INDI6111 Indigenous law Self Study Notes Aiden Keeling
LU1 Introduction to Legal Diversity
LO1 Explain the Concept of Legal Pluralism
Pluralism: Coexistence of people from different cultures, religions, ethnicities, and backgrounds.
Legal Pluralism: Multiple legal systems functioning together while maintaining diversity.
Example: Constitution, customary law, and Roman Dutch law.
Civil Marriages Act: Aims to maintain Christian rules; does not allow polygamy or same-sex marriages.
Recognition of Customary Marriages Act: Recognizes traditional African marriages, legalizes polygamy (men having multiple wives).
Civil Union Act: Provides for same-sex marriages and non-Christian marriages of heterosexual couples.
Individuals can choose specific acts for marriage based on personal convictions.
Muslim, Jewish, and Hindu marriages are recognized under common law principles but cause practical issues.
Legal Positivism: Law found in tangible sources (legislation, case law, authorities), not based on moral values; law is "as it is."
Law must be written and implemented as written, despite moral objections.
Legal Centralism: State has monopoly on law-making; law is uniform, affecting everyone equally.
Churches, families, voluntary associations, and economic organizations are "lesser normative orderings;" their rules are not legally recognized.
Indigenous law must be state-sanctioned.
Law from non-state institutions is law when authorized by the state, leading to choice of law rules.
Choice of Law Rules: Determine which law applies in a situation; often based on repugnance to Western morality.
Indigenous law must be viewed through the Bill of Rights and the Constitution, not common law.
African people were forced to accept Western common law; the Constitution now recognizes customary law as a legal system subject to the Constitution.
Alexkor v Richestersveld: “Indigenous law must be seen as an integral part of our law and depends for its ultimate force and validity on the Constitution, not common law.”
LO2 Distinguish between Narrow and Broad Legal Pluralism
Narrow Interpretation (State-Law Pluralism): Dual system of laws running parallel (state law and customary law).
More than one legal system is recognized and functions independently.
Broad Interpretation (Deep Legal Pluralism): Laws observed beyond the legal system, a "social state of affairs."
All kinds of customary laws observed and actively functioning in society.
LO3 Discuss State Law Pluralism in South Africa Today
South African law has Western and African components.
Western Component: Common law, legislation, judicial precedent, custom.
African Component: Official customary law (incorporated into legislation or judicial precedent) and substantive customary law (living customary law).
S211(3) of the Constitution and Section 1(1) of the Law of Evidence: Customary law readily ascertainable, with sufficient certainty, and not against Western perceptions of natural justice, public policy, or the Constitution.
Bhe v Magistrate Khayelitsha: Declared customary rule of primogeniture (eldest son inherits) unconstitutional.
Recognition of Customary Marriages Act: First time customary marriages were recognized but still influenced by Western ideas (antenuptial contracts, divorce, division of property).
LO4 Discuss Deep Legal Pluralism in South Africa with Regard to Unofficial Customary Law
Resistance to Western influences shows continued adherence to religious and cultural practices.
State regulation could not suppress customary law’s natural development and adaptability.
Informal dispute settlement institutions apply customary law outside of court.
Courts of ward heads are traditional administrative and judicial tribunals, operating unofficially when outside jurisdiction.
Official customary law has diverged from society’s needs, creating a gap with living customary law.
Bhe V Magistrate Khayelitsha: Official customary law should align with customary living law.
Mabena v Letsoalo: Court gave effect to living Pedi law, confirming a woman could be head of a family and receive lobolo.
Theme 2
LO5 Explain the Various Systems of Customary Law as a Separate System.
Mthembu v Letsela: Customary law accepted as a separate cultural and legal system followed by choice.
South Africa has two officially recognized legal systems: Common law and Customary law.
Customary law is the law of Indigenous African people and part of their culture.
Many different customary law systems exist due to diverse cultures and Indigenous African peoples.
Commonalities exist, aiding resolution of issues like marriage and succession/inheritance laws.
Challenges arise from multiple legal systems in one legal order; knowledge of systems facilitates resolution.
LO6 Discuss the Different Statutory Definitions of Customary Law
Hamnett: “a set of norms which actors in a social situation abstract from practice and which they invest with binding authority."
Law of Evidence Amendment Act:
“The law of custom as applied by the Black tribes in South Africa”
Recognition of Customary Marriages Act:
“means the customs and usages traditionally observed among the indigenous African peoples of South Africa and which forms part of the culture of those peoples."
