I'm not a linguist and, therefore, would not be audacious enough to
propose a new classification. My point was simply that it's not very
useful to talk about a generalized Bantu ethnic group. The cultural
variations and self-identites under this rubric run in the many
hundreds. Would anyone propose talking about a Germanic ethnic group
that included all of the extant Germanic languages, which are far
fewer than those classified as Bantu?
As for Swahili, it is simply one of the Bantu languages, which, in
this instance, has incorporated considerable Arabic and other
influences. The word Bantu is formed from the stem ntu (singular
person), and the prefix Ba (plural). Also widely used are mtu and Wa.
If I remember correctly, Bantu was coined by the linguistic Bleek
and doesn't really exist in any of the Bantu languages.