In a landmark ruling last week, the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria has deemed unconstitutional a section of the Divorce Act that was found to be unfair and discriminatory against women.

The section of the law took away the rights of women married out of community of property and without accrual from benefitting from their contribution to the marriage. The law came into effect before the Matrimonial Property Act (MPA) was enacted in 1984. Prior to this South Africans could only marry either in community of property, which means all assets and debts are shared, or out of community of property, which separated a couple's assets and debts in marriage...