Nguni homestead

A homestead (Xhosa: umzi) in southern Africa is a cluster of several houses, typically occupied by a single extended family and often with an attached kraal. Such settlements are characteristic of Nguni-speaking peoples. A house within a homestead is known as an indlu, plural tindlu (Swati) or izindlu (Xhosa and Zulu).

Traditional housing is a feature of rural communities across southern Africa. A rural community may live in a homestead built using locally sourced materials. In South Africa, as of 2022, 4.3% of households were classified as traditional dwellings. Homesteads may make use of commercially available materials, but nonetheless inherit traditional construction methods to retain an often semi-circular arrangement of vernacular architecture. For example, among Xhosa, the roofs of a main rondavel (Xhosa, indlu enkulu) may be constructed of sheet metal, rather than thatch.