Venda People

Venda People

The Venda (Vhavhenda or Vhavgona) are a Southern African people living mostly near the South African-Zimbabwean border. When the bantustan of Venda received nominal independence in 1973, their population stood at 200 000. In 1996, there were 600 000 Venda speakers. The 2001 census revealed that there were 800 000 Venda speakers in South Africa, while the 2011 census indicated 1.2 million speakers of the language in South Africa.