AfricaBlog

Good news

We are used to thinking of South Africa, post-apartheid, as a reasonably civilized place. There are still some members of South African society, though, who have lacked legal rights that we in the U.S. would take for granted. By our standards, there is still progress to be made.

Some of that progress was made today:

A South African court has ruled that two girls can inherit their father's property because the traditional custom that the nearest and oldest male relative takes precedence if there is no will is unconstitutional.

Activists said on Wednesday they hoped the ruling would set a precedent for the continent where wives and daughters are often excluded from inheriting property of a deceased relative who dies without a will.

The Women's Legal Centre, which filed the case on behalf of the two girls aged nine and two, said it would take the case to the Constitutional Court in the hope the country's highest court would confirm the ruling, the first of its kind in South Africa.

Read the story.