Paul Weinberg South African, b. 1956
Thate Vonde is a sacred forest of the Vha-Venda people where chiefs and the royal family
are buried. It is not accessible to ordinary people, and collection of firewood from the forest
is prohibited. Legend has it that wood collected for fires will turn into snakes. Venda chiefs
are buried here at night in a sitting position and with a leopard skin draped over them. The
broader Venda community, who had lived here for centuries, were removed from this area
during apartheid and pine forests were planted on the land. A small indigenous forest, the
nucleus of the Thate Vonde, survives today but is surrounded by encroaching pine trees.
