CHAPTER 5: PROFILE OF THE PARTICIPANTS
5.2.4 Margaret
Margaret was a married woman from Kukhanyeni, aged 52 years. She came from a family of five children and was the only one to complete high school. She grew up in a household that lacked a father and her mother handled the majority of the household's needs. Her parents' marriage was arranged by their parents, and further her father was not a responsible man which is why she mentioned that they did not appear to have a father. Margaret’s mother stopped paying her school fees when she was in Form 2 because she had to care for her other siblings.
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Margaret’s mother requested a bursary from the Roman Catholic School so that she could finish her high school. At that time there was no free primary education in Eswatini. Her high school results were not good so she could not continue to a tertiary institution. She later enrolled in secretarial studies at a private college and this enabled her to get a government job as a secretary. She was a civil servant employed on a full-time basis, but she also farmed part time. However, Margaret continued to struggle even after she started working because she had to take care of her mother and family. She had to build them a home from the little salary she earned just to have a place to call home.
At the time of the interview, Margaret was married with three children. Her first marriage ended early because of the death of her husband and she had two children. Her husband passed on before he could pay her bride price and she was not able to enjoy her marriage. She was forced to marry her late husband’s brother as tradition demanded. He was her husband at the time of the interview. She had one child in this marriage and this husband paid her bride price. She narrated that she struggled in this marriage because of the low salary she earned.
She had to do most of the things on her own although she was the main breadwinner at her parental home. She said that she did not have good experiences such as shopping with her husband, let alone receiving money from him to take care of the family. The interview seemed to be a healing process as she opened up about her marriage situation saying that she has not been happy since she got married, as she expected her husband to provide for her and the family. During the interview she was checking that her husband could not hear what she was saying. She felt that maybe this was how a husband should treat his wife. She wished her husband would take over the household responsibilities.
Margaret owned a maize production business on which her entire family relied. Maize farming is seasonal and depends on rainfall. She planted, weeded, and harvested with a tractor, but she also used seasonal labour to add fertilizer and harvest. She used maize as a staple food and sold the surplus. Because her husband was unsupportive, the income from maize sales covered approximately 80% of the family's needs.
Margaret was uneasy about the arranged marriage because she believed that her husband was only interested in the marriage for sexual satisfaction rather than the responsibilities that came with being the head of the household. She had no choice but to do what culture
expected of women in a patriarchal society by marrying her late husband's brother, so that he could pay the bride price, which her first husband did not do before he died. It was a Swazi
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culture that widows enter into a procreational relationship with one of her deceased husband's younger brothers (WLSA, 2004). In many cases, bride prices or bride wealth has been a family affair, with various family members contributing. However, human rights committees are contending against this practice and the Eswatinin constitution (2005) states that a woman shall not be forced to participate in or uphold any custom to which she is morally opposed.
Figure 5.4 shows a section of Margaret 's maize farm which was next to the homestead. She had more than 5 hectares of land to farm. The Inhlanyelo Fund supported and saved her business, which had been depleted by household demands. The fund taught her bookkeeping and accounting skills. Her collaboration and networking with other women assisted her in learning more productive farming methods.
Margaret appeared to be well-off because she worked full-time and her husband was a teacher, but she was struggling. That was why she started a part-time business to supplement her income because she was the primary breadwinner and her husband was not supportive.
The additional burden she had of providing for the family, children, and her own biological Figure 5.4: Margaret's Maize Farm
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family, as well as using her salary to pay back the loan, made life difficult for her. Margaret was a cultural victim as a result of her arranged marriage.
She borrowed money from the fund. It may appear strange for the fund to lend to employed people but loans were accessible to everyone, whether employed or not, as long as they owned an enterprise that required funding. This makes it difficult for me to compare her with other participants who relied relying solely on their businesses. Despite the fact that Margaret was working, she was treated as female head of household because she provided 80% of the households needs. Margaret mentioned that she ran her business part-time and paid people to assist her seasonally due to the limited time she had for the maize farming. She fitted into the profile of the types of beneficiaries the fund targeted.