Lobola for a new South Africa
22 November 2004Proudly South African has unearthed some inspirational companies through its Homegrown Awards initiative, a competition that recognises the best Proudly South African products and services and the creative entrepreneurs behind them.
One such company is African Innovation, which has devised a contract system that helps to narrow the generation gap that exists today, specifically regarding the African tradition of lobola.
Until the advent of this company, families entering into a traditional marriage had to do so without sound insight into the legal implications of the process.
The Lobola or Magadi Contract devised by African Innovation is a proper, legally binding document for a new generation that prefers not to use scraps of paper, notebooks or loose receipts as "proof of payment" for a wife.
Instead, it confirms that a couple has entered into a marriage and holds the same weight as a community of property agreement signed at the Department of Home Affairs or an ante-nuptial agreement drafted by an attorney.
"Until now, families entering into a traditional lobola marriage had to do so without a guiding hand to help them through the contractual process", says founder Mpho Lebogo, a qualified banker by profession, who heads up the Johannesburg-based company.
"This contract changes that by helping in two ways. The document serves as a draft agreement for parents to use before they enter into negotiations about the prospective marriage between their children.
"It is a proper, legally binding contract that would make provision for the return of money should a marriage take place, for example. It therefore enjoys the same status as an ante-nuptial contract, but has been devised by South Africans for South Africans working to honour age-old traditions."
The contract performs the second function of being the document that spouses sign on the day of the actual celebration, and therefore serves as a confirmation of a cultural union. "The couple would then take this document to the Department of Home Affairs for the official registration of their marriage", says Lebogo.
"The Lobola/Magadi Contract is for a generation that prefers to practise their customs from a secure position, that prefers to dignify their marriage negotiations and legalise them at the conclusion of the agreement reached.
"It's about restoring our culture", says Lebogo. "The concept of a 'bride price' is not about buying a wife but about marriage and the building of relationships between two families.
"The paying of cattle in years past, for instance, was the foundation on which families cared for another during times of poverty. Lobola forges an entire cultural and community network."
The contract facilitates an array of supporting traditional practices, such as the exchanging of special blankets between the spouses' families and their parents. "The union of two families in this way forges relationships that have been known to last generations", says Lebogo.
The Homegrown Awards showcase the diverse spectrum of South African companies, large and small, whose dynamism and innovation display a positive contribution to sustainable growth in the country.
Entries range from retractable scalpels designed to reduce infection from blood-borne diseases among doctors and nurses to a book detailing the best routes to take to get genuine South African arts and crafts.
Winners of the Homegrown Awards will be announced at an event to be held in Johannesburg towards the end of January 2005.
SouthAfrica.info reporter
