The Good Morning Breakfast
First wives take a stand.─── 14:42 Tue, 05 May 2015
King Goodwill Zwelithini may not like it, but first wives have the right to veto a man's decision to take on another spouse.
Last week, the monarch, while addressing the House of Traditional Leaders, referred to the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act as a brutal law "designed against our heritage".
"In short, this law stipulates that if a man wishes to marry a second or third wife he needs to get written consent from the existing wife. As Zulus, we have never heard of this even in ancient times... If we do not agree we should invite the Constitutional Court to arbitrate for us," he said.
Polygamy is a contentious issue in South Africa.
KwaZulu-Natal multi-millionaire businessman PG Mavundla, who has three wives, agrees with the law.
"If you decide to embark on a customary marriage and intend to take another wife, the first wife has to give you a written consent. The same happens when you decide on a third wife, the first and second wife have to consent. A court has to endorse this before you go to Home Affairs," said Mavundla.
According to Statistics SA's findings published last week, a total of 158642 civil marriages, 3498 customary marriages and 993 civil unions were registered in 2013.
A comparison with the 2012 data shows that registration of civil and customary marriages dropped by 1.5% and 23.2% respectively, but that of civil unions increased by 0.6%.
Despite the drop in customary marriages, poly-gamy is popular, says Zulu cultural expert Professor Sihawu Ngubane.
"It is becoming popular because we have also witnessed it from the religious people like Reverend HQ Nala, who took a second wife from his congregation."
Ngubane said consent from first wives was always a requirement for a Zulu man to take on another wife.
"It was never in writing but it was in practice. In the past, if the wife refused, the whole process would come to a standstill," he said.
Lisa Vetten, a research associate at the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research, said the idea of consulting existing wives was included in the legislation because one of the concerns was "just how many wives can a husband reasonably support".
Last week, the monarch, while addressing the House of Traditional Leaders, referred to the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act as a brutal law "designed against our heritage".
"In short, this law stipulates that if a man wishes to marry a second or third wife he needs to get written consent from the existing wife. As Zulus, we have never heard of this even in ancient times... If we do not agree we should invite the Constitutional Court to arbitrate for us," he said.
Polygamy is a contentious issue in South Africa.
KwaZulu-Natal multi-millionaire businessman PG Mavundla, who has three wives, agrees with the law.
"If you decide to embark on a customary marriage and intend to take another wife, the first wife has to give you a written consent. The same happens when you decide on a third wife, the first and second wife have to consent. A court has to endorse this before you go to Home Affairs," said Mavundla.
According to Statistics SA's findings published last week, a total of 158642 civil marriages, 3498 customary marriages and 993 civil unions were registered in 2013.
A comparison with the 2012 data shows that registration of civil and customary marriages dropped by 1.5% and 23.2% respectively, but that of civil unions increased by 0.6%.
Despite the drop in customary marriages, poly-gamy is popular, says Zulu cultural expert Professor Sihawu Ngubane.
"It is becoming popular because we have also witnessed it from the religious people like Reverend HQ Nala, who took a second wife from his congregation."
Ngubane said consent from first wives was always a requirement for a Zulu man to take on another wife.
"It was never in writing but it was in practice. In the past, if the wife refused, the whole process would come to a standstill," he said.
Lisa Vetten, a research associate at the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research, said the idea of consulting existing wives was included in the legislation because one of the concerns was "just how many wives can a husband reasonably support".
