In 2008, there were 186,522 civil marriages, 16,003 customary marriages, and 732 civil unions. In 2007 there were 80 civil unions. (StatsSA Marriages and Divorces, 2008)
This week’s theme: Husbands and wives
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What is a civil union?
According to the Civil Union Act (2006), a civil union means “the voluntary union of two persons who are both 18 years of age or older, which is solemnised and registered by way of either a marriage or a civil partnership, in accordance with the procedures prescribed in this Act”.
This effectively allows men to “marry” men, and women to “marry” women.
I got some stats from Home Affairs and they are quite different with regards to Civil union marriages………
CIVIL UNION MARRIAGES FROM DEC 2006 UP TO FEBRUARY 2008
Our source document, “Marriages and divorces 2008, P0307″ from StatsSA says
It seems like our official stats bodies show conflicting numbers.
Who is allowed to have a customary marriage and/or a civil union? Can I be a for example (and I am not saying I am) be a married straight white guy and through customary marriage means (I presume polygamy) have a civil union with another man (my accountant for eg)? Does someone check to see if the civil union is consumated and does one have to consumate “marriage”, “customary marriage” and/or “civil union” to be considered “hitched” (to use a politically correct term)?