Man loses the right to bury his wife over unfinished lobola
Deceased’s family argues lobola was not paid in full with R8k shortfall
An Eastern Cape man who did not finish his lobola payments has lost his right to bury his wife after the high court declared his marriage null and void and ordered that she be buried by her maiden family.
The wife’s family had approached the Mthatha high court seeking to interdict the husband from burying the wife who died in a car crash near Butterworth on September 10.
They said the man paid R22,000 of an agreed R30,000 lobola in December 2014, the pair had two children and lived as a married couple.
However, judge Mbulelo Jolwana last week ruled, because she was never officially “handed over to the [husband’s] family as their makoti, in terms of customary law the marriage was nullified and her body handed over to her maiden family for burial”.
When Phezisa Dalasile, died tragically on September 10, her family quickly applied for the interdict to prevent on September 26 her common-law husband Babalo Mgoduka from burying her at his home.
Dalasile’s sisters, Nikiwe and Yandiswa, together with their paternal uncle Mongezi Dalasile, led the application, arguing that even the pair’s common-law marriage was nullified by Mgoduka’s failure to pay lobola in full.
They said the unpaid bill meant Phezisa had never officially handed over to Mgoduka’s family.
The Dalasile’s refused to recognise Mgoduka and his family as in-laws.
The Dalasiles said Mgoduka’s family paid R22,000 on December 26 2014 promising to return later with the remaining R8,000 or an equivalent of “two cows”, as agreed.
In their reply, the Mgodukas stated that Babalo settled the bill in full on March 5 2016.
Mgoduka said in January 2015, Phezisa was given her marital name, Avuyile, and a ritual to welcome her was also performed.
However, the Dalasiles told the court that in December 2014, Phezisa was invited to a ceremony at Mgoduka’s home in nearby Bukazi village. She never came back, they said.
In his judgment on October 2, Jolwana ruled: “...it is clear that the deceased was never handed over to respondent’s [Mgoduka] family as their makoti and therefore the customary marriage was never celebrated.
“Therefore (Phezisa) and (Babalo) were not married according to customary law at the time of her death.”
He ordered that she be buried at her maiden home in Ngcobo...
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