72-year-old Agnes Sithole has won a court ruling that will not only grant her rights to some of her husband’s property, but that will also protect around 400,000 black South African women living under a discriminatory marriage law.
Though married couples in South Africa own all their assets jointly today, black women married before 1988 had to live with a different law: the husband owned all matrimonial assets and could even sell them without the consent of his wife. But since Sithole’s historic legal victory in Durban, the sexist law has been overturned.
“This will make a difference in terms of women’s land and property inheritance,” says Sizani Ngubane, 74, a women’s land rights activist who has faced death threats for her work. “Women can take decisions if they own property. They can have equality.”
Human rights organization Legal Resources Centre – who helped Sithole take her case to court – says that Sithole’s win could give around 400,000 women more economic freedom.
