Abstract:
This article pays close attention to some of the problems and practical
challenges presented by the abolition of the rule of male primogeniture
and thereafter, the extension of the Intestate Succession Act to customary
law of succession. Additionally, it supports the possibility of harmonising
common law of succession with customary law of succession without
imposing common law mechanisms and ideas on customary law. The
purpose of this article is to suggest ways on how best to reconcile
customary law with the Constitution without imposing western law on
customary law. This will be achieved by showing the reader the viability
and possibility of customary law and common law co-existing,
independently from one another, subject to the Constitution as the
supreme law, without the application of common law standards as a
measure for customary law, which was the case in the past.
