'Lobola is tearing us down': Mbuso Khoza calls bride price custom 'a scam'

Actor and musician Mbuso Khoza says lobola is a scam. File photo.
Actor and musician Mbuso Khoza says lobola is a scam. File photo.
Image: Supplied

Mbuso Khoza, the renowned historian, actor and musician, has criticised the traditional African custom of lobola (bride price).

In an interview with Newzroom Afrika, commemorating the 146th anniversary of the Battle of Isandlwana, Khoza branded lobola a “scam.”

“Lobola is what is tearing us down,” he said.

“There are people who can't get married because of how expensive lobola is. The transitional aspect of lobola has taken its toll more than our coming together as a family and shaping society, rather than paying one another. For me, it’s a scam. There's no price for a human being.”

Lobola, a customary practice in most African cultures, involves a prospective husband paying a bride price to the bride's family to seal the marriage. However, Khoza argued that the main purpose of marriage has been lost.

“The main purpose of people coming together in marriage is to shape society. If you go back to human evolution, maybe 7,000 years ago, people were not the way they are now.

"People were living in caves 4-billion years ago; they had to evolve over the years and come up with ways of living that are subject to change. Today, we are using money to buy one another in the name of lobola, and this is in flat contradiction to how emotions work and how people chemically connect.

"We should say that lobola is a gesture of humanity. We can't do as we please; we can't sleep like animals, so this is how we must establish order.”

Khoza, known for his distinctive voice and deep understanding of African cultural heritage, reflected on the current state of Zulu culture. He expressed concern that the Zulu people have lost their way.

“They are nowhere, to be honest. Where is their culture? Where is their land?”

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