The practical guidelines on the impact of <i>mahadi</i> [bride price] on the young Basotho couples prior to marriage

This article investigates and provides guidelines to the negative impact of <em>mahadi</em> on the Basotho youth before they may marry. It is important to note that marriage is one of the main parts of the life cycle amongst the Basotho and not only joins a man and a woman together, but is also considered to unite the members of the respective families of the married couple into one family. This union of two families comes into effect when the process of negotiation of the <em>mahadi</em> is initiated. The negotiation for <em>mahadi</em> is, in other words, the first stage of bonding two families together. In the hope of gaining a better understanding and results, the writer searched for a qualitative method to conduct the research