MOURNING WOMEN NOT FREE TO EXERCISE RIGHTS – TRADITIONALIST

MBABANE – Chairman of Eswatini Witchdoctors Association Makhanya Makhanya says women are not free to exercise their rights during the mourning period.

By exercising their rights, Makhanya, who is also a traditionalist, said he meant culture forbade women from exercising their right to freedom of speech, association and expression among other rights, until the mourning period was over. This, Makhanya said was because the woman’s focus was to mourn the death of her husband. “When you talk about culture, you are talking about nature. No one can change nature, which means any right or freedom cannot supersede culture. Culturally, a mourning gown is granted with consent from the family of the deceased. The family does so only if they trust that the wife will respect her husband even in death. As such, the wife cannot do as she pleases if she really respects her husband. She cannot associate with people outside her family. Mourning requires sacrifice, meaning one needs to sacrifice some of the things that she can do when free,” Makhanya said.

Confiscate

He said ideally, families should have a council to monitor the wife during the course of the mourning period. He said the family had the right to confiscate the morning gown if they felt the wife was disrespectful to her husband.  He said siSwati provided that a wife dragged her husband and her in-laws through the mud if she conducted herself in an unacceptable manner.
“Every person has the right to accept or reject mourning gowns. However, it is important to understand the essence of the gown before making the decision. A mourning gown may in some respect be said to be punishment because it comes with limitations to the wife. It is better to reject the mourning gown than participate in activities that put the deceased husband and his family into disrepute. The dead deserve respect just like the living,” he said.

Makhanya added that some families might cancel mourning if the conditions were unfavourable to the wife. He made an example that a wife might be allowed to work for her children as opposed to the long mourning period, if she had no one to look after the family. On another note, Makhanya said no man was allowed to hug or touch a woman in mourning. He said even the mourning woman was not allowed to hug or touch any man during the mourning period. Makhanya added that siSwati provided that women did not even sing during mourning period.

Darkness

“This can only exist in the world of darkness. People consider it as bad luck to be hugged or touched by a woman in the world of darkness.  How does it feel to the family of the deceased if the wife is seen being hugged by another man in less than 30 days after burial of her husband?  There is no amount of freedom that can supersede culture,” he said. It should be noted that the Constitution is the Superior law of the country. Meanwhile, Pastor Sandile Sibandze said it was biblically wrong for women to leave the house during the course of the mourning period. Sibandze said women were expected to remain in the house until a certain period agreed upon by the family. He said women remained in the house until the period of kugucula. “Our members know that a wife cannot leave the house and move around making speeches during the mourning period. Leaving the house and making public statements during the mourning period is totally unacceptable,” he said. However, Sibandze was quick to state that there was nothing a church could do if the wife considered her action as a right. 

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: