Anti-hunting laws kill Basarwa marriage

For the Basarwa, marriage is a no-frills matter that does not necessarily need registration or taking an oath before a District Commissioner (DC).   All a Mosarwa man has to do is hunt and bring to his prospective bride's family a steenbok (phuduhudu), eland (phofu) or a tortoise and the couple will be regarded as married.

However, the Basarwa in Gantsi say hunting legislation prevent them from hunting these animals, and therefore from marrying. Findings from a study conducted in 2009 and 2010 by Tsholofelo Lejowa, who was then Gantsi District population officer, show that Basarwa point to this encroachment of government laws onto their traditions as a causal factor of dying rates of marriage.