lobola, noun

/lɔˈbɔ(ː)la//ləˈbɔ(ː)la//ləˈbəʊlə/
Forms:
ilobola, labolaShow more Also ilobola, labola, labolo, lobolo, lubolo.
Origin:
IsiZulu, IsiXhosaShow more IsiZulu and isiXhosa, see lobola verb Forms ending -lo are from isiZulu ilobolo the goods (etc.) given.
1. The custom among many southern African peoples of giving cattle, goods, or (now usually) money to the parents of a woman or girl in order to secure her hand in marriage; bogadi sense 1; ukulobola. Also attributive.
1892 J.E. Ritchie Brighter S. Afr. 160These courts recognise, and are often called upon to adjudicate upon, cases arising out of..the custom of paying cattle for the wives the Kaffir male desires so ardently, not as a matter of affection, but that they may save him from the need of working for his own living, which custom, by-the-bye, is denominated lobola.
1897 F.W. Sykes With Plumer in Matabeleland 7In exchange for cattle he can purchase a wife or wives — the recognised ratio being ten to one; this matrimonial custom, known as ‘lobola,’ can be directly traced to their Zulu ancestry.
1905 Westminster Gaz. (U.K.) 19 Apr. 9The native custom of passing cattle, known variously as ‘lobolo’, ‘ikazi’, and ‘bohadi’, in connexion with marriage.
1918 H. Moore Land of Good Hope 58We must not think of this ‘lobolo’ as simply a matter of buying and selling flesh and blood.
c1936 S. & E. Afr. Yr Bk & Guide 241Lobolo, the regulations affecting marriage, has been described as supporting the whole social structure of the race. The cattle, which pass to the bride’s family, are in effect a kind of dowry with added religious significance, and the Economic Commission (1932) deprecates in strong terms any interference with the custom.
1947 E.R. Seary S. Afr. Short Stories 230Lobola..may be defined as a contract between a father and the intending husband of his daughter, whereby the father promises his consent to the marriage of his daughter, and by which he receives from the bridegroom-elect valuable consideration (usually several head of cattle) partly to compensate him for the loss of his daughter’s services, and partly as a guarantee by the intending husband of his good conduct towards such daughter as wife.
1948 A. Paton Cry, Beloved Country 240The custom of lobola, by which a man pays for his wife in cattle.
1968 E.A. Walker Hist. of Sn Afr. 250Why was lobola, the basis of their family life, the giving of the sacred cattle which legitimised the children of the wife for whom they were given, condemned as ‘the sin of buying wives’?
1982 Voice 18 July 4Lobola leads to exploitation.
1982 Drum Oct. 60Let’s face it, lobola has gone commercial. And while most of our youth acknowledge that it is a custom to be revered, they are increasingly beginning to question the fact that parents are using it to make huge profits.
1988 Style June 96Among African tribes, the system of Lobola exists whereby gifts are given, not so much to the couple, but to the bride’s family as compensation for their loss.
1991 N. Mbatha in Pace Sept. 49Perhaps because of its inescapable link to money, lobola is seen as the most controversial of all old customs.
2. Goods, cattle, or money given as dowry according to traditional African custom; bogadi sense 2; ikhazi. Also attributive. Cf. ngquthu.
1898 B. Mitford Induna’s Wife 91She was young and good-tempered, and was a daughter of Xulawayo, an induna of rank, and a commander of high standing in the army, by reason of which he demanded much cattle in lobola for her, all of which I paid him without objection.
1899 A. Werner Captain of Locusts 50I’d not long been married. I’d paid the last of the lobola cattle, but I hadn’t brought her home, and that was just as well, as it turned out.
1936 Cambridge Hist. of Brit. Empire VIII. 818Cattle played an essentially important part in marriage customs. Lobola or the bride price was paid in cattle to the family of the young man’s bride...While the lobola for chiefs on the eastern frontier could be as high as twenty head of cattle, for an ordinary tribesman the amount lay between four and ten head. This figure would appear to hold for most native tribes and does not seem to have varied greatly during the century.
c1948 H. Tracey Lalela Zulu 40The young man who wishes to get married must first find the lobolo, or ‘bride sum’. It represents a kind of social security between the two families involved. In the old days it was usually found in cattle and gifts but nowadays the young townsman who has no cattle has to find money instead.
