US EditionSouth Africa’s top court says banning a husband from taking wife’s family name is unconstitutional
The court found the law discriminatory, requiring Parliament to amend it within two years to ensure men can legally adopt their wives' surnames, advancing gender equality in marriage laws.
- On Thursday, the Constitutional Court of South Africa ruled the apartheid-era ban on husbands taking their wives' surnames unconstitutional, striking down sections of the Births and Deaths Registration Act and confirming men may legally adopt their wives' surnames.
- Two couples took legal action after Home Affairs denied husbands' surname changes, and a Free State High Court in September 2024 found the provisions unconstitutional for gender discrimination.
- Justice Leona Theron wrote that Section 26 entrenched patriarchal norms rooted in colonial imports and violated constitutional equality by unfairly discriminating on gender.
- The court suspended the invalidity for 24 months to allow President Cyril Ramaphosa, cabinet, and Parliament time to amend the law, introduced an interim remedy for spouses to change surnames, and ordered Home Affairs to amend registrations and pay legal costs.
- The decision prompted mixed reactions on social media, with some users praising it and others fearing it threatens culture, while legal scholars hailed it as a step toward gender equality influenced by South Africa's 2006 same-sex marriage reforms.
60 Articles
60 Articles
South African apex court grants men right to adopt wives' surnames
The apex court in South Africa has delivered a landmark ruling, which granted men the right to adopt their wives' surnames and stressed that any law that prevented this amounted to unfair gender discrimination. The ruling followed a case instituted by two couples, one of which wanted to honour the woman’s parents, who died when she was young. The other case involved a woman who wanted to retain her maiden name to preserve her family's surname, a…
Associated Press News
South Africa’s top court says banning a husband from taking wife's family name is unconstitutional
South Africa’s top court has ruled that an apartheid-era law banning husbands from taking their wife’s family name or hyphenating both spouses’ surnames if they wish to do so was unconstitutional.
UPDATE | ConCourt rules men CAN take their wives' surnames
In a landmark judgment that advances gender equality in South Africa, the Constitutional Court has ruled that men now have the legal right to adopt their wives’ surnames – a decision that marks a historic departure from long-standing gendered norms in marriage law. The ruling, handed down on Thursday, stems from a challenge to the Births and Deaths Registration Act, which previously imposed restrictions on men seeking to change their surnames af…
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