Ukuthwala-(bridal abduction)

Figure 1 James, A. Bachelors stage a kidnapping.  [ONLINE]

The bridal practice of ukuthwala (bridal abduction), has formed part of many South African native cultural groups, and has still remained as a cultural marriage practice in several places within the Eastern Cape (Froko, S. M. 2016). As the Eastern Cape is predominately a Xhosa populated part of the country, the report will be exploring this practice through the Xhosa culture. There are not many positives when it comes to the practice of bridal kidnapping, therefore this report will instead introduce the historical justification for the practice.

1. Historical bases

It is believed that the practice of ukuthwala in South Africa originated with the Xhosa people (Mwambene & Sloth-nielsen, 2011). Initially the practice came about in cases when either the girl’s family or both families, would be against a marriage or would not come into agreement with labola, and then the couple would stage this abduction, in order to force their  families to allow the marriage to take place.

Although not inherently a form of an abusive abduction, it has mutated into a form of marriage which results in abuse, violence and in many unfortunate cases resulted in rape. Traditionally the practice may be conducted in one of two ways; there are cases where the girl’s family has consented to the marriage and the abduction of their daughter. In this case, the two families have met without consulting the girl in question and have even concluded with the lobola negotiations in most of these cases. Then the two families for whatever the reasons may  be agreed to a specific date on which this abduction would take place (Modisaotsile, 2013).

2. Negatives

In a paper written by Nomusa Mphanga (Maphanga, 2011), one of the drawbacks of the custom of ukuthwala was that men soon abducted the young girls as a result of a spiteful kind of love. The aim was no longer to preserve a custom, nor was it a sign of respect for either the young woman nor their families, it was all about breaking her virginity in order to force the family to permit the marriage.

The sad reality of our society is that a woman is judged more harshly than a man; to the extent that even in cases when she has been violated she is forced to either hide what has taken place or bare the stone of society. Until the recent events which have transpired in our country, it was easy to get away with rape. However now, women have had enough and have learned to voice out their frustration, nonetheless this was not always the case.

When the custom of ukuthwala began to become distorted, it forced the woman, the young girl to not just suffer the pain of rape, but to be sentenced to a life with her rapist all in the name of persevering the dignity he had stripped away from her (Maphanga, 2011; South African Abductions: young girls forced into marriage, n.d.).

The practice of ukuthwala has now become an illegal practice within South Africa and many countries throughout the world. There were cases where the man’s family are in agreement and have not met with either the young girl nor her family and simply decide to ambush her at their earliest convenience, to then inform the girl’s family once they have kidnapped her of what they have done.

 No matter what the circumstance is, when the girl is unaware of this sort of marriage, it may be traumatic for her, as she is taken against her will and then forced to become a wife to someone she may not even know, and at times a man who is 15 to 40 years her senior.