A question of ethnicity: Ndzundza Ndebele in a Lebowa village

The insights of such authors as Mitchell, Barth and Cohen can be usefully applied to understanding the occurrence of ethnicity in small‐scale communities within the context of the South African system of ethnic homelands. In this paper, deep‐seated divisions between Pedi and Ndebele in a village in the Pedi Homeland of Lebowa are examined. While it is undoubtedly true that these can be understood only in the light of the constraints on resources and political power imposed from above through state policy, account must also be taken of local‐level processes. Recent historical events, and the contemporary setting, have led the people concerned — particularly the Ndebele — to constitute themselves as ethnic groups in order to try to secure their hold over crucial economic and political resources.