SU 3 Marriage
,Prescribed materials
• Van Heerden & Skelton Chapter 3
• Ex parte Dow 1987 3 SA 829 (D)
• KOS v Minister of Home Affairs (2298/2017) [2017]
ZAWCHC 90; [2017] 4 All SA 468 (WCC); 2017 (6)
SA 588 (WCC) (6 September 2017)
• Marriage Act 51 of 1961
• South African Law Reform Commission on ISSUE
PAPER 35 ON A SINGLE MARRIAGE
STATUTE(PROJECT 144)
, Main themes
• DEFINITION of marriage
• VALID MARRIAGE IF REQUIREMENTS MET:
• Lawfulness & Capacity to marry
• Absolute incapacity (married / mental / below marriageable age)
• Relative incapacity (gender / minors / prohibited degrees /
guardian and ward / persons under curatorship)
• Consensus
• Material mistake (void) / material misrepresentation & duress
(voidable) / impotence, sterility and stuprum
• Prescribed formalities
• Marriage officers / prerequisites / formalities / registration
• VOIDABLE, VOID AND PUTATIVE marriages
• Recognition of FOREIGN marriages
, DEFINITION
Traditionally, a marriage is defined as the
legally recognised, voluntary, life-long union
between one man and one woman, to the
exclusion of all others
Key words:
1. Legally recognised = rights/obligations
2. Voluntary = consensus
3. One man & one woman [same-sex can
enter CIVIL UNIONS]
4. Exclusion of all others = monogamous
,Prescribed materials
• Van Heerden & Skelton Chapter 3
• Ex parte Dow 1987 3 SA 829 (D)
• KOS v Minister of Home Affairs (2298/2017) [2017]
ZAWCHC 90; [2017] 4 All SA 468 (WCC); 2017 (6)
SA 588 (WCC) (6 September 2017)
• Marriage Act 51 of 1961
• South African Law Reform Commission on ISSUE
PAPER 35 ON A SINGLE MARRIAGE
STATUTE(PROJECT 144)
, Main themes
• DEFINITION of marriage
• VALID MARRIAGE IF REQUIREMENTS MET:
• Lawfulness & Capacity to marry
• Absolute incapacity (married / mental / below marriageable age)
• Relative incapacity (gender / minors / prohibited degrees /
guardian and ward / persons under curatorship)
• Consensus
• Material mistake (void) / material misrepresentation & duress
(voidable) / impotence, sterility and stuprum
• Prescribed formalities
• Marriage officers / prerequisites / formalities / registration
• VOIDABLE, VOID AND PUTATIVE marriages
• Recognition of FOREIGN marriages
, DEFINITION
Traditionally, a marriage is defined as the
legally recognised, voluntary, life-long union
between one man and one woman, to the
exclusion of all others
Key words:
1. Legally recognised = rights/obligations
2. Voluntary = consensus
3. One man & one woman [same-sex can
enter CIVIL UNIONS]
4. Exclusion of all others = monogamous
