The Constitutional Court has ruled that men may assume their wives’ surnames, declaring Section 26(1)(a) to (c) of the Births and Deaths Registration Act unconstitutional insofar as it unfairly discriminates on the basis of gender, by failing to afford men the right to assume the surname of women after marriage.

The Concourt ruling has upended lifelong norms in South Africa.

This is after the applicants, Jana Jordaan and Henry Van Der Merwe, as well as Jess Donnelly-Bornman and Andreas Nicolas Bornman, turned to the apex court in March this year for a confirmation of invalidity against the said section.

Van Der Merwe was denied the ability to take on the surname of his wife Jordaan and Mr Bornman was denied the ability to hyphenate his surname to include his wife’s surname, Donnelly.

The applicants successfully challenged the said section in the Free State Division of the High Court; however, they still need the constitutional invalidity to be confirmed by the apex court in order for it to take effect.

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 Source: SABC News Canny Maphanga reports