A CULTURE OF WOMEN-BATTERING IN SEFATSA’S DRAMATIC TEXT PAKISO : A FEMINIST PERSPECTIVE
BY
BEAUTY PIENAAR
Submitted in part fulfilment Of the requirements for the degree of
MASTER ARTIUM In
COMPARATIVE AFRICAN LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES
At
NORTH-WEST UNIVERSITY VAAL TRIANGLE CAMPUS
SUPERVISOR: DR J. SEEMA DATE SUBMITTED: MAY 2015
TABLE OF CONTENT DECLARATION (i) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS (ii) DEDICATION (iii) SUMMARY (iv) CHAPTER ONE 1 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Definition of concepts 1 1.2.1 Patriarchy 4 1.2.2 Culture 4 1.2.3 Battering 5 1.2.4 Concubine 5 1.2.5 Feminism 6 1.3 Problem statement 7
1.4 Aims of the study 8
1.5 Methodology 8
1.6 Literary theory 8
1.7 Chapter division 9
1.8 Literature review 10
1.9 Ethics 13
1.10 Possible contribution of the study 13
1.11 Possible challenges of the study 13
1.12 Conclusion 14
CHAPTER TWO 15
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 15
2.1 Introduction 15
2.2 A feminist approach 15
2.4 The structure of the patriarchal society 18
2.5 Objectification of women 20
2.6 The portrayal of female characters 21
2.7 Transformation in society 23
2.8 Conclusion 24
CHAPTER THREE 25
SEHLOHO BATTERS HIS WIFE MMADIMAKATSO 25
3.1 Introduction 25
3.2 The results of Sehloho‟s drunkenness 27
3.3 Mmadimakatso is found guilty 29
3.4 Sehloho whips Mmadimakatso 32
3.5 Sehloho beats Mmadimakatso for dithole 34
3.6 Conclusion 38
CHAPTER FOUR 39
SEHLOHO BATTERS HIS CONCUBINE MMALENKA 39
4.1 Introduction 39
4.2 Sehloho forces Mmalenka to elope with him 40
4.3 Their arrival at Mmadimakatso‟s place 44
4.4 Dowry money for Mmalenka 45
4.5. Conclusion 50
CHAPTER FIVE 51
SEHLOHO ELOPES WITH HIS SECOND CONCUBINE SOFI 51
5.1 Introduction 51
5.2 Sehloho flirts with Sofi 53
5.3 The relationship between Mmalenka and Sofi 55
5.4 The relationship between Mmadimakatso and Sofi 57
5.5 The dramatic action of Sofi 59
5.6. Conclusion 61
CHAPTER SIX 63
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Looking back 63
6.3 Suggestion for future research 63
6.4 Concluding remarks 65
i
DECLARATION
I decla re that: A Culture of Women -battering in Sefatsa’s Dramatic Text
Pakiso: A Feminist Perspec tive , is my o wn work, th at all the sou rces used or quoted ha ve been put and recogn ised or accepted b y means of entire references,
and that this exp osition was not pre viou sly submitte d by me for a degree at
another institution or unive rsity.
Signature: ________________
ii
ACKNOWLEGEMENTS
In Psalm 104 Kin g James Version - The Holy Bible, verse 24 it says: “O Lord, how
manifold are thy works! In wisdom ha st thou made them all: the earth is full of thy
riches”. (Jehovah, mesebetsi ya hao e mengata hakakang! O entse kaofela ka
bohlale, lefatshe le tletse matlotlo a h ao.)
Verse 27 it says: “These wait all upon all thee, that thou mayest give them their
meat in due session.” (Dibopuwa tseo kaofela di lebeletse wen a, hore o di fe dijo
tsa tsona ka na ko e tsh wanetsen g.)
Firstly, I would like to thank God for eve ryth in g, especially the strength to do this
stud y.
Thanks to my supe rvisor Dr J. Seema for his supe rvision on my stud y.
Special thanks to my family: m y father Ramaleshoa ne J. Makate, m y mother
Mmaitumelen g Ma kate, my younge r brother Nthute Makate, my youn ge r sister
Fumane Makate -Ntshangase , m y uncle (elde r b rothe r of my father ) Ntate moholo
Sello Ramonga le Makate and my gran d -mother Mmatsietsi Pau lina Makate.
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DEDICATION
iv
SUMMARY
This re search pro ject entitled: A Culture of Women -battering in Sefatsa’s
Drama tic Text Pak iso: A Feminis t Perspective , is abo ut vio lence and ab use that the Basotho wome n experience in so ciety. Seh loho, a violent and abusive Mosotho
man, abuses his wife and his two concubines, Mmalenka and Sofi. The study is
divided into six ch apters and woman -batterin g as depi cted in the dramatic text is
discussed in those chapters.
Chapter one is th e introducto ry cha pter and it presen ts the conceptualization,
problem sta tement, literatu re re vie w, the aims of the stud y a s well as the
contribution and ch allen ges of the stu dy.
The second chapter is the p illar of the stud y. It is the chapter that pro vides the
stud y with the theoretical frame -wo rk. As resea rch is gu id ed by and dependent on
theory to enhance its meaningfuln ess, this stud y is guided b y Fe minism.
Feminism he lps to organize the stud y and pro vides a co ntext in wh ich to e xamine
the problem of the stud y. It he lps to gather and analyse data.
The third chapter gives a clea r pictu re on how Seh loho the irre sponsib le husband
of Mmadimakatso b eats his wife. He b eats her in front of his concub ine Mmalenka.
Sehloho abuses his wife emotionally, verba lly and ph ysically. He also be ats his
wife in front of their children. His ch ildren gro w up in an environment where they
deve lop depre ssion and fears in their lives.
The fourth cha pter discu sses ho w Sehloho abuses h is concubine Mmale nka b y
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forces her to lea ve her house without a person guard in g it. Mmalenka is forced to
lea ve her house a nd her busine ss b ecause she is a shebeen queen. The most
painful part of Sehloho‟s action, is when he takes Mmalenka to Mmadimakatso‟s
house and forces both his wife Mmadimakatso and his concubine Mma le nka to
sleep in the same room. Mmadimakatso does not agree to share a room with
Mmalenka. Seh loh o accommodates Mmalenka in the outside room.
In the fifth chapter, the stud y discusse s ho w Sehloho whe n he is in Dithotan eng at
Setinkolo‟s place. He is much attracted to Setinkolo‟s daughter Sofi. He proposes
lo ve to Sofi and te lls he r lie s that he is still a sin gle man . Sehloho e lopes with Sofi
to Mmalenka‟s place. He forces Mmalenka to accommodate Sofi in her hut‟s room
but Mmalenka beats Sofi. At the end, Sehloho and Sofi sleep in Mmalenka‟s hut.
Mmalenka decide s to sleep with Sehloho‟s children in another hut. Mmadimakatso
and Mmalenka go out and Sofi is left alone at home. Sh e calls Sefofane and the y
steal from Mmalen ka and Mmadimakatso.
The concluding chapter is re lated to the questions raised in the intro ductor y
chapter. Sofi becomes the voice of the voice less. As she steals from
Mmadimakatso and Mmalenka, Sehloho‟s status of patriarchal domination ceases
and both Mmalen ka and Sofi a re released from the practice of tjhob ediso .