Reform of Customary Law of Succession and regulation of related matters Act:
Same as RCMA - "means the customs and usages traditionally observed among the indigenous African peoples of South Africa and which forms part of the culture of those peoples."
All of these acts refer to customs observed by Black/Indigenous African people.
Culture is important; same ethnicity does not mean same culture and customs/practices.
Hence, many Customary legal systems exist.
LO7 Explain Three Elements of the Definition of Customary Law in Terms of the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act 120 of 1998(RCMA)
First element: “Customs and usages traditionally observed”
Seymore-Smith: "a set of interrelated cultural elements or traits which persist over a relatively long-time span is called a tradition"
Tradition should be understood as dynamic and adaptive, not centralized, or static.
Putting tradition in a statute will restrict its adaptive nature.
Bhe v Magistrate Khayelitsha: “True customary law will be that which recognizes and acknowledges the changes which continually take place.”
Example: Lobolo used to be cows, now it can be money.
Law looks at living customary law due to its adaptive nature.
European influence requires customary law to be easily ascertainable; hence, official customary law is more commonly used.
Living customary law is difficult to ascertain.
Customary law is applied where it is ascertainable through observed customs.
Legal tradition: Relates the legal system to the culture it is from.
Culture impacts:
Role of law in society
The polity (state and type of government)
Promulgation of legislation
How law should be studied, perfected, and taught
Mqeke believes it's right to talk about African legal tradition applying customary law within its unique perspective.
African legal tradition has many commonalities:
Oral traditions (customs usages)
Communalism
Collective responsibility
Flexibility
Reconciliation
Symbolism
Non-separation between religion, morality, and law
All these commonalities form a body of traditions that should not be viewed through the common law, but should be regarded as an integral part of South African law.
S30 and S31 of the Constitution: Everyone has a right to practice their own culture.
Second element: “Indigenous African People of South Africa”
Term is qualified because it says "People" of South Africa.
African people from other African countries do not qualify as indigenous people in South Africa.
Only South African groups are considered indigenous.
Similarities exist within the 9 recognized groups/cultures:
Recognize a male family head responsible for care and maintenance
Marriage is a union between two families
Third element: “forms part of the culture of those peoples”
Culture is a contested concept.
Brief descriptions of culture in the context of customary law include:
“When we speak of culture, we mean a way of life that is common to a group of people, a collection of beliefs and attitudes, shared understandings, and patterns of behavior that allow people to live in relative harmony, but set them apart from other people.”
“a set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional feature of society or a social group, that encompasses, in addition to art and literature, lifestyle ways of living together, value systems, traditions and beliefs.”
Culture: Modality that identifies and binds a specific group.
In a legal context, culture bears at least two meanings:
"Intellectual or artistic endeavor”
A people’s store of knowledge, belief, arts, morals, laws, and customs/everything that humans acquire by virtue of being members of society.
The second definition is said to be most important in relation to customary law: Bennet.
Culture is determined by language, descent, and association.
Lawyers should avoid an ethnocentric view of the law by believing that their own ways or culture are better.
LO8 Compare Features of Customary Law and Common Law
1. African Community Government and Administration
Traditional African communities have a hereditary king/traditional leader representing the will of the people.
No judicial state institutions, but functions through Khoro and lekgotla (community gatherings).
Western systems have cabinet members, legislative assemblies, and trained, remunerated judges.
2. Moments in Time
Customary system: Time is irrelevant; the occurrence of the act is most important.
Western systems: Time plays a key role in prescription of a crime and when an action should be instituted.
3. Traditional Authority Courts and Procedure
Issue is resolved by heads of families; if that fails, it goes to the offending party’s headman, then a senior traditional leader.
Western system has a court system with different hierarchies.
4. Contract
Customary law: Contracts are concluded by the head of the family on behalf of the family. Remedies should reflect that spirit.
Common law: Only binds the individual contracting parties.
5. Concrete Evidence
Customary law: Based almost solely on the actual performance of an act (like elements of a customary marriage).
Western law: Only legal formalities are of the utmost importance.
6. Marriage
Bride is married into the groom’s family; even if the groom dies, the bride belongs to the groom's family.
Western marriages are mere contracts.
