This came to the fore recently when Justice Lot Moroka delivered judgment in the Lebogang Botsalo versus Lesego Sehunelo case. Moroka said: “The matter before this court is fairly straightforward. The Applicant who is the mother of the minor child begotten with the deceased, Moruti Sehunelo, seeks registration of the estate of the deceased Moriti Sehunelo principally so that the interests of the minor child to his father's estate are secured by the Master of the High Court. For her to register his estate, she seeks two documents allegedly in custody of the Respondent: the deceased person's death certificate and identification document. Under normal circumstances, the request of the Applicant that the estate of the deceased Moriti Sehunelo be registered with the Master So that a fair and equitable distribution of the estate to all deserving persons be achieved, should be no problem.” The circumstances, Moroka noted, are not normal as it is apparent from the set of exhibits filed by both parties that there is no common understanding on the fundamental issue which in my view is the best interests of the minor child.
“The Respondent is opposed to the application and has filed an answering affidavit. The Respondent raises several questions in her answering affidavit. These are: that the Applicant has no locus standi (a right to appear in a court) to bring up the application; the capacity of the Respondent to be sued and that she is not in the custody of the death certificate and identification card. The Respondent does not deny that the Applicant is the mother of a minor child begotten with the deceased Moriti Sehunelo. She denies that the Applicant lived with the deceased until he died,” said Moroka. To clear the mist surrounding the dispute at hand, Moroka said that he will first deal with whether the Applicant has locus standi to bring the application. “The Applicant is the mother to a minor child. It is not disputed that the deceased Moriti Sehunelo is the biological father to the minor child. As a biological father to the minor child, the deceased Moriti Sehunelo had a duty to support the minor child. Upon his demise, the duty fell to his estate. Let us first get the issue of the Applicant's capacity to sue out of the way. The Applicant is the mother to a minor child begotten with the deceased Moriti Sehunelo. She says at paragraph 6 of her founding affidavit: “This is an application to compel the Respondent to release the deceased's omang/identification card and death certificate to enable me to register his estate for distribution, on behalf of the deceased's minor child...in my capacity as her biological mother and guardian.
