2023
LCP4804
ASSIGNMENT 2
Answers
Due: 24 April 2023
QUESTION 1
1. Mabuza v Mbatha 2003 (7) BCLR 43 (C)
The parties are - Mabuza and Mbatha
Legal question:
Whether a seSwati customary marriage can be valid without the observance
of the ukumekeza custom?
Reasons for judgment:
A properly constituted customary marriage can stand where the spouses
waived the observance of the ukumekeza custom, particularly as the urban
conditions are not even suitable for the performance of such a custom, which
was suitable for the rural conditions of the past.
, Decision of the court:
The validity of the customary marriage was upheld.
2. Mabena v Letsoalo 1998 (2) SA 1068 (T)
The parties are - Mabena and Letsoalo
Legal question:
Whether a customary marriage is valid where a young man, in
the absence of his father, negotiated his own customary marriage, together
with his prospective mother-in-law, who acted as the guardian of the
prospective bride, in the absence of her husband.
Reasons for judgment:
An adult and independent man is qualified to negotiate his own
customary marriage, in the absence of his father; and the mother of the bride
as an adult guardian of her daughter is equally qualified to negotiate the
customary marriage and to accept delivery of the marriage goods, in the
absence of her husband who has disserted the family.
Decision of the court:
The validity of the customary marriage was upheld.
3. Ngwenyama v Mayelane 2012(10) BCLR 1071 (SCA)
The parties are - Ngwenyama and Mayelane
Legal question:
The SCA was asked whether the judgment of the High Court is valid where it
held that a customary marriage concluded without seeking court approval for
the section 7(6) of the RCMA application is invalid.
Reasons for judgment:
The SCA held: non-observance of the section 7(6) of the RCMA provisions
cannot render a customary marriage invalid as these are not requirements for
validity. The validity requirements are set out in section 3 of the RCMA and
were properly complied with. Non-observance of the section 7(6) of the RCMA
provisions can at most render the customary marriage out of community of
property.
Decision of the court:
The SCA upheld the appeal.
LCP4804
ASSIGNMENT 2
Answers
Due: 24 April 2023
QUESTION 1
1. Mabuza v Mbatha 2003 (7) BCLR 43 (C)
The parties are - Mabuza and Mbatha
Legal question:
Whether a seSwati customary marriage can be valid without the observance
of the ukumekeza custom?
Reasons for judgment:
A properly constituted customary marriage can stand where the spouses
waived the observance of the ukumekeza custom, particularly as the urban
conditions are not even suitable for the performance of such a custom, which
was suitable for the rural conditions of the past.
, Decision of the court:
The validity of the customary marriage was upheld.
2. Mabena v Letsoalo 1998 (2) SA 1068 (T)
The parties are - Mabena and Letsoalo
Legal question:
Whether a customary marriage is valid where a young man, in
the absence of his father, negotiated his own customary marriage, together
with his prospective mother-in-law, who acted as the guardian of the
prospective bride, in the absence of her husband.
Reasons for judgment:
An adult and independent man is qualified to negotiate his own
customary marriage, in the absence of his father; and the mother of the bride
as an adult guardian of her daughter is equally qualified to negotiate the
customary marriage and to accept delivery of the marriage goods, in the
absence of her husband who has disserted the family.
Decision of the court:
The validity of the customary marriage was upheld.
3. Ngwenyama v Mayelane 2012(10) BCLR 1071 (SCA)
The parties are - Ngwenyama and Mayelane
Legal question:
The SCA was asked whether the judgment of the High Court is valid where it
held that a customary marriage concluded without seeking court approval for
the section 7(6) of the RCMA application is invalid.
Reasons for judgment:
The SCA held: non-observance of the section 7(6) of the RCMA provisions
cannot render a customary marriage invalid as these are not requirements for
validity. The validity requirements are set out in section 3 of the RCMA and
were properly complied with. Non-observance of the section 7(6) of the RCMA
provisions can at most render the customary marriage out of community of
property.
Decision of the court:
The SCA upheld the appeal.
