This story was first published in The Conversation. Ukuthwala is a term in Nguni languages which has various meanings. It can refer to ways (including abduction) of making a customary marriage happen ...

A major challenge in an emerging democracy, like ours, is to reconcile tensions between human rights and infringements of them caused by some cultural practices. One of the most controversial is the ...

Babalwa Ntutu’s* parents thought their prayers had been answered. They were looking forward to spending Christmas Day with their daughter — even if it was at her hospital bedside. But, on Tuesday last ...

Ukuthwala is not synonymous with tradition, especially in a country that prides itself in a constitution which enshrines human rights. Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola this ...

The 'ukuthwala' tradition of forced marriage continues to destroy young girls' lives but some parents are fighting back by sending their daughters to safety far from home. As soon as their daughters ...

Whose culture, and to what end? These questions cropped up again last week when Mandla Zwelivelile Mandela, an ANC MP better known as the grandson of Nelson, met with the Tshwaranang Legal Advocacy ...

Customary practices such as ukuthwala should not be used as criminal defence in cases of rape and abuse of women and children. This is the message that rights lobby groups hope will reach many rural ...

Girls as young as 13, kidnapped and forced into marriages with older men. Boys as young as 14, dead as a result of botched circumcisions. These events make for attention-grabbing headlines and ...

Johannesburg - The practice of ukuthwala must be protected, the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious, and Linguistic Communities said on Thursday. "We ...

A KwaZulu-Natal traditional leader has revealed that parents played a part in perpetuating the controversial practice of abducting a girl for marriage, ukuthwala. “Money is causing a lot of problems, ...

Just over a decade ago in South Africa, a flurry of media reports surfaced about a customary practice known as ukuthwala. The reports described a rise in ukuthwala characterised by the kidnapping, ...

Just over a decade ago in South Africa, a flurry of media reports surfaced about a customary practice known as ukuthwala. The reports described a rise in ukuthwala characterised by the kidnapping, ...