The Little Groom: 8 Year-Old Boy Marries 61 Year-Old Woman in South Africa to “Make the Ancestors Happy”
Posted on Monday, March 11th, 2013 at 4:36 PMBy Adeola Adeyemo
At an age where children are known for their inability to make sound decisions for their future, a South African family has succumbed to their son’s wishes to get married.
Over the weekend, an eight year-old school boy Sanele Masilela tied the knot with 61 year-old Helen Shabangu, who is already married and a mother of five. According to the boy, he married the woman because the ghost of his dead ancestor told him to.
Huffington Post reports that he married Helen in accordance with the wishes of his dead ancestors, and his family provided Helen with £500 and paid a further £1,000 for the celebration.
The little eight year-old, the youngest of five children, dressed in a bow tie and tiny silver suit and shared a kiss with his bride after exchanging rings in front of 100 guests.
The ceremony shocked the entire community but the family said it was a ritual and not legally binding. The couple did not sign a marriage certificate and do not have to live together. They have both returned to their normal lives.
Sanele’s 46-year-old mum, Patience Masilela told Huffington Post that there was nothing wrong with the wedding and her son was “happy to get married and very excited”. She added that it was her son’s late grandfather who asked him to get married “This is the first time this has happened in the family. Sanele is named after his grandfather who has never had a white wedding before he died so asked Sanele to get married. He chose Helen because he loves her. By doing this we made the ancestors happy. If we hadn’t done what my son had asked then something bad would have happened in the family.“
Helen, and her husband of 30 years also have no problem with it. According to the mother of five, it was “what the ancestors wanted” and now they are happy. “It is a ritual. We are just playing now, but it is a sign that he will get married one day.”
Little Sanele also reiterated this by saying he would have a “proper” wedding to a woman his own age when he is older. “I told my mother that I wanted to get married because I really did want to. I’m happy that I married Helen – but I will go to school and study hard. When I’m older I will marry a lady my own age,” Huffington Post quoted him as saying.
We simply have no words for this. Check out some of their wedding photos:
Sanele being led to the wedding by his mother, Patience Masilela
Photo Credit: Huffington Post
Tags: Helen Shabangu, Patience Masilela, Sanele Masilela
this is madness
yuck!!! Horrible!! *surprised face*
This is juju! There is no other explanation. He even kissed her on the lips. Bele!
omg… but was the kiss absolutely necessary if this is ‘just a ritual’?
Hian! Oh! To each his own ba?
Grossest thing ever
no comment
“make the Ancestors Happy”?! this is madness.
God have mercy! Lost for words
i it was about that she should have not kiss him
oh dear Lord….i am not calling thy name in vain but instead calling out to help the human kind you created…..this child should be playing with supermario or even yugi-oh…they just robbed that boy’s childhood and isnt this child abuse.
Lol I know right…he’s meant to be watching tele tubbies but instead it’s the other way round. Well, like they say…wonders never end
SICK!
*pukes* he mouth kissed her
D little boy is possessed. He needs serious deliverance frm ancestral spirits.
im sorry, is this real ?! Thats so disgusting. Some of the things we Africans do really needs to be taken into consideration
hmmm….. this is whole lot of bullshit, i cant believe such a thing happened!
disgusting…….
wonders shall never cease ……………………..
oga ju! illiteracy is truly crime.
LOL. Weirdos
Shocking
what is this? can u imagine 8yr old na waoooo tinz dey happen sha
My dear d sad part is he doesn’t knw d Gravity of what is happening…I. Don’t want to criticize any one but why do this to a small child.. He doesn’t even have a life yet ohh… This is CRAZY!!!!!!
We Africans sha! Juju too much ooo. I used to think it was only in West Africa esp Nigeria but now South Africa. Nawa o.
ABORMINATIONNNNNNNNNNNN,OH LORD LET THY KINGDOM COME. SO MUCH SIGNS OF END TIME
LOL.. this a a joke
Speechless!!! now I’ve seen it all….
In this 21st Century….. WOW.
I guess nothing never ceases to amaze…..
lifeinstagesdoz.blogspot.co.uk/
South Africa people n their funny ways….. Front runners in economy but very very with very very backward culture. CHILD ABUSE! Abeg shift *hiss*
This is what i call WITCHCRAFT!!!
No comment either
tufiakwa!!!!!!!!!
This is bad… really bad. As for the kiss i don’t think the little boy kissed her. She (the juju lady) kissed the poor child. I say this cos she is way taller than him, she bent over/down to give the kiss. It seem like the juju priest (aka pastor/minister) officiating the ceremony pushed the poor child closer to the OLD WOMAN/ODEDE( AKA bride) for her to kiss him. If u look @ the pic closely the juju pastor’s hand is on the boy’s back. This is seriously annoying on all level.!
i see nothing wrong in it,,it was traditional and part of culture that we shouldn’t throw away due to what the western world will say, Am glad they kept their traditions. It was ceremonial and there was no consummation.
By God’s grace ur 8 yr old wud marry a 61 yr old….if u cannot say amen to that then u knw y it’s wrong.
