Back to Index

Online newsletter - July- August 2012
Trinity Project Trust
October 02, 2012

Download this document
- MS Word version (6.12MB)
- Acrobat PDF version (1.19MB)
If you do not have the free Acrobat reader on your computer, download it from the Adobe website by clicking here

When lobola becomes ransom

They say when two elephants fight; it is the grass that suffers. This saying befits the wrangle between Gogo Masiya and Mr. Thembelani Ngulube of Old Magwegwe. Gogo Masiya's daughter Gugulethu passed on in 2005 just a few days after giving birth to Bandile. Before she died, her suitor Thembelani failed to pay Lobola even the so-called '' damage''. However he did not deny paternity but for reasons known to him he did not bother paying anything since he is a financially stable man. After the death of Gugulethu, Thembelani and his family demanded custody of little Bandile. Gogo Masiya's family denied him and requested he pays something to the family. That was the onset of the seemingly perpetual feud between the two families. Now Bandile (12) is now caught in between the two families and is being used as pawn. Gogo Masiya's family is determined to make the Ngulube family pay. This then is my story; if this grieving family is still trying to fill the rode left by their daughter then the question is what happens to Bandile? What are the results of acting in accordance to culture or of being unreasonable? Both families are not prepared to put aside their issues for the sake of poor Bandile who is set to write his grade seven (7) exams this year without a birth-certificate.

The Ngulube family cannot get access to Gugulethu's birth certificate and maternal witnesses. All of this becomes a puzzle as Bandile's fate is now dependent on his father paying Lobola for him to appease Gogo Masiya's family and make them happy enough to stand as witnesses during the process of birth registration. The child's right to identity is being violated by the two families as they are so wrapped up in making each other pay. This is a mistake done by many families who view Lobola so highly and let greed and grief cloud their judgment. At the end of it all little Bandile is stuck in a rut. Only organizations such as Trinity Project Trust can intervene and save the life of this powerless soul.

Download full document

Visit the Trinity Project Trust fact sheet

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP