Hundreds of residents in the Venda bantustan were detained as the struggle against repression by the authorities intensified in the period running up to the tenth anniversary of the bantustan's 'independence'. Students, workers and others embarked on stayaways and school and consumer boycotts as the authorities continued to exclude opponents from institutions of political power in the bantustan by legislation and manipulation of the legal system. These measures, and the imposition of a State of Emergency in the bantustan in August, failed to stem the resistance.
The mysterious deaths of residents, described in the press as 'ritual killings', which were linked with the bantustan authorities and resulted in a first successful stayaway in 1988, continued to haunt the bantustan as more people were killed in such circumstances. Although the bantustan authorities set up a Commission of Inquiry into the killings in August 1988, it received its evidence in camera and potential witnesses withdrew their participation in protest. In August, Theophilus Mutsheane, head of the bantustan intelligence service, was charged with killing a two-year-old boy in 1988. Mutsheane, like the bantustan's former 'Minister of Justice' last year, was removed from his post. Both developments seemed to support the view widely held in the community that senior officials in the bantustan were involved in the killings and were concealing the facts.
The resistance, however, also focussed on the tenth anniversary of 'independence' on 13 September. The celebrations came a year after elections to the bantustan's national assembly in which anti-independence candidates were excluded from standing for elections under specially enacted legislation. During the same period, John Tshivhase, a bantustan official, deposed Kennedy TSHIVHASE (27), a traditional leader, through manipulation of the legal process. These developments thrust such opposition forces into the ranks of the growing extra-parliamentary groups challenging the bantustan authority. Under the Northern Transvaal People's Congress (NOTPECO), a campaign against the 'independence' celebrations involved students, workers and others. In August bus and taxi owners joined in the call for a one-week stayaway, forcing the bantustan army to transport the few people who wished to go to work. Educational institutions were deserted. A delegation of church leaders had earlier petitioned the bantustan authorities to cancel the celebrations. Another stayaway was called for 5-12 September in protest at the celebrations. Residents were also demanding the renunciation of 'independence', the withdrawal of troops and police from villages and campuses and an end to police interference in educational matters. Over 590 people were detained in the build up to the anniversary. Anger in the community had been generated by the imposition of taxes on residents to finance the celebrations even though so many totally reject their exclusion from South African citizenship.
The authorities failed to suppress the wave of protest in schools and colleges which began with the mysterious death of Mukosi MANHINA (32), a school teacher, in July last year. The bantustan authorities detained students, excluded others and transferred some to remote areas in what appeared to be punishment for their participation in resistance. Only 25 per cent of final-year matriculation pupils wrote their exams last year according to the Venda Department of Education, a figure disputed by some teachers who said that no students sat as a result of the protests. Students were confronted by the violent Venda Youth League, which is linked to the bantustan authorities, when they attempted to establish Student Representative Councils. This year began with a series of school boycotts as students, supported by their teachers, demanded the withdrawal of the army from their villages and the banning of the Youth League. They also objected to a decision by the bantustan's education authority to turn them into part-time students.
Students from the University of Venda (UNIVEN) and the Venda College of Education (VECO) also resumed their boycotts, demanding the dismissal of a chief security guard at the university who was thought to be a policeman, and abolition of the Bachelor of Police degree which they claimed involved training in torture methods. They also said women students were sexually harassed by some lecturers.