Principles of Customary Law: Bhe v Magistrate Kayelitsha
Inherent flexibility
Consensus seeking
Prevention and resolution of disputes and disagreements
Unity of family structures and fostering of cooperation and a sense of responsibility
Obligation to care for family members
Perpetuation of the family
Nurturing of communitarian traditions such as ubuntu
Customary law is value-laden; the primary value is Ubuntu.
LO9 Distinguish Between Living and Official Customary Law
Official Customary Law
Law in textbooks and law applied by courts; its not always the original version.
Western legal categories and terminology were used to categorize African Customary law, solidifying and distorting them (e.g., women as minors under husbands).
In 1878, Zulu law was codified in the Natal Code of Zulu Law.
Official Customary law is ossified (fixed and cannot be changed) because it is either written or through judicial precedent.
Living Customary Law
Changes with its people as they encounter new challenges or situations.
In the Colonial Western environment, this leads to major changes like:
Inability to maintain family and community cohesion, people became autonomous.
Women acquired independence and were able to get jobs.
Living Customary law refers to original customs and usages that are constantly changing.
The ideal situation would be to apply living customary law and as the courts have already intimated that living customary law is preferred.
Customary law must be guided by expert evidence to establish living customary law and apply it.
Mabuza v Mabuza: Court looked at Ukumekeza (handing over the bride), saying it’s not important enough to void the marriage.
LO10 Examine the Different Sources of Customary Law
1. Customs and Usages
The primary source of customary law.
Requirements to prove a usage or custom:
Must be in existence for an extended period
Relevant community must observe the custom or usage
The custom or usage must be reasonable
The custom or usage must be consistent with and subject to the Constitution or other legislation
2. Legislation
One of the methods to find the official version of customary law, criticized for ossifying Customary Law.
3. Judicial Precedent
Is an essential source of Customary law that is in abundance.
Precedent also provides us with certainty on Customary law issue because we can rely on the Judgements.
4. Scholarly and Other Writings
Although not as important as precedent, legislation, Customs and usages, these scholarly and other writing are important.
S v Makwanyane: Court said research materials were important in determining how disputes were resolved and how punishments were meted out in traditional African society.
Commission reports
Report of Native Natal Commission
Report and Proceedings with Appendices of the Government Comission on Native Laws and Customs
Report of the South African Native Affairs Commission, with Minutes of evidence and appendices
LO11 Examine the Position, Recognition and Application of Customary Law Prior to and After the Black Administration Act 38 of 1977.
Weak Legal Pluralism
Where non-state law has an inferior position in three ways:
Overriding authority is given to national legislation and other rules.
The laws of only certain semiautonomous social fields are recognized.
The state decides when subordinate legal regimes will apply via provision of choice of law rules.
Customary law was made subordinate before the 1990s and all three elements were present in the Black Administration Act.
1 September 1927: The Black Administration Act made uniform recognition and application of Customary law Throughout South Africa.
S11(1) gave Affairs Commissioner’s Court discretion to apply customary law if customs hadn’t been repealed, modified by law, and accorded with neutral justice and public policy.
Special notice was given to Lobolo and Bogadi which was of little use because it furthered segregation and was a mechanism to implement the states agenda.
LO12 Assess the Recognition of Customary Law in Terms of the Law of Evidence Amendment Act 45 of 1988 and the Constitution
Law of Evidence Amendment Act
S1(1) “Any Court may take notice of the law of a foreign state and of indigenous law in so far as such law can be ascertained readily with sufficient certainty: Provided that indigenous shall not be opposed to the principals of public policy or natural Justice: Provided further that it shall not be lawful for any court to declare that the custom of lobolo or bogadi or other similar custom is repugnant to such principals."
The court cannot legally make these provisions repugnant to any other law.
The section houses the “repugnancy provisio” just like in the Black Administration Act which limits the usage of Customary Law.
Maisela v Kgolane: The High Court held that when a party intends to rely on Customary Law, it must be raised in their pleadings.
Repugnancy provisio should be redundant given Constitution, says CUSTOMARY must be applied when applicable
The Constitution
Interim Constitution: S181 dealt with matters of Customary law and recognised it.
Schedule 4: Indigenous law must be applied by the courts, subject to the fundamental rights in the Constitution.
The Preamble of the Constitution says “South Africa belongs to all who live in Her, United in Her diversity” this robustly gives for legal pluralism
LO13 Distinguish Between the Different Kinds of Choice of Law Rules
There are statutory choice of law rules and there are Judge made choice of law rules.
