Study of the post-independence legal capacity and property rights of married Namibian women

Abstract

Abstract provided by author

In colonial Namibia (then South West Africa) women were the subjects of discrimination, not just because of their skin colour but also on the basis of their sex. Married women were second rate citizens, in the sense that White women were subjected to marital power, African women were subjected to patriarchy, which was the common law counterpart

The Legislature enforced this inequality by the enactment of laws such as the Native Administration Act 38 of 1927, Marriage Act 25 of 1961, Matrimonial Affairs Act 37 of 1953, Deeds Registry Act 47 of 1937, Administration of Estates Act 66 of 1965 amongst others. The Legislature thus acted as a catalyst in the disenfranchisement of married women as will be outlined in this dissertation

Sixteen years after Namibia's independence, traces of this inequality can still be seen in domestic law, as some of these legislative enactments have not been abolished. Although the Married Person's Equality Act 1 of 1996 has addressed this problem, the Act has not been made applicable to persons married in terms of customary law.