To Please His Ancestors , 8 Year Old Boy Married A 61-Year-Old Woman

8 year old Sanele Mailela recently got married to a 61 year old woman after his grandfather contacted him from beyond the grave asking him to have a ‘white wedding’. So the schoolboy chose family friend and mother-of-five Helen and his family paid £500 for her to be his wife at a £1,000 ceremony in Tshwane, South Africa.

Dressed in a bow tie and tiny silver suit, little Sanele, the youngest of five children, exchanged rings in front of 100 guests and even puckered up for a kiss. Sanele said:

‘My grandfather contacted me through a picture of my mother’s wedding. We have a special bond because I am named after him.

He (Grandfather) said he had seen the picture and felt sad that he had never been able to have a white wedding of his own so he asked me to get married. I chose Helen because I love her.

The [wedding] day was great and it was exactly what I had imagined it would be like.

My friends thought it was really funny that I was getting married but I do now feel like a husband.’

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Since then, the schoolboy has settled down to married life and is seen in the photo above enjoying a meal with his new wife. But, despite appearances, it wasn’t real, the marriage was just a ritual and not legally binding.

The couple do not live together but Helen is often invited to have dinner with him at the family’s home.

Sanele has gone back to his life and continues to enjoy school and playing football with his friends but admits that the wedding was important to him.

Sanele’s 46-year-old mum, Patience Masilela added that she believes the ceremony ‘was not wrong’ and that it has pleased the ancestors. She said:

‘This is the first time this has happened in the family. Sanele is named after his grandfather, who has never had a white wedding before he died so asked Sanele to get married. He chose Helen because he loves her.

By doing this we made the ancestors happy. If we hadn’t done what my son had asked then something bad would have happened in the family.

I didn’t have a problem with it because I know it’s what the ancestors wanted and it would make them happy.

Sanele was fine and he was happy about the ceremony and it was what he wanted. He was happy to get married and very excited.’

News of the wedding sent shockwaves around the world but Helen, who has already been married for 30 years and has five children between 37 and 27 years old, defended the ceremony. She said:

‘I know the story went out all over the world and it’s great that other countries have been able to learn about our culture and our ancestors.

What we did was not wrong. It’s just our culture. When the ancestors ask something, we do what they say. I don’t think other people understand that.

I know the ancestors are happy now because we are all alright and everything seems better and greater.

The whole family is much happier than we’ve ever been.

I will always stay close to Sanele’s family even before the wedding and before Sanele chose me as his wife we were very close.

Nothing has changed since then.’

Helen admitted the expensive ceremony had been much bigger than her original wedding to husband, Alfred, 65, and had no regrets.

Her husband of 30 years, Alfred, 65, said: ‘My kids and I are happy.

Sanele also said he hoped he would have a proper wedding to a woman his own age when he was older. But for now, he will go to school and study hard.

(L-R) Alfred Shabangu (Helen’s first husband) Helen Shabangu, Sanele Masilela (on the floor) and Sanele’s mother Patient Masilela