Same-sex marriage to
become law
by year-end
By Angela Quintal,
iol.co.za from the Web. August 2, 2006
South Africa -- Proposed
legislation on same-sex marriages has divided South Africans and needs to be
treated carefully so as not to polarise society even further, says the deputy
minister of Justice, Johnny de Lange.
However, by the end of the year there will be a law on the statute books about
the issue -- in line with a Constitutional Court ruling.
"There are many issues in our society that can widen the social cohesion deficit
in this country. This is one of them," De Lange said at a briefing by the
justice, crime prevention and security cluster on Tuesday.
'There is a lot of thought and consultation behind the scenes,”
In terms of a Constitutional Court judgement, parliament has until December 2 to
correct section 30 (1) of the Marriage Act, in that the reference to wife or
husband in the current marriage formula is unconstitutional, because it excludes
same-sex partners.
The court ruled that the omission of the words "or spouse" after the words "or
husband" in the Marriage Act was inconsistent with the Constitution as it did
not permit same-sex partners to enjoy the same status as heterosexual couples.
The court gave parliament a year to correct the defects, in that the legislature
was better placed to decide the best way to achieve equality in this matter.
If this was not done the Marriage Act would automatically be read as including
the words "or spouse", the court ruled.
De Lange said the government was trying to deal with the matter "as sensitively
as possible" given that there were "groups", particularly religious ones, who
were strongly opposed to same-sex marriages, while others, particularly in the
gay community and human rights activists, were of a different view.
The government was trying to "maintain maximum social cohesion" while processing
the proposed legislation".
"We try to find a solution to this issue that could create a huge social
cohesion deficit."
De Lange said there were already calls from the religious community to amend the
Constitution to stop the way the courts had suggested parliament should move on
the issue of same sex marriages.
"There is a lot of thought and consultation behind the scenes to not worsen
divisions in society on this matter. That is the only reason why it is taking
such time."
However, the executive would meet the deadlines and it would be processed in the
legislature before the December 2 deadline, he said.
This was echoed by Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula in a telephone
interview last night.
She said the draft Bill would be discussed by the cabinet governance and
administration cluster on August 14 and would go to the full cabinet the week
thereafter.
It would be tabled in parliament by September 1, so that there was enough time
for public participation and for the Bill to be adopted within the deadline set
by the court.
Among those also opposed to same the Constitutional Court's legalisation of same
sex marriages, is the country's traditional leaders.
The National House of Traditional Leaders said soon after the judgement "that
the practice of same-sex marriages is against most of African beliefs, cultures,
customs and traditions and this in turn goes against the mandate of traditional
leaders, which is to promote and protect the customs of communities".
On Tuesday, parliament's home affairs and justice committees were briefed by
government officials on the issue. MPs made it clear that there would be
widespread public participation but raised concerns about the tight timeframes.
This article was originally published on page 2 of Pretoria
News on August 02, 2006.
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