Venda (South Africa)

Venda (South Africa), former bantustan, or black homeland, in South Africa, one of ten territories assigned to the black majority population in the 1950s as part of the South African government's policy of apartheid, or racial segregation. Covering a total of 7460 sq km (2880 sq mi) in the Soutpansberg mountains in northern South Africa, Venda was designated as a so-called homeland for all Venda people in South Africa. The territory of Venda consisted of two separate pieces of land. Venda's capital was Thohoyandou, and the region also included the towns of Sibasa, Makwarela, and Shiyandima. In 1994, when South Africa was divided into nine new provinces, Venda was incorporated into Northern Province (now Limpopo Province).

The Venda inhabited the area for many centuries and established a kingdom there in about the 17th century. In the 1890s the Afrikaner state called the South African Republic (see Transvaal) conquered much of the Venda's land. Shortly after the Union of South Africa (later the Republic of South Africa) was formed in 1910, the white leaders of South Africa began to implement national policies of racial segregation. These policies culminated in the 1950s when the government divided the black population according to ethnic identity and defined them as citizens of ethnic homelands, or bantustans.

The Bantu Homelands Constitution Act of 1971 gave the South African president the power to establish constitutions and legislative assemblies for any of the bantustans. Once a bantustan had a homeland legislature and an executive council and had held a general election, it was considered to be self-governing. Its governing body could collect taxes and pass laws relating to certain areas, such as schools, hospitals, and transportation, but all of these laws still required the approval of the South African president. Venda was granted self-governing status in 1973.

In 1979 Venda became a so-called independent bantustan. In theory, independent bantustans were given complete control over their internal affairs and foreign relations. Some did repeal racially discriminatory laws, but the independence of these bantustans was limited by the fact that the South African government still supplied most of the funding for their budgets and contributed many key civil servants and army officers to the bantustan administrations. Coal, gold, magnesite, and graphite were mined in Venda, but the mining industry was not sufficiently developed to contribute significantly to Venda's economy. The lack of jobs in Venda led about 70 percent of the labor force to work outside the bantustan. No other country besides South Africa recognized the bantustan as an independent country, because to do so would have implied acceptance of the apartheid system.

About 650,000 people lived within Venda's borders, but another 200,000 people who were arbitrarily defined as citizens of Venda lived outside its borders. Few black people supported the bantustan system because it meant they were considered primarily citizens of the bantustans instead of citizens of South Africa, even if they had never lived within the bantustans. When a bantustan chose to become independent, its citizens lost their South African citizenship completely. In spite of popular opposition, some black politicians accepted the bantustan system, and the South African government gradually transferred political power to those individuals.

During the period of nominal independence, power in Venda rested in the hands of the Venda National Party. Both Patrick Mphephu, who was president of Venda from 1979 to 1987, and Frank Ravele, who was president from 1988 to 1990, represented the Venda National Party. In 1990, however, the small Venda army, led by Gabriel Ramushwana, overthrew the government and announced its intention to reintegrate Venda into South Africa. Reintegration did not occur until 1994, but the Venda army remained in power until that time. In April 1994, when South Africa held its first multiracial elections, the interim constitution went into effect and dissolved the bantustan system. Venda was incorporated into a unified South Africa.