The Reform of Customary Law of Succession Act in contemporary South Africa

Abstract

Historically, the customary law of intestate succession was a flexible system of law that prioritised the well-being of the family. The law was distorted during the colonial and apartheid eras to focus on the individual inheritance of property. In 2010, the South African legislature passed the Reform of Customary Law of Succession and Regulation of Related Matters Act 11 of 2009 – which applies the Intestate Succession Act 81 of 1987 – to regulate the devolution of estates of individuals who live according to customary law and die intestate. This article examines whether the current framework adequately addresses the needs of contemporary South African society. It argues that the prioritisation of the nuclear family for inheritance may be out of sync with the myriad ways in which families are formed and that the Master of the High Court should be given a discretion in the distribution of an estate. This will undoubtedly result in uncertainty but may ameliorate some of the shortcomings of a fixed, rules-based system of inheritance that does not reflect contemporary society. Tshivenḓa: Ḓivhanizwakale, mulayo wa mbingano ya tshirema wa uri muthu a lovha ndaka yawe i ḓo kovhiwa vhukati ha mufumakadzi, vhana, vhabebi na vharathu wo vha u sisiṱeme ya vhutepe ya mulayo une wa vhea phanḓa mutakalo na mvelaphanḓa ya muṱa. Mulayo wo khakhiswa nga tshifhinga tsha koloni na tsha khethululo u itela u sedzesa kha vhuḽaifa ha ndaka ha muthu muthihi. Nga 2010, vhusimamilayo ha Afurika Tshipembe ho phasisa Mulayo wa Khakhululo ya Mulayo wa Mbingano ya Tshirema wa Vhuḽaifa na Ndaulo ya Mafhungo a re na Vhushaka nazwo wa 11 wa 2009 – une wa shumisa Mulayo wa u Kovha Ndaka Vhukati ha Vhaḽaifa wa 81 wa 1987 – u laula u fhiriselwa ha ndaka ya vhathu vho lovhaho vhane vha tshila u ya nga mulayo wa mbingano ya tshirema vha lovha vha so ngo sia wiḽi. Athikili iyi i ṱola arali muhanga wa musalauno u tshi dzudzanya zwavhuḓi ṱhoḓea dza tshitshavha tsha MaAfurika Tshipembe tsha musalauno. U ṱaṱa uri u vhewa phanḓa ha tshigwada tsha muṱa u itela u vhuḽaifa a zwi tsha tendelana na nḓila dzine zwigwada zwa miṱa zwa vhumbwa ngayo na uri Ṱhoho ya Khothe ya Nṱha u fanela u ṋewa maanḓa a u dzhia tsheo kha u kovha ndaka ya mufu. Izwi zwi hu si na u timatima zwi ḓo ḓisa u sa vha na vhuṱanzi fhedzi zwi nga ḓisa u fushea kha zwiṅwe zwa vhukolikoli ha sisiṱeme yo vhewaho, yo ḓisendekaho kha milayo ya vhuḽaifa vhune ha si bvisele khagala tshitshavha tsha musalauno.