Dowries have been a subject of intense debate across Africa. There are those who can afford it; others cannot. THEN, there are those who feel that it objectifies women. The debate has extended to whether love has been sacrificed, at the altar of material gain. So should a dowry be paid or not? CGTN's Yolisa Njamela has more from South Africa.

Dowry or lobola as it is known here in South Africa is an age-old custom that involves the transfer of cattle from the prospective husband to the family of his prospective bride.

The main function of this custom is to offer a token of appreciation to the parents of the bride-to-be for raising her.

Paying lobola, dowry, or bride price is a custom in many parts of the continent and calculating it is steeped in tradition.

Over the years, this tradition of paying lobola has moved into the 21st century. Instead of transfer of cattle - the transaction is now cash based.

Critics say it commoditizes women, thus disempowering them.

NQOBILE ZULU ANTHROPOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT STUDIES UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG "It's not about that, it's a cultural symbolism that, sort of, puts two families together. The coming together of two families which acknowledges that this is who we are and we are creating a new family."

But many maintain that the custom has the power to forge bonds.

LEBO RAMAFOKO SOUL CITY INSTITUTE FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE "So when person A meets person B, African cultures acknowledge that person A and person B each are part of a system and in fact the rituals that are involved in lobola negotiations are bringing those two systems together acknowledging that we are stronger working together than when we work as individuals and I think that is the beauty of the practice."

Ramofoko asserts though that this custom can still be practised without the exchange of money.

LEBO RAMAFOKO SOUL CITY INSTITUTE FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE "Families can come together without the man or woman paying money, in fact, you can zero-rate that, you can still have all the rituals of exchanging gifts, of families coming to together, blessing the people who want to get married and decide that, in fact, it is going to be, from a commercial point of view, a zero gain, in fact, both parents can decide to exchange gifts or gift the two newlyweds."

This custom has, however, often had unfavourable results. Some demands for dowry have seen weddings called off.

YOLISA NJAMELA JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA "Some demands for dowry have proven to be recipe for turmoil in many marriages as couples grapple with debts accrued in the process of seeking funds to pay up the dowry."

The practice remains an intrinsic part of getting married for many South Africans.

Yolisa Njamela, CGTN, Johannesburg, South Africa.