The 1990 Venda coup d'état was a bloodless military coup in

Venda Venda ( ), officially the Republic of Venda (; ), was a Bantustan in northern South Africa. It was fairly close to the South African border with Zimbabwe to the north, while, to the south and east, it shared a long border with another black hom ...

, an

unrecognised state A sovereign state is a state that has the highest authority over a territory. It is commonly understood that a sovereign state is independent. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may also refer to a constituent country, or a ...

and a nominally independent

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

homeland A homeland is a place where a national or ethnic identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethnic natio ...

for the

Venda people The Venḓa (VhaVenḓa or Vhangona) are a Bantu people native to Southern Africa living mostly near the South African-Zimbabwean border. The Venda language arose from interactions with Sotho-Tswana and Kalanga groups from 1400. The Venda ...

, which took place on 5 April 1990. The coup was led by the then 48-year-old Colonel

Gabriel Ramushwana Gabriel Ramushwana (1 July 194112 January 2015) was a head of state of the Bantustan of Venda. Military career He joined the SAP in Welkom as a Constable in 1960 and was seconded to the SADF 112 Infantry Battalion as a Warrant Officer ...

, the Chief of Staff of the

Venda Defence Force The Venda Defence Force (VDF) was established in September 1982 from the 112 Battalion of the South African Defence Force and the military branch of the Venda National Force which itself had been formed when the Venda homeland became independe ...

, against the government of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Frank Ravele Chief Frank Ndwakhulu Ravele (1926–1999) was the second president of the bantustan of Venda, which was granted nominal independence from South Africa on 13 September 1979. Ravele became president on 17 April 1988, after the death of Chief Pa ...

( NPV). Ramushwana's

military government A military government is any government that is administered by a military, whether or not this government is legal under the laws of the jurisdiction at issue or by an occupying power. It is usually administered by military personnel. Types of m ...

stayed in power until January 1994, several months before the reunification of Venda with South Africa after the first post-

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

.All Bantustans (both nominally independent and self-governing) were dismantled and their territories reincorporated into South Africa with effect from 27 April 1994, in terms of section 1(2) and Schedule 1 of the

Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1993 The Interim Constitution was the fundamental law of South Africa from during the first non-racial general election on 27 April 1994 until it was superseded by the final constitution on 4 February 1997. As a transitional constitution it requ ...

, the so-called "Interim Constitution" which abolished apartheid in South Africa. The text of this Interim Constitution, which came into force on 27 April 1994, coinciding with the beginning of the first democratic elections, is available online at Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1993 as of 27 April 1994.

References

Military coups in Venda Politics of Venda 1990 in South Africa April 1990 in South Africa 1990s coups d'état and coup attempts {{SouthAfrica-hist-stub

See also

References