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Child Brides for Sale
vulnerable child
An age old custom in South Africa traditionally allowed parents to arrange the marriages of their children in exchange for a bride price or, as it is commonly referred to in South Africa, lobolo. Jocelyne Sambira reports.
Duration: 6'00"
Girls, as young as 14, are kidnapped and forced to marry complete strangers who are much older. Although the custom was abandoned in the early 60s, in villages like Lusikisiki, Eastern Cape where Nolwizi Sinama lives, the tradition is still in force. Having lost both parents, Nolwizi was set up by her Aunt and sold to a 48 year old man. She was kidnapped while fetching water at the river.
NOLWIZI: While we were coming out of the river, I saw these two men, and 4 women and I didn't know where to run to. These women took me and we went and they gave me a "duk" to cover my head and some clothes to wear, as a woman, an old woman. And then I was taken and there were two girls taken to accompany me, and then I was taken to a house and I told this was going to be my husband.
NARR: That night she was raped and beaten by her "new husband" who was old enough to be her father. When she looked at his frail and sickly body the next day, she could not help but suspect he was HIV positive. From then on, she refused to be touched again.
NOLWIZI: One day I looked at the pocket of his jacket and I found a card that showed me that he was born in 1965 and I also found proof that he was having TB but I was not sure he was HIV positive. And I was refusing to sleep with him and he was beating me up saying am I sleeping with other men, why am I refusing to sleep with him?
NARR: Not only was she being abused, but she was also being worked to the bone and serving everyone in the household.
NOLWIZI: We worked very hard, I remember the first week, I had to fetch wood. And I had to pack this wood. I remember I had to wake up at 4 o'clock in the morning and also fetch water from the river and warm the water up for everybody to clean themselves to go to school and also make coffee for the elderly people.
NARR: Although Nolwizi slept only once with the man, he got her pregnant that night. He did not believe the child was his, and when the baby was born, he starved them both.
NOLWIZI: I realized that I was pregnant and I told him that I was pregnant and he was wondering who got me pregnant. And he used to go to Durban to get the pension that he was getting because he was sick. And then he would give me 10 rand and I used to tell him 10 rand is not enough; I needed money to buy clothes. And when I was still staying there, he did not want to give me money to buy milk for the child so I fed the child "amarewu" and I was also eating that and I had to depend on getting "piece jobs" to get my food.
NARR: "Amarewu" is porridge in the local language. Exhausted and worried for her baby's life, she walked into a police station and asked for help. The police took one look at her and the baby, and called Zoleka Capa, Executive Mayor of O.R. Tambo District who founded the Palmerton shelter, a safe haven for abducted girls. Ms. Capa explains how this problem came to her attention.
CAPA: When we discovered that young girls were being forced into marriage, and they were forced in collaboration by the would-be in-laws and their parents more than being forced by their husbands. We had no alternative because the whole society was still very ignorant as to that is a violation of human rights and a serious gender matter.
NARR: Now, over 30 girls have found refuge in the shelter. The girls get to go to school but they also get counseling to overcome their trauma. Nabahle Nzolo is studying to become a psychologist and is working as an intern there. When she looks at Nolwizi now, she can see the incredible progress achieved.
NABAHLE: Ah, they have recovered a lot because at first I had cases whereby the child would lock herself in her room, whereby a child will come back from school being isolated. At least now you would see that they are able to express themselves. At least now they talk about it freely and there is less anxiety.
NARR: Nolwizi now is full of hope and dreams for her and her young son. But the abductions of young girls continue in this impoverished region of Eastern Cape where families desperate for money, continue to sell young brides at a price. However, Zoleka Capa says the mentality is slowing changing.
CAPA: But thanks to the children, they had enough. They were standing their ground. Some gate crashed and came here in numbers to say 'I demand that. I am your parents, this is your husband and in-laws. We have come to take you.' No police was called. The child would say 'Not me. I am here to learn.'
NARR: Zoleka Capa, Executive Mayor of OR Tambo District in Eastern Cape and founder of the Palmerton shelter for abducted girls. I'm Jocelyne Sambira, for UN Radio.
