Former president Thabo Mbeki has weighed in on the lobola debate, slamming the modern day practice of lobola saying it has been corrupted in how it is being practiced.
The former president made the remarks while speaking at cultural practitioner Mbuso Khoza’s Isandlwana Lecture at Joburg Theatre, this past weekend.
Last week, Khoza slammed the modern day practice of lobola, describing it as a scam and blaming British South African colonial administrator Sir Theophilus Shepstone for imposing the practice of 11 cows as his creation, which he said had never been part of Zulu customs. He said Shepstone laid the foundations for the present day scam of the practice, whereby people focused more on the transactional aspect instead of bringing families together.
Former president Mbeki attended the Isandlwana Lecture shared his opinion regarding lobola and how it is perceived today.
“My mother said the customs of ukulobola (to pay lobola/bride price) has been corrupted. Because what it was, it was insurance for the children that would be born out of a marriage. That is why the most important person to the children is not their father.
“So, when the lobola is paid, it’s to the brothers to the mother (the uncles) and they keep it so that if there is a crisis in the family and the mother and the children have to leave, to go back home with their mother, the lobola is there to look after those children,” he added.
Mbeki explained that in the past, lobola was seen as a type of insurance for the children. He said the lobola cattle or money, were not to be abused by the uncles, but they were to be kept safely should they be required one day, should issues arise in the marriage.
Mbeki said that old practise of lobola as a type of insurance for the children must be restored.
The Isandlwana Lecture honours and re-lives the historic battle between the British and Zulu tribe in 1879 where the Zulu tribe conquered the British. The lecture is a compilation of storytelling and music led by cultural practitioner and singer, Mbuso Khoza.
“My mother said, the customs of uk’lobola has been corrupted …” - Former President Thabo Mbeki pic.twitter.com/3FSdGXry8l
— Aldrin Sampear (@AldrinSampear) January 27, 2025
Mbeki essentially agreed with what Khoza was saying about lobola being used for the wrong reasons during an interview with Newzroom Afrika last week. Khoza said that lobola nowadays is a scam since people are more focussed on the money aspect of it more than creating families and shaping society.
“iLobolo is the one that is tearing us down. There are people who can’t get married because of how expensive this iLobolo is.”
The cultural practitioner and theatre producer slammed the modern practices of lobola and explained that for him, lobola is a scam and there is no price for a human being.
“Today we are using money to buy one another in the name of iLobolo and it is in fact a contradiction to how emotions and how people chemically connect,” he said.
Professor Velaphi Mkhize wrote on the Umsamo Institute website in 2011 that iLobolo is a problem in the modern era because people do not have a clear understanding of why it is still being practiced.
“Lobola is a problem in our era because we do not have people who have a clear know how of what it is, and why was it or is it still being practised. Lobolo has more value than just a mere practice,” he wrote.
He further added that the process of ukulobola, is important because it symbolises the coming together of the bride and groom’s families.
IOL