In Govender v Ragavayah,[1] an important case in the South African law of succession, the applicant was a woman married in terms of Hindu rites, whose husband had died intestate.
The court noted that Hindu marriages were not recognised in South African law, which violated section 9 of the Constitution.
Accordingly, the court ordered that the definition of “spouse” in section 1 of the Intestate Succession Act include the surviving spouse of a monogamous Hindu marriage.
[1] It is important to note that the ambit of this judgment was restricted to de facto monogamous Hindu marriages.
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