Mother of three welcomes sister wife into her family

What some would see as an act of betrayal brought excitement to a wife who set alongside her husband as he married another woman. 

“I've been waiting for a sister wife for so long and finally it happens. I am so happy.” 

An excited Nthabiseng Makhoba, 45, told Sowetan as she welcomed her sister wife, Irene, during a mass wedding at the International Pentecost Holiness Church (IPHC) on Sunday. The church married 400 couples on the day at their branch in Jerusalem City, Rabokala, near Brits.

Nthabiseng sat alongside her husband, Ishmael Makhoba,49, who was tying the knot with Irene, 26, whom he had met at the church.  

Nthabiseng said she grew up in the church and had been taught about polygamy and love, a concept she would be teaching to their three boys aged 18, 13 and seven. 

According to church customs, a man is allowed to have as many wives as they choose on condition that they pick them within the church and make sure that each has their own home. 

When a man is ready to take another wife, he is obliged to speak to his first wife and then consult church advisers who then assist with approaching the prospective wife. The woman can accept or decline the offer. 

Nthabiseng said she had been waiting for years for a sister wife as she believed in giving love and growing the family.  

One Saturday in February last year, Ishmael told Nthabiseng, his wife of 18 years, that it was time for them to make an addition to the family by taking a second wife. 

An excited Nthabiseng, who had been preparing for this moment for years, already had the perfect person in mind for her husband. Little did she know that he had the same woman in mind. 

“As he was describing the woman, my heart smiled because I knew who he was talking about. We kept trying to describe her together until our descriptions matched. She is the exact woman I had eyed weeks earlier and wanted him to take,” she said. 

“We are going to have a beautiful sisterhood and I am glad it happened sooner so that our children can get to know her and grow with her.” 

While Ishmael acknowledges there would be challenges, he said he would be promoting mutual respect among his wives. 

“We will continue to marry more women as God grants us the strength to do so. I say ‘we’ because my wives and I are in it together.”

sibiyan@sowetan.co.za