Spreading the Risk: The Principle of Laterality among the Chopi

Opening Paragraph In a recent publication, Eleanor Preston-Whyte (1974: 209) has noted the comparative ‘flexibility’ of the Tsonga and Chopi kinship systems, which allow for a greater degree of ‘individuality’ among these peoples as compared with other southern African Bantu-speaking peoples. This paper examines the place of the systems of marriage, divorce, and succession in the socio-cultural matrix which gives rise to an egocentric rather than sociocentric emphasis which is unusual in southern Africa.