Samsung Galaxy S25 shows why Honor is eating its lunch in SA
Lindsey Schutters
ConCourt grants extension to GNU for Marriage Act amendment
19 Sep 2024
The Constitutional Court has granted parliament an extension to amend the Marriage Act and Divorce Act following its ruling in Women’s Legal Centre Trust v President of the Republic of South Africa. In this ruling, the court found these Acts inconsistent with the Constitution, as they failed to recognise marriages solemnised under Sharia law (Muslim marriages). The extended the period of suspension for its declaration of invalidity now moves to 27 June 2026. This decision came after Parliament requested more time to address the defects and invite public participation in the amendment process.
A view of the Constitutional Court.
In June 2022, the court declared several sections of the Marriage and Divorce Acts unconstitutional.
However, it suspended this declaration for 24 months, giving Parliament until June 2024 to rectify the issues.
As the deadline approached, parliament asked for an additional two years to complete the legislative process, citing the complexity of the amendments and the need for thorough consultation with stakeholders, including Muslim, Hindu, and Jewish communities.
According to the judgment, parliament had taken significant steps by introducing a Marriage Bill in December 2023, but the short timeline made it difficult to achieve sufficient public engagement.
Parliament also argued that failure to grant the extension would result in severe consequences, such as the lack of binding legislation to recognise and regulate Muslim marriages.
GNU settling in
Parliament also argued that the Divorce Act, already addressed through the Divorce Amendment Act of May 2024, was not part of this extension application.
The 2024 elections brought new members to parliament, with the power sharing in the GNU adding further complexity.
This led to the ConCourt deciding that these new members would need time to familiarise themselves with the rules and procedures governing law-making.
Parliament now has until June 2026 to finalise the amendments and help ensure inclusive and participatory law-making processes.
Related
Samsung Galaxy S25 shows why Honor is eating its lunch in SA 1 day New standards pave way for renewable energy breakthrough 5 Mar 2025 Huawei swoops in to continue the AI race at MWC 5 Mar 2025 ‘We find out when you do’ says iStore CEO about new Apple products 4 Mar 2025 CompCom and CIDB join forces to tackle construction corruption 3 Mar 2025 Honor invests $10bn in Alpha Plan to mesh AI across devices and ecosystems 3 Mar 2025 ArcelorMittal closure confirmed, but hope floats in steel market 28 Feb 2025 VAT increase versus spending cuts: South Africa’s budget dilemma explained 28 Feb 2025
