Week 8 Notes:
o 2005 – Zuma Rape trial
o Ethnicity, politics and material culture are interlinked
o “Original Venda Hustler”
o 2004 – 2009 : The Commission on Traditional Leadership : Disputes and claims (chaired by
Professor Thandabantu Nhlapo)
o Est. by ANC-led gov to identify RSA’s most senior traditional leaders
o Concern over the politics of kingship amongst TshiVenda-speaking people
o Generational divided amongst the Venda (“dual crisis of masculinity”)
o Middle-aged men often took part in debates relating to their own concerns
▪ Due to their age and gender they were able to hold court and dominate
proceeding
▪ Constantly demonstrating knowledge of traditional leadership
o Younger generation
▪ Hip-hop songs (“VenRap”) about Venda events in and around Pretoria
▪ Material culture – basketball caps to Babygros
▪ Identify as “proudly Venda, but not from that political generation”
▪ Challenged stereotypes using fashion and music
▪ Engage with economic and social processes centred on the development of
new commercial brands
▪ “Original Venda Hustler” (OVH) a commercial brand [launched in 2007]
• Epitome of the wider ethos
• Allowed younger TshiVenda people to reclaim their Vendaness from
the elders
• Presents a challenge to the generational leadership
• Also manage events, allowing them to tap into the Venda rap music
industry
• “The Hustle” – a means of making ends meet in an economic
environment where the youth is unemployed and inequality is high
Ethnicity
1. South African state does not fit into an easily definable neoliberal model
a. Engagement in economic processes to redistribute wealth
2. Promotors of ethnic differentiation in post-Apartheid RSA
a. 2008 – Traditional Courts bill : Allocate significant power of punishment and
privilege to traditional leaders
o Converting an ethnicity into a commercial brand that challenges the stereotypes that have
been associated with the generations above
o Ethnicity and Nationalism
o Ethnic categorization is a social process (Barth 1969) – nothing natural about the
process
o “Ethnicity is the expression of differentiation that it is “cultural”, that it is dynamic
political process and that it can be both collective and individual”
, “Vendaness”: a stereotypical representation
o Former homeland – Far North-Eastern corner of RSA on the boarder of Zim and Kruger
o Est as a labour reserve and defined as the home to many male migrant workers
o Stereotypes
o Secretive characteristics maintained by master off mystery who nurture a deep
connection with ancestral spirits and participate in witchcraft
o Stereotypes have a tendency to be internalized
o Due to people’s preconceived ideas of you, the Venda people are able to use the
“double edged sword of fear and respect” to their advantage
o The language
o 2nd smallest linguistic group in the county
o Rooted in Congo-Niger linguistic cluster
▪ Difficult to Nguni languages (isiZulu)
o Add to the idea that Venda are primitive, rural, tradition language
o Use as code, when in company of people they think will not understand
o Muvhango (SABC in 1997)
o Venda, Pedi and Tsonga
o Stereotypical rep of Venda ethnicity – reinforce the negative views
▪ But this improved the pride Venda people had in their ethnicity
o Put Venda on the map – see Venda people on the screen, increases a sense of pride
o Direct translation - ‘royal feud’
o Mid to late 1990s
o New political dispensation – guaranteed equality
o Shift from being a backward, rural, isolated minority to a collective experience of
being part of a wider project in the ‘New South Africa’
o Increasing pride
Car Stickers and Kingships
o Nhalpo Commission (2004)
o Ethnicity, culture, tradition and mythical genealogies of difference at the hear of
political concern
o Represented the government’s trumping of traditional authority in ways not
dissimilar to successive colonial administration (even though the intentions were
different)
▪ Intention – correct the historical wrongs of previous political interference
o Mandate : est the identities of legitimate kings in RSA which fell under traditional
leadership
o Venda context
o Initiated a feud between 2 main contenders of the throne, brothers (Kennedy
Tshivhase and Toni Mphephu)
o Royal house of Mphephu made a claim to be main chief (khosikhulu)
▪ Indicating a desire to rule over all Venda
o Tshivhase house claimed dual paramountcy due to their undefeated stature
▪ Thus he claimed to rule his region alone and not all parts of Venda
o Late 2010 – Zuma announces that government would recognise the Venda kingship
through Mphephu Ramabulana
o Leading from 2004 to 2010
