Husbands free to adopt wives’ surnames – South African court rules
Husbands in South Africa can now legally take their wives’ surnames, following a ruling by the country’s highest court.
The court declared that the previous restriction had been imposed by European colonisers and Christian missionaries. It also noted that the custom of wives taking their husbands’ surnames was introduced into South Africa through Roman-Dutch law.
The judgment followed petitions by two couples seeking to adopt their wives’ surnames. Henry van der Merwe was barred from taking the surname of his wife, Jana Jordaan, while Andreas Nicolas Bornman was prevented from adding Donnelly, the surname of his wife Jess Donnelly-Bornman, SABC reported.
Parliament will now be required to amend the Births and Deaths Registration Act and its regulations for the ruling to take full effect.
The court observed: “In many African cultures, women retained their birth names after marriage, and children often took their mother’s clan name but this changed after the arrival of the European colonisers and Christian missionaries, and the imposition of Western values.
“The custom that a wife takes the husband’s surname existed in Roman-Dutch law, and in this way was introduced into South African common law.”
Husbands free to adopt wives’ surnames – South African court rules
