This is Ridiculous, an eight year-old school boy Sanele
Masilela weds a woman who is old enough to be his grandmother,
Helen Shabangu, in south Africa.
According
to the boy, he married the old woman because the ghost of his dead ancestor
told him to. This happened over the weekend. 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 wedding ceremony surprised the whole family
and the 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.
Patience Masilela 46-year-old
mum, the mother of the groom, Sanele 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 was 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.“
Little Sanele also added 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,”