The Eastern Cape Social Development Department has warned parents who arrange marriages between their children and older men under the custom of ukuthwala, that they will face the full might of the law.
This comes after police in the province opened a case of abduction against a 26 year old man from Bhaziya outside Mthatha for allegedly taking a 15 year old girl to Limpopo to become his wife. This after the girl’s family negotiated with her husband’s family for her to marry the man.
The department’s Head of Department (HOD), Ntombi Baart says they cannot fold their arms while the girl’s rights are being violated.
“It is so sad that the parents can resort to selling out, if I may call it, their children under the pretext of the tradition which they are practicing. As a Department of Social Development, we wish to call upon the parents to avoid the temptation of selling their children. You can approach the Department to seek alternative care for the children. We have sought to find an alternative care for the child as well as ensuring that the child goes to school on Monday,” says Baart.
The girl’s mother who wishes to remain anonymous, has admitted taking part in the marriage negotiations
“This boy came and asked for my daughter’s hand in marriage. I told him that education is important and he promised that he will send my child to school. I was naïve enough to think I was lucky, someone came to promise my child. I asked him how old he is and he said he is 26, and that I must not be misled by his big body as he was born in 1992. I was force by the conditions to do this because our children get pregnant at a tender age and we are left to raise their kids,” explains the mother.
