Law Of Death Denies Heirs Fortune

Not only are they barred by law from selling the land, but they also cannot inherit it. For the Ramakgathi siblings, Boiki, Thapelo, Khumanego, and Tumelo, they know the land as belonging to them; they grew up farming and harvesting such traditional delights as mealies, magapu, dinawa, sweet reeds and mabele. For them, the thought of their mother’s death culminating in the dispossession of the ploughing field for the family did not cross their minds. Traditionally, and as it is commonplace, such property becomes the inheritance of the departed parent’s children, without any disputes in the event of death.

However, the siblings are learning the hard way in court that what they had been believing was a straight forward inheritance matter is not as cut and dried.