A new ruling by South Africa’s Constitutional Court has given husbands the legal backing to take their wives’ surnames.
Prior to the ruling, husbands in South Africa were prohibited from assuming their wives’ surnames on the basis that constituted
gender-based discrimination.
Two couples, Henry van der Merwe, who sought to take his wife Jana Jordaan’s surname, and Andreas Nicolas Bornman, who wanted to hyphenate his name to include his wife’s, Donnelly, table the case before the court.
The Constitutional Court backed an High Court ruling in their favour.
With the ruling, the Parliament of South Africa is now expected to amend the country’s Births and Deaths Registration Act and its regulations to give effect to the decision.
Backing the challenge, the Free State Society of Advocates argued that restricting men’s right to adopt their wives’ surnames entrenched harmful stereotypes by denying men a choice long available to women. The ministers of home affairs and justice did not oppose the application.
Source:Africa Publicity