REACTIONS TO CHILD’S SHARE IN ESTATES: IT’S AN INSULT TO WIVES IN CUSTOMARY MARRIAGES

MBABANE – The decision to revert to giving women married in terms of Eswatini Law and Custom a child’s share of their late spouses’ estates has been described as an insult, irrational and unreasonable.

These were the reactions of some civil society groups, including a human rights lawyer, a traditionalist and the organisation for widows, known as Mhluma Women and Youth Foundation.
They are of the view that the decision was irrational, discriminatory and unreasonable, hence it should be reconsidered. Among those who made a hue and cry about this move are Umhluma Women and Youth Foundation Executive Director Lungelo Zulu, who said it was nothing short of an insult to the widows and that was the stance they always had as an organisation on this matter.

Advice

Umhluma Women and Youth Foundation is an advocate for widows’ rights and it provides advice about all customary rights issues and capacity building on self-sustainable development in order to reduce vulnerability. Zulu said the legislation did not take into consideration that it was actually the woman who assisted the man in accumulating the wealth. He said when it was time to distribute the estate, the woman was reduced to a child. Zulu said unlike in civil rites marriages, where the spouse gets 50 per cent of the estate and a child’s share, a widow who was in a customary marriage receives only a child’s share in the estate. The child’s share is provided for in the Intestate Succession Act of 1953.

This publication reported yesterday that the chief justice (CJ) and attorney general (AG) had intervened and corrected a directive by a former minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs.
It was reported that the former minister had directed that spouses married in terms of Eswatini Law and Custom should be awarded a half-share, plus a child’s share of their late husband’s estate, as per the country’s Constitution. The Supreme Court Deputy Registrar, Siphiwo Nyoni, told the Public Accounts Committee that this form of distribution had since been rectified and surviving spouses now benefitted a child’s share by virtue of their customary marriages.

“There was an outcry about the directive of the former minister. It has been corrected and the chief justice issued a directive and said it should be according to the law, which was for the marriage regime,” reported this publication yesterday. Meanwhile, Zulu said it was only fair that a woman got 50 per cent during the distribution of her late husband’s estate, whether married under customary law or civil rites. Traditionalist Elliot Mkhatshwa, who, for a long time, was at the Mbabane Ndabazabantu office and dealt with matters that bordered around Eswatini Law and Custom marriages, revealed that it was not fair for widows to be given a child’s share only during the distribution of their husbands’ estates.  

His contention was that reducing the wives’ share to that of a child was nothing short of witchcraft, because the woman is the one who had supported the husband in all of his endeavours and they deserved to get a significant share of the wealth she contributed to. “This move is not right, for the simple reason that it makes the customary marriage a less preferred option by women wanting to get married. This then does not paint a good picture about our customs and it should be looked into,” he said.  Mkhatshwa said ‘a wife is a wife’ no matter the type of marriage they were in and they deserved a significant share of their late husband’s estate.

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