Legal counsel critical prior to Lobolo negotiations, says Zikalala

Certificate, Paperwork, Agreement image.

Legal analyst Mpumelelo Zikalala has urged those who intend to get married to seek legal counsel before engaging in lobolo negotiations to avoid problems that might emerge later.

Zikalala’s comment follows Wednesday’s Constitutional Court ruling that a spouse is prevented from entering into an antenuptial contract in a bid to override the initial and existing one.

The court decided against upholding an earlier decision of the High Court in Pretoria declaring a section of the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act, unconstitutional.

Zikalala says it’s important to seek legal advice before engaging in lobolo negotiations.

“The first step is to visit the legal practitioner as soon as you have decided that you want to get married, that’s the person who is going to assist you in getting what is called an antenuptial contract which is something that will determine how you want your assets to be regarded once you get married. Once you have done that before you even send abakhongi (lobolo negotiators) to go on lobola for you then you would have protected your properties. It means in whatever manner or form in which you want to engage in your celebration, you want to engage in your union but at least at the end of the day there is going to a determinant that determines what happens if you decide to divorce, you no longer want to be part of the marriage or there is a death which is one of the other things that put an end to a marriage,” says Zikalala.

(1/7) Judgment on Wednesday, 21 January 2026 at 10h00: The Constitutional Court declined to confirm an order of constitutional invalidity made by the High Court which declared section 10(2) of the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act 120 of 1998 unconstitutional.

— Constitutional Court (@ConCourtSA) January 21, 2026