Men Can Now Assume Wives’ Father’s Name, South African Court

Post created on 2:12 pm

Constitutional Court of South Africa in Johannesburg.

‎
‎The Constitutional Court in South Africa has ruled that men are allowed to assume their wives’ surnames, declaring a section of the Births and Deaths Registration Act unconstitutional for unfairly discriminating on the basis of gender.
‎
‎The case was brought before the highest court by two couples: Jana Jordaan and Henry Van Der Merwe, and Jess Donnelly-Bornman and Andreas Nicolas Bornman in March, before the case was ruled in favor of them.
‎
‎Van Der Merwe had been denied the right to adopt his wife Jordaan’s surname, while Bornman was refused the ability to hyphenate his surname to include his wife Donnelly’s name.
‎
‎Although the applicants successfully challenged the section in the Free State Division of the High Court, the confirmation of constitutional invalidity by the Constitutional Court was required for the decision to take effect.
‎
‎With the victory of the couple Parliament will now have to amend the Births and Deaths Registration Act for the ruling to take effect.

[‎BBC]