PUPIL (13) MARRIAGE: MUM DROPS COURT APPLICATION

MBABANE – The woman who allegedly accepted E500 from an over 40-year-old man, who reportedly traditionally married her 13-year-old daughter, has had a change of heart.

*Thandeka’s mother and elder sister yesterday withdrew their application from the High Court, where they were seeking an order compelling the director of social welfare and deputy prime minister (DPM) to return the pupil. They argued that they wanted the minor, who was rescued from the purported marriage with Magwaza Mbatha by the social welfare officers, to go back to school. The socio-economic report compiled by the Social Welfare Department states that Thandeka was a victim of early child marriage, which is a criminal offence as she is still a minor, according to the law. Thandeka (13), according to the report, disclosed that she met the perpetrator while she was attending an event for traditional healers at Nduma.

Magwaza is said to have proposed love to the minor and invited her to his parental homestead, where he told his parents that he wanted to marry her. “She was given traditional dresses to cook for the Mbatha family for the duration of the April 2024 holidays. Sources of information disclosed that her mother was aware of this, but she never reported the matter to the police station. In addition, the child went back home on May 13, 2024 as schools were opening the following day,” reads the report.

Deserted

The mother of the child is unemployed and does not have any source of income, the social welfare officer, Lungile Fakudze said. Thandeka’s father works on a farm in Malelane, South Africa. He allegedly denied her paternity and deserted her.  “In this regard, this is a very impoverished family, who sleep without knowing where their next meal will come from.”
Findings of the social welfare officer, who conducted the assessment, Fakudze, were that the minor went to the Mbatha homestead with Magwaza and upon arrival, he allegedly reported to his biological father that he had come with a girl and he would love to marry her.

“He requested his parents to come to his room ‘lilawu’ to meet her and they discovered that it was a minor. According to his parents, they reprimanded him (son) for dating the minor and further told him that she was not yet eligible to be a wife as she is underage. “They also requested him to turn back the child to her parents as she is a minor. They opined that they thought that their son understood and he turned the child back to her parents the following morning. They added that days passed and he brought her again and informed his parents that the child was in his room.

“His parents again reprimanded him that the child is young but he insisted that they teka her. The elderly couple, wanting to avoid the appearance of refusing their son’s marriage to the girl, decided to permit the union,” reads the report. On another note, according to the report, the Mbatha family requested a certain woman known to them, who resides in the same community, to come and give kitchen dresses ‘tidziya’ to the minor. Magwaza’s mother was asked by the social worker whether her ‘daughter-in-law’ was performing any duties or chores for the Mbatha family, and she said she was not doing anything but was always playing with other children.

The social worker also established that the elderly couple gave a certain man, known as Maseko, E500 to go and pay to the family of the minor and Thandeka’s mother reportedly received the money and never reported this matter. Thandeka’s mother is alleged to have lied to the police about the matter. According to the Social Welfare Department, the police did not find the child at the Mbatha homestead when they were looking for her as she had left the previous day, and they proceeded to her school.

Safety

“They visited the school where the child was taken to her family, then to a place of safety. Her biological mother did not disclose any information pertaining to the Mbatha man. She did not tell the truth as she mentioned that her daughter had visited a friend at the Mbatha homestead and she was not aware that her child was staying with a man. She also refused with the child’s immunisation birth card and informed the social worker that it got lost yet it was not the truth as means were done to find it,” reads the report.

Meanwhile, the head teacher at her school told the social worker that they had never had any bad report about Thandeka but only got information that week that she was behaving in a strange manner. The head teacher said Thandeka had as of that Tuesday, of schools reopening, screamed for some minutes, like someone who was having some ancestral spirits.
The head teacher is said to have pointed out that it was every child’s right to attend school, regardless of their spiritual or cultural background, therefore, denying a child access to education because of their spiritual experiences would be a violation of their rights.

The child’s class teacher told the social worker that Thandeka was an above-good pupil, even though she came from a poor family. Meanwhile, the Director of Social Welfare and DPM are opposed to the application by Thandeka’s mother and elder sister that she should be brought back home. The applicants were represented by Leo Ndvuna Dlamini, while Crown Counsel Zandile Nsimbini represented the director, DPM and attorney general. The matter was heard by Judge Nkosinathi Maseko.
* Not real names to protect minor.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: