South Africa Considers Legalising Women To Marry More Than One Man

While South Africa’s marriage laws could within the near future allow women to marry quite one husband (polyandry), even as polygamous men can have many wives, there’s still uncertainty surrounding the concept.

Legalisation of polyandry is one among the wide-ranging proposals within the report on Marriages. The country’s Department of Home Affairs published the landmark 67-page policy document in the week .

The department stressed within the document that it sought to make a replacement marriage act which will allow beat the country to possess recognised, legal marriages.

A few sorts of marriages within the country aren’t recognised; and on the opposite hand, marriage legislation is deemed to not promote equality.

Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Rastafarian marriages aren’t recognised by South African law and therefore the report also puts up proposals for his or her recognition.

“Moreover, activists submitted that equality demands that polyandry be legally recognised as a sort of marriage,” said the document.

Polyandry and polygamy emerged as a number of controversial topics during the ministerial dialogues.

Traditional leaders were among those that objected to polyandry and labelled it an “unacceptable practice because it’s not of African origin”, revealed the document.

“Ironically, stakeholders who believed within the practice of polygamy (polygyny) were against the practice of polyandry,” commented the department.

The public has until the top of June to discuss the department’s proposals.

Home Affairs said it had been aware its process was sure to ruffle feathers, but maintained the changes were necessary.

“This is that the beginning of an important public discourse which will re-define the concept of marriage in South Africa ,” it said.

“The process will unearth issues which will make a number of us uncomfortable, but will encourage dialogue within the South African and international communities.”