ABSTRACT
Two initiation schools for boys exist, side by side, amongst the BaVenda: the murundu, which is a circumcision lodge and has been introduced from without, and the thondo, the indigenous school through which all young boys had to pass before attaining manhood, and which probably originated with the Vhatavhatsinde. Boys are released in small batches soon after puberty, and after the initiation ceremony are attached to age-sets. Each boy, when he is aware of his first nocturnal emission, reports the fact to the negota, and when a sufficient number of the boys are ready to go through the initiation rite (vhutamba vhutuka) they are allowed to leave the thondo. Every MuVenda boy must, on reaching puberty, go through the vhutamba vhutuka ceremony. A great deal of time is spent in practising dancing, both at night and early in the morning, before the boys are allowed to go off for the day.
