The reflections of young people who are raised within ‘gonyalelwa lapa’ cultural practice among Bapedi in Limpopo Province : guidelines for social work intervention

Abstract

‘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.