Mmalenka is relea sed from an abusive marriage and she return s to her house.
The study conclude s with re commendations for applyin g research and sugge sti ons
1
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER
1.1 Introduction
The Oscar Pistoriu s tria l and the killing of Zane le Khu malo who was five months
pregnant when she was stran gled b y he r bo yfriend, are graphic rem inders tha t
women in South Africa live in a sick society. Both Ree va Steenkamp and Zanele
Khumalo died at the hands of their boyfriends who claimed to lo ve the m. This
cultu re of battering women brin gs with it a morbid class of patriarch y who belie ve
that it is entitled to determine the va lue of other human live s, particu larly female
live s.
The history of South Af rican society is one in which women have been sub jected to
unspeakable crue lties. McKendrick and Hoffman (1990:2570) have sta ted that
women‟s relative powerlessness in the home was deeply entrenched across a
va rie ty of cultures and communities in South Afr ica. Mdlu li (1997:42 ) describ es the
situation in which Africans live :
In the family the man was the head. T he woman kne w th at she was not equal to her husband. She addressed the husband as „father‟, and by so doin g the child ren also got a good example of how to behave. A woman refrained from e xchangin g words with a man. This is one e xam ple in wh ich wom en have been oppressed and abused in the hom e in South Africa.
2
The above connects well with our re search becau se our focus will main ly be on
women-battering as found in Sefatsa‟s dramatic text Pakiso. In Pakiso
representa tions of the Basotho culture and woma nhood are ridd le d with
ambigu itie s. In writin g about the oppr ession and abuse of Basotho women, the
author d ra ws upon an essential notion of the Basotho in an inductive manner,
adding to the idea of the Basotho cu lture in retrospect as males use it to abuse
women. The author highlights the fact that the Basotho cult ure has been distorted
as the bait of oppression and abusing females. The Basotho trad ition forbids
women from talkin g openly about th eir marria ge p roblems. Magwa za (2 001:27)
sa ys the follo win g about the problema tic situa tion women find themselves in:
Guardin g the culture is held a s an important responsibility. In instances whe re th e very cu lture that is gua rded is to th e detriment of women‟s dignity, respect and rights, she is not allowed by tradition to answer a man back.
Sefatsa‟s use of the practice of tjhobediso - elopement, advocates the notion that
traditionally, Ba sotho men are vie we d as superio r and powe rful and wo men as
weak, inferio r and sex obje cts. Pare nts have in stilled a belief in their child ren,
especia lly girls, th at to ha ve a b right an d successful life, men have to take care of
them. The important and inferior ro les women took in society include raisin g
child ren, mana gin g the households an d workin g in the fie lds.
Sefatsa‟s drama represents a generalization of oppressed and powerless wo men.
The drama also re presents the Basotho patria rch y as monolith ic, opp ressive and
3
The author portra ys Sehloho, the male characte r, a s a wife -abuser. He a lso abuses
the two women he eloped with. His wife Mmadim akatso, is repeated ly sub je cted to
emotionally abusive behaviou r b y her husband be cause he wants her to accept
Mmalenka as his second wife and Sofi his third one.
Feminists such as Sefatsa, are wo rkin g hard to shift the paradigm of women being
inferior to men. They ad vo cate the notion of equality of all sexe s and no sex
should be conside red superior and more po werful tha n the other. One of the
proponents of feminism, Ma riama Ba, sa ys the follo win g about feminist writings:
The woman write r in Africa has a special task…As women, we must
work for ou r o wn future, we must ove rth ro w the status quo which harms us and we must no longe r su bmit to it. Like men, we must use lite rature as a no n -vio lent but effective weapon (cited in Stratton, 1994:54).
Sefatsa, as a f eminist, is one su ch write r who questions trad itiona l cultu ral
constru ction s of Basotho women. Sh e is trying to loca te an alternative id entity for
women in a Basotho patriarchal so ciety, with in postco lonia l socia l space. The
imbalances that e xist between men and women in Sefatsa‟s drama, are of great
challen ge.
Through Sofi - the female character, the author is perpetuating the Basotho culture
of oppressin g wo men. Sofi is the representation of the voice emancip atin g the
Basotho women who are trapped in the cultu re of tjhobediso . She frees women
from being viewed as objects of men, and maintains that the women‟s sexuality
4
For the purpose of this research, the terms „battering‟ and „abuse‟ will be used
interchangeab ly in this stud y. The te rms wife and wom an will be used to denote
the female partner whereas the te rm s husband and man will refer to the male
partner.
1.2 Definition of concepts
In order for reade rs to unde rstand the abuse and pro blems facing wom en, the
definitions of conce pts are p ro vided:
1.2.1 Patriarchy
Accord in g to Grie ve and van De vente r (2005: 150), patriarch y is a socia l system in
which the husband is so ve reign, possesses po we r and exe rcises contro l. The wife
is e xpe cted to be d ependent, lo vin g, e motional and be a full -time homemaker.
According to Sanderson (2001:198), “patriarchy refers to the structure of modern
cultu ral and po litical systems which are ruled b y men. Such syste ms are
detrimental to the rights of women”.
For the pu rpose o f our research, pa tria rch y will mean the male character that
exe rts ma le domina nce o ver females.
1.2.2 Culture
According to Gerber and Linda (2010:53), “distinctions are made between the
physica l a rtefacts created b y a society, its so -called material culture, and
eve ryth in g else wh ich is the intan gib le, such as lan gua ge, cu stoms, belie fs and
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Shade and New (1 993:317), state tha t culture is a collective approach to th e wo rld
that pro vides a group, and individua ls within that group, with a design for livin g.
Cultu ral value s a re of great importan ce in the life of eve ry human bein g on earth,
as important a s the foundation of a house.
Posner (1991:121 -123) articu lates the characte ristics of cultu re as follo ws:
Cultu re as a so cie ty, meanin g a set of individuals who se mutual relations are o rga nized in a specific socia l institutio ns, as a civilization, meanin g a set of artefacts that are produced and used by the members o f this society, and as a mentality meaning a system of va lues a nd ideas, mora ls a nd customs.
For the purpo se of our resea rch culture will mean the customs, be lie fs and
practices that the Basotho nation sha re as their wa y of life.
1.2.3 Battering
Batterin g includes all acts of physical, se xual, and p sycholo gica l or e conomic
violen ce that ma y by committed b y a person that has been an intimate pa rt ner o r
spouse (Marko witz, 2000: 281).
W alker (1999:1) defines a battered wife as any married woman who is rep eatedl y
subjected to an y forceful physical, sexua l and or psychologica l beha viou r b y a
husband in order to coerce her to do something he wa nts her to do with out any
concern for he r rights.
For the purpo se of this resea rch, wom an battering will m ean any act of violence b y
males that endangers a female‟s physical and emotional development.
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Accord in g to Nko mazana(2001:17 ), concubine o r nyatsi is the term use d for a
woman who, for one reason or another, remain s unmarried but en ga ges in a n
adulterous affair with a married man . The wife is not expe cted to question the
whereabouts of the husband if he decides not to spend a nigh t at home.
