NONGENILE Hans from Qamdobowa in the Eastern Cape, who is now 75, was married in a traditional marriage in 1969.
“I was my husband’s third wife, but we had no children. He died in 1978. He had many cattle. His seven kids loved and respected me.
‘But his brother and wife chased me away after we buried my husband. They said I must leave everything because I did not even have a child with my husband,” she said.
Nongenile is one of many women who will benefit from a law passed in Parliament that respects the rights of women in traditional marriages. The new law, the Recognition of Customary Marriages Amendment Bill, allows women in traditional marriages to have a claim to the wealth of their husbands.
WELL KNOWN PASTOR ACCUSED OF BEATING WIFE!
Nofinish Simama (68) from Thornhill kasi near Port Elizabeth said her husband died in 2010 after they got married in a customary marriage in 1985. “He only paid lobola for me and we have two kids together. Only his other wife benefited from his pension funds and insurance policies. This was most painful for me, to mourn him but I didn’t benefit.”
The Constitutional Court ordered Parliament in 2017 to change the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act of 1998 to give women in customary marriages equal rights to assets and properties.
The committee also passed the Sexual Offences Amendment Bill and the Social Assistance Amendment Bill, which provide for further payments linked to social grants, benefits to a child-headed household and social relief of distress in the event of a disaster.
The bills will now go to the National Council of Provinces for consideration.
