Child marriages flourish due to cross border employment

EDITOR — Young girls see their counterparts go to town and return with wads of American dollars or South African Rands and they see marriage as the gateway to a good life; next time when she sees a boy from South Africa come and woo her, she easily succumbs to his Midas touch and before he goes back ‘Joni,’ he pays bride price and she becomes a child bride.

Chipinge is close to the border with Mozambique; a large number of young boys go to South Africa in search of the elusive Rand that they say is very powerful there as it purchases a lot of material. When they come back in the December holidays, the boys (teenagers among them) walk with a swagger in their baggy jeans and T-Shirts.

They have smart mobile phones and speak with an exaggerated Venda or Zulu accent and mannerisms such as “. . . mara when we are in Jozi, we beat up such kind of people.’’

To the female observer, the life exhibited by these teenagers is magnificent. It does not take long for them to be lured into a marriage whereupon they are left in February as the husband goes back to South Africa to work for the family.

In most instances, the young bride is left pregnant; she waits for ‘Mukuru’ with bated breath every month. She goes to the bank every other month and comes back with goodies which the locals see as testimony that marrying mfana wekuJoza is a step in the right direction. Just check at any ‘Mukuru’ queue and count the number of pregnant teenagers there and you would realise that child marriages are fuelled by the Joburg trek craze that has hit the eastern district.

A senior social worker based in Chipinge, Richard Sikoya, says there is need for the girl child to be sensitised on the effects of early child marriages. It is not going to be the role of the social workers alone but the wider community ought to take that in its stride.

“All stakeholders must be involved in stopping the scourge. Some parents actually encour- age child marriages when they accept bride price for a girl as old as 12. They don’t press charges arguing that mkwambo kana akaenda kwa Mandikisi, who will look after the unborn child and its mother.’’

‘’Parents must be the first line of defence for their girl children. Society has to protect the precious girls by counselling them to finish school first and marriage will come naturally,’’ the respected social worker, said.

Long absences bring with them associated societal ills such as infidelity and sexually transmitted infections and their attendant problems. In Matebeleland, the Injivha are known for their wild revelry and their fiery tempers when they catch their wives red handed with boyfriends; at times, they return after a year and see their wives pregnant; all hell breaks loose.

It is not in Matabeleland alone those crimes of passion occur. A teenager married off to an Injivha may realise she made a mistake and subsequently gets intimate to her childhood sweetheart and innocently lead to her own death at the hands of her husband. It should be noted that a teenager is not emotionally ready for marriage and due to her fickle disposition, she may be swayed and she commits adultery.

In its wisdom, the Government of Zimbabwe put 18 as the marriage age. Because of education pursuits, a girl may reach 23 before she gets married. However, societal expectations harm chances of any woman reaching 25 before marriage. Elders argue that if a woman gets to her mid twenties before she is married, then, zvoda kufambira.

Social workers must not be confined to urban areas only. It is imperative to have Ward based social workers with funds permitting to curb the growing menace that makes a mockery of us being in the 21st century. An argument is posited that at all schools in Zimbabwe, there is a Child Protection Committee with the Councilor an ex-officio member.

To be honest, most of these committees are non-functional and some people fear to pinpoint perpetrators of violence against children arguing that they can’t put their lives and those they love in jeopardy because of a ‘petty’ matter. However, if a social worker is part of the committee and is paid by central government, s/he has to justify her/his presence in the Ward.

Some may say the central government wage bill is unsustainable under the current circumstances. Our children are our future; their preservation is of utmost importance. These social workers aren’t there for children abuse only. We have seen couples engage in verbal, mental and physical violence against each other. Social workers would be on hand to counsel the couples.

In rural areas where traditional leaders hold sway, ‘no child marriage’ should be the buzzword. In towns, mining and farming areas, the local leadership must not condone child marriages and those suggestion boxes must be put to good use. The police ought to act on those tips and justice is not only seen to be done but it is done.

Teachers from ECD upwards should teach and inculcate in girl children that the sky is the limit for them. Marriage is inevitable but a hurried marriage may prove costly to a girl with negative ramifications in the long run.

Our economy may be in the doldrums but the injivha must not take advantage of that to take the naïve young girls as wives and later abuse them before taking another child bride while the country looks on as if nothing untoward has happened.

Sekuru Muumbe, a Middle Sabi based traditionalist, summed up the discussion, ‘’regai dzive shiri.’’

The Injivha in every part of the country must take in marriage those girls who have reached the age of consent. These are their sisters whose physiological make up isn’t ready for child birth. Freedom Mutanda

Chipinge