miphakathini eminye yomdabu abesifazane banakho ukuphathwa njengabantwana. Uma besakhula baba ngaphansi kwesandla soyise noma somalume (kulabo abakhulele koninalume). Uma beficwa yisikhathi sokugana, isiko lelobolo libawelisela esandleni sabayeni babo. Uma ngeshwa kwenzeka edlula emhlabeni umyeni ingane endala yomfana iyona eyengamela izindaba zasekhaya. Kuvame ukuba kuthiwe owesifazane oshonelwe akangenwe okuyisiko elidala elinika umfowabo noma umzala womyeni ilungelo lokuqapha umuzi womfowabo. Lokhu kuvimbela ukuba owesifazane aze aphumele ngaphandle abe nobudlelwane nowesilisa ongelona ilungu lomndeni njengoba sibona emanovelini athi Ifa Lenkululeko nethi Ifa Ngokufa. Leli phepha libheka ukuthi ukuguquka kwamasiko ngenxa yokushintsha kwesikhathi akukwehlisi yini lokhu kuqhoqhobalwa kwabesifazane ngabesilisa. Lokhu kuzokwenziwa ngokuba kubhekwe okwenzeka emanovelini amabili akhuluma ngokushonelwa ngabayeni kanjalo nendlela abaphathwa ngayo uma sebengasenabayeni. Widowhood: the root of oppression in the novels Ifa Ngukufa and Ifa Lenkululeko In some traditional societies women are sometimes treated like children. While growing up, girls are controlled by their fathers or uncles (for those born out of wedlock). When they get married, the lobola tradition hands them over to their husbands. If the husband passes away, the widow’s grown-up, first-born son becomes the head of the homestead. Usually, the widow finds herself in a sororate marriage which gives the brother or the cousin of the deceased the right to take over as a husband to the widow. This prohibits the widow from forming a relationship with a man who is not part of her husband’s immediate family. This article looks at the cultural evolution in two novels and aims to find out whether this eliminated oppression of women by men. It focuses on the two novels which discuss the plight of widows and the way they are treated after the death of their husbands.