"Bridewealth is such an acceptable and valuable custom and it is not the task of the Church to preach or struggle against it. It provides a guarantee of the sincerity of the bridegroom, a symbol of friendship to the family of the bride, and some impediment to divorce. It proves to the young bride that her marriage is something of real importance and her presence in the husband's home is much valued."
Hastings, A (1973:108) This chapter surveys literature on ilobolo and offers a theological critique of the various positions advanced for the function of the custom among the indigenous37 peoples of South Africa in a post-colonial era. A thorough critique of an institution that is as old as the human race, and is constantly changing, is a daunting task. I am therefore aware that my effort will not be definitive yet that does not absolve me from declaring my own position, of necessity, tainted by my evangelical background. Methodologically, this will require me to
37 The use of indigenous here refers to what van Warmelo (1974) refers to as the Bantu speaking peoples of Africa, South of the Limpopo river. He divides these peoples into four major groupings each subdivided into a number of linguistically related people. First are the Nguni, comprising the AmaXhosa, AmaZulu, AmaSwazi originally located along die East coast of South Africa. The Sotho-Tswana found in Lesotho, Botswana, Northern Cape and the former Transvaal. The third group are die BaTsonga found in Mozambique, parts of die Northern Province and North East Natal. Finally die BaVenda, who inhabited die Northern Province. See also Schapera (1934).
distinguish between what was historically and culturally contingent and assess it against what I believe to be biblical norms.
Since the research is carried out in an urban setting, the primary focus will be on present day function of a cash based ilobolo. Where reference is made to the former function of the custom, it will only be as a means of illustrating the contrast with the present. The original significance is not easy to establish because of the scarcity of unbiased documented sources. Oral history, where it can still be accessed, does provide important clues but that is a fast diminishing source with the passing on of older people with a rich store of oral tradition.
Besides, Dlamini (1994:2) points out that ilobolo was practised for a long time without its real significance being properly investigated. There would have been no real need for that since the custom was part of a common store of knowledge. Dlamini concludes that the custom was part of a " sacred heritage of the people which is not made but exists; something to be observed, appreciated and obeyed but never to be criticised or analysed."
It is the view of this study that, far from being an "accepted and valuable custom " as the above quote from Hastings would have us believe, ilobolo, in the past and in its present manifestations, is a highly contested practice in need of radical reappraisal. According to Kathide,38the need for the re-evaluation of the custom is necessitated by the fact that;
*The element of greed has been allowed to distort the whole meaning of ilobola. Properly understood, ilobola does not mean a business deal because there is no purchasing or trade involved, instead there is a simple exchange of gifts."
Kathide goes on to state his position on the subject in these terms:
" If my position is properly conveyed, which I hope I am doing, I am not advancing the idea of the abolition of ilobolaper se. It is only that perhaps we need to revisit the expense of the institution in order to make it easy for our young people to marry. No one must be considered too poor to marry. It is the right of everyone who is marriageable to raise a family."
Inspite of the problems that are raised by Kathide and others, ilobolo continues to be practised. Its persistence and adaptability in the face of rapid social change and widespread abuse is due, largely to its religious nuances. In other words, the rituals that are done at different stages of ilobolo are mainly responsible for its persistence. Thus my view is that it is the religious overtones that seem to keep the custom alive and may continue to do so for some time to come.
I will first examine and critique the various theories that have been adduced to explain the purpose of ilobolo. I will go on to look at the evolution of Colonial law with particular reference to marriage in South Africa against the backdrop of Customary Law and then conclude the chapter by looking at the status of ilobolo within the current constitution of the Republic of South Africa. In all of that I will seek to ascertain the strengths and weaknesses of previous research on the subject before adding my contribution to the debate.
Although my field work was undertaken in an urban setting in KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, and most examples were drawn from the Eastern coastline of the African sub-continent among AbeNguni (AmaXhosa, AmaZulu and AmaSwazi), the literature review of this study is of more diverse provenance and ranges across Southern Africa and into parts of the African continent.
In order to examine the seven theories that have advanced to give the meaning and social significance of ilobolo, care has been taken to avoid too heavy a reliance on what Radcliffe-Brown calls pseudo history. He describes such a methodology as starting with a known condition and, conjecturing on a priori grounds, the temptation is that the researcher concludes that such a condition could have originated in a particular way. The classical historical approach is equally unhelpful because, contrary to popular theories about the objectivity of written data, history is written from the point of vantage of the historian. I therefore judge that Radcliffe-Brown's method of combining comparison and analysis as commendable and that method has therefore been used below to approximate as nearly as possible the best theory that gives meaning to ilobolo.
It is to the theories that have been proposed to explain the origin and purpose of ilobolo that we now turn.