Mapulana people

The Mapulana or Pulana, are a low-veld ethnic group found in Bushbuckridge near Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces. Their language is called Sepulana, it is erroneously considered a dialect of the Northern Sotho language group due to their proximity to the Bapedi people of Limpopo. Although it does share some similarities to Sepedi Northern Sotho, it is not a dialect of Sepedi - Sesotho Sa Lebowa). Sepulana forms part of the Eastern Sotho tribes, alongside Pai and Kutswe . Some of the Eastern Sotho tribes were settled in the Pilgrim's Rest district of the Former Transvaal Province. It is influenced by Swati, Xitsonga, Afrikaans, and English .

The area where the Pulana live is called Bushbuckridge; it stretches from Crocodile River in the south to the Swazi border (Mapulana of Mashego) in the north, from the Crocodile to Olifants River (Limpopo) in the north, Lebombo Mountains in the east, and also includes the towns of Hazyview, White River, Mpumalanga (Lepunama), Sabie, Graskop, Hoedspruit, Barberton, Lydenburg and Dullstroom in the west. In the Pulana language, or Sepulana, Mapulaneng means "Place of the Mapulana people." The tribe derives its name from their founding leader, Lepulana, who later changed his name to Chiloane. Mapulana are descendants of Morolong, and their origins can be traced back to the Kgalagadi before they settled in Thaba Chueu, in what is today eastern Lesotho and Shakwaneng (Carolina) in the 1500s. Mapulana of Matshwe got their name from their leader, Pulane. They are offshoots of Amazizi and of Nguni origin.