People married under Hindu rites may inherit even if their spouse has failed to leave a will, the Durban High Court ruled on Thursday.

Acting judge Farouk Moosa made the ruling in a case challenging South African inheritance law, which does not recognise marriage under Hindu rites.

The applicant, Saloshinie Govender, had married her husband under Hindu rites, but was not allowed to inherit from his estate as he did not leave a will, and the marriage was not recognised in law.

She had asked the court to be recognised as a spouse in terms of the Intestate Succession Act (ISA).

The application was opposed by her late husband's family and the executor of his estate.

The Women's Legal Centre, which joined proceedings as a friend of the court, said in a statement that the ruling meant that the definition of spouse in the ISA had now been extended to apply to Hindu marriages.

The judgment brought these marriages into line with the decisions made in other cases.

"This judgment is instrumental in the development of South African law by dispensing with unfair discrimination against Hindu women married according to Hindu religion," the centre said.

This ensured equality, which was the cornerstone of the Constitution.

Govender married Balasundran Narainsamy in 2004, and he died in January last year.

His estate was then administered in terms of the ISA, which provided his parents would be beneficiaries of the estate, as there were no children and the marriage was not recognised by the ISA.

Sapa