This research article argued that the current conflicts between Vhavenda and Vatsonga, two decades and four years later after the first democratic elections for a new South Africa in 1994, are manifestations of the seeds that were sown by the Voortrekkers since their arrival around the Soutpansberg in the northern parts of South Africa in 1836. Makhado (Louis Trichardt), Vuwani and Malamulele have been embroiled in continuous arguments and counterarguments, advocacies and counter advocacies, including protests, and in some instances, destruction of the essential property. Before then, Vhavenda and Vatsonga used to live alongside each other and even together. In their traditional village settings, there was no discrimination based on language or ethnicity. Through review of early scholarly writings, oral resources garnered from elders and the author’s personal experience, a few episodes were highlighted, and the ramifications thereof were discussed.
This study also postulated that although the promotion of the tribes’ uniqueness was culturally significant, social cohesion and multiculturalism could have been sustained without institutionalising the segregation laws and demarcations, for these decisions have come back to haunt the present democratic South Africa’s ideals of nation building and social cohesion.
This research article attempts to discuss an important issue of memory of distrust and ethnic rivalry sown by apartheid policies amongst communities that had lived together harmoniously for ages. According to Vail (ed.
A qualitative research design and approach were employed in this study to collect data. This was carried out through a review of early scholarly writings and face-to-face interviews (semi-structured and convergent) to garner oral resources from elders, with the author’s personal experience of some few episodes being included. A non-probability, purposive sampling method was adopted to complete the whole picture of the study. In this study, the author has informed all the participants about the nature of the project before their participation. All study participants participated willingly and voluntarily.
It is significant for this article to contextualise the ‘divide-and-rule’ strategy (Christopher
Britain, like many other European imperialists such as Portugal, Holland and France, once ruled the Indian subcontinent that consisted of both Hindus and Muslim communities. It was once known as British India. The two major communities in the Indian sub-continent had lived peacefully for centuries prior to the arrival of the British imperialists. The British Empire was uncomfortable with the unity of these communities and started poisoning them through ‘divide-and-rule’ tactics. The British actively supported the Muslims and presided over the Muslim League’s demand for the creation of a separate state of Pakistan (Baloch
Since the division of the land between Israelites and Palestinians, Israeli forces have been occupying the West bank and the Gaza strip, with the Palestine contesting this occupation. Moreover, Jerusalem has been divided, with east Jerusalem ceded to Palestine and west to Israel. This decision has continued to polarise public opinion down the years. All interested parties (the global world powers and the warring countries) have constructively performed nothing to alleviate this challenge, ostensibly because the imperialists have continued to enjoy from the gains of this ‘divide-and-rule’ strategy. The Israeli–Palestinian struggle or rivalry has become a historical legacy (Mir
Similarly, since the arrival of the Voortrekkers during the 1860s in the Northern Transvaal, black population groups of South Africa have not been immune to these ‘divide-and-rule’ tactics down the centuries, and these may continue to have indelible consequences for generations thereafter. Historically, the divide-and-rule strategy manifests itself according to the themes below.
According to oral history and literature, Vhavenda as a nation had established a country on its own, independent with its own kings such as Thohoyandou and Makhado, and others (Beach
A particular group of these white Afrikaner Voortrekkers arrived in the territories around the Northern Transvaal area populated by both Vhavenda and Vatsonga. This group was under white Afrikaner Voortrekkers leaders, such as Louis Trichardt, Hans van Rensburg and Piet Joubert. The ‘divide-and-rule’ strategy was escalated by this group, which started their invasions into Vhavenda and Vatsonga territories with the aim of establishing their sociopolitical hegemony. For this, they enlisted the services of some groups of Portuguese and Vatsonga people under the leadership of a Portuguese by the name of Joao Albasini to disrupt peaceful coexistence between Vhavenda and Vatsonga. This fuelled the beginning of tensions between the two language groupings (Vhavenda and Vatsonga) in the Northern Transvaal. Consequently, Joao Albasini was rewarded by naming a dam after him (Albasini Dam) and some pieces of land (Vho-M.F. Mugovhani, Vho-Geda Rambau and Vho-R.A. Mugovhani [Ha-Mashau at home of Rev M.J. Mugovhani] pers. comm., 30 July 1985). This information is corroborated by the names that still exist (Albasini Dam and Louis Trichardt town). The town Louis Trichardt is said to have been founded in 1899 (Thotse
