WATCH | Polygamist Musa Mseleku shares his anti-polyandry views

Popular polygamist Musa Mseleku has shared his views against the proposal for polyandry to be legally recognised as a form of marriage, which has sparked major debate across the country.

Musa was invited to share his views in an interview on eNCA about whether polyandry should be made legal in SA. The clip from the show featuring Musa and cultural activist, Nokuzola Mndende, slamming the proposal went viral on Twitter.

The Uthando Nes'thembu star outlined his view that polygamy was backed by culture and entrenched in years of tradition, whereas he believes polyandry was a misguided attempt by activists to equalise men and women. He also labelled polyandry as an attack on the institution of marriage.

“I can tell you, this is a mere, straightforward attack on the only institution that should be protected and preserved — which is marriage. I do not even understand where those activists are coming from ... I think maybe they are driven by so much of trying to portray certain things as equality, whereas they don’t understand the fundamentals of where we (polygamists) are coming from with the institution of marriage. Polygamy does not just exist because a man has got a desire to have many wives,” Musa said.

Musa went on to elaborate on why he believes polyandry is a bad idea, saying unlike polygamy, polyandry would cause “a lot of commotion and confusion”.

Watch the video below:

Musa rose to popularity a few years ago when the Mzansi Magic's polygamy-themed reality show Uthando Nes'thembu took SA by storm. The show gave viewers a front-row seat into how Musa, his four wives (MaCele, MaYeni, MaKhumalo and MaNgwabe) and 10 children navigate life individually and as a unit with the lifestyle.

The polygamist’s comments received split reactions from Mzansi and some (mostly men) agreed with his views, while others slammed them and labelled him a hypocrite. Some critics said men in general needed to stop using “culture” as a weapon to oppress women.

Broadcaster Redi Tlhabi joined the discussion on the TL after the snippet from Musa’s interview went viral. The author slammed the news channel for giving men the platform to “debate” polyandry when women have not been given the same amount of time to express their views.

“Any reason you are interviewing these men, on something that is about women? You frame it as a cultural debate but any cerebral take on polyandry? Commentary from experts on for example Himalayan societies that practise it? Or you are just going to bombard us with angry men?”

Read her tweets below: