Rethinking customary law on bridewealth¹

Contemporary functions ofilobolo(bridewealth) in urban South African Zulu society

“…His case studies not only demonstrate that marriage per se is an expensive affair, but that the costs for the umbondo and umabo gifts, which are provided by the bride's family to the family of the groom, can easily exceed the ilobolo payments and the izibizo gifts (from the groom to the bride's family). More recent research also identifies that ilobolo payments are used, at least in part, to finance the gifts Journal of Contemporary African Studies 121 which the bride's family is expected to deliver to the groom's family (Burman and van der Werff 1993). The reciprocity involved in ilobolo, however, is not simply material.…”

“…Recent research on ilobolo in Southern Africa (Ansell 2001;Burman and van der Werff 1993;De Haas 1987;Dlamini 1994;Shope 2006;Walker 1992) has already highlighted how ilobolo is seen as being integral to a valued African culture. Among our interviewees, the Zulu cultural identity functions of ilobolo were in fact the most prominently expressed reason for maintaining the practice.…”

“…Clearly, the functions of bridewealth customs are complex, varied and multifaceted, and the significance of ilobolo ranges from sociocultural and socioeconomic purposes to various identity formation functions. In this paper, we highlight the last-mentioned functions of bridewealth in contemporary Zulu society, where ilobolo increasingly has been identified as a 'marker' of an African identity (De Haas 1987;Dlamini 1994) and where the custom appears to be particularly significant (Burman and van der Werff 1993).…”

Very Long Engagements: The Persistent Authority of Bridewealth in a Post-Apartheid South African Community

“…Decades of scholarship have documented lobola's significance for a wide range of southern African people: rural and urban, young and old, men and women (Burman & van der Werff 1993;Haas 1987;Murray 1977;Nkosi 2011;Posel et al 2011;Rudwick & Posel 2014: 120;Shope 2006;Vorster et al 2000;Walker 1992). 3 This is especially true of KwaZulu-Natal, where lobola norms are perhaps South Africa's strongest and ilobolo amounts its highest (Burman and van der Werff 1993;Hosegood, McGrath, and Moultrie 2009;Dorrit Posel, Rudwick, and Casale 2011). 4 Some do criticize lobola, and many criticize how others practice it, but virtually all Africans in KwaZulu-Natal must contend with the value others place on it (Dorrit Posel and Rudwick 2014b;Dorrit Posel and Rudwick 2014a;Rudwick and Posel 2014).…”

“…In the orthodox narrative, lobola both pragmatically and cosmologically eases this paradox. It represents gratitude from the groom's family to the bride's for raising her well (Ansell 2001;de Haas 1987;Rudwick and Posel 2014) and, by being paid over time, stages ongoing interactions and obligations between the families that help them become acquainted and support each other over an extended period (Burman and van der Werff 1993;Dlamini 1983). Similarly, lobola is also understood as the process that "introduces" the bride to the deceased ancestors of her new family, allowing them to peacefully welcome her into their home.…”