Vaalpens, also known as Kattea,[1] as of the beginning of the 20th century, are a little-known nomadic people of South Africa, who survive in small groups in the Zoutpansberg and Waterberg districts of the Transvaal, especially along the Magalakwane River.
The Vaalpens ("dusty-bellies") were so called by the Boers from the dusty look of their bodies, due, it is said, to their habit of crawling along the ground when stalking game.
They were nearly exterminated by the Amandebele, a tribe of Zulu stock which entered the Transvaal about the beginning of the 19th century.
The Vaalpens, who live entirely by hunting and trapping game, dwell in holes, caves or rock-shelters.
They form family groups of thirty or forty under a chief or patriarch, whose functions are purely domestic, as must be the case where there are no arts or industries, nothing but a knowledge of hunting and of fire with which to cook their meals.