PRESS RELEASE
EMBARGO: NONE
03 April 2020
AL JAMA-AH CALLS ON HOME AFFAIRS MINISTER’S INTERVENTION ON “ILLEGAL” MUSLIM MARRIAGES
ATT: ALL MEDIA
The AL JAMA-AH party has submitted an urgent question for written reply to the Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi to intervene in the matter of Muslim marriages still being classified as “illegal.” In the question to Minister Motsoaledi, Al Jama-ah asked: “Will the Minister consider the implementation of interim measures to restore the human dignity of the Nikah (Marriage ceremonies) and for the death certificate as a result of a coronavirus death, to state ‘married’. ”
The party’s president and leader in Parliament, Hon Ganief Hendricks said in light of the coronavirus pandemic, Muslims could also be affected by the projected deaths as expected. There is a continuous anxiety amongst all religious groups especially the elderly and frail.
The “illegal” status of Muslim marriages in South Africa remains a major concern for Al Jama-ah and since its formation more than 12 years ago, the party has taken up the battle to have Muslim marriages legalised.
Muslim marriages have been denied legal status under the former apartheid government and nothing has changed since then. When a Muslim husband dies, the death certificate will state: ‘not married’ and widow and children will have a battle to receive benefits. But if you go to Home Affairs with a lobola certificate, the state recognises such a marriage based on Customary Law. But a Muslim marriage officiated by an Imam, will not be recognised.
The “illegal” status of Muslim marriages is causing extreme difficulties to the surviving wife, such as her right to claim any benefits. Widows are compelled to go through endless red tape such as obtaining an affidavit and other documents to proof that they were married to the deceased.
The Nikah Bill must go through a process in Parliament which will take about 2 years or more. The party has lobbied for support from politicians to steamroll the Nikah Bill. The Muslim marriages legal status must first be tabled then billed after which a vote in parliament will finalise the procedure.
To speed up the process, Al Jama-ah has appointed an attorney to assist the party with a Private Members Bill on Muslim marriages.
The Bill and legal Muslim marriages are huge social issues which must be adequately addressed. Muslim women must be empowered and enjoy equal status as a Muslim and member of this society. The attorney is also doing an in-dept study of the Nikah Bill which was compiled by Al Jama-ah. The Nikah Bill will most probably be part of what Parliament refers to as, the Omnibus Marriage Bill, which compromises all forms of marriages, including Customary marriages.
The party have already set the Nikah Bill in motion and submitted it to Parliament. The submission includes the consequences of religious marriages (inter alia Muslim marriages) are also recognised as they relate to maintenance, custody and access to the child, proprietary consequences of a marriage, divorce and the law governing the termination of marriages under the religious system. Al Jama-ah also proposes to amend where necessary existing provisions in the arbitration of a marriage bill.
Issued by
Ganief Hendricks (Al Jama-ah president and leader in Parliament)
Cell: 082 780 2573