South African Muslim Women Struggle Under Marriage Laws
Muslims have lived in South Africa for hundreds of years - but Islamic
marriages remain unrecognised in law, making divorce potentially disastrous
for women. As the BBC's Mohammed Allie reports from Cape Town, that
situation could be about to change.
Unlike most other women, however, this means she has been left in poverty. "Financially we are messed up, I only actually want what is rightfully mine, what I've worked for, what I've sweated for," she says. "Not just for me, but for my kids, that's all that I want."
She says she lived in a home to which she and her husband both contributed - but following her divorce she was left with nothing and was forced to move back to her parents' house.
South African couples who marry legally do so in community of property, which allows both parties an equal share of material possessions in the event of a divorce. But women married under Muslim rites have endless problems.