The practice of paying "Lobola" (or Lobolo) as part of the marriage process is a tradition in many South African cultures including Xhosa, Zula, Swazi and Ndebele. Lobola is essentially the "bride price" that the prospective groom must pay to the bride's family in order to enter into marriage. For centuries cattle has formed the primary currency of Lobola but more recently, cash and Mink blankets plays a significant role. However, often, even the cash amount is tendered by way of establishing the price of a cow and how many cows would have been given.

Other gifts are also formally requested and agreed to during the negotiations and blankets very often are in high demand. Interestingly, historically the Lobola negotiations are attended not by the bride and groom, but by their families, and most often, by the men in the family. Besides simply coming to a financial agreement, this ritual is said to form a bond between the two families. During the negotiations families who otherwise may not have met, come together to meet and spend time with each other..