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Different families have different traditions at this time of the year.
Blended families celebrate Christmas and New Year with a lot more siblings and relatives to consider. Bringing everyone together during the holidays means dealing with the different personalities and challenges in big families. We ask two families of polygamous marriages what the festive season is like for their large clans.
Former International Federation of Association Football referee, Andile “Ace” Ncobo, who has more than 20 children and three wives, also knows a thing or two about family traditions around this time of the year.
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Ncobo, who hails from Nqadu village in the Eastern Cape, says that, in his home, each family member chooses where they prefer to go, while he spends the festive season at his ancestral home to reconnect with the village folk. He adds that he “literally attends every ceremony there is in the village”.
He says:
Ncobo adds that he enjoys giving to the less privileged around this time of the year: “We live in a village that has a high prevalence of poverty, meaning that very few families can afford to cook a good Christmas lunch. So, the family hosts dozens of people for a feast, usually cooked outdoors in large black pots.”
On the Mseleku side, the patriarch, who has girlfriends and still wants to take a fifth wife, says his family appreciates spending time together during the festive season, but also dedicates time to giving back and visiting relatives.
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He says the only day they spent together as the Mselekus is December 31, New Year’s Eve:
Just like the Ncobos, the reality TV star and his family usually host a lunch for the community just before Christmas day. “We invite a few neighbours, we cook for them and have 'ihlahla lika khisimusi', where we give presents to them.”
Mseleku explains that, even on Year Year’s Eve, it is rare that they spend time in one house, but they would always be in one yard, since all the houses are next to each other.
He says:
From the information shared by Mseleku and Ncobo, it seems there is no conventional way that blended families to spend the festive season.
