“Lobola Gives You Access to the Child”: Human Rights Violations Within Cultural Expectations of Young Unmarried Fathers at Zeerust, South Africa

Abstract Having a child out of wedlock does not guarantee the involvement of the father in the child’s life, especially in South Africa, where mothers and maternal families use cultural practices as a cover to restrict the father’s involvement in the life of the child. This paper sought to explore how lobola-related cultural practices influence the experiences of young unmarried fathers at Zeerust, South Africa, with specific attention to the violations of parental participation, family life, and access rights embedded within the cultural expectations. A qualitative exploratory research design was used to collect data from ten participants through face-to-face semistructured interviews. Reflexive thematic analysis was adopted to analyse the data. The study discovered that young unmarried fathers face parental challenges with having access to and being involved in the upbringing of their children when lobola or pregnancy damages have not been paid, resulting in the exclusion from caregiving and decision-making which is in violation of their parental rights as per the Children’s Act 38 of 2005. The lack of knowledge of fathers about laws that protect the rights of unmarried fathers aggravates these challenges. These findings are interpreted through the social role theory, stigma theory, and rights-based approach. The study concludes that culture has a significant impact on the experiences of young fathers raising children out of wedlock in South Africa. The study contributes a broad body of literature, wherein it creates awareness about the psychosocial challenges experienced by young unmarried fathers. The researchers recommend that social workers develop interventions that address the challenges of young unmarried fathers caused by cultural practices and societal expectations. Moreover, there should be educational programmes aimed at educating young unmarried fathers about their parental rights and responsibilities.