Vendaland’s wars of resistance under the leadership of Makhado Ramabulana is well documented by various scholars, such as Warmelo (
Vhavenda were driven from their fertile mountainous areas. Large communities of Vhavenda were forcefully removed from areas, such as Tshiruruluni, Songozwi (Luatame), La Ndou, Phawe, Ha Mabasha, Tshifhefhe Tshidzivhani, Tshitungulu, Luonde, Ha Ratombo and many other areas (Nemudzivhadi
The primary objective of Voortrekkers’
Missionary enterprise also played some divisive role in the social relations between Vatsonga and Vhavenda during the 19th century. The work of missionary societies fermented or orchestrated ethnic consciousness or tribalism between these communities. Whereas the Dutch-reformed Church had served both Vhavenda and Vatsonga around 1820 and 1863, the Berlin Missionary Society practised its religious services amongst Vhavenda only, and the Swiss Missionary Society has operated solely amongst Vatsonga since 1875. In this way, the seeds of religious apartheid were sown between Vhavenda and Vatsonga (Nemudzivhadi
The Apartheid government’s group areas was promulgated by the white National Party in South Africa to eliminate mixed neighbourhoods in favour of racially segregated ones, which would allow South Africans to develop separately. Once an area was declared a group area, only people of a particular race were to reside in that designated area, and the other racial groups would be displaced. It was through this policy that Vatsonga were forcefully removed away from their low-lying territories previously shared with Vhavenda (Mashau, Lwamondo, Tshimbupfe, Davhana, Masia, Mulenzhe, Tshivhase, Dumasi, Lambani, Vhurivhuri, and many others), and Vhavenda were forcefully relocated to lands previously occupied mostly by Vatsonga (Khosa [University of Venda] pers. comm., 30 July
The
Translated from the Afrikaans meaning of Apartness, apartheid was an ideology conceived by the National government and was introduced in South Africa in 1948. It consolidated the idea of separate development of the different racial groups in South Africa. It forced different racial groups and people to live separately. This culminated into the
The goal of the Afrikaner National Party was not only to separate South Africa’s white minority from its non-white majority but also to separate non-white people from each other, and to divide black South Africans along tribal lines to reduce their imagined political power. Through this
Forced removals refer to the moving of people from their established places of abode against their will (Baldwin
In 1959, the Apartheid Government formally promulgated the
The
As mentioned earlier, the demarcation of the two territories was a recipe for hatred, contestations, tensions and irresolvable conflicts, particularly with regard to Louis Trichardt. This Afrikaner-controlled town (Louis Trichardt) has been the main industrial and commercial town for both Vhavenda and Vatsonga down the years. The homeland towns of Thohoyandou and Vuwani for Vhavenda, and Giyani and Malamulele for Vatsonga-Machangana were not fully developed industrially and commercially. Because of the confluence or convergence of both Vhavenda and Vatsonga (who were no longer good brothers and sisters like before) to this one main town (Louis Trichardt), there was bound to be conflict over territorial ownership around the area surrounding it, and potential contest for socio-economic hegemony over Louis Trichardt ensued later in the years that followed (E.T Mugovhani [Pro-Makhado Task Group] pers. comm., September 2018).
Lately, to legitimise their autonomous citizenship, Vatsonga communities either misappropriated some of the original names of some rivers to suit their language structures, for example,
When the new democratic South African government decided to redress some of the past dispensations, one of the policies was to demarcate and rename some of the boundaries and reconfigure the provinces of South Africa. The new provinces of South Africa became known as North West, Northern Cape, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and the Limpopo province. One of the old provinces largely affected in this regard was the Northern Transvaal, the large portion of which came to be known as the Limpopo province.
Like other provinces, the Limpopo province was demarcated into several district municipalities (Thotse
Map of Limpopo province’s post-1994 demarcation of district municipalities.
