OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday
A NEW law that recognises traditional African marriages, including polygamous unions, has come into effect in South Africa, bringing relief to women who have been discriminated against because their unions were not recognised.
Justice ministry official Paul Setsetse said millions of people would directly benefit from the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act.
“In the past, women could not get joint home loans or be on their husband’s medical aid, but most importantly they now have some rights when they leave their husbands. They can now have a divorce settlement, he can no longer throw them out in the street,” he said.
Under the Act, such marriages can only be dissolved by a court order, whereas before traditional marriages were dissolved by the families of the spouses.
Co-author of the act Thandabantu Nhlapo said it required men and women to be above 18 to be legally married, but those younger than 21 required the consent of their parents.
It also demands that new and existing customary marriages be registered with the home affairs department within a year, he said.
The act also stipulates that you can only legally enter into a traditional African marriage if it is part of your culture, Nhlapo said, meaning that in practice at least one of the partners would have to be black.
“If it is not part of your traditional culture it does not apply to you,” he said.
Likewise, polygamy will be legally recognised only if it is part of the traditional culture of one of the spouses.
But women will not be allowed to have more than one husband, as this has never been an accepted practice in any of South Africa’s cultures.
Traditional marriage has surived as a custom mainly in the country’s rural areas and it is not certain what percentage of South Africa’s black majority are married under customary law.
But Justice Minister Cheryl Gillwald welcomed the law as milestone that would bring relief to “millions.”
“It brings to an end the tyranny of dictatorial recognition of civil and other Eurocentric faith-based marriages at the expense of marriages concluded in accordance with customary law,” she said. – AFP