Reform of Customary Marriage, Divorce and Succession in South Africa: Living Customary Law and Social Realities examines the operation of the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act and the rules of succession formulated in Bhe v Magistrate, Khayelitsha. The book is the outcome of an interdisciplinary research project conducted by the NRF Chair in Customary Law, Indigenous Values and Human Rights, the Department of Sociology at the University of Cape Town, and the National Movement of Rural Women.

More than a decade after the enactment of the Act and the formulation of the Bhe rules, the research project sought to explore how these laws were being implemented in practice, through the eyes of the individuals living according to customary law, a range of state institutions, including the courts and the Department of Home Affairs, and traditional leaders. The fieldwork was conducted across six provinces, over a period of 20 months.

The findings presented in Reform of Customary Marriage, Divorce and Succession in South Africa about the implementation of the Act and the Bhe rules will be of interest to a wide range of individuals, court and state officials, and scholars. The authors provide evidence-based research on the implementation of the laws and they outline what remains to be done to improve the implementation of these laws.

Click here to view the Summary Research Report.

• Table of cases
• Introduction
• Methodology
• Contracting a customary marriage
• Registering a customary marriage
• The regulation of a polygynous marriage
• Equality of spouses in marriage
• Dissolution of a customary marriage: Outside the courts
• Dissolution of a customary marriage: Inside the courts
• Intestate succession
• Family dispute resolution
• Discussion and conclusion
• Appendices
• Index

• Legal practitioners
• Court officials
• Department of Justice
• Department of Home Affairs
• Academics – law, sociology