Parliament seeks another extension to finalise bill encompassing all SA marriages

Parliament plans to ask the Constitutional Court for another extension to finalise a bill that will encompass all marriages in South Africa.

Following countrywide public hearings, it said it needs more time to process the submissions, with many provinces still strongly objecting to same-sex marriages despite the Civil Union Act having been enacted almost twenty years ago.

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However, there does appear to be broad support for raising the legal marriage age to 21.

In 2022, the Constitutional Court gave Parliament two years to remedy the Marriage Act and the Divorce Act because they failed recognise Muslim marriages.

While the Divorce Act has since been remedied, the home affairs committee is still grappling with bringing all three acts governing marriages in South Africa under one law before the extended June deadline.

With 1,760 submissions to the bill largely from religious groups, home affairs committee chairperson Mosa Chabane said more time is needed to process and respond to the views.

“It’s not going to be possible for the National Council of Provinces to conclude within that time frame because of our engaged work on the subject matter.”

Parliamentary legal advisor Zingisa Zenani said Speaker Thoko Didiza has given the go-ahead to apply for a second extension.

“We are the stage where we issue the instructions to the State attorney, and they are the process of securing counsel to prepare the application, which we are hoping will be lodged with the Constitutional Court before the expiry date.”

An analysis of oral hearings show the Northern Cape, North West, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng appearing largely against the bill.