The The Good, Bad and the Ugly: the Reflections of Young People on ‘Gonyalelwa Lapa’ Cultural Practice
Kgashane Johannes Malesa ORCID ↗ · Mmoledi Kabekwa ORCID ↗
International Journal of Business Ecosystem & Strategy · 2026 · Vol. 8 / Issue 4 · 531-538
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Abstract
Cultural practice Gonyalelwa lapa’ occurs when a family chooses to marry a woman, regardless of whether she has children or not, with the intention of her bearing children for their deceased son. Nevertheless, young individuals who are raised within the context of ‘Gonyalelwa lapa’ encounter certain difficulties. This manuscript asserts that, despite these challenges, there are also favorable perspectives regarding this cultural practice. The research endeavor aimed to examine and elucidate the reflections of young individuals who were raised within the framework of ‘Gonyalelwa lapa’. For this purpose, qualitative research methods were employed, specifically adopting a phenomenological approach within an exploratory, descriptive, and contextual framework. Data was gathered from a sample of twenty-three young individuals (including both males and females) utilizing purposive and snowball sampling techniques and subsequently subjected to thematic data analysis. The investigation exposed that growing up in ‘Gonyalelwa lapa’ has had an impact on the youth in diverse manners. These encounters entail mistreatment, insufficient monetary assistance resulting in starvation, gender-based prejudice, especially directed towards females who are not biologically related to their mothers' "marital family", and sensing exclusion and inhospitality within these kinships. Transdisciplinary contribution: This study contributes to the understanding of the effects of ‘Gonyalelwa lapa’ cultural practice on young people from a variety of disciplines such as cultural dimensions, psychological and socio-legal. The findings call for the need for multidisciplinary interventions and policy makers to mitigate the negative consequences of ‘Gonyalelwa lapa’ cultural practice on young people who are raised within this context.
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Kgashane Johannes Malesa
University of South Africa
Mmoledi Kabekwa
Department of Social Development, Limpopo
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