ABSTRACT
Inheritance constitutes an important mechanism for intergenerational transfers of wealth. This chapter examines inheritance practices in rural South Africa, and particularly how widows negotiate and secure inheritance rights and the challenges thereto. While estates are often not large, they may sustain a family’s basic needs and thus comprise highly contested resources. Historically, inheritance in customary law favoured male heirs to the detriment of widows and children. Statutory interventions in South Africa have shifted power dynamics, with the result that widows are the primary heirs. Widows, however, face restrictions in their enjoyment of the property and may be challenged in their inheritance of resources by other family members of the deceased. Using my findings from a case study conducted in a rural village in the Eastern Cape, I sketch out the experiences of widows in inheritance matters and argue that widows leverage state interventions, egalitarian concerns and family institutions to assert greater rights or access to the property.
