animal to underline the fact that the individual in question has failed to exhibit elements that are considered as appropriate for being a true human being (ibid.). The common element that runs through all these maxims is the principle which can be summed up as kuva munhu muvanhu (to live as a person is to live well with others) (Mungwini 2019).

´Kuva munhu chaiye’ (‘to be a true human being’) is what individuals, despite their failings, ought to strive for (Mungwini 2019). To become truly human is measured by the acquisition of virtues of character and qualities of personhood that are considered appropriate by the community (ibid.). Since the Shona are communitarian in their social outlook, true humanity can only be achieved within the context of the community through particularly the individual’s ability to enhance social well-being and not diminish it (ibid.). In other words, it is good persons that add to the vitality of the community while bad persons work to diminish and destroy its vitality (ibid.). A good person is one who is there for his or her community. In this manner, having Hunhu/Ubuntu means having commendable character and hence being virtuous (ibid.). As a result, among the Shona, the cultivation of character is the telos of moral education or a process of socialisation which is characterised basically by ‘precept, example, and correction’ (Wiredu 2002b:288). It is expected that every elder should play his or her part in moulding the character of the young although primary responsibility lies with the parents and the immediate family members. In this context, the proverb mbudzi kudya mufenje hufana nyina, which can loosely be translated into English as ‘a goat comes to learn about which species of plant leaves are edible by watching its parent’ whenever used, draws attention to a comparison being made between the behaviour of a child and that of his or her parents (Mungwini 2019). It entails that, moral upbringing, which ultimately manifests itself through individual character, is the responsibility of parents (ibid.).

In this regard, although not every parent is mirrored in the character of his or her children, the acknowledgement of the fact that moral education is through experience, habit, and imitation is critical (Mungwini 2019). In other words, in the sphere of morality, character and moral education go together with one central concept called kutsiura which means to ‘correct’ or more appropriately ‘reproach’ (ibid.). The process of constant correction and reproach is regarded as central to a moral life and since individuals are prone to falter now and again moral education is regarded as a lifelong process (ibid.). The moral significance of reproach (kutsiura) in society is reflected in the Shona saying ‘imbwa inoroverwa pachinyiro’ which means ‘to correct a dog behaving badly one must do it at the very point the dog misbehaves.’ (ibid.)

However, while saying that indeed it demonstrates the Shona’s knowledge of the behaviour of pets such as dogs that will not be able to understand the reasons for a punishment when it is meted several hours or days after the offence, it carries an unmistakable responsibility not to turn a blind eye or defer the correction of wrong behaviour (ibid.). In this case, of equal importance is that the term imbwa (dog) which is used in the proverb is also often used to refer to people whose behaviour is outrightly bad or anti-social (Mungwini 2019). Therefore, among the Shona to talk of character is ultimately to talk of morality. This may not be unique to the Shona because as Gyekye (2010) interestingly points out:

The Greek word ethike, from which the English word ‘ethics’ derives means ‘character’ (ethos). What we call ‘ethics’ Aristotle calls ‘the study (or, science) of character’, the ethike. For the Greek, as for the African and the Arab, the character of the individual matters most in our moral life and thought.

In this regard, the cultivation of character entails the acquisition of desirable qualities or virtues (Mungwini 2019). Virtues that form the basis of Ubuntu relate mostly to the way individuals respond to the needs arising from such things as their feelings, emotions, and desires (ibid.). The way one reacts to the call of these self-directed feelings as an individual largely determines his or her character, and this is the virtue of self-control (ibid.). Virtues of self-control, which are concerned with the mastery of the positive passions, are often considered as the most fundamental virtues of moral character (ibid.). Hence, a good person is one who can enjoy relationships of mutual coexistence with others in the community (ibid.).  Therefore, among the Shona, ethical conduct or morality is the behaviour or character that is acceptable and sometimes rewarded in the community (ibid.). It is very often governed by aspects of Hunhu ethics that influence family relations as set out below.

