LEGAL AGE OF CONSENT TO MARRY DOMINATES PUBLIC HEARINGS ON MARRIAGE BILL

• The Marriage Bill, which is currently undergoing public consultation, has suggested 18 as the appropriate age of consent for marriage.
• During the Eastern Cape leg of consultations, held by the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs, many suggested that the age be raised to 21.
• The Bill aims to consolidate South Africa’s various marriage laws, including the Marriage Act, the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act, and the Civil Union Act, into one inclusive legislation.

The legal age of consent for South Africans to marry continues to dominate the Eastern Cape leg of the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs’ public hearings on the Marriage Bill.

The committee held public hearings on the bill in the Chris Hani District Municipality on 25 March 2025, where residents raised concerns about the age – 18-years-old – proposed in the bill as the appropriate age of consent for individuals to get married.

Residents who attended the public hearings at the Thobi Kula Indoor Sports Centre in Komani told the committee that 18 is too young for people to marry and suggested instead that the age of consent should be set at 21.

They argued that 18-year-olds are still in school and not mature enough to marry; they should focus on their studies and not marriage.

They also proposed that the laws and systems at the Department of Home Affairs must be strengthened to curb fraudulent marriages and people marrying deceased individuals.

Except for the concern about the age of consent and some opposition to same-sex marriages, especially from religious and traditional leaders, there was general support for the Marriage Bill.

Committee chairperson Mosa Chabane commended the residents for raising their concerns about the Bill and assured them that all their inputs would be considered when the committee deliberates on the draft legislation, after consultations in all nine provinces.

The Eastern Cape is the third province to host these public hearings, after Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, as part of the committee’s comprehensive national public consultation exercise on the Marriage Bill.

The Bill aims to consolidate the various marriage laws, which include the Marriage Act, the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act, and the Civil Union Act, into one inclusive legislation for all marriage types.

It will also implement a judgment of the Constitutional Court to recognise Muslim marriages, which were excluded from the current legislation.

The portfolio committee will conclude the Eastern Cape leg of the public hearings on Thursday, 27 March 2025, in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, at the Daku Hall in Gqeberha.