Parliament, Tuesday, 22 July 2025 – The Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs will hold public hearings on the Marriage Bill of 2023 in the Free State this coming weekend. The Free State Province is the sixth province to hold provincial public participation processes, following similar sessions in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, and the North West.
“The sessions held thus far have shown the value of public participation in lawmaking, and the views shared with the committee have empowered the committee to consider the Bill qualitatively. Each province visited has highlighted province-specific issues that they hope the Bill will address,” said Mr Mosa Chabane, the Chairperson of the committee.
The public participation process is the cornerstone of South Africa’s constitutional democracy as enshrined in Section 59 of the Constitution, which compels the National Assembly to facilitate public involvement in the legislative and other processes of the Parliament and its committees. “The committee has endeavoured to ensure that the process is inclusive and far-reaching and that a conducive platform is created for people to make meaningful submissions on the Bill,” Mr Chabane said.
To ensure meaningful public engagement, Parliament, through its public education unit, has undertaken an extensive public education process in each province to ensure that participants make informed and qualitative submissions that add value to the Bill.
The Marriage Bill seeks to rationalise the marriage laws of various types of marriages. The Bill introduces a single marriage statute to replace the three existing marriage laws governing civil marriages, customary marriages and civil unions.
The Bill further seeks to recognise all marriages irrespective of religion, custom, sexual orientation, or other beliefs. All marriages, concluded either following the tenets of any custom, religion or belief, will, therefore, be recognised. The Bill will further ensure that all marriages concluded before the commencement of the Bill continue to be recognised as marriages under South African law.
Also, the Bill seeks to prohibit marriages involving children in line with South Africa’s obligations as it relates to international human rights instruments, as well as the protection of children. In this regard, the Bill introduces a requirement that both prospective spouses must be at least 18 years old. The Bill further introduces offences and penalties for entering or concluding marriages with minors, as well as solemnising such marriages.
The Bill will further ensure that the Minister of Home Affairs can designate marriage officers from all sectors of society, including traditional leadership, and sets out the requirements for designation as a marriage officer.
In North West, residents told the committee that they hoped the Bill would help address fake and fraudulent marriages, where mostly women found themselves married to foreign nationals without their consent, a common problem allegedly perpetrated by corrupt officials of the Department of Home Affairs. Young people who participated in the public hearings spoke against the exorbitant amounts charged for lobola (bride price) by the parents of the bride. Many suggested that this practice should not be used for profit-making, but rather to build relationships and families. They called for the Bill to address this.
Some participants also talked about the practice of“ukungenwa” in Zulu or “sea-ntlo” in Setswana (levirate marriage), where a widow is forced to marry her late husband’s brother. Many of the citizens who spoke on this proposal told the committee that while this was an old tradition practised by many cultural groups in South Africa, it undermined the rights of women. They said this was a form of forced marriage and violated women’s right to choose by imposing a partner without their consent.
The committee would like to urge residents of the Free State to come in their numbers to contribute to the Bill. “The drafters of the Constitution envisioned laws that are reflective of the general views of all South Africans, and this is an incredible opportunity for the people to contribute to the Bill,” Mr Chabane said.
Details of the Free State hearings are as follows:
DATE:2025 | DISTRICT MUNICIPALITY | LOCAL MUNICIPALITY | Proposed venue | TIME |
Friday, 25 July | Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality | Bloemfontein | Simon Sefuthi Hall | 10:00 – 15:00 |
Saturday, 26 July | Lejweleputswa District Municipality | Matjhabeng Local Municipality | Toronto Recreation Centre | 10:00 – 15:00 |
Sunday, 27 July | Thabo Mofutsanyane District Municipality | Dihlabeng Local Municipality | New Hall | 10:00 – 15:00 |
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON HOME AFFAIRS, MR MOSA CHABANE.
For media enquiries or interviews with the Chairperson, please contact the Committee’s Media Officer:
Name: Malatswa Molepo (Mr)
Parliamentary Communication Services
Tel: 021 403 8438
Cell: 081 512 7920
E-mail: mmolepo@parliament.gov.za
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