Customary marriages are essentially polygamous. Courts were of the
opinion that the nature of customary marriages are against public policy and
natural justice. The Interim Constitution, 1993 gave effect to the
consequences of customary marriages in principle XIII, while section 15(3)
of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 allows for the
recognition of marriages concluded in terms of custom. These marriages
may, however not be in conflict with the Bill of Rights. Recognition was
given to lobolo as the courts could not find it to be against public policy as is
reflected initially in section 11 (1) of the Black Administration Act 38 of 1927
and subsequently in section 54A of the Magistrate's Court Act 32 of 1944
and section 1 of the Law of Evidence Amendment Act 45 of 1988.
In 1998 the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act 120 of 1998 was
promulgated to give recognition to customary marriages.
In this study, the question to what extent customary marriages and the
Recognition of Customary Marriages Act 120 of 1998 are consistent with
the Constitution within a democratic society based on equality, freedom and
human dignity is addressed. It was found that the purpose of the
Recognition of Customary Marriages Act 120 of 1998 is not only to give
recognition to customary marriages, but to amend the traditional customary
rules which may be inconsistent with the Bill of Rights. The Act succeeds in
this. / Thesis (LL.M.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nwu/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/147 |
| Date | January 2005 |
| Creators | Herbst, Maria Magarieta |
| Publisher | North-West University |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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