Many of the locals in South Africa use the traditional African way when getting married which is called Lobola or Lebola. The wedding is recognized by the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act of 1999 so the marriage is very much legal even if the newly weds have not filed any legal papers.
The Lebola is the exchanging of gifts which is a transaction between the man and his future in laws that also includes the extended family. In the older days cattle would have been given so a bride may be worth 20 head of cattle which the future husband has to buy and give before he can be officially married. This can take years of paying off the gifts so traditional weddings for the majority who do not have financial savings could take many years.
One of my ex work colleagues who was getting married was given a list and this list sounds bizarre, but then this is the tradition. His list had cattle, blankets (top end only) pots and pans x 6 sets for the other family members, food for all the families, shoes for the male members of the family and dresses for the ladies. I was fascinated that the entire extended family expects gifts and this cost adds up really fast. This is not including the price of the wedding itself and is a separate cost.
Last last year in court a local musician called Black Coffee was challenging his wife's divorce demands as he had signed a prenuptial agreement which he obviously thought protected his wealth. This ruling ended up in the Concourt and this ruling remains with the new ruling yesterday. The court yesterday informed him this prenuptial agreement needed to be signed at the time of the traditional wedding as the wedding is still legal in the eyes of the law and not two years later when he arranged a normal western type wedding. His wedding was basically community of property so everything that he and she had before the wedding is theirs and what they earned together after the traditional wedding has to be shared down the middle.
The property and whatever else they accumulated together is now 50/50 and him being a musician that is well known and earns very good money has to now share everything he has. The prenuptial agreement is null and void as it was signed two years too late and has no bearings on what he thought protected him.
The response on social media has actually been quite hilarious as the guys who have been married via the traditional wedding had no idea that they were married in community of property. Once the price of the bride has been paid and the ceremony performed you are legally married in the eyes of the law even if certain steps of the traditional wedding have been skipped.
Black Coffee was an extreme example as his divorce settlement will see him sharing between $70 and $80 million which he thought was safe. The comments were hilarious with many saying they did not know this and for them this is too late. I am sure 20 or 30 years ago this was never even considered because the locals or very few of them had any wealth and now they are earning decent money their lifestyles and needs have changed. Most newly weds will buy a house together which they may not have done in the past. Times have changed and so must the thinking change because this is common sense.