South Africa’s highest court has ruled that husbands can legally adopt their wives’ surnames, overturning a colonial-era law that barred them from doing so and was deemed discriminatory.
The decision came after two couples challenged the law, with the Constitutional Court declaring it outdated and biased against men.
Henry van der Merwe was denied the right to take the surname of his wife, Jana Jordaan, while Andreas Nicolas Bornman was prohibited from hyphenating his surname to include his wife Jess Donnelly-Bornman’s name, according to public broadcaster SABC.
As a result of the ruling, Parliament will need to amend the Births and Deaths Registration Act and its associated regulations for the change to be officially implemented.
The law was originally introduced during South Africa’s white-minority rule.
The couples argued that the legislation was patriarchal, archaic, and in violation of equality rights enshrined in South Africa’s post-apartheid constitution.
After winning in a lower court, they sought confirmation from the Constitutional Court.
In its judgment, the court noted that many African cultures traditionally allowed women to retain their birth names after marriage, with children often inheriting the mother’s clan name.
This practice was disrupted by European colonizers and Christian missionaries, who imposed Western naming conventions.
“The custom that a wife takes her husband’s surname was introduced through Roman-Dutch law and colonial legislation,” the court said, adding that while South Africa has made significant progress toward gender equality, some laws still perpetuate harmful stereotypes.
Neither Minister of Home Affairs Leon Schreiber nor Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Mamoloko Kubayi opposed the case, acknowledging the law was outdated.
The Free State Society of Advocates supported the couples, arguing that restricting men from taking their wives’ surnames reinforced harmful stereotypes and denied men choices available to women, according to the Sowetan.