Isithembu
Isithembu as practiced by the Xhosa people is a complex form of polygamy. In this system a man's wives all have positions in the family. Where a man has two wives the family is divided into two branches called "estates". The household (wife, children, members of her family and servants) belonging to his first wife is called the "great house" (indlunkulu). His next wife's household is called the "Right hand house" (ukunene). If he takes a third wife, she and her children are affiliated to the great house. Hers is called a "support house" (iqadi). In some cases the third wife served the first wife as a servant before she was married. Should there be a fourth wife, she and her household are also iqadi and affiliated with the right hand house.