Page 5 - SAReform Book

Acknowledgements
The research presented in this report was possible because of the support and enthusiasm of many men and women and traditional leaders living in different provinces, as well as the help and support received from the National Move- ment of Rural Women. We were able to conduct research inside the courts through the generous assistance of the office of the Director-General of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, Registrars of the High Court, and Masters of the High Court. Our special thanks in this regard go to Ms Ntibidi Rampete, the Director at the Gender Directorate. Special gratitude goes also to traditional leaders who responded to our request for interviews and permitted access to their communities to conduct research workshops and individual interviews.
The preliminary findings of the research were discussed at a workshop held at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in February 2014. We thank all the participants in this workshop, including traditional leaders, officials of the Masters’ offices, the judiciary and the Department of Home Affairs; the director and coordinators of the National Movement of Rural Women; and academics from Rhodes University, UCT, and the University of the Western Cape. More specifically, we are very grateful to a number of scholars who provided important commentary and feedback: Jacqueline Heaton, Helen Kruuse, Robert Morrell, Lea Mwambene, Deborah Posel, Jeremy Seekings and Thandabantu Nhlapo.
The research presented in this report was supported by the South African Research Chairs Initiative of the Department of Science and Technology and the National Research Foundation of South Africa (Grant No 64825). Any opinion, finding, conclusion or recommendation expressed in this material is that of the authors, and the National Research Foundation does not accept any liability in this regard.
We also wish to thank members of staff, especially Fatima Diallo, who commented of various aspects of the study, Nkanyiso Sibanda, who co- ordinated the logistics of the research, and students of the Chair, who sup- ported the research Chair in various ways. We would also like to acknowledge the numerous research assistants who assisted with the various tasks of field work and translation and transcribing of the data.
Last but not least, we are very grateful to Juta & Co, who agreed to publish the results of the study as a peer-reviewed book under the title Reform of Customary Marriage, Divorce and Succession in South Africa: Living Cus- tomary Law and Social Realities. This report is a summary of the discussion and conclusion in chapter 11 of this book. Special thanks go to Linda van de Vijver for her helpful comments and enduring patience during the process of publishing the book and this report.
For more information about the book, please go to https://jutalaw.co.za/ products/reform-of-customary-marriage-divorce-and-succession-in-south-africa.
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