South Africa’s highest court has ruled that husbands can now adopt the surname of their wives, overturning a law that prevented that from taking place in the nation.
The Constitutional Court ruled that the law amounted to gender-based discrimination, and this came as a huge win for two couples who presented the case.
Henry van der Merwe was denied the right to take the surname of his wife, Jana Jordaan, while Andreas Nicolas Bornman could not hyphenate his surname to include Donnelly, the surname of his wife, Jess Donnelly-Bornman, according to the public broadcaster.
RELATED STORIES
READ ALSO: Obama, Kamala Harris, other Democrats condemn the killing of Trump ally Charlie Kirk
Multiple local reports in South Africa indicate that Parliament will now have to amend the Births and Deaths Registration Act, along with its regulations, for the ruling to take effect.
To the two couples, the law was archaic and patriarchal, and was a violation of equality rights embedded in the constitution that South Africa adopted at the end of white-minority rule.
At every level, they successfully challenged the law, but asked the Constitutional Court to confirm its ruling.
The Free State Society of Advocates, which is a legal body, joined the court case in support of the two couples.
According to reports, the group argued that by restricting a man’s right to assume their wife’s surname, the law perpetuated harmful stereotypes, as it denied men a choice available to women.
Neither the Minister of Home Affairs Leon Schreiber nor the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Mamoloko Kubayi opposed the application of the two couples, per IOL news.
