The Phuthi people, (ebaPhuthi or BaPhuthi) are a Bantu-speaking ethnic group that form part of the Basotho Kingdom.
SiPhuthi is not yet recognized, but an amendment to the Constitution of Lesotho is currently awaiting approval.
If passed, siPhuthi would be together with English, Sesotho, and isiXhosa one of the four official languages of the Kingdom.
By contrast, the ebaPhuthi in South Africa has officially recognized chiefs, and the current Murena Kutloano Letuka, with his praise name Vutshemalagabi (“burning flames”), is the 5th chief in succession.
Phuthi people are the descendants of Swazi, Sotho, eastern San and Xhosa people who lived in the areas where these ethnicities met in the southern regions of modern day Lesotho and the Eastern Cape and they speak their own language called SiPhuthi, which is a Nguni language based on Swazi but heavily influenced by Xhosa and Sotho.