Cardinal Wilfred Napier made the following statement (Speaking in tongues, 24 October) at the Synod on the Family: ”.. in Africa cohabitation is common where a couple live together while the man works to pay off the dowry.”
But “dowry” refers to property or money brought by a bride to her husband on their marriage.
What the Cardinal was referring to was, by contrast, lobola, or bridewealth, a custom among the Zulu and other southern African groups, when cattle or cash are transferred by the bridegroom's family to the bride's family.
(Professor) David Brokensha, Fish Hoek, South Africa
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