Bophuthatswana, officially the Republic of Bophuthatswana, was a Bantustan that was declared (nominally) independent by the apartheid regime of South Africa in 1977. However, its independence, like the other Bantustans was not recognized by any country other than South Africa.
Transkei, officially the Republic of Transkei, was an unrecognised state in the southeastern region of South Africa from 1976 to 1994. It was, along with Ciskei, a Bantustan for the Xhosa people—and operated as a nominally independent parliamentary democracy. Its capital was Umtata.
A Bantustan was a territory that the National Party administration of South Africa set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa, as part of its policy of apartheid. By extension, outside South Africa the term refers to regions that lack any real legitimacy, consisting often of several unconnected enclaves, or which have emerged from national or international gerrymandering.
Chief Patrick Ramaano Mphephu was the first President of the bantustan of Venda, which was granted nominal independence from South Africa on 13 September 1979.
Thohoyandou is a town in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. It is the administrative centre of Vhembe District Municipality and Thulamela Local Municipality. It is also known for being the former capital of the bantustan of Venda.
Sibasa is a village in Limpopo Province, South Africa and the former capital city of the Venda bantustan. When Venda was declared independent in 1979, the capital was moved to Ṱhohoyanḓou.
The University of Venda is a South African comprehensive rural-based institution, located in Thohoyandou in Limpopo province. It was established in 1982 under the then Republic of Venda government.
Vhembe is one of the 5 districts of Limpopo province of South Africa. It is the northernmost district of the country and shares its northern border with Beitbridge district in Zimbabwe and on the east with Gaza Province in Mozambique. Vhembe consist of all territories that were part of the former Venda Bantustan, however, two large densely populated districts of the former Tsonga homeland of Gazankulu, in particular, Hlanganani and Malamulele were also incorporated into Vhembe, hence the ethnic diversity of the District. The seat of Vhembe is Thohoyandou, the capital of the former Venda Bantustan. According to 2011 census, the majority of Vhembe residents, about 800,000, speak TshiVenda as their mother language, while 400,000 speak Xitsonga as their home language. However, the Tsonga people are in majority south of Levubu River and they constitute more than 85% of the population in the south of the historic river Levubu, while the Venda are the minority south of Levubu, at 15%. The Northern Sotho speakers number 27,000. The district code is DC34.
The Venḓa are a Southern African Bantu people living mostly near the South African-Zimbabwean border.
The system of racial segregation and oppression in South Africa known as apartheid was implemented and enforced by many acts and other laws. This legislation served to institutionalize racial discrimination and the dominance by white people over people of other races. While the bulk of this legislation was enacted after the election of the National Party government in 1948, it was preceded by discriminatory legislation enacted under earlier British and Afrikaner governments. Apartheid is distinguished from segregation in other countries by the systematic way in which it was formalized in law.
The Limpopo Division of the High Court of South Africa is a superior court of law with general jurisdiction over the Limpopo province of South Africa. The main seat of the court in Polokwane opened on 25 January 2016. The court also has local seats at Thohoyandou and Lephalale. Before the opening of the division, the Gauteng Division at Pretoria had jurisdiction over Limpopo and circuit courts sat at Polokwane.
Louis Trichardt, informally shortened to Louis Tri, is a town at the foot of Songozwi, in the Soutpansberg mountain range in the Limpopo province of South Africa. It is the centre of the Makhado Local Municipality, which comprises 16,000 km² with a total population of 270,000 (2001). Louis Trichardt is located in a fertile region where litchis, bananas, mangoes and nuts are produced. The N1 National Route runs through the town. Louis Trichardt is 437 kilometres from Johannesburg and one hour's drive from the Zimbabwean border at Beitbridge. Louis Trichardt was known for a time as Makhado, but it was changed back to Louis Trichardt. Vleifontein, Elim, Tshikota, Madombidzha, Makhado Park and Dzanani surround the town at all directions.
Makhado was a 19th-century chief in the Singo dynasty of the Vendas. They ruled over the Dzanani "district" of the Zoutpansberg region of South Africa. He was the youngest son of khosi Ramabulana who died in 1864 when Makhado was about 25. Makhado's mother was Limani, noted for her political intrigue. Makhado's first wife was Nwaphunga. According to Venda historian M. H. Nemudzivhadi, Nwaphunga conspired with a pro-Boer faction among the Venda, and poisoned him in 1895.
Parliamentary elections were held in July 1984 in Venda, an independent bantustan in what is now Limpopo province of South Africa. The Venda National Party won 41 of the 45 elected seats in the Legislative Assembly.
Dzanani is a town and also the name of a region in the former Venda, now part of Limpopo province in South Africa. Dzanani was named after MuDzanani, which is one of the main surnames in Venda; and also the then Paramount Chiefs of Songozwi. The language predominantly spoken is TshiVenda, which is one of the eleven official languages of South Africa.
The Venda Defence Force (VDF) was established in September 1982 from the 112 Battalion of the South African Defence Force and the military branch of the Venda National Force which itself had been formed when the Venda homeland became independent from South Africa in September 1979.
Rank comparison charts of armies/land forces of apartheid states and territories in Southern Africa.
The 1990 Venda coup d'état was a bloodless military coup in Venda, an unrecognised state and a nominally independent South African homeland for the Venda people, which took place on 5 April 1990. The coup was led by the then 48-year-old Colonel Gabriel Ramushwana, the Chief of Staff of the Venda Defence Force, against the government of President Frank Ravele (NPV).
Tshenuwani Simon Farisani is a South African politician, theologian, and Lutheran minister. During apartheid, he was one of the country's most prominent black clergymen and preached anti-apartheid liberation theology from his diocese in Venda and Transvaal. He founded the Black Evangelic Youth Organisation with Cyril Ramaphosa in the early 1970s and was also active in the Black Consciousness movement, especially as president of the Black People's Convention from 1973 to 1975. He was arrested on four occasions, according to Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience, and he testified abroad about the torture he was subjected to by the apartheid police.
