ABSTRACT
By way of introduction I offer a snapshot of some of the experiences of women in the rural areas of Greater Sekhukhuneland in Limpopo province (South Africa).1 My motivation for focusing on a small rural community is because it is difficult to make generalisations about African cultures and their thought systems. Rather, my focus on the case in question is an attempt to understand how the social organisations through which Africans relate to each other operate, and what kinds of problems the practices of people (in relation to gender inequality) pose for the continent. I offer an account of how women in traditional African communities are marginalised and excluded from activities that influence their lives. The women under discussion are considered as hard working, creative and passionately caring. Their handicrafts such as beadwork enable them to pay for their children’s education, buy food for the whole family and contribute to stokvels.2 Despite being partially or completely illiterate, they have managed to support and pay for their children, especially the boys, to complete their schooling. It is claimed that they do not have to offer their daughters similar support as that offered to the boys. Some of the women operate spaza shops (convenience stores) or are street vendors, while others plant maize (sweet corn) and watermelons – this produce is often cooked, salted and dried for eating and selling. Some women’s spouses are unemployed, which makes these women the breadwinners of their families. Women are generally excluded from most deliberations, such as not having a say in arrangements to mourn their deceased spouse. Yet it is regarded as their duty to gather the wood and cow dung that are used to make fire, get to the river to draw water for washing clothes, and work in the fields to cultivate agricultural lands.3 Gender inequality and patriarchy are rife in this community. For instance, women are prevented from participating in social practices such as public meetings, called lekgotla/imbizo/ dikgotla or tinkhundla.4 These meetings are geared towards encouraging community participation, decision making and problem solving. While women are invited to the meetings, they are prohibited from participating in the discussions as equals with the men. When it comes to traditional family practices
such as lobola/magadi5 (herd of cattle or money paid by a potential bridegroom to the parents of the bride or wife-to-be), women are also excluded from the negotiations. In fact, it is common practice in such communities that a marriage can be arranged or negotiated for a young woman without her consent. Sometimes a woman is in a polygamous marriage to a cousin, or an older man, or a brother of her deceased spouse. A woman can also be ‘married’ into a family where there is no formal husband, but a male relative will be chosen for her to initiate (so it is said) procreation. Traditional women seemed to have been conditioned to uncritically accept their, at times, demeaning situations.6
