For some men, this will be a once in a lifetime jackpot but for Sipho Njomane (40) it is an unthinkable wrong for his fiancée, Thembi Ndlovu, to insist that she can only be his wife if he also marries her twin sister Thembisile Ndlovu.
Sipho, the polygamy shy man, has tried all he can to make the twins know that it is not right for a man to marry two women according to his church beliefs but the ladies will have none of it.
They told him “we do things together and we want to keep it that way.”
To make matters for the boyfriend, the girls’ family say their soon to be son in law’s refusal for the rare “buy one get one free” offer is not a good thing and they do not want to deal with any issues that may arise if their daughters are separated.
According to the daily sun, Thembi and Thembisile Ndlovu who live in Edenpark, Ekurhuleni, South Africa lost their parents at a very young age and vowed that they will never be separated.
So when Sipho went down on one knee and popped the question ‘Will you marry me’, to the love of his life Thembi.
To his surprise, Thembi replied: “YOU MUST BE READY TO TAKE MY SISTER AS WELL. YOU MUST MARRY US BOTH!”
Thembi said that she was in love with Sipho but wasn’t sure how he would react to the ultimatum.
I love Sipho, but I can’t marry him and leave my sister behind.
We knew we had to stand together no matter what.
We vowed that if a man loves only one of us, he’s not good enough for either of us, she said.
Because of their work, the twins asked that their faces not appear in the paper.
Thembi said she met Sipho when her sister was not well and she’d gone to buy food for them and get medication.
She met Sipho in the pharmacy last year March and they exchanged numbers.
“I told Thembisile about the guy, and when he invited me for a date I took her with me and we always went out together,” she said.
“Sipho proposed in December, but I told him he’d have to marry us both.”
They said they understood his religious issue but won’t break their vows.
Sipho told Daily Sun both twins are good people, but he could even be expelled from church.
“I don’t know what to do. I’m getting old and Thembi is the right person for me,” he said.
The twins’ uncle, Mathunjwa Ndima (71), said if they wanted to marry the same man, so be it.
“To marry one and leave the other behind can cause problems. It’s better if they marry the same man to stay as close as they are.”
Cultural expert Mtimande Ngwenya told Daily Sun twins are taken as one, so if Sipho marries them both his religion won’t be affected.
“It’s not like marrying two different people from different families,” he said.
He said Sipho should lobola only once and pay for everything.
“It’s a jackpot for Sipho. Two wives for a price of one,” said Ngwenya.
“Even when doing umembeso it must be for one person, but he must take both of them so that they’re not separated.”
-Daily Sun
