Venda Defence Force

Origin

The Venda National Force was established with Venda’s independence in 1979 and included defence and other services such as police and prisons. Strange enough, traffic policing was part of this national force, but by 1981 it was transferred to the Department of Justice. The Fire Brigade was however still part of the Venda National Force although there was plans to transfer this to the civilian government.

112 Battalion and One Venda Battalion

The VDF itself was formally separated from the National Force on the 27 September 1982 when the SADF’s 112 Battalion from Madimbo, part of the Soutpansberg Military Area, which was outside the Venda territory, was disbanded and re-established to form One Venda Battalion at Manenu. At that stage this battalion consisted of three companies and was to all purposes a light infantry battalion.

SADF 112 battalion emblem

Coup

A bloodless coup occurred on 5 April 1990, the then Colonel Ramushwana was attending a SADF Army Staff Course in Pretoria. Until that date the Chief of the VDF was a seconded SADF officer, Brigadier Steenkamp, with Ramushwana as his Chief of Staff. State President Ravele was the Commander in Chief and was advised by a Security Council.

Aftermath

After the coup, Ramushwana became Chief of the VDF as well as the Chairman of the Council of National Unity. A Security Working Committee was established to replace the Security Council. The SEWOCOM consisted of:

• Ramushwana, now a Brigadier, as chairman,
• the Chief of Staff of the VDF, a Colonel W. Swanepoel,
• the Senior Staff Officer intelligence,
• the Senior Staff Officer Operations,
• the Police Commissioner,
• the Director General of the Venda National Intelligence,
• the Advocate-General and
• two other members of the Council of National Unity.

This committee dealt with all security related issues in Venda including the quality of government, since the coup followed widespread allegations of corruption and maladmistration.

Insignia

Venda Defence Force insignia

Ranks

Equivalent NATO code	OF-10		OF-9		OF-8		OF-7		OF-6		OF-5		OF-4		OF-3		OF-2		OF-1						OF(D) and student officer
Venda (Edit)	No equivalent																								Unknown
									Brigadier		Colonel		Lieutenant Colonel		Major		Captain		Lieutenant			2nd Lieutenant

Equivalent NATO Code	OR-9						OR-8		OR-7		OR-6						OR-5						OR-4				OR-3		OR-2						OR-1
Venda (Edit)																	No equivalent												No insignia
	Chief Warrant Officer						Warrant Officer		Staff Sergeant		Sergeant												Corporal				Lance Corporal		Private

Disbandment

With the end of the Apartheid era in 1994 in South Africa, the former defence forces of the Bantustans were incorporated into the newly formed South African National Defence Force.