1955 J.B. Shephard Land of Tikoloshe 32Lobola is as much an insurance premium as a payment, for, if a wife is so badly treated by her husband that she runs back to her father’s kraal for protection, her husband will find it difficult to get his money back. In so far as it safeguards the woman, the custom of lobola is wholly good.
1957 G. Muldoon Trumpeting Herd 95According to the Angoni custom, the aunts and not the parents are responsible for fixing the Lobola, or payment for the bride.
1967 J.A. Broster Red Blanket Valley 144Lobola is often paid on the instalment system. When the girl is taken in marriage it is common practice to pay four or five cattle, and then a year or two later or maybe twenty years later, the final instalment is paid.
1971 Nat. Geog. Mag. Dec. 754This bridegroom has presented lobolo — bridewealth — to the girl’s father. The payment, usually 11 head of cattle, legalizes the marriage and legitimizes children born to the couple.
1974 Drum 8 July 48I not only paid R300 lobola but used to send her money to support her as my wife.
1976 West & Morris Abantu 38Like that of the Xhosa, Zulu marriage is a contract between families and clans as well as between individuals. Its traditional form involves elaborate protocol, exchange of gifts, lobola, ritual killings, dancing and feasts.
1977 S.M. Maphobole in Weekend World 19 June 131I read that your readers suggested that lobolo should be abolished. But I am very much against this...In my opinion the girls’ parents should take the lobolo, but hand it back on the wedding day to the newly weds.
1978 A. Elliott Sons of Zulu 168In the present times ‘ten plus one’ head of cattle is the lobolo figure for a virgin. The ‘one’ is to compensate her mother for the sadness of losing a daughter and the ‘ten’ cattle are for her father.
1982 Pace June 2fI..support the anti-lobola campaign. I say to African fathers and mothers that no daughter of Africa is worth R2000 or more because no daughter owes her father her life.
1982 Drum Oct. 60My parents put me through university and now they want R4000 from the man who wants to marry me. How can they expect us to raise a family and build a home when the lobola debt will keep us in poverty for the rest of our lives?
1984 Drum Jan. 42Lobola is a cultural thing to us Africans not only in South Africa alone but on the whole continent, Mother Africa. We are not paying lobola, we are giving lobola. Paying lobola has negative connotations. Lobola is the means of bonding two different families and making them one.
1990 R. Stengel January Sun 154Lobola, Life says, is actually a Zulu word, but it has been accepted by the Tswanas. Lobola is the dividend paid to parents for their investment in their daughter. Nowadays lobola is paid in money. Formerly, it consisted of cattle and goods.
1992 N. Mbatha in Pace Sept. 49While an overwhelming majority of Africans still agree on the payment of lobola, the area of dispute is the ever-rising ‘fee’ that grooms must pay.
3. Figurative, and transferred sense.
1972 Evening Post 22 July 2Mr J.J. Barkhuizen of Despatch successfully offered ‘lobola’ for his ‘lonely year-old dog, looking for a wife’.
1973 E. Prov. Herald 26 Mar. 7‘Lobola’ system illegal on frontier. Three of Pakistan’s four provinces are taking steps to end or curb the wedding dowry custom.
1982 Voice 10 Jan. 4Lobola will always be a contentious issue whichever way one looks at it. However, in Nigeria it is handled with a difference...No lobola will exceed the stipulated $90 price, following a recommendation by the National Council of Women’s Societies.
1987 New Nation 24 Sept. 3Evidence has been heard that Prime Minister George Matanzima was paid R1-million ‘lobola’ by a construction firm which later got a R30-million contract.
1992 J. Drew in Weekly Mail 24 Apr. 11It is a heavy price to pay for two relatively mediocre meetings...But this is the lobola that has had to be paid to gain Nebiola’s approval for the South African entry into the IAAF ahead of the Barcelona Olympics.
The custom among many southern African peoples of giving cattle, goods, or (now usually) money to the parents of a woman or girl in order to secure her hand in marriage; bogadi sense 1; ukulobola. Also attributive.
Goods, cattle, or money given as dowry according to traditional African custom; bogadi sense 2; ikhazi. Also attributive.
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18921992

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Lobedu, Lovedu, nounn.lobola, verbv.
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