South Africa’s System of Dispute Resolution Forums: The Role of the Family and the State in Customary Marriage Dissolution

Abstract

In

“My Husband Has to Stop Beating Me and I Shouldn’t Go to the Police”: Family Meetings, Patriarchal Bargains, and Marital Violence in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

“…The research outlined in this article is part of a broader investigation into customary marriage and divorce in South Africa. During the larger research project (Himonga & Moore, 2015), family meetings were identified as the normative dispute resolution forum for settling marital disputes (see Button et al, 2016) but were often unable to find an agreeable resolution (Moore, 2015a). Given the fact that the larger study was focused on divorce, I was unable to say much about how family meetings assisted married spouses with a dispute.…”

“…Bassadien and Hochfeld (2005) argue that in many communities in South Africa, domestic violence disputes have to be dealt with by the elders of the community or traditional authorities, an indigenous legal system where punishment is meted out for what is considered “unacceptable behavior” in that community. The customary dispute resolution forum can also include a family meeting, and it has been found to be the first avenue people utilize when seeking assistance with marital disputes (Button, Moore, & Himonga, 2016; Green, 1999; Griffiths, 1997; Higgins, Fenrich, & Tanzer, 2006; Himonga & Moore, 2015; van der Waal, 2004). Most evidence points to the ways in which elders minimize abuse or collude with the abuser, but the conditions and terms of such collusion or rejection are less well understood.…”

Dalihan Na Tolu as a Model for Resolving Religious Conflicts in North Sumatera: An Anthropological and Sociological Perspective

“…For example, marriage, divorce, inheritance and child care. 41 Through this peace model, kinship and fraternal ties and otherwise quarrels and conflicts can be avoided. 42 Thus, Melissa Crouch argued three general considerations to the study of the dynamics of state regulation of religious affairs: situating modern state approaches to the regulation of religion in historical context; recognizing the framework within which state and religion is structured; and acknowledging the influence of legal norms other than state law.…”