LCP4804
ASSIGNMENT 02
SEMESTER 01 2023
WELL ELABORATE ANSWERS
, lOMoARcPSD|11981373
. QUESTION 1
1. Mabuza v Mbatha 2003 (7) BCLR 43 (C)
Names of the parties: Mabuza v 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)
Names of the parties: Mabena v 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)
Names of the parties: Ngwenyama v 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?
ASSIGNMENT 02
SEMESTER 01 2023
WELL ELABORATE ANSWERS
, lOMoARcPSD|11981373
. QUESTION 1
1. Mabuza v Mbatha 2003 (7) BCLR 43 (C)
Names of the parties: Mabuza v 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)
Names of the parties: Mabena v 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)
Names of the parties: Ngwenyama v 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?