Aspects of Hunhu ethics that influence family relations among the Shona

Hunhu ethics as a core value among the Shona people, significantly influence family relations in Zimbabwe by emphasizing interconnectedness, respect, and shared responsibility. In this regard, key aspects that influence and impact family relations include the following values: 1) Respect for elders and ancestors, 2) Obedience to parents, 3) Generosity, 4) Hospitality, 5) Strong sense of collective well-being, 6) Care and compassion, 7) Family unit and harmony, and 8) Beyond biological relationships. These values create a web of obligations and expectations within the family, influencing decision-making, resource allocation, and the overall dynamics of relationships.

Among the Shona, elders hold a position of authority and wisdom, and their opinions are valued in family matters. They are seen as repositories of knowledge and wisdom, and their guidance is valued (Manyonganise 2015). This respect, coupled with the belief in the influence of (vadzimu) ancestral spirits, fosters a sense of continuity and guidance for younger generations (Zvarevashe 1970). In other words, disrespecting elders and ancestral spirits is seen as a transgression of hunhu, undermining the family´s harmony and well-being. Therefore, kukudza vakuru uye vadzimu (respecting elders and ancestors) is the key value for family relations among the Shona (Shambare 2021). Kukudza vakuru uye vadzimu is closely connected to kuteerera vabereki (obedience to parents). Children are expected to be obedient and respectful to their parents, recognising their role in guiding and supporting them (ibid.). Obedience is seen as a demonstration of respect and a way of upholding family values (ibid.).

Moreover, Shona people value collective well-being (humwechete). Hunhu prioritizes the well-being of the family unit and the community over individual desires (Mabvurira 2020). It emphasizes that individuals are connected and responsible for the well-being of others, especially family members (Chinouya, Eileen, & Keefe 2006). This translates to mutual support, sharing resources, and taking care of vulnerable members, even if not directly related (ibid.). In other words, values of interconnectedness and shared responsibility/collective well-being are closely connected to the values of care and compassion. Hunhu values compassion and empathy, urging family members to be mindful of each other´s needs and to provide support when needed (Saurombe & Shava 2021). This includes showing compassion towards those who are struggling, offering help and guidance, and fostering a sense of belonging within the family unit (Chigangaidze, Matanga & Katsuro 2021). For instance, families may step in to care for orphans, demonstrating the communal responsibility aspect of Hunhu (Mafumbate & Magano 2016).

Closely connected to the values of care and compassion are the values of family unit and harmony. Ubuntu encourages family unity and harmony, with family members being expected to resolve conflicts peacefully and to prioritize the well-being of the family (Ujomudike 2016). Disagreements within the family are often addressed through community elders or respected family members, emphasizing peaceful resolution and respect for others´ perspectives (Chinouya, Eileen & Keefe 2006). This is achieved through open communication, mutual respect, and a willingness to compromise. In other words, while there is much more about Ubuntu to understand than just compromise, compromise is a great place to start adopting the mindset. When people show others that they are willing to put aside their ideals, prejudices, and preferences, their sense of oneness grows (Hobbs 2021).

While Hunhu is deeply rooted in family bonds, it extends beyond blood relatives to include ´connected families´ (Tatira 2010), community members, and even friends, creating a larger network of interconnected relationships (Brinn 2013). A good example is when one person in a family or group can willingly support all others (ibid.). This reinforces the idea that we are all part of a larger whole and that our actions have an impact on others (Sipondo 2025). In other words, Hunhu ethics teaches that individuals have a moral duty to care for others´ well-being, and actions are considered right if they contribute to others´ welfare (Metz 2020).