Bonyatsi, the abstract form, nyatsi im plies a re lationship between alread y married
persons for whom the liaison ma y be more o r less lon g term. It does no t include
relationsh ips between youn g unmarried people. The term nyatsi is not gende r
specific (Spie ge l , 1 990: 4 -5).
For the purpose of this research, Mmalenka and Sofi qualify to be Sohloho‟s
concubines. Seh lo ho a married ma n is ha vin g an extra -marital affair with
Mmalenka. Mmalenka is aware that Sehloho is a married man. Even Sehloho‟s wife
Mmadimakatso kn o ws very well th at her husband is ha vin g an affair with
Mmalenka. Even though Sofi is not a wa re that Sehlo ho is a married m an, but
havin g affair
with him, that makes her Sehloho‟s concubine. She is not Sehloho‟s girlfriend.
1.2.5 Feminism
A feminist is a person who is struggling to uplift women…challenging systems and
structures that opp ress women (Mate mbe, in Lihamba et al. 2007:436).
“W omen‟s quest for emancipation, self -identity and fulfilment can be seen to
represent a traito ro us act, a betra ya l n ot simply of traditio nal codes of practice and
belief but of the wide struggle for liberation and nationalism” (Nasta cited in Singh:
7
For the purpose of this research, feminist will mean a creative writer who se
intention is to give women a voice to speak about their problems and liberate them
from the bondage of patriarcha l so cieties.
1.3 Problem statement
In our so ciety wom en are afraid to wa lk a lone durin g the day and night. They are
not even safe in their homes, because the perpetrators can be a husband,
boyfriend or e ven a male neighbour.
The brutal killin g of Anene Booysen undersco res the nature of the abuse and
murder in South Africa ( Gou ws, 20 13:19).
African lesb ians a re abused, raped, killed and bottles are inserted in the ir vagina s.
Grannies, youn g women and girls a re abused, raped and killed, demonstrating that
in a patria rchal society, male s pre y on women.
Ntombekha ya Sep tember w as abused and finally murdered b y he r b oyfriend
(Mapumulo, 2014:5 ).
The Basotho cultural practice s such a s tjhobediso , a form of elopement, which is a
practice that in the past united two familie s when a youn g man goes a wa y secretly
with a youn g girl in or der to get married, has been distorted so that older m en no w
abduct young girls, rape them and treat them as their wive s. This con stitutes a
violation of human rights.
The situation of wife -batterin g in the form of tjhobediso – elopement in Sefatsa‟s
8
and the wa y the y ought to be. This problematic situation stimulate s inte rest and
prompt resea rch.
The question that n eeds to be answe re d in this stud y is th e follo win g: W hat is
the situation of wife-battering in Sefatsa‟s drama Pakiso?
This que stion will b e addressed b y focusin g on the follo wing sub -questions:
Ho w does Sehloho abuse his wife Mm adimakatso?
Ho w does he abuse his con cubine Mmalenka?
Ho w does he abuse his se cond concu bine Sofi?
1.4 Aims of the study
Our re search a ims are gene rated from the main proble m as we ll a s sub -p roblems
of the study.
The above -stated research p roblem a nd sub -questions transla te into the follo win g
research aims:
The study a ims a t discu ssin g the situation of wife -battering in Sefatsa‟s dramatic te xt Pakiso.
It discusses ho w Sehloho abuses h is wife Mmadimakatso.
It discusses ho w h e abuses his concu bine Mmalen ka.
It also d iscu sses h o w he abuses h is second concubine Sofi.
1.5 Methodology
Methods u sed in research in ve stigations differ from field to field. This p roposed
research is a te xtu al stud y and the refore it is a desk re search. Lib rary an d inter
-loan services as well as inte rnet services will be the instruments used to colle ct
9
be the tools to collect data as opposed to face to face intervie w and
questionnaires.
1.6 Literary theory
To fully understand the battering of women and their treatment as the „other‟, we
will emplo y feminist theory. Feminist theory will be used as descriptive model for
this stud y because it is inte rested in o vercomin g male dominance b y revea lin g
patriarchy‟s manifestations. W omen have felt they must rewrite their stories, and
by so do in g, pe rsistent ine qua lities are represented in their te xts. One of the
proponents of feminism remind s us th at:
In some societies, women, like co lonized subje cts, ha ve been rele gated to the position of the “other‟, “colonized” by various forms of patriarchal domination (Ashcro ft et al. 2006:233).
Feminists use strategies to ana lyse gende r e xclusio n, denial and in visib ility.
Exclusion means in a patriarchal society, women‟s contributions are not
conside red importa nt and that means their important ro les in the community are
not visible .
1.7 Chapter division
The study comprises six chapters. Chapter one is an introduct o ry ch apter, it
introduce s the stud y and identifies the problem and a ims of the study. It loo ks at a
lite rature re vie w, chapter divisions of the study and co ncludes with the p ossib le
contribution and ch allen ges of the stu dy.
Chapter two give s an o ve rvie w o f the theoretical fra mewo rk. Femin ist theory
10
re gard to the nature of women -batte rin g as we ll as th e challen ges that women
face, so that the y should not be treate d as obj ects.
Chapter th ree is the one that serves as a prelude to critique ho w Sehloho
abuses his wife Mmadimakatso.
Chapter four focuses on ho w Seh loho abuses his concub ine Mmalen ka.
Chapter five pursu es the critique further as it focuses o n ho w Seh loh o abu ses h is
second concub ine Sofi.
Chapter s ix is the concludin g chapter of the study. This chapter embodies a
genera l conclu sion that is informed by the findings of the study undertaken.
It concludes with th e su ggestions and recommendatio ns for future resea rch on ho w
to re vea l and e xpo se the e vils of wo men -batterin g. It confronts socie ty to find out
what went wron g with African men and Basotho men in particula r, who we re once
high ly respe cted in their societie s.
1.8 Literature review
As women abuse is becomin g wide spread in all cu ltu res, othe r schola rs ha ve
written much about abuse and the murder of women. For the purpose of this stud y,
a comprehensive literature re vie w wa s conducted in ord er to kno w what is known
about the topic of women bat terin g, a s we ll as what is still unkno wn about women
batterin g.
W hat is commonly kno wn about women batterin g is that it happens when males
belie ve that the y are entitled to co ntrol females. It is kno wn that males can
11
W hat is unknown abou t women batterin g is that e loping with a woman and not
marryin g her is th e most painful abuse on women. The elopement in Sefatsa‟s
drama is the corne rstone of this stud y. Seh loho abuses his wife by elopin g with
other women witho ut payin g bohadi- d o wry money for marria ge.
The follo win g lite rature states that through the a ges women were batte red an d
considered the „other‟ for they were object ified by the males and husbands:
Molapo (2004) in A Christian Ana lytic of Marriage Th ro ugh Abduction Among The
Basotho People of Lesotho: A challenge fo r Pastoril Ca re Min istry , wrote
exten sive ly about tjhobediso amon g the Basotho people. Molapo (2004:5) says the
follo win g a s he once witne ssed tjhobediso:
It wa s painful for me to see Ba soth o girls bein g abdu cted b y more than one you ng man, i.e., those who accompan y the one who had ear-marked a girl for mira ge. I could hear a piercin g cry of a girl who was be ing captu re d when she was crying to resist the abductio n. And a young girl will alwa ys try to free herself. She cou ld be beaten like a d og if she was pe rsistently resistin g th e abd uctors. W hen this drama tales pla ce, the Mosotho girl would definitely kno w th at she is be in g forced to enter into ma rria ge with somebod y sh e does not e ven kn o w.