No exact list and the rules must be determined by looking at legislation and judgements dealing with Customary law.
Statutory choice of law
The Black Administration Act caused many choice of law rules issues and only gave effect to customary law where there were not Roman Dutch laws that deal with that kind of issue.
The act also said that Customary law was only applicable where they were the court was dealing with an issue of custom.
Section 2(1) Reform of Customary Law of Succession and Regulation of Related Matters Act
Pretty much says that if a person is subject to Customary law dies and their estate doesn’t devolve in terms of a will; it will devolve in terms of Intestate Succession regulated by the Intestate Succession Act.
This Act makes it so that people who live under customary law will not have their estates dissolved in terms of customary law but by the Law of Succession in terms of the Intestate law of succession Act.
Recognition Of Customary marriages Act
This Act does nor eliminate the choice of law rules
S3(1) of the Customary marriages Act still has elements of choice of law rules
The prospective wife must be over the age of 18
The parties must consent to be married under Customary law
The marriage must be entered into and celebrated following Customary Law
Courts specifically look at Lobolo Negotiations and the tradition of Handing over the bride.
In some instances Courts may use Customary and Common Law to determine if the marriage was validly entered into or not. Hence there are still choice of law rules when it come to dealing with the marriages Act.
There are also judge made Choice of law rules but these rules fall under the next LO so just distinguish between Statutory Choice of law rules and Judge Made Choice of law rules.
LO14 Apply the Principals Governing Choice of Law Rules as Laid Down by the Courts
Courts usually said that application of Customary law would occur if it was reasonable to expect to use Customary law in that given situation.
However more recently we do not see the rule being used because the cases are quite clearly dealing with Customary law.
Gumede v President of the Republic of South Africa: the court said that it would be challenging to determine the exact reach of Customary law in each situation given that the case is definitely dealing with Customary law.
The Courts have developed 5 guidelines or indicators to determine the reach of Customary law.
a) Express Agreement – if the parties agree to use a specific law then that law agreed on in the contract must be enforced by the Court. Only issue is that this may allow people to Contract out of the Law.
b) Tacit agreement between parties – this is where the parties may not have agreed in writing on customary law but it can be seen that the party intends to sue customary law. If the Plaintiffs summons suggests Customary law will be used and the defendant does not combat that use then Customary law will be used.
c) Cause of Action – what was the issue being dealt with or what caused the issue to arise for example lobolo or loans of cattle.
Miasela v Kgolane – the Court said:
It is wrong to adjudicate on a sale not governed by customary law merely because the parties are black.
It is also wrong to regard a sale as regulated by customary law if common law principles are not known to the Customary law agreed upon by the parties,
d) Distinctive Cultural Practices – some juristic Acts are marked by culturally distinctive forms or rituals which gives us the ability to conclude that these people intend to abide by specific laws. In the Case of Customary Marriages it was complicated because when people had western legal marriages and then Traditional marriages marked by lobolo; had the issue that they were bound by different laws with opposing obligations. In western marriages and legal systems we see that there is only a duty towards your spouse. In Customary law there are obligations between the couples fathers and obligations between the families and the Couple. Courts have applied – the Common law standards to marriage in terms of obligations incurred by marriage.
e) Ways of life – when a juristic act itself is not culturally marked and is known to both systems of law; which law do you choose? Customary law or Common Law? The Court must look at the way of life of the parties to establish if the parties follow Customary law or Common law. Where both parties live a traditional life then customary law will be used. Where the parties live a western life style then common law is used. However if the parties live different lifestyles we don’t have a solution because there is not case law on the issue.
LO15 Assess How Conflicts Between Different Systems of Customary Law are to be Resolved
One uniform system of Customary law does not exist; choice of law rules must be used to determine which Customary law to use.
Choice of law rules for South African Conflicts of law
Section 1(3) of the law of Evidence Amendment Act is aimed at resolving such conflicts.
In the First Instance a Court would use the Customary law that was agreed upon.
If there was no express agreement the Courts are able to infer a tacit implied agreement because S1(3) of the Act does not require an express agreement.
If no agreement can be found then the Court must look at the remaining choice of law rules.
S1(3) says that the law of the place where the defendant resided, carried on business or was employed would apply. Counter why should the common law decide which law should be used as opposed allegiance to a traditional authority.
Conflict between different regional systems of Customary Law
Influx of foreign workers in South Africa may cause issues where one party is not from South Africa and the other is.