The local municipalities include:
The Louis Trichardt versus Makhado names debacle reared its ugly head when the new post-1994 democratic government began its bid to replace Apartheid names in those towns that were known by names of White Afrikaners with those of African heroic leaders. This debacle stemmed from a purposeful plan by the Limpopo provincial government to rewrite the history of the province, thus giving birth to an emerging political agenda to highlight the historical significance and contributions made by African heroic kings from the Limpopo province. It was a national government imperative to prioritise towns and/or cities as suitable places for these commemorations. The task team that was appointed to carry the government mandate (the Names Council of the Limpopo province) subsequently proposed Vhavenda king’s name, Makhado, to replace the Afrikaner leader’s name of Louis Trichardt. Similarly, Pietersburg has been replaced with Polokwane, the Afrikaner name Warmbad is now Belabela, Musina now Messina, Modimolle replaced Nylstroom, Mookgophong for Naboomspruit, Mokopane for Potgietersrus and many others in the new Limpopo province of the new democratic South Africa. Thus in 2003, Louis Trichardt was changed to Makhado (Thotse
The fact that Vatsonga joined hands with their former enemies, the Afrikaners, to vehemently oppose the name of a Venda hero, Makhado, to replace the Afrikaner name Louis Trichardt bears enough testimony to the deep-seated animosity that had been created between Vatsonga and Vhavenda by the white Afrikaner Apartheid regime. The predominantly Tsonga Hlanganani Concerned Group (E.T. Mugovhani [Pro-Makhado Task Group] pers. comm., September 2018) was formed, and together with the predominantly white parties, such as the Democratic Alliance and the Freedom Front, managed to ensure that the name change is reversed, and the town again became Louis Trichardt. This was carried out for Makhado who has historically always remained highly esteemed by Africans alongside kings, such as Shaka, Moshoeshoe, Sekhukhune, Mokopane and Malebogo. The primary objective was merely an attempt by the province to legitimise the historical significance and contributions of African kings in the fight against dispossession of land and oppression. Unfortunately, the other racial and ethnic groups failed to accept that because of the deep-seated racism and tribalism. This happened equally to Makhado’s statue, which was erected and unveiled in 2005 in the same town. It was subsequently defaced immediately (Thotse
The Malamulele town and surrounding areas are predominantly Tsonga-speaking, and they fall under the Thulamela municipality. The Vatsonga communities in Malamulele town and surrounding areas contend that Vhavenda are benefitting more in terms of service delivery, particularly as the headquarters of the Thulamela municipality are in Thohoyandou, a town that is dominated by Venda people in terms of habitation. Ironically, this contention began whilst the mayor of the municipality was a Tsonga (Councillor Mdaka), and a large number of the municipality workers are Tsonga-speaking people (E.T. Mugovhani [Pro-Makhado Task Group] pers. comm., September 2018). The cry and demand for a separate and autonomous municipality from the Thulamela municipality by the predominantly Tsonga-speaking people of Malamulele Town and surrounding areas reached fever pitch after the term of office of Councillor Falaza Mdaka ended, and a Muvenda mayor was installed. This prompted an unfortunate interpretation of tribalism at play (E.T. Mugovhani [Pro-Makhado Task Group] pers. comm., September 2018).
It is very significant to state that the initial cause of dissatisfaction with the Thulamela municipality was justifiable. It is on record that the people of Malamulele town and surrounding areas were dissatisfied with the service delivered by the Thulamela municipality to the communities around the areas (Khosa [University of Venda] pers. comm., 30 July
The first intensified protests continued for a long period, which eventually forced the Limpopo government to intervene and try to mediate. The national government thereafter entered the fray; however both governments failed to achieve stability. Hosi (Chief) Mhinga reiterated the demand during President Zuma’s visit to Shikundu near Malamulele during the burial of Minister Collins Chabane on 21 March 2015 (Municipalities of South Africa
Ultimately, the Collins Chabane Local Municipality was established by the amalgamation of portions of Thulamela Local Municipality and Makhado Local Municipality on 03 August 2016. This municipality is a Category B municipality situated within the Vhembe district. The municipality shares borders with Musina in the north, Thulamela in the north-east, the Mopani district in the south, and Makhado in the west. It is now one of the four municipalities in the district, making up 20% of its geographical area. Malamulele Township has been converted into the new town for the new municipality (Municipalities of South Africa
Whereas the creation of the new municipality, initially inaugurated as Lim 345, then formally named as the Collins Chabane Municipality, appeased Malamulele communities, this created another challenge. The government further realised that the territory was too small to constitute or qualify for a municipality. The population of the new ‘Collins Chabane municipality’ was not adequate to meet the requisite capacity to constitute a stand-alone municipality in terms of the government statute. It was because of this challenge that the demarcation board of the government decided to force communities around areas, such as Masakona Mashau, Masia, Davhana, Tshimbupfe and Vuwani, to form part of the new Collins Chabane municipality. This gave rise to another concerned group (the Pro-Makhado Task Group), which spearheaded the resistance to relocation of the villages and communities from Makhado local municipality to the new municipality (E.T. Mugovhani [Pro-Makhado Task Group] pers. comm., September 2018). This, could, undoubtedly, be interpreted as another subtle manifestation of deep-seated tribalism.
This gave rise to resistance, protests, boycotts, strikes, closure and torching of schools by the communities that were affected by this forced removal, which are the communities around Masakona Mashau, Masia, Davhana, Tshimbupfe and Vuwani areas. The government had hereby created a new problem. Once more, another community group felt ill treated by its ‘own’ government (E.T. Mugovhani [Pro-Makhado Task Group] pers. comm., September 2018).
