SISWATI
1.
Livezandlebe ngumntfwana lotfolwe ngunina (lowendzile)
ngekuphinga. Sibonelo: Ngiteke
uLaSibeko; ngamlobola; futsi sinebantfwana lababili naye.
2.
Sekutsi ngalelinye lilanga ngingekho
ngisemsebentini yena sowuvakashelwa nguSibiya uyammitsisa nekummitsia.
3.
Umntfwana uyavela ekani asiye wami, waSibiya.
4.
Loyo mntfwana livezandlebe ngesintfu.
5.
Ligama leliyinhlamba kakhulu leli futsi
alibitwabitwa emntfwaneni ngoba tsine eMaSwati sikholelwa kwekutsi umkami
nakangigangele ngalendlela ugangele mine.
Tibi tonkhe temkami ngiyatifihla.
6.
Nakuke kwavela umuntfu lotsi umntfwanami
livezandlebe ngitawumhambela emadvuneni ngimhlawulise. (Eveni lase-South Africa
umuntfu lonjalo uyakwati nekumyisa emakhotho lawesilungu utawuhlawula matima
ngekutsatsa emahlazo emfati wami nemti wami awente libhola lakhe lemlomo).
7.
Livezandlebe liyafana-nje nalabanye bantfwana
labangebami; futsi alikhuliswa ngendlela lenemehluko kulabanye bantfwabami. Tibonelo:
8.
Nangabe lakhaya bantfwabami ngiyabashaya
nabagangile; ngete ngatsi nangive kutsi Vezandlebe ugangile yena ngesabe
kumshaya ngoba “batotsi ngimshaya ngoba angasiye wami”.
9.
Sibonelo sesibili: nangabe bantfwabami bonkhe
sebakhulile futsi ngibatsengela timotela; ngete bese angisamtsengeli Vezandlebe
ngekutsi “asiye wami lona”.
10.
Umlamndvo weBantfu ugcwele nswi tibonelo
temavezandlebe laba lusito kuboyise kwendlula bantfwabelisendze.
KISWAHILI
11.
Mimi babamtu Mswahili. Na mama yake pia; lakini mtoto wetu
Mwarabu. Mtoto huyo anaitwaje
kwaKiswahili?
ENGLISH
12.
The illegitimate child is a highly-prized entity
among many Bantu societies. We believe
that if my wife has erred, well, she has erred!
That child cannot be made to carry the can. Furthermore, we believe fatherhood lies in
the act of bringing up the child rather than on planting the seed.
13.
This tradition or culture lies replete with
examples of illegitimate children who turned far more responsible and loyal to
their fathers than own children.
14.
The Zulu word for the illegitimate child (in
contradistinction to a ‘love child’) is ‘ivezandlebe’.
15.
It is considered a deep insult to refer to
another human being as ‘ivezandlebe’. As
such, the father of the child (of course not the biological father who will
always be AWOL or ‘missing in action’ for the crime he committed impregnating
someone else wife) is within his rights to take to court anyone who dares refer
to any of his children as ‘ivezandlebe’.