Zuma receives Makhado Bravery Award from Venda

[JPL]

President Jacob Zuma received the Makhado Bravery Award from king Khosikhulu Toni Mphephu Ramabulana, of the Royal VhaVenda people, in Thohoyandou, Limpopo.

To view an image of the presentation and read the article: http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Politics/Zuma-awarded-for-bravery-20130808

Jean-Paul

[peter monahan]

Interesting. I did a very quick search through Google and every one of the 35+ references was to this award ceremony, not a single reference to the award itself, the granting monarch or his 'people'.

Wish I had more time to explore this one!

[JPL]

Peter,

I also did a quick search but without any success. Possibly, this is a new award for Venda...

I did find lots of information on the Venda Defence Force, but nothing regarding civilian honours and awards.

In any case, we now have the colours of the ribbon for this award. Unfortunately, the quality of the image of the presentation does not allow us to see the actual design of the award.

Jean-Paul

[peter monahan]

I hadn't considered that it might be new. A plausible theory, especially as awarding it to the Pres. of SA would be a good start to its life as a serious award! Perhaps when Megan gets her head above water she'll chip in with some info. or theories.

[paul wood]

Like the trendy blue jacket worn by king Khosikhulu Toni Mphephu Ramabulana. I need to find out who his taylor is.

Paul

[Mervyn Mitton]

I am sorry to tell you that this is all a load of nonsense. The Venda are a Tribe - not a Country - and along with dozens of other tribes

have a King. Under the last Govt. a number of selected areas were given the status of 'independent territories' - however, no-one

recognised them and they fell away in 1994 when the ANC became the legal Govt.of ALL of South Africa.

I suspect that in this case he is following the lead of the Zulu King Goodwill. He felt a bit left out and created his own medals. Each has

an identical ribbon and the face of each has a previous king's profile. They have no bearing on the established Medals and Orders which

can only be awarded by the Govt.. The Venda people live in the North Eastern part of the Country - Limpopo Province. There has been

a lot of anti-Govt. feeling and Zuma's acceptance is probably political. Mervyn

[JPL]

Mervyn,

Thanks for this information.

Do you know if this order existed prior to 1994 or is this a relatively new Order?

As well, does this mean that the medals of the Venda Defence Force no longer exist sine 1994?

Here is a link to the VDF medals: http://www.army.mil.za/aboutus/uniform/formerforcesmedals/venda.htm

Jean-Paul

[Mervyn Mitton]

The all ceased existance when the Govt. changed. However, during their time all of the 'Bantustans' - as they were called, set-up

elaborate sets of medals and insignia. Now they are just collectors items - and few have much value. This one seems to be a new

idea from the King - remember, prior to their finding out about European Royalty , the title for a Chief who was over other chiefs was

a Paramount Chief. Mervyn

[Brett Hendey]

Mervyn

You are correct about the use of "king". In the article linked to the first post of this thread the man awarding this spurious decoration is identified as "king Khosikhulu Toni Mphephu Ramabulana". The "king Khosikhulu" is a tautology, since in translation it reads "king chief-big" (i.e. "king paramount chief").

Regards

Brett