WATCH: Shembe church member explains sharing a wife with his brother
The brother says the woman will feed him and his brother as their culture required.
Picture: Twitter
A woman from KwaZulu-Natal made history in the Shembe church after allegedly marrying twin brothers. This comes after a video and pictures circulated on social media showing the three wearing wedding rings and kneeling on a grass mat while placing their hands on a bible.
However, spokesperson of the Ebuhleni faction of the Shembe church Thokozani Mncwango told the Daily Sun that the church was against polyandry. This is despite a letter allegedly written by a group of women from the church asking the judicial council to allow women to take a second husband.
In the letter reportedly seen by the publication, the women said that women should be allowed to take a second husband as it was okay for a man to take a second wife.
The pictures have received varying opinions on social media, with some claiming that the woman married only one brother and that the other one was simply there for ceremonial purposes.
“No, she’s not married to both. The other twin is there for ceremonial purposes because in most African countries twins do things together,” said Twitter user Mthwakazi, while Mbilozigede said: “Correction, she is not married to both twins, but it is customarily when one twin weds the other would be present next to him, cause they are treated as one. When the other weds, same will be done, it happens all the time it’s not polyandry as others would fantasise.”
Shembe church member Bheki Mathala also claimed that the brothers were not married to one woman. “They are not married to one woman… the other one is practising the cultural beliefs that one has to stand at the presence of the other just like when one passes on the other one has to enter the grave first. That’s my church.”
But one of the brothers confirmed in a video that they did marry the same woman.
He said in IsiZulu: “As you all saw us getting married. I wish all of you to know that the fiancée we were marrying is a wife to myself and my twin brother. When she feeds me, she will also feed my brother as per the norm. I wish that if any questions surface, you should not doubt that what happened really happened as she put the rings on both of us. What is left now is for another Thonono to come and look after my brother.”
His comment left some women offering to be the second wife.
Watch the video shared on Twitter by @SpheDludla:
Here is one of the husbands valuating isphithiphithi in this Shembe polyandry pic.twitter.com/Ts79Ry9mKW
— Sphelele (@SpheDludla) February 2, 2019
(Compiled by Vhahangwele Nemakonde)
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