Two same-sex couples have lost a case for work permit and residency rights in Namibia.
One of the couples, Daniel Digashu and Johan Potgieter, were married in South Africa, while the other, Anette Seiler-Lilles and Anita Seiler-Lilles, were married in Germany.
As one of the partners in each relationship was not a Namibian citizen, they had applied for work- and residence permits on the grounds of their marriages. They argued that the word ‘spouse’ in Namibian law should encompass same-sex partners.
However, presiding judge Hannelie Prinsloo said that while she personally agreed with the couples, the Supreme Court had ruled that same-sex marriages were not recognised in the country. She therefore ruled against the application.
She remarked, though, that the constitution of the country should recognise the reality of same-sex relationships.
Ian Southey-Swartz of the Open Society Foundations-Africa, which had supported the couples’ case, commented: ‘The current legal position has turned me, and many others in my position, into second-class citizens, forced to choose between our country and our family.’
Same-sex relationships have a fraught history in Namibian law. While marriages are not recognised, there has been some de facto recognition of them: in October last year, a same-sex couple won citizenship by descent for their son, who had been born to a surrogate mother in South Africa.
[Image: Steve Johnson on Unsplash]