5 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

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Cachet: The cachet on this cover is built entirely from bold calligraphic text rather than illustration. "Community Development" appears in deep maroon script across the centre, with a large silver "5th" marking the anniversary and "anniversary of independence" written beneath in a matching flowing hand. A small maroon shield bearing Venda's coat of arms sits in the lower left corner beside the series marking "1.21", giving the cover an official, understated character suited to the anniversary it marks. Four stamps sit in a block in the top right corner, each illustrated by Barry Jackson and showing a different style of Venda housing, from the Dzata Ruins through to a modern home. Two Sibasa postmarks, each built around a small brick archway design, cancel the stamps.

Info card

FIVE YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE Since Venda became an independent republic on 13 September 1979 much attention has been paid to community development. In these five years the provision of suitable housing received top priority. The architecture in Venda well reflects the country's history and socio-economic development. 11c stamp Dzata Ruins The Vha-Venda reached the Soutpansberg area from Central Africa in the 17th century, led by an ancestor of the famous captain Thoho-ya-Ndou ("head of the elephant") and, among other places, settled in the Nzhelele Valley. The Dzata Ruins in this area date from that period. The stone building indicates that it was the kraal of a captain. The kraal was enclosed by stone walls and earth banks, and the various living areas were also separated by stone walls. The walls were built from selected, unfinished flat stones and consisted of double walls filled up with small stones and earth. There were two inner courts. The entrance to the inner court at the council hut (tshivhambo) and the section for the captain's wives were covered with large flat stones to force people to bow when entering. According to tradition there were embrasures for archers in the walls. 25c stamp Traditional hut The Vha-Venda are skilful builders with their own traditional domestic architecture. Through the ages material available in their surroundings were used for the huts. They build more or less 13 types of rondavel huts. The walls consist of poles (basha) chopped in the woods by the men and carried to the building site by the women. The poles are firmly planted in a circle in the ground and fastened with strips of tree-bark and climber shoots. The women plaster the walls with well-kneaded red clay or ant-hill clay. The frame of the roof is completed on the ground and then placed on the wall and fastened. The roof is covered with three layers of grass: a bottom layer of short grass (u shangula), a first layer of thatching grass (u vhofhele), and a second layer of thatching grass (u tulala). The ridge of the roof is made waterproof with a special, thick sheaf of grass (suzwa). The door is of wood, sometimes artistically carved, or plaited lathing. The women decorate the huts by drawing geometrical patterns on them with coloured clay. 30c stamp Sub-economic house Venda is a well-wooded country and in former days enough wood and grass were available with which to build. The high population growth rate and the resultant danger of destruction of the natural vegetation made the use of other building materials and alternative ways of living essential. Housing loans are available and building is undertaken by the home-owner himself or by contractors. 45c stamp Modern house The expansion of the civil service, education and health services, and the industrial and trade development created a big demand for modern buildings. It also materially influenced the art of house-building, and modern houses, the style and planning of which are adapted to the landscape and climate, are being built in the townships.

Additional information

This cover is postmarked on 13 September 1984 in Sibasa. It carries a set of four Venda stamps illustrated by Barry Jackson, marking five years of independence through a progression of housing styles from the historic Dzata Ruins to a modern township home. The Dzata Ruins featured on the 11c stamp date back to the 17th century, built by an ancestor of the Venda captain Thoho ya Ndou, whose name translates to "head of the elephant".

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