Elliott Siamonga
W
ould you marry your cousin? Yes, according to some Ba Sotho tribesmen of Gwanda district in Matabeleland South Province, who until Zimbabwe’s independence married their cousins, they deemed the practice quite civilised then. Although this practice came in handy for those men who could not propose love to women, it also blocked cattle lobola and wealth from going to other families. Elderly men in Gwanda said this marriage practice minimised marital violence and runaway divorce cases that are now common with today’s marriages. “You could not walk out on your cousin, or even beat her. This type of marriage would deter you from doing that, even cheating is unheard of,” said 70 year old Joseph Sebata who married his cousin, and now lives in Machecheni. In her book, Broken Pillars, (College Press 2000) Tambudzai Kahari described this kind of marriage as deviant or illicit love. In the story, cousins Nyasha and Farai fly off to the United States of America to get married, literally breaking the pillars of their Shona culture, shattering the hopes their parents had back home. But to the Ba Sotho this is perfectly ‘legal’ according to their customs. They still recognise the need to love a female blood relative and marry her. The Ba Sotho say family bonds have never fallen with this practice. Besides the incestuous touch, biologists have warned that such marriages spawn children that often suffer side effects of same blood mixtures, like sickle celled anaemia and albinism. The Ba Sotho alone do not practice romance within the extended family unit,50 year old Gloria Mhlathi of Gungwe village under Chief Ketso Mathe said others like the Ndebele still pride themselves of going to sneak into their maternal uncles ‘ bedrooms and become intimate with their wives. She said most people in
“You could not walk out on your cousin, or even beat her. This type of marriage would deter you from doing that, even cheating is unheard of,” said 70 year old Joseph Sebata who married his cousin, and now lives in Machecheni.
her rural area still have affairs with their relatives, so what is happening in Gwanda is not sinister at all. However, because of HIV/AIDS, this family intrigue is fast dying out. But some of the Ba Sotho still insist on marrying their cousins even in cases where a female cousin would come back after their spouse had died of the dreaded disease. Practices such as these are still rife in some parts of Zimbabwe. They have no legal bearing; as a result authorities have just left them unchecked. The Malawian nationals who migrated to Zimbabwe to work in commercial farms and mines also had matrimonial unions confined to their own kinds. “We encouraged marriages between Malawians and Zambians nationals as those understood our culture and the way we live, anyone from outside regarded our culture as sinister therefore could not marry our daughters,” said a Malawian national Ahmed Phiri. Although the practice of marrying one’s relative is not common amongst the Shona people, cases of blood relatives impregnating each other are so common and in such cases, offenders are fined beasts and money as admission of guilty and to also silence the offended families as well as mending ties between the two families. Children born out of such relationships are usually kept at the woman’s parents and the matter remains a closely guarded secret between the two families. Elders said such marriages cause a lot of inheritance problems where both spouses are rich and leave behind substantial wealth. According to the Ba Sotho, in the event that either spouse dies, the estate is sold and divided among the children of the deceased woman. “In most cases, this is where problems arise, even for married cousins when people want to share money or other assets,” admitted Sebata. According to a study carried out by the Women in Law Southern Africa and the Ministry of Justice on inheritance laws, the inheritance system continues to hold young Ba Sotho widows at ransom as the estate reverts to the males, meaning that the female cousin’s parents get nothing. TP
The Parade - Zimbabwe’s Most Read Lifestyle Magazine
February 2013
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