ABSTRACT
The BaVenda are a composite people who have been gradually welded into a compact whole in the locality which they occupy. The tribe is composed of sibs and groups of unrelated peoples who have, in varying circumstances and localities, come in contact with a small homogeneous nucleus and become identified with it. Very little is known of the BaNgona. It is probable that they were concentrated in the eastern portion of the country. Many places that were associated with the BaNgona in the past are feared and avoided by the BaVenda. The BaVenda were most antagonistic to European settlement, and until 1872 no missionary was allowed to settle among them. The BaVenda have been able to maintain their supremacy in the Zoutpansberg, and on many occasions have been saved from annihilation by their mountains.
