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Africa News afrol News
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Africa News afrol News
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"This is the emancipation of black women whose status was relegated to the background," said national deputy director general in the South African Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, and legal services head, Simon Jiyane. He said the Act marked the demise of the colonial order and that couples could now register polygamous marriages at home affairs offices and be issued a marriage certificate. He said it was important that men support the Act and that traditional healers ensured their subjects were familiar with it. Eerstehoek head magistrate, Moosa Chirwa, said women could oppose polygamous marriages if they chose to, and would have the same legal protection as women in civil marriages. "If a woman feels that she does not want to share her husband with another woman, she can take the necessary steps in court to pull out of the marriage," he explained. He said the Act would also protect widows who don't want to be forced to marry their brothers-in-law. Rebecca Mayile, of the Phaphamani Home Based Care Project that works with rural women in the Nelspruit and White River areas, said a rural widow often suffers at the hands of her in-laws. She is forced by custom to stay indoors and mourn her husband's death for a certain period of time, and when she emerges she often finds that her in-laws have laid claim to her husband's estate leaving her with nothing. "The husband's family takes advantage of the mourning period and rushes to magistrates to claim everything for themselves," she said. She said the Customary Marriages Act followed the Maintenance and Domestic Violence Acts, which went a long way to protect women's rights. "This act is going to do a great deal to improve the lives of women and children, who always suffer the most," she said. Jiyane said five other bills were about to be approved by the South African Parliament in an effort to integrate indigenous and mainstream law. The bills are the Application of the Customary Bill, Customary Law of Accessing Amendment Bill, Traditional Courts Bill, Administration Estates Amendment Bill and Community Courts Bill. by Sizwe samaYende,
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