However, the pressure of modernization often leads to a shift from ´connected family structures´ (Tatira 2010) to smaller, nuclear families, reducing the traditional support and care networks that Ubuntu/Hunhu relies upon (Abonor, Ofem & Takim 2024). Increased emphasis on individual achievement and independence can as well conflict with the communal values, where the needs of the community are prioritized over individual desires (ibid.). Divorce and separation can also further weaken family ties and create instability, making it difficult to uphold the interconnectedness of families (Hughes & Stone 2003). In the same way, migration can separate families and communities, making it difficult to maintain traditional practices and values, including those related to Ubuntu/Hunhu (Zvomuya 2020). Integration into new communities can also lead to misunderstandings or conflicts if traditional values clash with the dominant culture (ibid.). The focus on material possessions and wealth, which is common in Western societies, can undermine the emphasis on shared resources and collective well-being that characterizes Ubuntu/Hunhu (Philosophy Institute 2023). Western-centric social work ethics, which may prioritize individual rights, and autonomy can also clash with the communal approach of Hunhu, potentially creating challenges for social workers working in diverse communities (ibid.).

To counter these challenges, efforts to strengthen family and community networks, such as community centres and support groups, can help maintain the interconnectedness that is vital to Ubuntu/Hunhu (Saurombe & Shava 2021). Integrating traditional values and practices into education and other aspects of society can also help ensure that Ubuntu/Hunhu principles continue to be passed down through generations (Mugumbate et al 2023). Promoting dialogue and understanding between different cultures and values can as well help mitigate the potential for conflict and promote inclusivity (Zvomuya 2020).

The impact of Hunhu on education and development in Shona society

Hunhu significantly impacts education and development by fostering values like communalism, justice, love, humility, tolerance, and honesty. These values can be used to address challenges besetting education in Africa and the world at large and to promote national and human development (Chingombe & Major 2024). Hunhu influences how education is approached, encouraging inclusivity, equitable practices, and the development of responsible citizens who prioritize collective well-being (Msengana 2006).

Regarding influence on education, Ubuntu emphasizes that everyone should be treated with respect and dignity, regardless of their background or abilities (Ikiriza 2024). This translates to creating inclusive learning environments where all students feel valued and can succeed (Msengana 2006). It promotes collective responsibility, encouraging students to support each other in their learning journey (Ajitoni 2024). This can lead to more engaging and effective learning experiences (ibid.). Ubuntu recognizes the richness of different cultures and encourages a respect for individual differences (Msengana 2006). This is important for fostering a more tolerant and understanding society (Chingombe & Major 2024). In other words, it emphasizes empathy and care in teacher-student interactions (Chinhanu & Adebayo 2020). Teachers are encouraged to see the potential in each student and create a supportive learning environment (ibid.).

However, regarding influence on development, Hunhu values justice and fairness, encouraging individuals to work towards a more equitable society (Udah, Tusasiirwe, Gwatiri & Mugumbate 2025). This can lead to more sustainable and inclusive development initiatives (Boboyi 2024). It as well emphasizes the interconnectedness between humanity and nature, fostering a sense of responsibility for the environment and sustainable development. Furthermore, it promotes a strong sense of community and collective responsibility, leading to greater social cohesion and cooperation in developments efforts (Ajitoni 2024). It also encourages leaders to be humble, honest, and to prioritize the well-being of their communities (Omodan & Tsotetsi 2019). In other words, informed by Hunhu, Shona society emphasizes values like responsibility, honesty, trustworthiness, and hard work as essential for economic success (Viriri 2018). In this regard, it encourages active participation and collaboration from all members of the community in development initiatives (Marowa 2025). This ensures that projects are aligned with the needs and values of the community (Mugumbate et al 2023).

An examination of the nature of the family (mhuri) among the Shona

Traditionally before colonialism and westernisation, the Shona as a people conceived of a family as mhuri. (Tatira 2010). The meaning of the term mhuri (family) was not quite equivalent to the western conception of a family (ibid.). The reason being that in the Shona traditional society we do not have extended family but ‘connected families’ because members who are often referred to as extended family members in the modern days are in fact members of the family (ibid.). In the traditional Shona conception of the term family, there is no nuclear family, no extended family but what they have is a family (ibid.).  Among the Shona, the family has always been considered as the basic cell of the society because all the community’s social and cultural practices are rooted in families (Gelfand 1973). In this sense, a family can be defined as a minimal group or relatives by blood, marriage or analogous circumstances. A family in traditional Shona culture embraces a large group of people who share maternal and paternal descent (ibid.). Totemic affiliation, which is central to traditional kinship structure and social organisation, creates family bonds among people who identify as members of the same clan or who trace their descent to a common ancestry (ibid.). In this manner, blood relationships which are traced as far back in genealogical history as the living can remember, create a vast network of people who consider themselves a family (ibid.). As a result, in Shona, a family is a series of families which the Western societies might call extended families (Tatira 2010; Gwakwa 2014).