The author portra ys tjhobediso as a form of harassment and abusive vio len ce done
again st the con se nt of the Mosotho girl, to force he r to enter in to unplanned
marria ge.
Maloka (2004) in Basotho and the Miners: A Socia l History of Labour Mig rancy in
Lesotho and South Africa – 1890-1940, sets out to write a history of Basotho
miners from bottom up. Maloka (200 4) points out ho w migrant labou rs altered the
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enga ged in a p ractice kno wn a s cho bediso which wa s a form of elopement. As
dowry was not paid , this left many ne wly married in a vu lnerab le position and many
fled to avoid abusive husband s. In order for them to survive, the y ran a way and
reso rted to pro stitution.
Mu wati & Mutasa (2011) in Representations of the bod y as contested te rra in: The
Zimbabwean libera tion war novel and the politics of natio n and nationalism , sho ws
how women re cru its we re raped, abu sed and killed b y their senio r commanders.
The poor youn g women had no choice but to surrende r their bodies t o a milita ry
patria rch y. Senio r gue rrilla commanders demanded se xua l se rvices from youn g
women gue rrillas who had joined th e libe ration stru ggle in Zimbab we. Those who
did not comply with the „rules‟ of the corrupt commanders, were killed.
W yatt in Look me in the e ye (2007), makes reade rs, particula rly women readers,
a ware that lo ve ad diction is as add ictive as an y d ru g. She maintains that love can
make a woman sta y in an unhapp y, a busive and de stru ctive marriage . She was a
victim of abuse and she found her self on the street with no money, witho ut wo rk
and nowhe re to live. At the end sh e made a choice to survive, to lea rn and
understand the nature of domestic vio lence, its roots and its cure.
Zulu in Gende r and Cultura l Rep resentations in th e Sesotho Novel (2012)
examine s ho w wom en are supp ressed in some Sesotho n ove ls. Pa triarch y o perates
like co lonise rs. W omen have been relegated to an inferio r position and they are
also obje ctified.
Adichie in Purple Hib iscu s (2004), revea ls strikin g co rrelations between spousal
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witness confrontations between pa ren ts, suffer from e xposure to such viole nce. In
the book the dau ghter is e xposed to batterin g and the refore she is afraid of her
father who is a prie st.
The notion and thin kin g of the above research e rs and sch olars is to liberate
women from the patria rcha l societies. Their themes are similar in the sense that
they a ll focused on the suffer ings of females in the hand s of males. Their
submissions pa ve the wa y for m y rese arch because none of them wrote abo ut the
tjhobediso p ractice as a practice that males can use to a buse women.
1.9 Ethics
The ethics appro va l will be sought from the North -W est Unive rsity Ethics
Committee. This is an inte rpret ative stud y of te xts in the public domain and no
human subjects will be participatin g in the study. Ethics matters are therefore not
comple x.
1.10 Possible contribution of the study
This stud y will lead members of African societies to beco me awa re of the fact t hat
women-battering is inhumane. People are living in dangerous times where men‟s
conscien ces are de ad. Innocent wome n are abused and lose their pre ciou s lives at
the hands of merciless monsters ca lled men. This study will contribute a great
deal b y e xpos in g the challen ges attached to women batterin g. The stud y will a rgue
that women -batte ring is p rob lematic on the grounds th at it threatens the gende r
equality and in the end it leads to the abuse and murder of females. It appeals to
men to stop their b arbar ism and appre ciate the life of wo men.
14
The textual research with regard to the theme “women battering” is very limited.
This stud y will co ntribute a grea t deal b y e xposing the challen ges atta ched to
women batterin g a nd will encoura ge researche rs to write about women -batterin g to
15 1.12 Conclusion
This chapte r gives a clearly outlined framewo rk of the who le research study. It
gives a broad outline as to what the c entre of the study is; ho w does Sefatsa defy
and expose the e vils of patria rchal control under the disgu ise of the practice of
tjhobediso . Sefatsa , as a feminist, co nsciously reco gnises that certain ine qualities
exist in traditional Basotho societie s.
In subsequent cha pters, we will posit the methodology of criticism of patriarchal
contro l of female characte rs suffering under bruta l patria rcha l oppressio n. The
study will focus on Sefatsa‟s dramatic text Pakiso in order to demonstrate how
women who resi st the artificial b i nary of good/evil and tradition / modern create a
space for other women to re -articu late their identity. Its main focus will be on
tryin g to recast female subjectivity a nd agency b y a llo win g women to na me and
expo se the structu re of opp ression in order to resist ce rtain patriarchal opp ression
16
CHAPTER TWO
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
2.1 Introduction
It has become a p rerequ isite in the a cademic sphe re th ese da ys to apply a certa in
lite rary theo ry wh en analysin g a literary wo rk of art. Our particu lar aim in th is
chapter is to de ve lop a theoretica l feminist framewo rk that will inform the analysis
of the buildin g blocks of this stud y. It is important to high light the fact that,
Feminist Theory is a very b road lite ra ry field of stud y. For the purpose of this
stud y, ou r a im is to focus main ly to those Feminists aspects that are mostly
rele vant for this study. W e aim to pay more attention to Feminists aspects such as:
The structure of the patriarchal so cie ty, objectific ation o f women, the portraya l of
female characters and transformation of society, as important aspects of the
Feminist approach. Usin g Feminist co nception of female oppression wh ich has its
roots in patria rch y, as a po int of reference, th is stud y e xamine s ho w the multiple
forces of cultural institutions, abuse, violen ce and obje ctification wo rk to gether to
form a formidable colle ctive force ca usin g pa in and tra uma to articu late the female
expe rien ce .
2.2 A Feminist Approach
Accord in g to Jefferson & Robe y (1991 :204):
Feminist criticism is a specific kin d of political d iscourse, a critical and theoretical p ractice committed to the struggle against patria rch y and se xism, not simply a concern for gender in lite rature .
17
Feminism started as a politica l m o vement and some writers ha ve used it as a
lite rary theory to a ddress and h igh light the injustice s a gainst women. Fem inism as
lite rary theory help s readers and critics to ask and answe r questions about literary
texts. It help s scholars to come up with cons tru ctive and critica l a rguments
concern in g the scholarly vie ws of lite rature. As th ere are man y co nflictin g
approaches and a rguments concern in g the philosoph y o f feminism. Even though
there are different approaches concerning feminism, their meetin g po int is where
they define patriarchy as an unjust social system that is o ppressive to wome n. Fo r
the purpose of this research, we in tend to take feminism as our too l to analyse and
discuss Sefatsa‟s dramatic text Pakiso. W e don‟t intent to rely on one philosop hy
of feminism such as Bla ck feminism or W estern feminism. All different type s of
Feminism will be in tegrated into this study.
