Major Cultural Practices of the Tsonga

The Tsonga people belong to a Bantu ethnic group that is native to Southern Mozambique and South Africa, particularly the Limpopo and Mpumalanga communities. There are also a relatively few Tsonga people in Zimbabwe and Northern Swaziland. People of the Tsonga tribe speak a Southern Bantu language called Xitsonga. Tsonga males go through an initiation process called Matlala before they are  regarded as men. Their teenage girls, on the other hand, attend an initiation school led by Khomba, who are old Vatsonga women. Only teenage virgins are allowed to attend this initiation school where the older women teach them about womanhood and prepare them for marriage. Tsonga people who intend to get married are expected to have reached puberty. The intended groom must also have a stable source of income. Both families are expected to agree to the marriage voluntarily.
No Tsonga parent is allowed to agree to, or decline a marriage offer on behalf of their children. They also need to present valid reasons if they are eventually declining an offer. After a marriage acceptance, the Intending groom's father takes some gifts to the prospective bride's father. The bride is then asked to go to the groom's family. When a Tsonga woman is pregnant, older Tsonga women are usually around her to care for her. Their newborns are always fortified with lots of charms right from birth, for protection. Divorce cannot take place in a Tsonga community without the consent of the families of the bride and groom. If they are unable to reach an agreement, they would report to a higher authority such as a public court. If the husband causes the divorce,  the wife's father retains the gifts he received from the groom's father.

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