The implementation of customary law of succession and common law of succession respectively: with a specific focus on the eradication of the rule of male primogeniture

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.