The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has begun public consultations on its Green Paper on Marriages in South Africa.
The department said the consultations follow the submission of public comments earlier this year.
The Green Paper aims to develop a new Single Marriage Bill, aligning the country’s marriage regime with the constitutional principle of equality.
The paper makes proposals on unions of people from all sexual orientations, religious and cultural persuasions. It also proposes the complete removal of child marriages in the country’s future marriage regime.
The legislation that currently regulates marriages in South Africa has been developed without an overarching policy based on constitutional values and an understanding of modern social dynamics.
This has led to the recognition of different marriage rituals without any harmonisation, it said.
The current legislation doesn’t regulate other marriages such as Hindu, Muslim, and customary marriages.
“Given the diversity of the South Africa population, it is virtually impossible to pass legislation governing every single religious or cultural marriage practice. It is against this background that the DHA is embarking in the process of developing a marriage policy that will lay a policy foundation for drafting a new single or omnibus legislation,” the department said.
The new Marriage Act will enable South Africans of different sexual orientations, religious and cultural persuasions to conclude legal marriages.
There will be strict rules on the age of marriage, including aligning the age of majority to the Children’s Act.
Marital property and intestate succession matters in the event of divorce will also be dealt with, and religious and customary beliefs will be aligned with Section 15 of the Constitution.
Marriages involving foreign nationals will be clarified; as will customary marriages involving non-citizens from cross-border communities.