Supported by EU
WOMEN AND LAW IN SOUTHERN AFRICA RESEARCH AND EDUCATION TRUST (WLSA) ZIMBABWE and PADARE MEN’S FORUM ON GENDER
THE PLIGHT OF WOMEN WHOSE NAMES DO NOT APPEAR ON TITLE DEEDS
A married B in 1995 under the Marriage Act Chapter 5: 11. In 1998, A and B pooled their
resources together and purchased a stand in Hatfield, Harare. B insisted that the title
deeds be put in his name only in ‘keeping’ with his cultural and traditional positioning as
father and head of the household. A and B subsequently built a ten roomed house on the
property. In May 2011, A who is HIV positive was surprised to see buyers coming to inspect
the property as it had been put up for sale. Upon asking B, he advised her that the property
was his since the title deeds were in his name. A consulted lawyers on this issue and was
shocked to learn that the person ( in this case her husband) whose name appears on the
title deeds can literally sell the property and she as a wife whose name does not appear on
the deeds has no protection from the law. This is despite the fact that she worked hard and
made significant contributions to the purchase and building of the house. A was advised
that she could file for divorce in which case the court would use the Matrimonial Causes Act
to award her a share of the immovable property. She did not want a divorce. A was grief
stricken. She developed high blood pressure and had to be hospitalised.
There are many women like A who are traumatised by such circumstances and visit WLSA
offices for assistance. It is important that immovable property be registered jointly in both
wife and husband’s names, but women have to grapple with many challenges including
perceptions that they will kill husbands so as to get the property to themselves.
Padare, Men’s Forum on Gender, an organization of males which supports women’s rights
had this to say , “ Real men do not sell a home and throw women and children in the
streets. Real men recognise that it takes a wife and husband to make a family and that they
both make a contribution to the acquisition of assets. Therefore, one party cannot
unilaterally sell a family asset without consulting the other. Real men are not afraid to
register immovable property in joint names and real men should protect and not destroy
the family unit”.
WLSA and Padare Men’s Forum on Gender therefore call for equality in marriage in keeping
with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
(CEDAW), The African Union Optional Protocol to the Rights of Women in Africa and the
SADC Protocol on Gender and Development. In the long run, WLSA and Padare Men’s Forum
on Gender call for a law on joint registration of immovable property and that no property
shall be transferred by the Deeds Office without publication in a newspaper circulating
within Zimbabwe and the written consent of a spouse in the event that the title deeds
holder is married either under Chapter 5:11, Chapter 5:07 or an unregistered customary
law union.
We would like to hear your views preferably in writing. Contact us at Number 16 Lawson Avenue,
Milton Park, Harare, Zimbabwe Telephone + 263 4 253001/2/3 or 2928337 or via e mail as follows
: sly@wlsazim.co.zw , gettie@wlsazim.co.zw or dorcas@wlsazim.co.zw ; kelvin@padare.org.zw;
regis@padare.org.zw
WOMEN AND LAW IN SOUTHERN AFRICA AND PADARE - INVESTING IN GENDER EQUALITY
THROUGH EFFECTIVE PROPERTY AND INHERITANCE RIGHTS
The contents of this publication is the sole responsibility of WLSA Zimbabwe and PADARE and
should not be taken to reflect the views of the European Union.