Feminism will fit in the textual d yna mics of the dramatic te xt Pakiso itself. The
stud y aims to sho w ho w feminism as a strate gy of lite rary interp retation can re veal
some new possib ilitie s of reading Pakiso wh ich a re attuned to issues of
condensation, d isp lacement and symbolism.
Some feminists discard the term „theory‟ because they believe that it is associated
with male s. Femin ists castigate Freud‟s theories for their sexism. The assumption
that female sexua lity is shaped b y penis -en vy, is tota lly castigated b y feminists
(Selden, 1989:135). Freud‟s statement treats females as inferior males, which
feminists do not accept at all. H o we ve r feminists a re attracted to Lacania n theory
because it does not assert a mascu line autho rity. It should be noted that othe r
feminist theorie s will be emplo yed in our analysis of Pakiso. For argument‟s sake,
18
of the dramatic te xt Pakiso, will be e mployed be cause the drama is so sen sitive to
some issues of ge nder. The research does not set out to be a Lacanian re ading of
the drama Pakiso b ut it adopts some aspects, such as po wer a s we ll a s lan guage.
2.3 The notion of womanhood
Other women writers reject and have rejected the term “feminism” and they opted
to be called wom anists. Man y scho lars ha ve attempted to define the notion of
womanhood. W omanism has been cu lturally d efined b y W alker (1983) a s a culture
-specific synonym for Black feminism. W alker‟s (1983:11) definition provides
guidan ce on the focus of the moveme nt when she notes that womanists are :
Committed to the surviva l and whole ness of entire people, male and female. Black womanhood seeks to libe rate the strictu res imposed on wome n as they are vie wed as an undervalued and marginalized mino rity.
On the other hand W oodwa rd & Mastin (2005: 34) maintains that the notion of
black womanhood, like a ll feminism, is pre s criptive as it ste reotypes th e black
woman as a ca regive r and a sa crificia l lamb.
McHorte r (2003:36 ) vie ws womanhoo d as the state of bein g a woman, havin g
passed the menarche. W omanhood is like femininity but it is associated with
different vie ws of gende r role s. Feminism tries to recon struct the idea of what it
means to be a feminist. Da vies sa ys:
The term “feminism” often has to be qualified when used by most
African and other Third W orld women. The race, class a nd cultura l alle giances that are brou ght t o its consideration cau se the most conflict. …as feminism is filtered through a media that is male
-19
dominated and male -oriented, African women re co gnize the inequa lities and, especia lly with in the conte xt of struggle s for national libe ration, are cha llen gin g entrenched male dominance (Da vies, 1996:12).
Ogun yemi (1996:6 ) argues that:
Feminism has been repre sented a s offensive, and therefore no respectab le African writer openly, active ly, and consistently associa tes he rself with the ideolo gy.
Ogunyemi‟s argument is based on the fact that it would distort the fact if all
the blame is put on the arriva l of the white man in Nige ria .
2.4 The structure of the patriarchal society
The basic vie w of females is that society is patriarchal, meaning that it is ruled by males, be it, re ligion, politics, e cono mic, so cia l a s well as in creative writin gs. Millett (cited in Se lden, 1989:137) use s the te rm patriarchy to describe the course of women‟s oppression. Patriarchy subordinates and treats the female as an
inferior ma le. Feminists a re tryin g to distu rb the patria rchal culture and cre ate a less opp ressive e nvironment for wo men as we ll as women write rs. Feminists proponents, such as Millett, mainta in that males tend to define females b y negative reference to males and a s a kind of non -males b y their la ck of identif yin g male o rgans. Ma les claim to have achie ved the most important works of civilization.
In Sefatsa‟s dramatic text Pakiso, the playwright highlights the fact that women
suffer emotional abuse at the hands of men. Sehloho the husband of Mmadimakatso is havin g an affair with Mmalenka. Their love affair is kno wn to his wife and the community. Sehloho visits Mmalenka at any time. He is not worrie d about his wife and the community, and he sleeps at his concubine‟s place for a
20
number of days. L ehana, who is a lso married and the brother of Sehloho, forces Mmadimakatso not to question Sehloh o when he arrive s late because, according to him, men are allowed to come home any time withou t exp lain ing themselves to their wi ves.
Mmadimakatso furthermore is also forced to live together with her husband‟s
mistress Mmalenka in her (Mmadimakatso‟s) house as a so -called second wife.
Sehloho elopes with Mmalenka b y force. He lied to Sofi that he is not ma rried and
elopes with he r to Mmalenka‟s place.
Sefatsa as a feminist, re veals the p atria rcha l system in the drama. Men in the
community p raises him for the wron gs that he is doin g. No man in the drama book
is fightin g the pa tria rcha l dominatio n. All the male s in the d rama book ar e
portra yed as men who understand th at men can do as they p leased and women
have no righ ts but to accept that men are superio r to wo men.
Sefatsa does not portra y the female characte rs of Mmadimakatso, Mmalenka and
Sofi as submissive to Sehloho‟s patriarcha l domination. They are portrayed as
females fightin g a gainst patria rcha l do mination with in a feminist frame wo rk.
In Marxist terms, the order of women is conce ived as a subordinate class of social
classes, or as a lo wer ca ste that cuts across a ll econom ic c lasses (Abrams, 1985:
208). Sefatsa‟s female characters are in the process of their being socialised and
to fight the re ignin g patria rcha l ideo logy a s Sehloho is forcing them to cooperate in
their o wn subo rdin ation.
Accord in g to McFadden (1994:24), Marxis t feminists hold the ideolo gy that the
specific sub jection of women will e nd after the destruction of capitalism. This
argument goes do wn to the d ynamic socia l re lations of patria rch y and ca pitalism.
21
women is possible sin ce the y are p oor and moreo ver, the y a re vu lnera ble to
exp loitation b y patria rch y and social forces such as tjh obediso . Mmadimakatso is
constantly beaten up by he r husband Sehloho, who is th e bread -winne r.
The playwright has shown readers that Sehloho‟s society is patriarchal. The
perpetrato r is a m an, an outstandin g member of the community. The pla ywright
shows readers that men in Sehloho‟s community also promote patriarchy. The
blame is alwa ys on the other wo m an. In the case of Mmadimakatso, it is
understandable tha t it is painful to de al with the betra yal of a partner but sh e does
not get help from the members of the community. Males such a s Ma lefetsane
condone elopement and polygam y. Malefetsane says to Sehlo ho: O buretse le ka
koto mo sadi, mo satsana o qete lle ka ngwana - You sh ould strike a wife with a
knobkerrie, then a youn g woman, an d then finish off with a youn g girl (Sefatsa
1979:25).
The denigration of the dignity of wo men manifests itse lf in a dispara gi ng wa y in
which women are portra yed. Ma lefetsane encoura ge s Sehloho to ha ve se xual
intercourse with mosadi meaning h is wife Mmadimakatso, mo satsana , meaning h is
concubine Mmalen ka and up with ngwana meaning Sofi b ecause she is still youn g.
2.5 Objectification of women
Objectification occurs when the behaviour of a woman‟s partner indicates to her
that she is vie wed as an object. Sehloho treats h is wife Mmadimakatso as an
object because he does not re gard h er as a person with inner ene rgy. He wants
her to accept his ill -mannered behavio ur of eloping with other women whilst she is
still a round. Sehlo ho eloped with Mmalenka without p ayin g do wry cattle for that
22
man who lo ves his woma n, pa ys do wry cattle for her. Se hloho also e loped with Sofi without paying dowry cattle for Sofi‟s parents.
