At an age when most boys would be the ring bearer at a wedding, South African 9-year-old Sanele Masilela was the one walking down the aisle … to marry a 62-year-old woman for the second time.
Shabangu is a mother of five (her children range from 28 to 38), who is already married to her “long-term husband,” Alfred Shabangu, who is 66. These two have been married 30 years. Alfred attended both weddings (last year and this year), along with their five children. As if that wasn’t strange enough, Alfred said, “My kids and I are happy because we don’t have a problem with her marrying the boy and I don’t care what other people say.”
Helen says, “One day Sanele would grow normally and have family of his own and get married one day, all this ceremony is for making ancestors happy. We are playing.” Well this doesn’t seem like a game to me as the sole reason the odd couple wed last year and again this year is because Sanele claims his dead ancestors told them to marry.
Sanele’s family took the message seriously and shelled out £500 for the bride and a further £1,000 for the wedding. Again, that doesn’t sound like a game! According to reports, Sanele and Helen’s marriage isn’t real. His family defended the union saying it was just a ritual and not legally binding, despite all the on-lookers who labeled it “sickening.”
What would be the most sickening is if Helen wanted to consummate the marriage, live with Sanele and literally be his wife. But that God, she won’t be. Sanele and his bride did not sign a marriage certificate and do not have to live together. And after the wedding, both have gone back to their normal lives. Sanele said, “I’m happy that I married Helen, but I will go to school and study hard. When I’m older I will marry a lady my own age.”