S1(3) can be used here because in that section it says parties who are not from the same Tribe.
The Choice of law rules that come from our own private international law to see which countries laws are applicable should be used.
The Court must then ask if the Customary law or the state law of a foreign country is applicable.
To deal with that the court must look at that countries internal conflict laws.
Chitima v RAF – Concerned a claim for loss of support because the breadwinner had died. The Court then had to see if the marriage was valid and to do that they would have to see which laws on marriage would apply. The rule lex loci celebrationis was used which means the law of the place where the marriage was celebrated.
LO16 Discuss the Decolonisation of Customary Law and Legal Education
Transformation of legal education includes rethinking the colonisation of customary law, raising questions about legal history, the concept of law, the role of law in African societies, the status of indigenous systems of law, and how customary law is taught.
Decolonisation should move away from hegemonic or Eurocentric conceptions of law to more inclusive legal cultures.
Decolonisation refers to locating the paradigmatic and theoretical shifts required for the teaching of law.
Official customary law may be divided into two categories:
Older category: Codifications of customary law (like KwaZulu and Natal Codes of Customary Law), legislation purporting to embody customary law (like the Black Administration Act), court precedents, and textbooks based on legislation and court precedents.
New second category: Legislation arising from the provisions of the Constitution that recognise customary law.
Both categories bear the name of customary law but may bear little resemblance to the living customary law regulating people’s day-to-day lives.
Older official customary law bears the marks of colonialism and apartheid and should not form a core part of the legal curriculum. New order official customary law should be included because it forms part of the constitutionalisation of customary law and living customary law.
Three elements are essential for decolonising law and legal education:
Living customary law in legal education
A shift in the theoretical paradigm which law is taught, and
The interdisciplinary study of law
Inclusion of living customary law in legal education:
Living customary law governs the legal relations of people who are subject to a given system of customary law in their day-to-day life.
Living customary law is different from other legal systems comprising African legal systems.
The Constitutional Court of South Africa implicitly describes living customary law as a distinctive and original source of law.
Living customary law should be taught in all law schools
Living customary law demands the attention of scientific thought in institutions of higher learning if this system is to develop.
Long-standing challenge of how to ascertain customary law, with the question of how to ensure certainty about the rules of this system in the context of judicial decision-making; manipulation and distortion because of power relations among different sections of the community; appropriate methods of aligning this system of law with constitutional principles and international and regional human rights; endurance and social legitimacy of living customary law; issues of the universal application of human rights vis-à-vis cultural rights; and merging the fundamentally different world views represented by the living customary law and common law.
The legal theoretical framework has predominant legal theoretical frameworks include legal centralism and positivism.
Legal education, exclusively within the theoretical frameworks of legal positivism and centralism, does not adequately prepare them to deal with the application of non-western legal orders
South African judges have shown a willingness to step beyond the influence of the dominant mode of their legal education to embrace and recognise concepts of law
Judges sometimes retreat into their legal theoretical training and orientation when applying customary law, so this shift could be made by teaching law within legal theoretical frameworks closely associated with the concept of living customary law, with the most appropriate being legal pluralism
Interdisciplinary teaching of customary law offers a better understanding of the relationship between law and regulatory practice in society, including epistemological monism
Understanding epistemological issues requires integrating knowledge from different disciplines. Africa is characterised by plural legal systems, rooted in different legal traditions, frameworks and paradigms
The overall shift in the paradigm of teaching law will increase the potential of law to transform African societies and enhance social justice in a manner consistent with decolonisation.
LU2 Indigenous Family Law
LO1 Compare the Different Ways to Initiate Marriage Negotiations.
Sibisi: “There can be no valid marriage without an underlying promise or agreement to marry.”
Typical Traditional Marriages are a matter between the two families where they must reach consensus.
Ways to initiate:
The Mans family: Usually initiates marriage negotiations with the family of the prospective Wife.
The Man Himself: Can initiate marriage negotiations himself with the father or Guardian of the prospective wife.
The Father of the wife: Can initiate marriage negotiation’s with a mans family either to create family ties or to avoid his daughter becoming a spinster.
What Families Negotiate:
Families will initially discuss the nature of the proposed marriage and if the families want the marriage to occur.
Lobolo – or the bride price; the Man must pay the father/guardian of the prospective wife in cattle or quantum of the like in order to marry the father’s daughter thus showing respect to the woman’s family for raising her.
