Ofure Akhigbe
South Africa’s Constitutional Court has ruled that husbands can legally adopt their wives’ surnames, striking down sections of the Births and Deaths Registration Act that restricted such changes to women.
In its judgment delivered on Thursday, September 11, the court declared that sections 26(1)(a) to (c) of the Act were unconstitutional because they discriminated on the basis of gender. The law had previously allowed only wives to assume their husbands’ surnames after marriage.
The case was brought forward by two couples, including Henry van der Merwe, who sought to take his wife Jana Jordaan’s surname, and Andreas Nicolas Bornman, who wanted to adopt a hyphenated surname with his wife’s Donnelly name.
Justice Leona Theron, delivering the ruling, said the provisions served “no legitimate government purpose” and infringed on constitutional guarantees of equality and dignity.
The court suspended its declaration of invalidity for 24 months to give Parliament time to amend the law, but ordered an interim remedy that allows both men and women to change their surnames after marriage under the existing framework.
The Ministers of Home Affairs and Justice, cited as respondents, did not oppose the application.
The judgment has been hailed as a landmark step for gender equality in South Africa, though questions remain over how the changes will affect cultural practices, customary marriages, and administrative systems.