Vhembe District Municipality

Vhembe
District municipality
Seal
Location in Limpopo
Coordinates: 22°56′S 30°28′E / 22.933°S 30.467°E / -22.933; 30.467Coordinates: 22°56′S 30°28′E / 22.933°S 30.467°E / -22.933; 30.467
Country	South Africa
Province	Limpopo
Seat	Thohoyandou
Local municipalities	List Musina Collins Chabane Local Municipality Thulamela Makhado
Government[1]
• Type	Municipal council
• Mayor	S.E. Moeti[2]
Area
• Total	25,597 km2 (9,883 sq mi)
Population (2011)[3]
• Total	1,294,722
• Density	51/km2 (130/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)[3]
• Black African	98.2%
• Coloured	0.1%
• Indian/Asian	0.4%
• White	1.1%
First languages (2011)[4]
• Venda	67.2%
• Tsonga	24.8%
• Northern Sotho	1.6%
• Afrikaans	1.3%
• Other	5.1%
Time zone	SAST (UTC+2)
Municipal code	DC34

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 Matabeleland South, Zimbabwe. Vhembe consist of all terrotories 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 former Capital of the former Venda Bantustan. According to 2001 census, 800 000 of Vhembe residents speak Venda as their mother language, while 400 000 speak Tsonga and 27 000 speak Northern Sotho. The district code is DC34.

History

Vhembe was originally settled by now-expired tribes of Khoisan peoples. It was later settled by the Venda people (recently migrated from what is now Matabeleland South in Zimbabwe), who constitute a majority of the population of Vhembe today. Later, from around 1820 onwards, the Tsonga people started to invade from the south east and are today a majority in the whole southern and eastern part of Vhembe, which are known today as Malamulele (in the east of Vhembe) and Hlanganani (in the south of Vhembe). At the same time, the Boer colonialists arrived in Vhembe, at around 1836. Venda communities are only found in Vhembe district and as a result, there are no existing Venda communities or villages outside the district. Vhembe means Limpopo river in the Venda language. Before the renaming of Limpopo Province in 2002, the name Vhembe was submitted to the Limpopo legislature as one of the desired name for the new Province but the majority of the members of the Legislature voted against the name Vhembe in favour of the name Limpopo. The Dzata ruins in Thulamela local municipality once served as the main settlement and capital of the Venda empire which had dominated the area during the 18th century.

Boer settlement of the territory began in the late 18th century and gradually upsurged throughout the 19th century. By the turn of the century, the Soutpansberg was taken by the Boers from the Venda rulers, making it one of the last areas in the future republic of South Africa to come under white rule. During the apartheid era, the bantustan of Venda (declared independent in 1979) was established in the eastern part of the Vhembe area, and was reintegrated into the country in 1994. The former bantustan capital, Thohoyandou (named after a chief that had led the expansion of the Venda empire in the 18th century) is the current capital of the Vhembe district.

On December 11, 2008, Vhembe was declared a disaster zone by the Limpopo government due to the spread of cholera across the Zimbabwean border to the district.^[5]

The Vhembe region became the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve in 2009, which was officially declared a biosphere reserve in 2011.^[6] The reserve includes the Blouberg Range, the Kruger National Park, the Makgabeng Plateau, the Makuleke Wetlands, the Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape and the Soutpansberg.^[7]

Geography

The main geographic feature of the district is the Soutpansberg mountains.

Neighbours

Vhembe is surrounded by:

• the republic of Zimbabwe to the north
• Mopani (DC33) to the south
• Capricorn (DC35) to the south-west
• Waterberg (DC36) to the west

Local municipalities

The district contains the following local municipalities:

Demographics

The following statistics are from the census 2011 10% sample.^[8]

Gender

Population group

Age

Politics

Election results

Election results for Vhembe in the South African general election, 2004.

• Population 18 and over: 621 522 [51.80% of total population]
• Total votes: 386 629 [32.22% of total population]
• Voting % estimate: 62.21% votes as a % of population 18 and over

Notable People

Tshilidzi Nephawe (basketball player for the New Mexico State University)

Mulalo Doyoyo

References

External links

• Vhembe District Municipality Official Website
• Vhembe Region named UNESCO’s Biosphere Reserve

Municipalities of Limpopo
District and local	Mopani Ba-Phalaborwa Greater Giyani Greater Letaba Greater Tzaneen Maruleng Vhembe Collins Chabane Makhado Musina Thulamela Capricorn Blouberg Lepelle-Nkumpi Molemole Polokwane Waterberg Bela-Bela Lephalale Mogalakwena Mookgophong/Modimolle Thabazimbi Sekhukhune Elias Motsoaledi Ephraim Mogale Fetakgomo/Greater Tubatse Makhuduthamaga
List of municipalities in Limpopo