39 therefore also mindful that the practice is receiving the attention of not only the affected communities, but also relevant statutory bodies, organs of civil society and both the executive and legislature. [72] It is not necessary for purposes of this judgment to set out in detail the contents of the evidence presented by the amici in their affidavits. What is of significance though are the common threads in the evidence of the experts, activists and in the submissions of all the amici with regard to the practice of ukuthwala in both its traditional conception and the present and prevailing practice of the custom. Professor Ronald Thandabantu Nhlapo, a renowned expert on customary law, and author of several publications on the topic who chaired the advisory committee that assisted the SALC in the development of the Discussion Paper in Project 138, explained in an affidavit that it was critical to understand that customary law posits both regular and irregular means of initiating and concluding a customary marriage. Ukuthwala is one such irregular method which would, if the precepts of the custom were correctly followed, eventually lead to the conclusion of a valid marriage under customary law. Nhlapo explained that the regular method for the conclusion of a customary marriage entails a proposal of marriage by the intended bridegroom’s family, which is extended to the family of the intended bride, and, if accepted, negotiations with regard to the payment of lobola by the betrothed man’s family to the betrothed woman’s commences. Once the negotiations are concluded and the lobola fixed, a series of what he termed “highly ritualized