Mofokeng (2014:9) maintains that bo hadi is more than just a financia l tran saction
between families. It presents an opportunity for a groo m to declar e his undyin g
lo ve for his woman in an act that is sweeter than a lo ve le tter.
Bohadi is still a traditiona l p ractice that the Basotho respect. Bohad i is paid to
show that the woman is so and so‟s wife. Bohadi is also a sign of showing that the
person is no lon ge r a young bo y, he is a fully gro wn man.
We don‟t have to throw the proverbial baby out with the bath water. Bohadi as an
institution is redee mable. It does not only symbo lise the unification of two fami lies
and is an indicatio n of emotional and financial readiness, but adds accountability
(Ch igumadzi, 2014:8). As othe r co mmunities see k to undo the e xce sses of
patria rch y, and help women to embrace their rights and assert their freedom,
characte rs like Seh loho continue to pe rsist in violatin g wo men.
2.6 The portrayal of female characters
Most of the high ly rega rded books focus on male main characte rs. To cite a few
example s, Ulysse s, Hamle t, Capta in Ahab and Ha cklebe rry Finn, e mbody
masculine tra its an d pu rsue mascu line intere sts. In such books, the roles of female
characters take a different direction of that to the males‟ desires. As such, a
number of books are lackin g in important female roles, and are addressed to male
readers, so that female readers a r e forced to identify a gainst themse lves b y
23
Ove r the past yea rs, feminist scho lars ha ve been en ga ge d in p roje cts of recove rin g
and rein terp retin g creative writin gs b y women. These scholars mainta in th at most
of the females‟ writings are defined by being contrasted with males‟ writings. Most
of the women‟s writings expose the privileges and silences of patriarchal cultures,
challen gin g traditio nal writin gs b y males
Most male creative writers ha ve vie we d women as inferio r and objects that have to
be submissive and obedient to men. More and more women are takin g u p their
constitutional rights globally of receiving re spect, especially from men, yet Basotho
women are not respected b y males. They vie w a woma n as a person who is just
there to fulfil the n ee ds of the man and nothin g else .
In Moephuli‟s Peo ena e jetswe ke wena (1982), women are negatively portrayed.
Moephuli portra ys Samina as a prostitute ( letekatse), a slut, a who re wh o just
sleeps around with whoe ve r she meets. She is portra yed as a person who doesn‟t
respect he rse lf.
In K.P.D. Maphalla‟s novel Botsang Lebitla (2008), the writer portrays a female
characte r as a person not to be trusted at all. Mmamasolomane had an affair with
the re ve rend and she is also woman whose hatred wa s so vicious that she can
even kill.
Agbasiere (1999:84 -85) sa ys that African lite ratu re:
W ritten by male writers, produ ces stereotyp ica l features that portra yed women as wea k and a lwa ys unable to o vercome thei r hardship s. This p resents a ste reotyp ical African lite rature whe re women do not play an y positive roles, but a re only ab le to perpetuate negative images and not explore all aspects of women‟s expe rien ces.
24 Adebayo (1996:10) argues:
Women‟s own attempts to cope with s ituations they find themselves in are regarded as a “problem” by men and a betrayal of traditions which are often confused with women‟s roles.
Boehmer (2005) claims:
To Third W orld wo men and women of colour these concerns speak with pa rticula r urge ncy, no t only beca use of their need to resist the trip le oppre ssion o r margina lization that the effects of colonialism , gender and male -dominated langua ge create, but also because their o wn ta ctics o f self -representatio n are often usefully adopted from older and more established nationalist politics of „their men‟ (Boehmer, 2005:5 ).
In this milieu wom en have felt the y must re write the ir stories, and to do so, the y
have to resist, re create, and re -empo wer themse lves. Ogun yemi cla ims:
African no ve ls written b y wom en, a s counter na rrative s, fascinate with the ir inhe rent contrad ictions a s the re vea l stre ngth and weakness, beauty and ugline ss, ambiguity and clarity, in unfolding the politics of oppression (Ogun yemi, 1996:12).
Mariama Ba, in So Long a Letter (1981), sho ws the chan ging con sciou sness of the
educated African woman writer who examines and questions women‟s social
positions in a postcolonial society. Singh (2008:125) maintain that Dangarembga‟s
Nervou s Cond ition s (1988) demonstrates ho w women who resist the artificial
binaries of good/e vil and traditional/m odern create a space for other wome n to re
-articulate identity in ne wly emergent a nd constru cted spa ces.
W omen write rs are recastin g female subjectivity b y a llo win g women to na me the
structure of oppre ssions in orde r to resist ce rtain patriarcha l opp ression s within
25 2.7 Transformation in society
If people want to transform the society, the y must empo wer women. Unde r the
burden of violence and abuse, many women are demoralised and the y see n o va lue
that they can add to their society. Biko‟s words (cited in Runji, 2014:17) about
transformation a re as follo ws:
There‟s no transformation process that could bear the desired outcomes without women thro win g th eir weight beh ind that change initiative, a nd the same holds for the nation -bu ild ing process.
In secto rs whe re m ales a re hold ing power, the y do not use their po sitions to protect
and promote women. They rather u se powe r to ma rgina lise and deni grate women.
Older men in po we rful positions in workplaces are p re yin g on youn g women for sex
in e xchan ge for a job or better treatm ent at work (Mo kwe na, 2013:19). Acco rdin g to
Selden (1989:135 ), women ha ve been made inferior and the oppression has been
compounded by men‟s belief that women are inferior by nature.
2.8 Conclusion
Feminism in literature re vea ls ho w wo men are ill -treated by patria rcha l domination.
Feminism b rin gs o ut many th in gs in lite rature . It beco mes an instrument used to
exp lain the characters‟ behaviour as well as their motivations. The more one
applies feminism to Sefatsa‟s characters, the more realistic her creativity appears.
It also makes the d rama appealin g for readers.
In the next chapte rs feminism will b e applied when an alysin g Sefatsa‟s dramatic
text Pakiso. In th e follo win g chapte r feminism is applied to sho w ho w Sehloho
27
CHAPTER THREE
SEHLOHO BATTERS HIS WIFE MMADIMAKATSO
3.1 Introduction
Sehloho arrives la te in the e ven in g from his concubin e Mmalenka, the shebeen
queen. His wife Mmadimakatso takes him by surp rise. Even thou gh she is alread y
in bed, she is not fast asleep. She hears Sehloho knockin g at the doo r but she
pretends that she is fast asleep. Seh loho is d runk and h e comes home sin gin g. On
his a rriva l at the do or, he sa ys:
Ke a tseba hore moleko ona wa mosadi o a be a nnotleletse ka ntle. Ke tla le raha hore a be a nne a bule - I know that this devil
woman has locked me outside. I will kick it until she opens it (Sefatsa, 1979:1).
Sehloho speaks lo ud so that his wife can hear him. He employs the term moleko –
devil as a metaphor to refer to his wife, Mmadimakatso. Sehloho associates his
wife with mo leko because he thinks that Mmadimakatso‟s idea of not opening the
door for him is a de vilish idea. He thin ks that action is cruel and unpleasant.
