Lobola bride-price is popular among southern African Bantu-speaking peoples.
How Much Is Lobola in South Africa?
The “Lobola Calculator” calculates your lobola value and informs you of averages in various South African provinces. In Gauteng, which encompasses Johannesburg and Pretoria, the average lobola is 12 cows, or R82,500 (about $7,150).
What factors influence lobola pricing?
The minimum lobola payment is ten cows. The bride’s family then calculates the worth of one cow and multiplies it by ten. For example, if the typical price for a cow is R7000 and the family determines that the bride is worth 12 cows, the lobola is R84 000.
Is paying lobola a sign that you’re married?
According to Jacob Ntshangase, a cultural specialist and former Isibaya cultural counselor, when lobola is paid, the couple is considered married for all intents and purposes. “Though further ceremonies must be performed to complete the process in its full, a lady is regarded a wife.”
What comes first, lobola or engagement?
Lobola WAS the engagement back in the day. This indicates that the proposal/engagement takes precedence over the “vula mlomo” (the proposer’s introduction and request for blessings from the families in order to marry the “proposee”).
What’s the distinction between lobola and dowry?
is that dowry is the payment of a bride’s inheritance as property or money by her family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Gary Ferraro and Susan Andreatta, Cultural Anthropology, 8th Edition (Wadsworth, Belmont, CA, 2010), 223 The lobola (South Africa) is the dowry provided to a bride’s family to secure her marriage
