12 Jul 2022

For families and marriages to live in peace, there ought to be formidable relationship between mother and daughter-in-law, Dingwetsi Tsa Bobirwa society’s chairperson has said.

Dingwetsi Tsa Bobirwa, a society registered in April this year, seeks to mould and foster healthy relationships between a mothers and daughters-in-law.

In an interview, Ms Mpho Ngambi said the 20-member society had discovered that, amongst other things, troubles within marriages and extended families were born from disrespectful daughters-in-law.

On one hand, Ms Ngambi said some daughters in law sought to drive a wedge between husbands and their mothers, a sure trigger to some tiffs.

Some mothers-in-law also perpetrated the animosity.

Until and unless the daughters-in-law understood that their mothers-in-law bore them the husbands they were tied to, peace between the two would remain a mirage, according to Ms Ngambi.

“Peace between mother and daughter-in-law is a nourishment for the son and or husband,” said Ms Ngambi.

Ms Ngambi added, ‘some wives would put their husbands in a precarious situation where they push them to choose between their wives and mothers.’

Ms Ngambi said their society hosted some conferences where professional counselors helped influence mutual understanding between mother and daughter-in-law and thereby ushering in some peace where breakups were imminent.

In many instances, Ms Ngambi said, issues usually arose where a daughter-in-law stayed with her in-laws in the same compound.

Resultantly, the society usually advised members to build own homes away from in-laws to avoid two centres of powers.

“Sometimes we discover that these misunderstanding were a result of one having innocently grown accustomed to certain traditions and utterances that may otherwise unintentionally provoke the other party,” said the chairperson.

However, the chairperson said the society had not experienced deep and troubling issues beyond their management.

Although established in 2019, the society only registered April this year and introduced itself to Kgosi Joel Masilo, who represents Bobirwa region at Ntlo Ya Dikgosi late last month. The society also introduced itself to dikgosi in the region

Dingwetsi Tsa Bobirwa faced resistance from some married women who wanted their mother and daughter-in-law fights sustained.

“They wanted to live their lives detached from their mothers-in-law saying they enjoyed their peaceful lives with their husbands,” said Ms Ngambi. BOPA