Sehloho abuses his wife b y h is d runkenness. Ge lles and Co rnell (1990:18) are for
the idea that if alcohol is the cause of violen ce, the solution of the d rinkin g
problem would eliminate the vio le n ce. Sehloho is not intendin g to solve his
drinkin g p roblem. He uses h is d rin kin g p roblem to abuse his wife Mmadima katso.
Mmadimakatso doe s not open the door for her husband Sehloho. She is a ngry
with h im. She spe aks to herself softly and Seh loho does no t hear her spe akin g.
28
Ke re satane e nte nne ena ya monna basadi!. Ke ho re o a be a tauwe a re fu! …Ke tla mo lokisa hona kajeno lena. Ke tla thola ke re tuu!
This Satan husba nd is frus tra tin g me people! I sa y he i s extremely d runk! Today I will put him right. I will beco me very silent . (Sefatsa, 19 79:1).
From Sehloho‟s words and his wife‟s, there is clearly a conflict between the two.
Mmadimakatso a lso emplo ys a metaphor to refer to Se h loho as satane. Satan does
not understand that what he is doin g to people, is no t right. Sehloho, just like
Satan, does not un derstand tha t he a buses h is wife whe n he comes home late and
drunk.
He knocks at the door until he decide s to go to his broth er‟s place. On the way, he
chooses to go to Mmalenka‟s place before going to his brother Lehana. Sehloho
sa y:
Empa… e re nke ke boele ha Mmalenka mane hae, pele ke ya kwana ha mo reso Lehana, ke yo bona hore na le yena o robetse jwalekaha a itse o se a roba la, ha ke ne ke tloha mono .
But… let me return there at Mmalenka‟s home before I go to my brother Lehana‟s place, and go and see if she too is asleep as she said when I left the re.
(Sefatsa, 1979:2).
On Sehloho‟s arrival at Mmalenka‟s place, just like Mma dimakatso, she pretends to
be fast asleep, an d refuses to open for him. Mmalenka sa ys the follo win g whilst
29
O a hlanya ke a mmona. O re o tla tla a robala ha mang a tauwe ka ona mokgwa ona oo? Ke mo lele ketse bona botahwa bona ba hae. O re o tla tla a n kgela mang moo, haeka o bodile jw alo? Ha a tsa maye! Ebile nn a ke tla mo hla lla kwana, ka lebaka la bon a botahwa bona bo nyekisang pelo. Ke re motho wa teng o fu mane e se e ka ke tshitshid i. Ke re podilekgwana e boya ka kwan o !
He is mad I am a ware. The manner in wh ich he is d runk, at who se place does he th in k he will sleep? I chased him a wa y b ecause of his drun kenness. As he is rotten, who shall pe rce ive his s mell? Let him go! And so I will divo rce h im because of his disgustin g drunkenness. I sa y you will find him as if he is a stinkb ug. I sa y even a lad y-bird is better than him. (Sefatsa, 1979:3).
From Mmalenka‟s soliloquy, one observes that Sehloho abuses her . W hen he is
drunk, ju st like his wife Mmadimakatso, Mmalenka does not want to sleep with h im
because he smells badly. Gelles and Corne ll (1990:18) maintain that it is a myth
for perpetrators to blame their vio lent behaviou r on alcohol. In the case of
Sehloho‟s drunkenness, no one can blame his behaviour on alcohol because even
when he is sober, he is still vio lent.
From Mmalenka‟s place, Sehloho goes to his brother‟s place. On his arrival, he
knocks at the door but there is no answer e ven thou gh his bro the r Lehana a nd his
wife are in bed, but not fast asleep. From Lehana‟s place he intends to go home
again bu t unfortunately he d id not m ake it.
3.2 The results of Sehloho’s drunkenness
On his wa y back home, a ghost punishes Sehloho b y making h im incap able of
kno win g and seein g whe re home is. The ghost also pushes him into the Tswap e
30
tremblin g like a child, Mmadimakatso sends a message to Lehana and Thuso to
come and see Sehloho
Lehana, his wife Mmamohau and Sehloho‟s neighbour want to know why Sehloho
is tremb lin g with cold like a child. Sehloho cla ims that he felled into a gh ost trap
while he was walking durin g the night lookin g for his wife Mmadimakatso who had
not been at home. He cla ims that on his arriva l at home, his wife was not at home
so he had to go and look for her and their ch ild ren. Thuso wants to find out where
Mmadimakatso wa s, as Sehloho claims that she was not at home. Thuso asks
Mmadimakatso:
Thuso: Empa ke ka leba ka lang ha a pheheletse hore o ne a batlana le
wena le bana ?
But wh y does he in sist that he wa s loo kin g for you and ch ild ren?
Mmadimakatso: Aubuti Thuso, Sehloho o a tahwa. O tena a sa tsebe han tle hore
na ehlile ho etsahe tse jwang ka yena tjena hobane o ne a tauwe .
Brother Thuso, Seh loho ge ts d runk. In the lon g run he doe s not kno w wha t e xactly happened to him because he was dru nk.
Thuso: A tauwe ka Mantah a jwalo Mmad imakatso? Le hona ha ho ko bo
ho thwe monna o a tahwa .
Mmadimakatso, wa s he so drun k on M onday? And it is no t worth y to sa y the man gets drunk.
Lehana: Thuso mo reso, mo no teng ke paki. O fihlile ho nna mane a re fu!
Ke a kgolwa le ho ja ka mmotsa lebitso la hae, o ne a sa tlo mpole lla lona .
Thuso my bro ther, on that point I am a witne ss. He wa s e xtremely drunk when he arrive s at m y p lace. I doubt that if I had asked him his name he wou ld be able to tell me who he is.
31
Mmadimakatso: Tjhefu ena e mmo layang o e nwa hona mono ha mo sadi eno .
He drinks this poison which is killing him at that woman‟s p lace.
Thuso: O bolela ho re o nwa hore a se ke a tseba letho, le se mo
dihetseng ka metsing jwalo ?
Do you te ll that he drinks to su ch an e xtent that he does not kno w anyth in g, e ven abo ut what th re w h im into the wate r?
(Sefatsa, 1978: 11).
The underlying message from Thuso‟s language is that Mmadimakatso is to blame.
He does not fully b elie ve Mmadimakatso that Sehloho wa s drunk. He doubts that
Sehloho can be so drunk on Monda y b ecause Monda y is a workin g da y. He further
warns Mmadimakatso no t to sa y: mon na o a tahwa . – a man gets drunk. He wants
her to emplo y an e uphemism such as monna o ne a thabile – the husband was
happy. Sigh (2008), sa ys the follo win g about ho w women speak:
W omen speak with particu lar u rgency, not only becau se of their need to resist the triple oppre ssion or marginalization that the effect of colonialism, gender and male -dominated la ngua ge create, but also because their o wn ta ctics of self -rep resentation are often usefully adopted from the older and more e stablished nationalist politics of “their men” (Sigh, 2008:5).