In this regard, it is important to note that in the traditional Shona society the kinship system was closely knit, and the sense of belonging was an integral part of the system (Tatira 2010; Gwakwa 2014). This kinship system emphasizes mutual, social, and economic obligations captured in the Shona understanding of generosity. Generally, generosity refers to freedom or liberality in giving (Flexner et al., 1988). The attribute of generosity in Southern African thought is best expressed proverbially. For instance, in Shona culture, there are proverbs that explain the generosity of the Shona people or vanhu (Mangena in Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy 2023). Some of these include: Muenzi haapedzi dura (a visitor does not finish food), Chipavhurire uchakodzwa (the one who gives too much will also receive too much), Chawawana idya nehama mutogwa unokangamwa (share whatever you get with your relatives because a stranger is very forgetful) and Ukama igasva hunozadziswa nekudya (relations cannot be complete without sharing of food or relations are incomplete without sharing of food) (ibid.).

These proverbs not only demonstrate that Bantu people are generous people, but they also say something about the Hunhu strand that runs through the traditional thought of almost all cultures of Southern Africa whereby everything is done to promote the interests of the group or community (Mangena in Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy 2023). In essence, kinship structures in traditional Zimbabwean cultures revolve around a system of proxies within the family which means that everyone has a substitute who can play his or her role if he or she cannot do so because of any reason (Holleman 1952; Bourdillon 1987). The system of familial proxies which is organised around age or generation, and gender means that there are proxy grandfathers, grandmothers, fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters as the situation may require (ibid.). In this regard, in this kinship structure, children can be orphans in the biological but not in the social sense of the word (Tatira 2010).

Lineage sons from the father’s family of birth are proxy fathers who play an even more active role after the death of their brother (Tatira 2010). Similarly, lineage daughters from the mother’s natal family are proxy mothers who are expected to stand in for their deceased sister and treat her children as their own (ibid.). In the absence of their brothers, sisters play the role of the female fathers to their brother’s children and the social and economic but not sexual role of a husband to their sisters-in-law (ibid.). In the same sense, the mother’s brother is a male mother although the social roles of a mother are assigned to the mother’s sister so that the maternal uncle can have a relaxed and playful relationship with his nephews and nieces (see Radcliffe-Brown 1940). As a result, the breadth of traditional kinship structures among the Shona ensures that everyone has someone to turn to such that even an individual born as an only child finds siblings in his or her cousins (ibid.). Therefore, this ensures continuity in the absence of specific members of the family as their roles are easily transferred to people appropriately positioned to assume them in the kinship system (ibid.).

CONCLUSION

While challenges such as Western values, migration, and changing family structures exist, Hunhu/Ubuntu continues to provide valuable insights and guidance for navigating these modern realities. It is a way of life which expresses an African view of the world anchored in its persons, culture, and society which is difficult to define in a Western context (Ncube 2010). Among the Shona, Ubuntu forms the core of their culture, and it embraces a spirit of caring and community, harmony and hospitality, as well as respect and responsiveness (Mangaliso 2001). Ubuntu principles of communalism, justice, love, humility, tolerance, and honesty can be used to address challenges besetting education in Africa and the world at large, and to promote national and human development. It also has the capacity for compassion, reciprocity, and dignity (Bekker 2008). Its purpose is to redefine social relations so that they become more egalitarian, transparent and democratic. It is recognised as an important source of a community’s existence. In this sense, the continuous well-being of families lies on the behaviour and principles of individuals. Therefore, it is the responsibility of everyone to nurture goodness in one another and acknowledge that one’s failure results in the failure of the whole society.

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