Discover the culture behind Zulu marriages and the paying of  "Ilobolo"

ILobola is paid to the women's parents as an appreciation sign to the parents for taking care of the women, it can be given in cash or cows or maybe both if the family is rich...

It is in the Zulu custom to own cows as a men because if you don't have cows people say you wont be able marry, you need cows to get married.

Zulu boys are the ones who take care of their fathers cows, at some stage the father gives the sons cows to be his own, that is how men in kwaZuluNatal get to own cows.

A men who has many cows in his kraal he can get married to as many wives as he likes because then in Zulu culture, cows mean, you have the most power, you earn respect.

Lobolo Negotiations

The Lobolo negotiations are always carried out by the men's family and close relatives and the bride never meets with the groom until the negotiations are finished. During the Lobola negotiations, the groom has to give out traditional items such as fighting sticks, pots, blankets, clothes and maybe money.

This things are either given out to the sisters brides or the mothers and aunties. In the olden days, when the groom pays Lobolo, it had to be in cows or cattle. This will however depend on the brides family as to how much they require for the girl. Apparently issues that are taken into consideration when naming the number of cows or as done in this days, is the expenditure of bringing up the lady to the stage that she is now in.

Taking into consideration whether she has children or not. The brides family does not believe that they are selling the women but, in culture it is a way of the man to show appreciation to the family by bringing up the women so well.

Be my Zulu wife "Shela, uzoqonywa" Most traditional country scenes of "boy meets girl", are usually done by the river court where the girls fetch water and the boys take the cattle to drink water.

This scenes are true according to Zulu people, Why? because this is the only time where the boy gets to meet face to face with a girl he loves, as known, there are no elder people around and its far from the household.