Residents from Mbombela in Mpumalanga believe the Marriage Bill will end the worrying cultural tradition of ‘ukuthwala’, where young girls are often forced into marrying older men.
The Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs has conducted one of three public hearings of the Bill at the Mbombela Local Municipality Civic Centre, marking the first of the public hearings' legs on the Bill in Mpumalanga.
According to participants, clauses contained in Chapter 7 of the Bill will provide the required deterrent against males inclined to continue the practice of ukuthwala, also known as bride kidnapping. Also, some participants welcomed the extension of imprisonment to five years to anyone who marries someone without their consent.
“There were some concerns raised by marriage officers and prospective marriage officers that the Bill is not practical and does not address lived realities. They argued that it would be impossible for marriage officers to ascertain mental impairment in prospective spouses. They pointed out that they are not trained and capable of making determinations of that kind, and that this will cause them to make mistakes and be subjected to penalties that are spelled out in Chapter 7,” committee chairperson Mosa Chabane said.
He said a call was made that the Bill include specific requirements and that there needed to be a probationary period in which a foreign national waits before marrying a South African. This argument was based on concerns that there is an increased abuse of the marriage provision for foreign nationals to regularise their stay in the country. The call for a probationary timeline, according to participants, was necessary for the department to ascertain the suitability of the marriage.
Marriage officers also highlighted that the Bill is silent on how marriage officers, for example, traditional and Khoi-San Councils, will verify the authenticity of requirements as contained in clause (5) (4) of the Bill which require any foreign national to provide an apostilled letter of non-impediment from the relevant authority of his or her country of origin.
“There was unanimous support for the proposal that the legal age for marriage be increased. Despite the support from some participants, some participants proposed that the Bill increase the age limit to at least 21 years, an age they believed was an appropriate age to enter into marriage and cope with its inadvertent realities,” Chabane said.
He said the recognition of same sex marriages came under intensive scrutiny during the hearings, with some objecting while others supported the provision. Those against highlighted religious and cultural grounds for their objections. Those in support highlighted that South Africans have constitutional rights to choose the lifestyle and marriage that makes them happy and that no one has the right to choose for them.