ADVERTISEMENT:
News - Date: 13 April 2007
One of the few remaining grandchildren of Chief Makhado Ramabulana, Mr Sam Ramabulana, in his eighties, said he was not consulted when the name of the town was changed from Louis Trichardt to Makhado.
On the name of the town, Mr Ramabulana has a specific view.
"My own feeling is that our great Makhado was so great and so well-known that he didn’t need the honour of the name of a town given to him. It is not an honour to limit a great man to name a small town after him. In the case of Makhado, it is demoting him. Makhado ruled over the whole of Venda and that distinction shouldn’t be taken away from him by reducing him to having a town named after him," said Mr Ramabulana.
Samson Radzilani Ramabulana was born in Sinthumule in 1924. He was a teacher in Soweto and with the independence of Venda he was appointed Ambassador of Venda in South Africa.
"I came home in 1994," Mr Ramabulana said, with home being the town of Louis Trichardt, named after the pioneer trekker who trekked through the area in 1836 and 1837.
"Personally, it does not really make a difference to me whether the name reverts to Louis Trichardt," he said in an interview with the Zoutpansberger. Ramabulana’s physical mobility is like that of a man half his age and his brain is as sharp as a razor, churning out facts and dates like a history book. He is busy reading books on the Soutpansberg area to see whether he agrees with their facts.
Concerning the ruling of the appeal court that the name change be set aside, he said that the court told the Council that they had not consulted enough.
"Neither the Ramabualanas nor the grandchildren had been consulted. The whites also complain that they have not been consulted," Mr Ramabulana said.
He takes down a large framed picture of his granddad, Makhado, clad in hat, shirt and checkered gown.
"That statue of Makhado at the information centre: I don’t know where people got it from. I don’t know where they got that picture. As far as I know, Makhado didn’t put on traditional dress. He wore normal clothing, a shirt and trousers. He even had a checkered morning gown! That statue is not honouring. The municipality is run by people who don’t know him. Moreover, the statue of Makhado should be at the town hall," Mr Ramabulana said. He said that Makhado (1840-1895), who waged war against his brother Davhana, the ZAR and the residents of Schoemansdal, was known as The Lion of the North and not as some would have it, the Bull of the North.
Towards the end of the interview, a great grandson of Makhado arrived. Mr MP Marageni was quick to add that he disagrees with his uncle on the name of the town.
"To honour the great king of this area, the town must be named after Makhado. We don’t want his name to disappear," Marageni said. "But on the statue we agree. We don’t want that one, we want one that looks like the well-known picture of Makhado. That one looks like Moshesh," Marageni said.
Linda van der Westhuizen has been with Zoutnet since 2001. She has a heart for God, people and their stories. Linda believes that every person is unique and has a special story to tell. It follows logically that human interest stories is her speciality. Linda finds working with people and their leaders in the economic, educational, spiritual and political arena very rewarding. “I have a special interest in what God is doing in our town, province and nation and what He wants us to become,” says Linda.
Search for a story:
ADVERTISEMENT
The economic conditions in Zimbabwe forced Tanaka Moyo (40) to legally seek greener pastures in Musina. He opted for a unique business plan, selling the wild jujube fruit to make a living. The fruit, called masau in Shona, is better known as mazwilu in Tshivenda.
As the unemployment rate in South Africa continued to rise, a group of women from Makonde village decided to start a community-based project to create job opportunities for themselves. However, it is very difficult to continue with the project without support from the government or the private sector.
At the age of 104, William Masindi Sadiki still has many stories to tell. Some of these are about his experiences during World War II, when he was part of the North Africa campaign. He is one of the few black soldiers from that era still alive, and he proudly pins his war medals on his chest on formal occasions.
The Rivoni School for the Blind in in Njakanjaka village in the Vhembe District has 167 learners from Grade R to Grade 12. The school was started in 2016 by the Rivoni Society for the Blind, founded in June 1975 at Elim Hospital by late Swiss doctor Erwin Sutter. The society later transferred responsibility for the school to the Department of Education.