An audit of abaThembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo’s five marriages has uncovered discrepancies in each regarding whether they were conducted under the correct customary practices.
At least two of the five marriages are under question as no one seems to know who the marriage and lobola negotiators were, while in one lobola was paid only after the wife had died.
It was also revealed that Dalindyebo married two women on the same day and only one sheep instead of two were slaughtered for the utsiki ritual to introduce them to ancestors.
These revelations were made at a meeting held at Bumbane Great Place recently by royal family spokesman Chief Mfundo Mtirara, Chief Jonginyaniso Mtirara, Chief Thanduxolo Mtirara, Chief Mandla Mandela, Prince Nkululeko Dalindyebo, Queen Noluntu Dalindyebo and others.
“We were just looking at the set-up of the queens. All of them do not have status, and are yet to be graded according to our custom of ukwabiwa kwabafazi,” said Mfundo Mtirara.
Dalindyebo’s wives are all commoners, and were chosen by him and not by amaDlomo.
Dalindyebo married Nocollege Dalindyebo (nee Buyiswa Majiki, now a high court judge) in 1992 and Noluntu Dalindyebo, a school teacher, in 1995.
He then married two women – Nokwanda and Nolitha – on the same day in 2004, and later that year married his fifth wife, Nolwazi, who died from meningitis in 2011.
“We paid lobola when Queen Nolwazi was lying dead in a morgue. Her family would not allow us to bury her as the king’s wife before paying lobola,” Mandla Mandela said at the meeting.
The Dispatch learnt that R10000 was paid as lobola.
AmaDlomo elder Chief Jonginyaniso Mtirara said he was one of the elders who had negotiated the marriage to Nocollege and lobola, and that 12 head of cattle had been paid.
Another family elder, Chief Thanduxolo Mtirara, said he was the chief negotiator for Noluntu’s marriage and 12 head of cattle were paid for lobola.
Noluntu later divorced Dalindyebo. “We divorced to open a way for him to marry a princess to bear him an heir. I am a commoner and can never be his great wife,” Noluntu told the meeting.
However, details around the marriages to Nokwanda and Nolitha were unclear. Prince Nkululeko Dalindyebo said only R2000 was paid towards lobola for Nolitha.
Although Nolitha is from the Tshawe and Nocollege from the Qhudeni royal clans, they were not born from ruling households.
Nokwanda is the only wife who had been living with Dalindyebo since they were married.
Mfundo Mtirara told the meeting he was sent to pay R10000 towards Nokwanda’s lobola in 2004.
It was further claimed that only Nocollege had uduli, the traditional wedding delegation, hosted at Bumbane Great Place.
None of the wives plunged a spear into the Dalindyebo’s kraal to mark her seniority, and none of them had lobola paid for by the nation.
King’s wives are graded per house – the Great House, the Pillar of the Great House, the Right-hand House, the Pillar of the Right-hand House and Ixhiba.
An heir is born from the Great House and if the wife from that house does not bear a male heir, the first born son from the Pillar of the Great House becomes the heir.
The wives declined to comment directly to the Dispatch. — lulamilef@dispatch.co.za
Discrepancies in Dalindyebo marriages
At least two of the five marriages are under question as no one seems to know who the marriage and lobola negotiators were, while in one lobola was paid only after the wife had died.
It was also revealed that Dalindyebo married two women on the same day and only one sheep instead of two were slaughtered for the utsiki ritual to introduce them to ancestors.
These revelations were made at a meeting held at Bumbane Great Place recently by royal family spokesman Chief Mfundo Mtirara, Chief Jonginyaniso Mtirara, Chief Thanduxolo Mtirara, Chief Mandla Mandela, Prince Nkululeko Dalindyebo, Queen Noluntu Dalindyebo and others.
“We were just looking at the set-up of the queens. All of them do not have status, and are yet to be graded according to our custom of ukwabiwa kwabafazi,” said Mfundo Mtirara.
Dalindyebo’s wives are all commoners, and were chosen by him and not by amaDlomo.
Dalindyebo married Nocollege Dalindyebo (nee Buyiswa Majiki, now a high court judge) in 1992 and Noluntu Dalindyebo, a school teacher, in 1995.
He then married two women – Nokwanda and Nolitha – on the same day in 2004, and later that year married his fifth wife, Nolwazi, who died from meningitis in 2011.
“We paid lobola when Queen Nolwazi was lying dead in a morgue. Her family would not allow us to bury her as the king’s wife before paying lobola,” Mandla Mandela said at the meeting.
The Dispatch learnt that R10000 was paid as lobola.
AmaDlomo elder Chief Jonginyaniso Mtirara said he was one of the elders who had negotiated the marriage to Nocollege and lobola, and that 12 head of cattle had been paid.
Another family elder, Chief Thanduxolo Mtirara, said he was the chief negotiator for Noluntu’s marriage and 12 head of cattle were paid for lobola.
Noluntu later divorced Dalindyebo. “We divorced to open a way for him to marry a princess to bear him an heir. I am a commoner and can never be his great wife,” Noluntu told the meeting.
However, details around the marriages to Nokwanda and Nolitha were unclear. Prince Nkululeko Dalindyebo said only R2000 was paid towards lobola for Nolitha.
Although Nolitha is from the Tshawe and Nocollege from the Qhudeni royal clans, they were not born from ruling households.
Nokwanda is the only wife who had been living with Dalindyebo since they were married.
Mfundo Mtirara told the meeting he was sent to pay R10000 towards Nokwanda’s lobola in 2004.
It was further claimed that only Nocollege had uduli, the traditional wedding delegation, hosted at Bumbane Great Place.
None of the wives plunged a spear into the Dalindyebo’s kraal to mark her seniority, and none of them had lobola paid for by the nation.
King’s wives are graded per house – the Great House, the Pillar of the Great House, the Right-hand House, the Pillar of the Right-hand House and Ixhiba.
An heir is born from the Great House and if the wife from that house does not bear a male heir, the first born son from the Pillar of the Great House becomes the heir.
The wives declined to comment directly to the Dispatch. — lulamilef@dispatch.co.za
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