South Africa
Recognition of Customary Marriages Act, 1998
Act 120 of 1998
- Published in Government Gazette 19539 on 2 December 1998
- Assented to on 20 November 1998
- Commenced on 15 November 2000 by Recognition of Customary Marriages Act, 1998: Commencement
- [This is the version of this document as it was from 2 December 1998 to 6 December 2001.]
1. Definitions
In this Act, unless the context otherwise indicates—"court" means a High Court of South Africa, or a family court established under any law, and for purposes of section 8, a Divorce Court established in terms of section 10 or the Administration Amendment Act, 1929 (Act No. 9 of 1929);"customary law" means the customs and usages traditionally observed among the indigenous African peoples of South Africa and which form part of the culture of those peoples;"customary marriage" means a marriage concluded in accordance with customary law;"lobolo" means the property in cash or in kind, whether known as lobolo, bogadi, bohali, xuma, lumalo, thaka, ikhazi, magadi, emabheka or by any other name, which a prospective husband or the head of his family undertakes to give to the head of the prospective wife's family in consideration of a customary marriage;"Minister" means the Minister of Home Affairs;"prescribed" means prescribed by regulation made under section 11;"registering officer" means any person appointed as registering officer for purposes of this Act by the Minister or an officer acting under the Minister's written authorization;"this Act " includes the regulations; and"traditional leader" means any person who in terms of customary law or any other law holds a position in a traditional ruling hierarchy.2. Recognition of customary marriages
3. Requirements for validity of customary marriages
4. Registration of customary marriages
5. Determination of age of minor
6. Equal status and capacity of spouses
A wife in a customary marriage has, on the basis of equality with her husband and subject to the matrimonial property system governing the marriage, full status and capacity, including the capacity to acquire assets and to dispose of them, to enter into contracts and to litigate, in addition to any rights and powers that she might have at customary law.7. Proprietary consequences of customary marriages and contractual capacity of spouses
8. Dissolution of customary marriages
9. Age of majority
Despite the rules of customary law, the age of majority of any person is determined in accordance with the Age of Majority Act, 1972 (Act No. 57 of 1972).10. Change of marriage system
11. Regulations
12. Amendment of laws
13. Repeal of laws
The laws mentioned in the Schedule are hereby repealed to the extent set out in the third column of the Schedule.14. Short title and commencement
This Act is called the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act, 1998, and comes into operation on a date fixed by the President by proclamation in the Gazette.History of this document
01 June 2021 amendment not yet applied
09 August 2010 amendment not yet applied
07 December 2001 amendment not yet applied
Amended by
Judicial Matters Amendment Act, 2001
15 November 2000
02 December 1998 this version
Published in Government Gazette 19539
20 November 1998
Assented to
Cited documents 6
Act 6
1. | Deeds Registries Act, 1937 | 2951 citations |
2. | Magistrates' Courts Act, 1944 | 2913 citations |
3. | Matrimonial Property Act, 1984 | 1194 citations |
4. | Divorce Act, 1979 | 239 citations |
5. | Marriage Act, 1961 | 123 citations |
6. | Mediation in Certain Divorce Matters Act, 1987 | 69 citations |
Documents citing this one 186
Judgment 108
Gazette 67
Act 7
1. | Magistrates' Courts Act, 1944 | 2913 citations |
2. | Births and Deaths Registration Act, 1992 | 1188 citations |
3. | Children's Act, 2005 | 577 citations |
4. | Immigration Act, 2002 | 324 citations |
5. | Refugees Act, 1998 | 181 citations |
6. | South African Citizenship Act, 1995 | 117 citations |
7. | Civil Union Act, 2006 | 52 citations |
Provincial Notice 2
1. | Regulations Relating to the Kwazulu-Natal Joint Municipal Pension Fund (Retirement), 2019 | |
2. | Regulations Relating to the Kwazulu-Natal Joint Municipal Pension Fund (Superannuation), 2019 |
Government Notice 1
1. | Legal Aid of South Africa Regulations, 2017 |
Rules 1
1. | Rules of the National Assembly |