The Department of Home Affairs is urging members of the public in qualifying customary marriages to take advantage of a special registration process before it closes today.
Deputy Director-General Thulani Mavuso has encouraged couples whose customary marriages remain unregistered to come forward and regularise their marital status.
The special registration period was introduced on 1 September 2024 and allows couples who did not register their customary marriages within the prescribed period to do so.
The initiative applies to customary marriages entered into before the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act came into effect in November 2000, as well as those concluded after the legislation came into force but were not registered within the required timeframe.
Mavuso has stressed that missing the deadline does not automatically mean that a customary marriage is invalid.
“If the process is not finalised, it does not invalidate the marriage. The marriage is still valid, but we encourage people to come forward,” Mavuso said.
He warned that failing to register a customary marriage can create difficulties when spouses need to prove their marital status, particularly when dealing with matrimonial property following the death of a partner.
“One of the disadvantages of not registering is the difficulty in proving that you are married without a Home Affairs certificate in an event that something happens to one of the spouses,” he said.
Mavuso urged couples to ensure their marriages are formally recorded with Home Affairs to avoid potential complications in the future, particularly regarding inheritance and matrimonial property.