o 2005 – Zuma Rape trial
o Ethnicity, politics and material culture are interlinked
o “Original Venda Hustler”
o 2004 – 2009 : The Commission on Traditional Leadership : Disputes and claims (chaired by
Professor Thandabantu Nhlapo)
o Est. by ANC-led gov to identify RSA’s most senior traditional leaders
o Concern over the politics of kingship amongst TshiVenda-speaking people
o Generational divided amongst the Venda (“dual crisis of masculinity”)
o Middle-aged men often took part in debates relating to their own concerns
▪ Due to their age and gender they were able to hold court and dominate
proceeding
▪ Constantly demonstrating knowledge of traditional leadership
o Younger generation
▪ Hip-hop songs (“VenRap”) about Venda events in and around Pretoria
▪ Material culture – basketball caps to Babygros
▪ Identify as “proudly Venda, but not from that political generation”
▪ Challenged stereotypes using fashion and music
▪ Engage with economic and social processes centred on the development of
new commercial brands
▪ “Original Venda Hustler” (OVH) a commercial brand [launched in 2007]
• Epitome of the wider ethos
• Allowed younger TshiVenda people to reclaim their Vendaness from
the elders
• Presents a challenge to the generational leadership
• Also manage events, allowing them to tap into the Venda rap music
industry
• “The Hustle” – a means of making ends meet in an economic
environment where the youth is unemployed and inequality is high
Ethnicity
1. South African state does not fit into an easily definable neoliberal model
a. Engagement in economic processes to redistribute wealth
2. Promotors of ethnic differentiation in post-Apartheid RSA
a. 2008 – Traditional Courts bill : Allocate significant power of punishment and
privilege to traditional leaders
o Converting an ethnicity into a commercial brand that challenges the stereotypes that have
been associated with the generations above
o Ethnicity and Nationalism
o Ethnic categorization is a social process (Barth 1969) – nothing natural about the
process
o “Ethnicity is the expression of differentiation that it is “cultural”, that it is dynamic
political process and that it can be both collective and individual”
, “Vendaness”: a stereotypical representation
o Former homeland – Far North-Eastern corner of RSA on the boarder of Zim and Kruger
o Est as a labour reserve and defined as the home to many male migrant workers
o Stereotypes
o Secretive characteristics maintained by master off mystery who nurture a deep
connection with ancestral spirits and participate in witchcraft
o Stereotypes have a tendency to be internalized
o Due to people’s preconceived ideas of you, the Venda people are able to use the
“double edged sword of fear and respect” to their advantage
o The language
o 2nd smallest linguistic group in the county
o Rooted in Congo-Niger linguistic cluster
▪ Difficult to Nguni languages (isiZulu)
o Add to the idea that Venda are primitive, rural, tradition language
o Use as code, when in company of people they think will not understand
o Muvhango (SABC in 1997)
o Venda, Pedi and Tsonga
o Stereotypical rep of Venda ethnicity – reinforce the negative views
▪ But this improved the pride Venda people had in their ethnicity
o Put Venda on the map – see Venda people on the screen, increases a sense of pride
o Direct translation - ‘royal feud’
o Mid to late 1990s
o New political dispensation – guaranteed equality
o Shift from being a backward, rural, isolated minority to a collective experience of
being part of a wider project in the ‘New South Africa’
o Increasing pride
Car Stickers and Kingships
o Nhalpo Commission (2004)
o Ethnicity, culture, tradition and mythical genealogies of difference at the hear of
political concern
o Represented the government’s trumping of traditional authority in ways not
dissimilar to successive colonial administration (even though the intentions were
different)
▪ Intention – correct the historical wrongs of previous political interference
o Mandate : est the identities of legitimate kings in RSA which fell under traditional
leadership
o Venda context
o Initiated a feud between 2 main contenders of the throne, brothers (Kennedy
Tshivhase and Toni Mphephu)
o Royal house of Mphephu made a claim to be main chief (khosikhulu)
▪ Indicating a desire to rule over all Venda
o Tshivhase house claimed dual paramountcy due to their undefeated stature
▪ Thus he claimed to rule his region alone and not all parts of Venda
o Late 2010 – Zuma announces that government would recognise the Venda kingship
through Mphephu Ramabulana
o Leading from 2004 to 2010
