South Africa’s Constitutional Court has delivered a landmark ruling paving way for a husband to adopt his wife’s last name if they wish to do so.
The court in its ruling said portions of the country’s the Births and Deaths Registration Act 51 of 1992 are unconstitutional as it discriminates against women.
Section 26(1) of the Births and Deaths Registration Act says that no individual can assume any other name than the one recorded in the population register, except that a married woman can change her name to her husband’s.
According to the Court, the law in its current form only applies to women and reinforces patriarchal gender norms instituted by colonia regimes.
The case was brought before the court by two couples who were denied the ability to take his wife’s surname and refused to hyphenate their surname with their wives.
Delivering its judgment, the Court “found that the inability of men to assume their wives’ surnames constitutes differentiation.”
The Court has thus ordered the necessary amendments to the current law, to pave the way for husbands to adopt their wife’s last name if they wish to do so
The ruling has caused split reactions, particularly on social media with many gender activists welcoming it as progressive.