Thuso‟s language emphasises patriarchal domination. He oppresses
Mmadimakatso b y warn in g he r that she is not free to u se lan gua ge the way she
wants. Mmadimaka tso uses lan gua ge the wa y she wants because she wan ts to free
herself from male domination. She resists oppression and she wants to sho w
males that females are not inferior a s they challen ge male – dominated language.
32
After few da ys, Lehana, Mmamohau and Thuso paid Sehloho a visit. Thuso is no t
satisfied because last time the y visited Sehloho, they did not get enough
information about what e xactly happ ened as they found Sehloho trembling with
cold after fallin g into the dam. Thuso feels stron gly that justice is not done
because Sehloho told them that he e nded up fallin g into the dam because he wa s
lookin g for his wife and children. He claims that the y we re not at home and Thuso
belie ve s that Sehlo ho is te llin g the truth.
Thuso: Empa le ile la lahla taba ya Sehloho maoba le a tseba?
But do you kno w th at the da y before yesterda y you did n ot concentrate on Sehloho‟s matter?
Lehana: Ya eng jwale monn a Thuso ?
W hat matter is that man Thuso?
Thuso: Ya hore o ne a ilo batla Mmad ima katso le bana. Ho bonahala
hantle hore Mmad imakatso o ne a le siyo lapeng ha Sehloho a tla be a yo mmatla . Kapa e teng ntho e etsahetseng ho re a tle a be a tsa maye le bo siu jwalo .
The matter that h e was goin g to lo ok for Mmadimaka tso and child ren. It seem as if Mmadimakatso was not at home as Sehloho h ad to go and look for her. Or is there an ythin g that happened that caused him to wande r at night like tha t.
Lehana: Mmad ima katso! O tjho hore more so ha a ka a fihla le le tho feela
lapeng moo maoba bosiu ?
Mmadimakatso! Do you sa y m y b rothe r ne ve r arrived at h ome the nigh t before yeste rday?
Mmadimakatso: Aubuti, nna le a mmakatsa ka nnete. Hakere ke bo letse hantle ka
re na Sehloho o ntse a tseke laka le masiu a batlang, hobane ke a tseba hore ha a le siyo o a be a le ho kae ?
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Brother, you peop le surp rise me. I d id tell you when I a sked wha t is Seh loho lookin g for when he is roamin g around at night, because I kno w if he is not he re whe re he is.
Thuso: Mmad ima katso! O bolela ho re o kwale tse monna kantle b osiung
boo?
Mmadimakatso! Are you tellin g me th at you locke d you r husband
outside that n ight?
Mmadimakatso: (A haketse ) Ha ke na mosebetsi le ye na nna …
(She is angry) I don‟t care about him…
Lehana: O hana ho araba p otso jwale mohatsa ngwaneso .
My brother‟s wife, now you refuse to answer the question.
Mmadimakat so: Oo! E, le jwale … le jwale …
Oh! Yes, of course … of course…
Thuso: Ho o thusitse ka eng ho kwalla monna ka ntle? Hona ha a batlile
a eshwa jwalo na e ne e sa tlo ba wen a ya mmola ileng ?
…W hat did you benefit from locking you husband outside? As he nearly died, woul d it not be you who killed him?
Mmamohau: Mmad ima katso ngw aneso, monna ha a kwallwe ka ntle tlu ng ya
hae. Ke ho iphoqa le ho ikenya mahlo a batho ho etsa
jwalo….Rona ba habo Sehloho re ne re tla o qosa le ho o hloya hoja Sehloho o ne a sh wele hona jwale .
Mmadimakatso m y siste r, a husband is not locked outsid e his house. By so do in g, you are embarra ssin g yourse lf and inviting people‟s attention to yourself.… W e Sehloho‟s family would have accused and hated you if Sehloho had died (Sefatsa, 197 8: 12-13).
They all agree tha t Mmadimakatso is wron g because a woman must open up for
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(2008:147) maintains that emotions are “culturally constructed and socially
situated”. The reaction of the community toward Mmadimakatso can be understood
in such terms. Readers see Thuso, Lehana and Mmamohau blamin g
Mmadimakatso for Sehloho‟s abusive behaviour toward her. They claim that she is
wron g because she refused to open the door for her husband and by so doin g, she
brough t shame upon herself.
The playwrite shows the audience that Sehloho‟s society is patriarchal. The
perpetrato r is man, an outstandin g me mber of the community. The pla ywrite further
sho ws reade rs that married women a lso pro mote patria rch y. The blame is alwa ys
on the other woma n. In the case of Mmadimakatso, it is understandab le that it is
painful to deal with the betra yal of a partner but no one is he lpin g her to fight for
women‟s rights. Lehana and Thuso do not advise Sehlo ho about the wrongs that he
is doin g, but instea d they put the bla me on Mmadimakatso. Even Mmamoh au does
not help Mmadimakatso to fight patriarch y, she also b lames Mmad imakatso as sh e
did not open the do or for her husband when he was under the influence of liquor.
3.4 Sehloho whips Mmadimakatso
Sehloho intends to harm his b rothe r Lehana, his wif e Mmadimakatso and his
concubine Mmalen ka. He is still bitte r becau se none of them opened the d oor for
him when he was u nder the influence of liquo r. To harm Mmadimakatso, he elopes
with his con cubine Mmalenka to Mmadimakatso‟s place. What Sehloho does, is not
accepted in the Basotho cu lture. A married man like Sehloho is not a llo wed to
elope with a wom an. If he wants to enter into po lygamy, he can do that but
follo win g the co rre ct pro cedure. W hat Sehloho i s do ing is not part of polygam y,
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Sehloho arrive s ho me with his concu bine Mmalenka an d he expects his wife to
accept that. Mmadimakatso, as a Mosotho woman does not accept what h er
husband is do in g b ecause that is not part of the Basotho cultu re. The follo win g is
the conve rsation between Sehloho and his wife Mmadimakatso which leads them
to fight:
Mmadimakatso: (Ka ho makala le b ohale ) Seh loho, ha eka o tlisitse mosa di eo wa
hao ha ka moo…..?
(In a state of confusion and angry) Sehloho, ho w dare you b rin g this woman to my homestead…..?
Sehloho: Oo! Le wena o jwalo…(a kwala monyako. Ntwa e a kupa ).
Oh! You are also like that…(he closes the door. They fight).
Mmadimakatso: Le kgale! O ka mpa w a mpolaya . (Ba kolokotjhana ).
Ne ver! You better kill me. (The y wre stle).
Sehloho: Oo! O mangan ga le ho ba mangan ga ee! (Tlelapa le sete bele di a
fapanyetsana. Men o, manala le hlooh o di tlo la boro ko).
Oh! You are so stubborn! (The y e xchange slaps and punches. Teeth, nails and he ad are all part of the action ).
Mmadimakatso: (Oa matha ) Le kga le, le ha ho se ho thwe ke tsherehane. Mosadi
e mong a tlo ken gwa ka tlung ya ka ke ntse ke tonne mah lo! Letekatse le hon a! Nka mpa ka shwa! Ke tla lwana y a kgu ma me la.
(She runs) Ne ve r, even thou gh I can be seen as inferior. Anothe r wife cannot be pla ced in m y home whilst m y e yes a re still open! More o ver a p rostitute! I better d ie! I will fight th is stren uously.
