Venda (South Africa)

Venda was a bantustan located in northeastern South Africa, which was close to the South African border with Zimbabwe in the north, while in the south and east, it had a long border with another bantustan, Gazankulu. It currently belongs to the province of Limpopo. Venda was founded by the South African government as the homeland of the Vhavendas, who spoke the Venda language. The United Nations and the international community refused to recognize Venda, as well as any other Bantustan, as an independent state.

History

Venda declared its self-government on February 1, 1973. There were parliamentary elections in 1973, which were held later. There were subsequent elections in July 1978. The territory was declared independent by the South African government on February 13. September 1979, so its residents lost South African citizenship. A characteristic it had in common with other Bantustans was the non-recognition of independence by the international community.

Venda was mainly one of the non-continuous territories in the province of Transvaal, with one main territory and one exclave. Its capital was Sibasa, later moving to Thohoyandou when Venda was declared independent in 1979. Before independence it expanded into a contiguous territory, with a total area of 6,807 km². In the 1984 parliamentary elections, the National Party of Venda, which was in the government, maintained its position as the dominant party, defeating the Independent Popular Party of Venda, which was always the opposition.

In 1979, the Vhavenda population remained at about 200,000 inhabitants. The state did not border Zimbabwe through the Madimbo corridor, which was patrolled by South African troops in the north, and Mozambique through the Kruger National Park.

The first president of Venda, Patrick Mphephu, was also the tribal chief of the Vhavenda. His successor, Frank Ravele, was deposed in a coup by the Venda Defense Force in 1990, after the territory was run by the Council of National Unity. Venda once again belonged to South Africa on April 27, 1994.