Another type of application always determine lobola has taken Southern area Africa of the violent storm, with many different feminine (and you may dudes) deploying it to ascertain exactly how much he could be worthy of

App creator Robert Matseneng has created a beneficial Lobola Calculator – a software which enables individuals to level how many cattle they are worth.

Lobola, otherwise magadi as it is titled in my people, is a longstanding tradition in which a man pays a particular rates to possess a beneficial woman’s submit wedding. Prior to now, the price could be paid-in the type of cattle, however these days cash is a simple answer to shell out lobola.

From curiosity, I installed the fresh new application observe just what which barometer getting used to measure a ladies’ worth for the area involved.

But in facts, this would be a ridiculous amount of money to inquire of having

On top of other things, new app examines good female’s height, pounds and exactly how glamorous she actually is (ranging from “really very hot” to help you “not”), characteristics In my opinion discover this have absolutely nothing to do with simply how much lobola a person is to shell out. In practice, questions relating to their particular knowledge additionally the amount of college students this lady has could be studied into consideration by the household in it immediately following negotiations have begun.

With respect to the app, shortly after factoring each one of these in, my family you can expect to inquire about lobola of R74,five-hundred in my situation – the equivalent of nine real cows. My father might possibly be therefore happier.

A possible suitor might be around the exact same age while i are and would not likely be able to pay for one type of money. The newest affordability away from lobola, and you can planning for lifestyle pursuing the relationship, is actually a very important factor of a lot group take into consideration before buying an expense.

Matseneng need to have kudos in order to have the brand new app query pages in order to indicate whether they is actually male and female. This shows the app isn’t especially targeted at female. Having said that, we can not ignore the fact that that it app is aimed at female more than it’s in the dudes.

Good Nigerian exact carbon copy of the new lobola app, Bride to be Speed, was launched a year ago. Bride-to-be Price spends a certain barometer within the calculating good woman’s worth; they takes into account her preparing abilities, skin tone, whether she has tattoos, and if she is “prayer warrior” or “club girl”.

I’ve arrive at understand that lobola isn’t on to get a woman, but instead on the integrating household before wedding – within my culture, appointment the target bridegroom with his parents constantly simply goes just after describes lobola have chosen to take place (otherwise whenever a few drops pregnant beyond matrimony). Getting Mandla otherwise Tshepo household to own a sunday is highly looked down up on in my own friends, since it is in many other black colored parents.

Even though there try good, social things about lobola many some one nonetheless need to keep to, one cannot simply refuse the fresh patriarchal character of one’s practice – a beneficial female’s worth is claimed to cut back according to the matter away from people she’s got and you may, sometimes, if or not she is a great virgin or perhaps not. So it criterion has never been placed on dudes.

There is certainly a clue of humour to help you software such as these (Matseneng states you to definitely “really it actually was all of the a joke”) but, given that thinking off morality and you will respectability can be used to police women’s behavior, it is quite troubling.

Who will forget the swimming teacher, Tim Osrin, just who beat up a women that were taking walks down the trail, up coming warranted their steps by saying he think she try an effective sex staff (to your implication you to definitely sex workers receive and you can deserve violence), or perhaps the men which removed and you can defeat an earlier lady from the a beneficial Johannesburg cab rating simply because she dared to wear a great mini dress.