13a African language akin to Zulu... A search suggests this should properly be Swati rather than Swazi. I quote: Swati (siSwati in the language itself; isiSwazi in Zulu) is a Bantu language of the Nguni group spoken in Swaziland and South Africa. Although often referred to as Swazi, this is the form of the noun stem indicating the language or its speakers taken from Zulu, which many Swati-speakers also speak. Do any subscribers have experience of or opinions about legitimate alternative crossword answers when either word fits?
13a, african language closely related to xhosa and zulu (5)
from my dictionary
SWAZI )
(1).................................................................................
(2)
the language of this people ; an offiicial language of swaziland along with english. it belongs to the niger-congo family and is closely related to xhosa and zulu