It's arguably Limpopo's friendliest town and certainly one of the province's more wealthy. If you want to explore South Africa, it must be in your itinerary. You'll get a glimpse of Africa you won't find anywhere else. This is the heart of Venda, with one of the richest cultures in southern Africa, where legends abound.
Up in the north-western sector of Limpopo, near the borders of Zimbabwe and Mozambique, Thohoyandou is about a five hour drive from Pretoria.
Thohoyando was the capital of the "independent" Venda homeland under the apartheid government. Today it falls within the Thulamela District Municipality which covers vast tract of lands, mainly tribal, approximately 2,966km² in extent, with an estimated population of 537,454.
It lies in the foothills of the Soutpansberg mountains on the R524 between Louis Trichardt (on the N1 between Johannesburg and Musina) and is only 69km from Punda Maria (the northernmost gate to Kruger National Park which also provides access to Mozambique). The drive from Louis Trichardt is one of the most beautiful in Limpopo and rivals the Magoebaskloof-Tzaneen area. It's a vast fertile, tropical farmland with rolling hills of forests, mango, banana, litchi and avocado.
Thulamela is a Karanga word meaning the “The Place of Giving Birth”. The ancient Thulamela settlement, which has now been declared a national heritage site, is situated north of the Kruger National Park, at the Punda Maria gate. The Vhavenda and Shangaans were the original inhabitants of the area. It was here that they developed strong trade links with traders from the Middle East.
The saga of South Africa's place names continues, confuses everyone and makes sure that maps are always out of date. Louis Trichardt, on the N1 and the main route to Thohoyandou, was renamed Makhado but the name has been changed back to Louis Trichardt.
Please note that the Google map location for Makhado/Louis Trichardt is incorrect. It is south of the Soutpansberg mountain range opposite the junction for the R524 to Thohoyandou.
From around 1200 a large cultural civilization and trade network began to emerge just to the north as is evidenced at such sites as Mapungubwe. These early civilizations represented the rise of one of the greatest ancient trade networks the world has ever seen.
The end of Mapungubwe occurred at the same time as the rise of an even greater trading and architectural civilization – that of Great Zimbabwe – which flourished for more than one hundred years.
It was then, around 1550, that groups crossed the Limpopo and founded numerous flourishing settlements in the Pafuri region including that of Thulamela on the southern bank of the Luvuvhu. Thulamela was one of many walled cities that existed in the Pafuri triangle – almost every hill and overlook in the area has evidence of significant occupation during this period. Thulamela and the other walled cities of the region were occupied at about the same time Portuguese trade began on the eastern coast of southern Africa. The wealth and sophistication of these people is evident by the beautifully crafted gold jewelry, Arab glass beads and Chinese porcelain found in the sites and accompanying burials of sacred leaders. The Thulamela culture ended around 1650.
Forced removals under Apartheid. The Makuleke area was forcibly taken from the Makuleke people by the South Africa government in 1969 and about 1500 of them were relocated to land to the South so that their original tribal areas could be integrated into the greater Kruger National Park. In 1996 the Makuleke tribe submitted a land claim for 19,842 hectares (198.42km²) in the northern park of the Kruger National Park. The land was given back to the Makuleke people, but they chose not to resettle on the land and rather to engage with the private sector to invest in tourism, thus resulting in the building of several game lodges.
Venda Bantustan. It was founded as a homeland for the Venda people, speakers of the Venda language.
It was declared self-governing on 1 February 1973. On 13 September 1979, it was declared independent by the South African government and its residents lost their South African citizenship. In common with other bantustans, its independence was not recognized by the international community. Being nominally independent it was possible to set up a casino which was done in the early 1980s, staffed in the main by British workers. The sovereign nation of Venda didn't practice apartheid, leading to relationships across the racial divide.
It was initially a series of non-contiguous territories in the Transvaal, with one main part and one main exclave. Its capital, formerly at Sibasa, was moved to Thohoyandou (which included the old Sibasa administrative district) when Venda was declared independent in 1979. Prior to independence it was expanded to form one contiguous territory, with a total land area of 6,807 km². Its stated population in 1991 was 558,797 (This was not accurate), with the majority of Venda peoples in Southern Africa living within its territory. The state was cut off from neighboring Zimbabwe by the Madimbo corridor, patrolled by South African troops, to the north, and from nearby Mozambique by the Kruger National Park.
The first President of Venda, Patrick Mphephu, was also a chief of the Venda people. His successor, Frank Ravele, was overthrown in a military coup in 1990, after which the territory was ruled by the Council of National Unity. Venda was re-absorbed into South Africa on 27 April 1994.
In 1982, the University of Venda was established as an institution for higher learning for vha-Venda people.