Obligations:
The man is obligated to pay lobolo and the families create an obligation because in Traditional marriages the marriage is a union between the families and not just the individuals.
Consent – you need the Consent of the man and the woman otherwise lobolo negotiations are futile.
LO2 Evaluate the Custom of Ukuthwala as a Way of Initiating Marriage Negotiations
Ukuthwala= learning outcome separate from LO1
Where:
Practiced amongst Xhosa people and rural areas in KwaZulu-Natal where a traditional lifestyle is still observed.
What is it?
Ukuthwala – the woman is “abducted” by the suitor or his friends to force/convince her family to enter into marriage negotiations. The woman must consent, acting like she resists abduction. She is taken to the young man’s house and is to be received and treated with the utmost kindness and cared for.
Three forms of Ukuthwala:
Woman is aware – This is the only legal way where only the woman is aware of the Ukuthwala and consents to the kidnapping.
Woman’s family Knows – Here, the woman’s family knows that she will be kidnapped in order to initiate marriage negotiations, but the woman doesn’t know. This is illegal because the woman’s consent is required.
Neither Woman nor family Knows – The woman and her family do not know about the abduction – also illegal.
Delictual claims arising from Ukuthwala
If the marriage proposal is rejected by the woman’s family or if a marriage proposal does not follow then it would be a delict and damages can be claimed in the form of damages.
Seduction head of cattle – when the woman has be thwala’d the man must not have sexual intercourse with the woman or a seduction head of cattle must be paid.
Pregnancy beast some instances a pregnancy beast will be payable.
Abuse of Ukuthwala
S v Mvumele Jezile – A man was convicted on accounts of Human Trafficking, Assault and three counts of Rape. He kidnapped a girl from her home and forced her into a customary marriage. The Court Convicted the man to 22 years in prison.
Conclusion of ways to initiate marriage:
The father of the man approaches woman’s father/family.
Man approaches woman’s family
Woman’s father approaches mans family
Ukuthwala
Most successful marriage negotiations result in engagement however an engagement is not a requirement for a valid marriage.
The engagement period can last short or long to give the man/his father time to gather the cattle to be paid as the lobolo.
Engagements of infants and children are void ab initio.
In a 2015 Discussion paper the South African Law reform commission supported the creation of a criminal statute that punished marrying of minors and forced marriages: ”Draft Prohibition of Forced marriages and Child marriages Bill”; the bill has yet to be enacted.”
LO3 Examine the Consequences of Customary Engagement and the Legal Position of Different Categories of Property
There is no reported case on Customary breach of Promise; hence, we don’t know what the remedies would be if there was a breach.
Legal consequences of termination are limited to patrimonial consequences where property was transferred from one party to another following the engagement.
If you give your partner a ring or gift etc because of the engagement you can only sue for that and not for emotional trauma.
Different categories of property in engagements:
a) Engagement Gifts: These are symbols of the engagement promise where right of ownerships passes from one party to another party (the woman or her father).
Could be clothing, blankets, household article’s and cattle.
If the engagement is terminated the property does not automatically go back to the giver.
If the man is Blameworthy – if the man is to blame for the termination then the woman does not need to give back the engagement gifts.
If the woman is Blameworthy – if the woman is to blame for the termination then the engagement gifts must be given back to the man.
b) Lobolo handed over during the engagement:
It is customary that a reasonable amount lobolo is handed over before the wedding takes place. Lobolo can be handed over before or after the wedding.
The ownership of the lobolo and accrual remains vested in the giver until the marriage is concluded.
If the livestock die then the giver must give another animal or if there is a loss in the quantum the giver bears the loss during the engagement period.
Upon termination all lobolo must be returned regardless of whose fault it was. Blameworthiness is not a requirement unlike engagement gifts lobolo automatically goes back to the man.
c) KwaZulu-Natal-sisa Cattle:
In terms of S58(1) of the Codes any cattle given before the marriage has been concluded(during engagement) are treated the same as above except that accrual is given to the recipient and not the giver. (The giver doesn’t get to keep the offspring of the livestock or perhaps the interest of the money.
LO4 Discuss the Legal Consequences of the Termination of an Engagement with Reference to the Different Categories of Material Goods
Ways to terminate an engagement:
a) Mutual agreement: If the relationship between the families sours then the marriage can be terminated, but the woman