The new municipality was formed because of protest by the predominantly Tsonga-speaking people of Malamulele town and surrounding areas who no longer wanted to be part of Thulamela Local Municipality, which, they alleged, was dominated by Vhavenda (E.T. Mugovhani [Pro-Makhado Task Group] pers. comm., September 2018). These communities, through their leaders, had been making it clear that they wanted their own municipality.
What stands out, factually, was that the Thulamela Local Municipality was not doing well in terms of service delivery to these predominantly Tsonga-speaking people of Malamulele town and surrounding areas. The communities of Malamulele town and surrounding areas claimed that the Thulamela Local Municipality had skewed attention to the areas that were predominantly occupied by Vhavenda at the expense of the other communities it was supposed to serve equally and impartially. Moreover, it was alleged that the representation of personnel at governance level was not equal; there were more Venda officials when compared with Vatsonga in the governing council. This, therefore, was interpreted as obvious preferential treatment, which evoked the sad memories of the divide and rule forced removals of Vatsonga from their areas in favour of Vhavenda language groups. Again, predominantly Tsonga-speaking people were not being treated on equal par with their Venda counterparts, this time no longer by the previous Apartheid but by their own government.
What the Government and the Demarcation Board did not do was to establish a research study to get the real root of the problem but to simply acceded to the demand of the predominantly Tsonga-speaking people of Malamulele town and surrounding areas, which resulted in the formation of a new municipality initially called Lim 345. This was performed to appease the predominantly Tsonga-speaking people of Malamulele town and surrounding areas not realising that they would be creating another conundrum.
How both the Government and the Demarcation Board could not foresee the challenge of the new demarcated area being too small to qualify for an independent municipality is unfathomable. All the demarcation board decided to, at the behest of government, was to include areas of people who, after all, had no problem with the initial dispensation that gave rise to the demarcation of the Thulamela Municipality. This expectedly precipitated another protest from communities around Vuwani who were being forced to belong to the new municipality. They contended that they were being forced to be integrated into the new municipality without their input.
The communities of Masakona Mashau, Masia, Davhana, Tshimbupfe and Vuwani people do not understand why they should be placed with people who, in the first place, did not want to be with them. The residents of the latter areas alleged that they were not consulted and, subsequently, government did not pay attention to their dissenting voices, and they interpreted this as partial treatment, considering that there was prior consultation between the government and other communities of Malamulele town and surrounding areas. ‘We did not ask for a municipality’ (Kanyane et. al.
The people of both areas claim that, and I quote:
[
Both communities quote the former President Nelson Mandela’s postulation that ‘if the ANC does to you what the Apartheid government did to you, then you must do to the ANC what you did to the Apartheid government’.
Now that apartheid and separate development is done with since 1994 and replaced by a multinational government with no segregation policies, it is difficult to postulate that the tension between the two language groups is still the result of the heritage of the Voortrekkers, the apartheid policies and/or the work of white missionary societies after all these years. The tension is on the agenda of the current South African democratic government. Limpopo province has been one of the most sought-after provinces in elections for the ANC in national polls, as its communities had been voting for the ANC in very large numbers. With such instability and loss of trust in the ANC leadership, this will have an interesting bearing on future relations of these communities and the ruling ANC party in terms of allegiances and voting during elections. At present, there are contestations of narratives, and it is necessary to diffuse them.
Conspiracy against certain sections of the communities may have a lasting impact on stability in the Limpopo province. It is unfortunate that government has, intentionally or not, brought back those sad memories to the two nationalities of Vatsonga and Vhavenda. This has, ostensibly, resuscitated or revoked the old tensions between Vatsonga and Vhavenda, which were created by the old Apartheid regime during the eras of the forced removals and separate development. The South African government needs to find some strategies to diffuse this tension. Perhaps, the government should consider some constructive dialogue on this explosive matter to avoid a grim reminder of the deep pain these language groups experienced in the past, and, instead, assist by providing further symbolic reparation for South Africa’s previous tumultuous history. The Malamulele-Vuwani issue, as it has become known, may have a lasting adverse impact on stability in the region in the near future, unless judicious thinking and intervention are employed to diffuse the suspicion that it is force that will determine or define the outcome of any conflict in the new South Africa like the government of the Apartheid era.
This study, therefore, postulates that although the promotion of the tribes’ uniqueness was culturally significant, social cohesion and multiculturalism could have been sustained without institutionalising the recent demarcations, for these decisions have come back to haunt the present democratic South Africa’s ideals of nation building and social cohesion.
The author declares that they have no financial or personal relationships that may have inappropriately influenced them in writing this article.
N.G.M. is the sole author of this article
In this study, the author was able to inform all the participants about the nature of the project before their participation. All participants participated willingly and voluntarily.
This research work received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analysed in this study.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any affiliated agency of the author.