CHAPTER 5: PROFILE OF THE PARTICIPANTS
5.2.6 Lindiwe
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After the dairy business failed, Sonto, embarked on vegetable farming as seen in Figure 5.6 above. Sonto was in trouble because all her businesses were failing, but she still bragged about her success and the status she obtained while working in milk production. She said that other women were jealous of her and would not share ideas with her, while also claiming she had no money. She jumped from one business to the next too quickly. She claimed to be selling handicrafts before moving on to importing and selling second-hand clothing and three-legged pots. She did this despite the fund's goal of lending to existing businesses in order to expand the enterprises would increase profits.
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quickly and they married in a traditional marriage under Swazi law and custom shortly after meeting, to the disapproval of both families. Her husband was twice her age. She did not marry out of love, but because she needed a man to take her financial burdens away. As a result of the age gap, she felts that she was infantilized in her marriage and her husband regarded her as one of his children and not his wife.
He refused to include her in decision-making, and made plans without her consent. Lindiwe lacked sexual intimacy with her husband because he was old and away for work. This led her to consider divorce, but she was worried about being labelled libuya or a failure. The
traditional patriarchal culture does not support a woman leaving her marriage for any reason.
She started a piggery project with savings that were meant for food and some assistance from her husband. Lindiwe wanted to expand the business and borrowed money from the
Inhlanyelo Fund without her husband’s consent. When she applied for the loan she had piglets and needed to buy feed. She was surprised when she was told that her husband had to stand surety for the loan. She observed the unprofessionalism of the inner circle of the fund when processing the loans. Her husband worked outside the country and usually came home month end making it difficult for him to surety for her loan. Her husband had to be involved even though she wanted to do it behind his back. The community leadership knew her
husband, and told her he had to sign surety. She felt that now she could not prevent him from knowing her plans to access a loan. This process delayed her application and the piglets suffered.
Lindiwe’s worst experience was when she woke up in the morning and found eight of her pigs with the heads chopped off at night by unknown people. She had orders already to sell the pigs. She suspected her neighbours because they were aware of the business and that she lived alone. Lindiwe stated that she did not hear any noises at night due to the distance between her house and the piggery shed. This was worsened by her in-laws not accepting her as a wife. To make things worse, they did not live far from her residence and they should have heard the noise when the pigs were killed and come to her rescue. The fund gave her the loan too late and the piglets suffered from lack of feed. Her husband abused the loan because she had no control over anything in the household. When she received the loan, her husband took part of the money to service his car. She used some of the loan to pay an outstanding debt and the rest she used for feed.
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She decided to start a poultry business in order to survive without making a fool of herself by asking her husband for money. If she asked him for money, he asked her many questions about what she is going to do with the money. With this new business she had no problems because there were other people raising chickens. It was not like the piggery production. She visited a woman who taught her how to start this business. She consulted her now and then, until she was able to sell the first batch. Lindiwe took the profit from the piggery and bought chicks for her poultry production before the COVID-19 restrictions, after which business was not doing well.
The COVID-19 pandemic severely affected her business and she resorted to using the household food money from her husband to support her business and in order to be able to pay back the loan.
The killing of her pigs made her realise that she needed dogs to alert her at night. She felt that her neighbours had been uncaring to just leave the pigs to die.
When she applied for the loan, the fund told her to go bring her husband. It was most painful when she borrowed money and her husband took the money intended to improve the
business. Lindiwe realised that one should use the loan for the business as intended.
Lindiwe was quick to say that her in-laws and step-children hated her. She complained that they had no spirit of ubuntu. She bought dogs to raise an alarm if something was wrong outside. She believed that you should be connected with others in order to live in harmony.
She thought she was living well with others but community members slaughtered her pigs for Figure 5.7: Lindiwe's Piggery
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no other reason than to bring her business down. She had assumed that living in harmony with others would protect her and her business. She stated that her lack of involvement in household decisions resulted in low self-esteem and lack of confidence because she was perceived as someone who knew nothing.