Wow @ Laide, really? I fear for some commenters here sa!
my dear its sad you are angry over something that has nothing to do with you, its culture, there are weirder stuff in many cultures that we would have called taboo, but this has no effect on the boy, and it looks like he has wisdom past his years. If its part of tradition and simply platonic and doesn’t affect my child’s psyche, i will definitely allow it. It was simply an ideology carried out, nothing more. You people act like he will consummate the marriage and live with her all his life, and as we saw it wasn’t that at all. You guys who are condemning it have tragically enslaved your minds to colonial western mentality. Get over it, its part of taboos in culture. Mtchewww…
It’s funny to see how ppl are quick to judge ones cultural, when other cultural’s are much different from this, no one died, no one got injured. Think out side of the box ( in this case outside of the US) not every country or continent at that is the same. Grow up ppl!!
O dikwa egwu!
How is this child abuse? The boy is standing in place of his dead grandfather who never had a white wedding. In Nigeria there are a lot of customs to honor dead ancestors. The woman has been married for 30 years and has her own children. A white wedding does not mean amarried in a church. The 61 year old might probably be a motherly/grand mother figure to him. Now if people have a problem about a young boy seeing his ancestor’s ghost that is a different matter.
Stop complaining. Happens EVERYDAY in northern Nigeria, to girls.
So dissappointed!!!!!
This is why Africans are FOREVER carrying last! His ancestors told him to marry her in a dream? Really? They are worried about something bad happening in their family if he didn’t obey his ancestors “call of marriage” but no-one is thinking of the possible repercussions of agreeing to this foolishness either. No matter how hard we try to move forward, there’s always going to be that act of stupidity that takes us right bk where we started! We are really a backward culture. I mean we condone pedophilia in Nigeria in the name of marriage! A grown man will want a girl of 10 or younger as a wife and her parents will agree and the nation will accept it as the norm. You see mothers putting makeup on their girls as early as 5 so make them appealing to suitors when she can’t speak English talk less of read and write. Her job in life is to marry, have kids and probably contract HIV/AIDS and die because of her husband “extracurricular” activities with his male associates! AFRICANS are a different breed of human beings and I don’t mean that in a GOOD way!!!
Madness….Dissappointed….Tufiakwa……Shocking……Witchkraft………Abomination….Speechless….Disgusting…..It is their culture oh!!!
See the gogo molesting the young kid in the name of kissing. The gogo is a pedophile. Confirmed!!
Only in the continent of Africa.
Are you kidding me?????
Utter rubbish!!! How d heck is an 8 yr old supposed to know who his “ancestors” are. Nonsense!!!
WTH is all this!!! OMG in the name of tradition. Na wah oh. Chei. gbam
This is some bullocks right here….
This the stupidest thing I have ever seen, God help this kid
Am not in any way suprise afterall the Bible made mention of ‘people making up a gospel after their own lust’ in the last days so its just scripture been fulfiled so i thank God am alive to witness this so just start puting your home in order…
screams PERVERT!!!!!
may GOD forgive us all
the ancestors will soon ask him to sleep with her. i wish d family luck
I only blame his parents who have sold this handsome looking young man’s soul to occultism…its not too late son that yolk will be broken in Jesus name
CHILD ABUSE!!!!!!!!!!! I just threw up in my mouth!!!
as a South African i am very disgusted by this whole crap. why do that to the poor child? social services should intervene please or call childline
LoL ,i cant stop laughin
*coughs* I don’t understand. But why?!
Lord Have Mercy!
This is why Africa will ALWAYS remain a DARK CONTINENT! #RUBBISH
Recarnation?
At his age he even knows how to close his eyes when kissing a woman. In this case a woman old enough to be his great-grand mother. *God forbid*
he without sin cast the first stone, there is no big sin or little sin, there is no bad sin or worst sin, all sin is sin and all sinners will share the same fate. with that being said, Lord have mercy on us all
SATANIC/DEVILISH QHA KE
As much as I would love to judge, I am in no place to. Human beings base their decisions on what has been indoctrinated in them, whether it is culture, christianity, budhism,etc. For this reason, what may be a norm for one culture might be an bomination for the other. Study “theirs”, then formulate an opinion. Ndingumxhosa mna, eMonti(East London).
What is this world coming too! Sometimes things in life can be understood! Sometimes not. In this world it seems things will only get worst if yo go by what you see daily. Always put your trust in God for a sense of directions 1st.
Who join them, a native doctor or a man of God call himself pastor. Where were they join? in d church, l mean house of God or in an uncompleted corner where they design with red, black or white clothe with all sorts of unliving thing . As long as l am concern, there is nothing like making ancestor happy. Make Jesus happy by living a righteous life and no spirit will talk to u because the word of God says in the bible after death judgement follows. Be it south africa, nigeria, america or wherever. Christ is one.
Heyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!evil @ work. Abomination our forefathers did not leave to see. This would have caused a big calamity in the days of amadioha……
This is the trick of the devil them are demonic spirits at hand instead of gem going to God they blaspheme against the word just like the gays the murderer the adulterers and fabricators
They are not really married they are just together for the ceremony. As for the kiss many parents kiss their child on the lips. It’s not like they had sex, making a big deal out of nothing.
Wel am nt suprise, sign of d end time is very close, pls beware. Life witout christ is ful of crissis.
This woman should be arrested! This is insane!!! are people stupid or are they crazy? it has to be either one or both! unbelievable!!!