The Constitutional Court dismissed on Thursday an appeal by a lesbian couple against the Pretoria High Court’s refusal to legalise their marriage.
The Constitutional Court ruled that the couple’s appeal raised important questions relating to South Africa’s common law and these questions should first be considered and determined by the Supreme Court of Appeal.
Marie Fourie, a carpet technologist, and her same-sex partner, nurse Cecilia Bonthuys, lost their groundbreaking application against the Minister of Home Affairs when Pretoria High Court Judge Pierre Roux dismissed it with costs in October last year.
Fourie and Bonthuys, who have been living together in an exclusive relationship since 1994, claimed in court papers they were unfairly discriminated against because their union had no
legal basis. – Sapa