In Botha v Steyn [2021] 4 All SA 87 (KZD), legal requirements of wedding ceremonies, if no marriage was contracted between the plaintiff and the defendant, there could be no talk of a decree of divorce.

In Sithole and Another v Sithole and Another 2021 (6) BCLR 597 (CC), the Constitutional Court confirmed an order declaring s 21(2)(a) of the Matrimonial Property Act unconstitutional and invalid. Henceforth, all marriages which in terms of the Black Administration Act were automatically out of community of property are now marriages in community of property.

In Wilsnach NO v TM and Others [2021] 1 All SA 600 (GP), the first and second respondents were respectively the parents of a child born in 2013 and diagnosed with cerebral palsy. The child died in 2018. The second respondent and the child lived with the third respondent (the second respondent’s mother) who provided them with a home and took care of their basic needs.  On the child’s death, all three respondents laid claim to his estate.