The majority legal status of women in Southern Africa: Implications for women and families

Women in many countries of southern Africa do not have majority status or have only recently gained this right. Majority status grants individuals adult legal status and the right to bring matters to court, own and administer property, have legal custody of children, and contract for marriage. This article summarizes the legal status of women in Botswana, Lesotho, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Lack of majority status contributes to the ongoing risk of poverty for women and makes them overly dependent on men. Compounding the situation in these countries is the presence of a dual legal system. Improving the situation of women and their families involves targeting changes in the legal system, influencing implementation of laws, educating women about their rights, and giving women needed support to seek their legal rights. The legal status of women must be viewed in the context of historical changes in the economic, educational, political, and cultural developments of society.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44657/1/10834_2005_Article_BF02267045.pd

Twenty years of reconciling traditional governance with modern democracy

This chapter analyses the increasing tension between state support for traditional leadership and demands for the recognition of living customary law and multi-layered institutions during the twenty years of democratic governance. The analyses includes the role of the courts in directing and correcting the course of the reconciliation process in policy-making. The chapter concludes with some suggestions towards resolving the challenges on fundamental issues.

Reflections on Judicial Views of Ubuntu

Since S v Makwanyane, ubuntu has become an integral part of the constitutional values and principles that inform interpretation of the Bill of Rights and other areas of law. In particular, a restorative justice theme has become evident in the jurisprudence that encompasses customary law, eviction, defamation, and criminal law matters. This contribution explores the scope and content of ubuntu, as pronounced on by the judiciary in various cases, and demonstrates that its fundamental elements of respect, communalism, conciliation and inclusiveness enhance the constitutional interpretation landscape. Two major epochs are highlighted in the development of ubuntu, marked by the constitutional decisions in Makwanyane and PE Municipality respectively. The former carved the central avenue of development for ubuntu, while the latter marked the start of the thematic development of the concept in the direction of restorative justice. Furthermore, the article engages critically with the use of ubuntu, with criticisms levelled against the conceptualisation of ubuntu as a legal notion, ranging from its ambiguity to its redundancy, to perceptions of dichotomies, and issues of exclusion. The paper also questions the manner in which the courts have applied the legal concept of ubuntu uncritically, without reference to African sources to illustrate its meaning in different contexts, and without questioning its compatibility with the Bill of Rights. Finally, it attempts to reveal the connections between ubuntu and the values underlying the Bill of Rights.Keywords: Ubuntu; Constitutional value; Restorative justice; Communa

Advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights of adolescents in Africa: The role of the courts

Across the world, adolescents encounter various challenges that may implicate the enjoyment of their sexual and reproductive health and rights. The situation of adolescents in Africa is aggravated by high poverty levels and a high disease burden in the region. Some of the challenges facing adolescents in Africa include high incidence of child marriage, unwanted pregnancy, unsafe abortion, and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV and maternal mortality. It is estimated that 1 in 3 girls is married before attaining 18 (UNFPA, Marrying too young: end child marriage. UN Population Fund, 2012), while an estimated 16 million adolescent girls aged 15–19 (most of them in poor regions, including Africa) give birth yearly. Also, about 31% of young women aged 20–24 in least developed countries gave birth before age 18 between 2000 and 2009 (UNICEF et al., Violence against Children in Tanzania: Findings from a National Survey 2009. UN Children’s Fund, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, 2011). An in-depth study of four sub-Saharan African countries found that 60% or more of adolescent men and women did not know how to prevent pregnancy and one-third or more did not know of a source for contraceptives (Guttmacher Institute and IPPF, Facts on the sexual and reproductive health of adolescent women in the developing world. Allan Guttmacher Institute and International Planned Parenthood Federation, 2010). The majority of about 300,000 women and girls that die annually (800 deaths per day) due to complications arising from childbirth are from Africa (UNFPA 2011)