‘Gonyalelwa lapa’ cultural practice is one of the various forms of marital associations and
expressions in the day-to-day cultural practices, rituals and traditions of African Black
people. This cultural practice occurs when a family marries a woman with or without
children and who would bear children for their deceased son. The study is about young
people’s reflections on being raised within families wherein their mothers were married
for the household ‘Gonyalelwa lapa’. The purpose of this study was to develop an indepth
understanding of the reflections of young people who are raised within ‘Gonyalelwa
lapa’ cultural practice among BaPedi in Limpopo Province, so that guidelines could be
developed for social work interventions, based on the actual needs of this category of the
population.
This study was exploratory, descriptive and contextual in nature with an emphasis on the
phenomenological strategy. Non-probability purposive sampling and snowball sampling
methods were used to select the participants. Data was collected from twenty-three (23)
young people (both males and females) using semi-structured, face-to-face interviews.
The participants have been in this situation for at least two (2) years or more as they were
expected to have rich information on this cultural practice. Prior to data collection, the
researcher obtained participants’ consent to participate in this study and for the interviews
to be audio-recorded.
Thematic data analysis was used in making sense of the collected data and
trustworthiness was also determined. The ecological systems perspective and the
strengths-based perspective were used as theoretical frameworks for this study. The researcher adhered to the following ethical considerations during the execution of this
study: informed consent, voluntary participation, anonymity and confidentiality, avoidance
of harm, debriefing of participants and data management.
The study revealed that being raised within ‘Gonyalelwa lapa’ cultural practice has
affected young people in various ways. The young people’s experiences include but not
limited to being ill-treated, not being financially supported which leads to hunger, being
discriminated in terms of gender, particularly females by virtue of being non-blood relative
to their mothers’ “marital family”, admonished which makes them feel rejected and unwelcome within the “marital families”. Interestingly, male young people, regardless of
them being non-relatives, are still favoured because it is believed that a male young
person has the potential to perpetuate the deceased man’s family name or lineage.
Within ‘Gonyalelwa lapa’ cultural practice, the birth order of the deceased children plays
an important role for the “marital family” when they marry young people’s mothers for
‘lapa’ (family). Furthermore, patriarchy, lineage and lack of male child in the family are the
main reasons for gender preferences and gender discrimination within ‘Gonyalelwa lapa’
cultural practice. Social workers are struggling to assist young people who are raised
within ‘Gonyalelwa lapa’ cultural practice due to lack of guidance on how to address the
challenges presented by the young people in this arrangement. As a result, guidelines
were developed to inform social welfare policy and social work practice.
Gonyalelwa lapa ke setlwaedi sa setso seo se dirwago gotswa go tse dingwe tsa mehuta
ya manyalo e hwetsago kgahlego letsatsi ka letsatsi go ditlwaelo tsa setso. Ditlwaelo tse
tsa setso, di direga ge o mongwe wa lapa a nyala mosadi ka bana goba ka ntle le bana
yowe a tlogo go belegela morwa wa bona yowe a hlokofetsego bana. Dinyakisiso tse di
mabapi le maikutlo a baswa bao ba godiswago go malapa ao batswadi ba nyalwetsego
malapa/lapa. Lebaka legolo ke go tlisa kwesiso yeo e tseneletsego go bana bao ba
godisitswego go malapa ao motswadi/batswadi ba nyaletswego lapa/malapa go
setlwaedi magareng a Bapedi ka profenseng ya Limpopo, gore badirelaleago ba kgone
go tsweletsa kgahlego mabapi le dinyakwa mo lefapeng la setshaba se.
Thuto ye ke yeo e tseneletsego, e hlalositswego, ebile e kgonthisisitswe ka tsela ya
kgatelelo/phegelelo ya mankgonthe. Dipalapalo tse di dirilwego go baswa ba
vi masomepeditharo elego makgarebe le masogana go somiswa dipotsiso motho le
motho/motho ka motho. Batseakarolo ba bile seemong se mengwaga e mebedi goba go
feta fao ka ge gobe gonyakwa tsebo yeo e tletsego ya meetlo le ditlwaelo tsa setso. Pele
ga fao, monyakisisi oile a swanelwa ke go kwa maemo a batseakarolo mo dinyakisisong
tse le go dumelelwa go gatiswa mantsu. Mekgwa ya sebjalebjale ya dinyakisiso e sumisitswe le baka ele go kgoboketsa tsebo ye e kgodisago ya nnete. Monyakisisi oile a elahloko meetlo ye go kgoboketswa tsebo yeo, elego maekaelelo a nnete, go setsebjwe, go se bolele phatlalatsa, go efoga tshenyo le
go hlokomela sengwalwa. Sengwalwa se bontshitse gore go godiswa ka gare ga ‘Gonyalelwa lapa’ go amile baswa ka ditsela tsa go fapana. Maitemogelo a baswa go tsedingwe ke tlaisego/gotlaiswa, go
se hlokomelwe ka malapeng, tseo difeleletsago ke tlala, kgethollo ka bong, ka lebaka la
go se be wa lesika, go kwa gose amogelege ka lenyalong/bogadi. Go a kgahlisa go kwa gore masogana, ka ntle le gore ga se ba leloko, ba sano a kelwa gobane baswa ba na le bjona bokgoni bja go phegelela go fiwa/fihlelela maina a banna le ge e le a lapa/leloko. Magareng ga ‘Gonyalelwa lapa’ setlwaedi sa setso, gotswala ga bana bao ba hlokofetsego, go raloka karolo e kgolo kudu, go lapa leo ge gonyalwa mosadi a nyalelwa lapa. Go feta fao, bonna le gohloka ngwana wa mosemane ka lapeng, ke mabaka a bong
le kgethologanyo ka ga ‘Gonyalelwa lapa. Badirelaleago ba swere bothatha gothusa
baswa bao ba godiseditswego malapeng/manyalong a ‘Gonyalelwa lapa’ lebaka e le
gohloka tlhahlo godihlotlo tseo ditsweleditswego ke baswa ka gare ga lenyalo leo.
Ditshupetso di dirilwe go thusa baleago le badirelaleago.
