{"id":767324,"date":"2024-04-10T08:35:51","date_gmt":"2024-04-10T06:35:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=767324"},"modified":"2024-04-10T08:35:57","modified_gmt":"2024-04-10T06:35:57","slug":"new-marriage-laws-for-south-africa-take-the-next-big-step","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/767324\/new-marriage-laws-for-south-africa-take-the-next-big-step\/","title":{"rendered":"New marriage laws for South Africa take the next big step"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs has opened the&nbsp;Marriage Bill 2023 for public comment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni previously said that the Bill empowers the Department of Home Affairs to develop a single Marriage Act for the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe Bill seeks to ensure that all marriages are concluded in accordance with the principles of equality, non-discrimination and human dignity as provided for in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996,\u201d said Ntshavheni <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Currently, marriages in South Africa are regulated through three different laws: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Marriage Act \u2013 for the monogamous marriage of opposite-sex couples.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Recognition of Customary Marriages \u2013 for polygamous marriages of opposite-sex couples.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Civil Union Act \u2013 for monogamous partnerships for same-sex and opposite-sex couples.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2021, the Department of Home Affairs embarked on a process to create an &#8220;umbrella&#8221; marriage policy, presenting the country with a single legislation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Following a White Paper and the Draft Marriage Bill of 2022, the Department tabled the Marriage Bill 2023 in parliament in December 2023. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Essentially, the new Bill will bring all marriage legislation under one roof. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Bill also states that it seeks to: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Provide for the recognition of marriages;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Provide for the requirements for monogamous and polygamous marriages;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Provide for designation of marriage officers;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Provide for solemnization and registration of marriages;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Provide for proprietary consequences and the dissolution of marriages;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Provide for offences and penalties and to provide for matters incidental thereto.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The Bill, however, still has to take several steps before coming into law, with approval needed from the National Assembly, the National Council of Provinces and the President.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although parliament and President Cyril Ramaphosa are pushing through multiple laws ahead of the 29 May election, it is unlikely that the new Marriage Bill 2023 will reach the deadline. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-businesstech wp-block-embed-businesstech\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"fWAL2lXmnA\"><a href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/765655\/ramaphosa-signs-off-three-new-laws-for-south-africa\/\">Ramaphosa signs off three new laws for South Africa<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);\" title=\"&#8220;Ramaphosa signs off three new laws for South Africa&#8221; &#8212; BusinessTech\" src=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/765655\/ramaphosa-signs-off-three-new-laws-for-south-africa\/embed\/#?secret=MM3rquDtpl#?secret=fWAL2lXmnA\" data-secret=\"fWAL2lXmnA\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Public comments can be emailed to&nbsp;MarriageBill@parliament.gov.za&nbsp;by no later than&nbsp;Friday,&nbsp;17 May 2024&nbsp;at&nbsp;16:00.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Bill can be found below (mobile users can click <a href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/B43-2023_Marriage_Bill.pdf\">here<\/a>): <\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/B43-2023_Marriage_Bill.pdf\" width=\"100%\" height=\"600\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Read<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/767009\/failing-to-prevent-corruption-is-now-a-criminal-offence-in-south-africa-2\/\">Failing to prevent corruption is now a criminal offence in South Africa<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Department of Home Affairs is looking to simplify South Africa&#8217;s highly fractured marriage laws. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":767339,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[26],"class_list":["post-767324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-headline"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=767324"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767324\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":767346,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767324\/revisions\/767346"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/767339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=767324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=767324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=767324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}