Unfulfilled promises: the implementation of the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act in South Africa

The Recognition of Customary Marriages Act 1998 (the Act) regulates all matters in relation to customary marriages in South Africa. The Act was specifically enacted to recognize customary marriages as valid, but was also passed to address gender inequality by regulating various customary marriage aspects, the most important being registration and proprietary consequences. This article reflects on the findings of a qualitative study on the registration and proprietary consequences of customary marriages conducted in two rural sites in the Eastern Cape (the former Ciskei and Transkei) and one urban site in the Western Cape (Khayelitsha). These findings show two important issues. First, that access to resources upon death of a spouse or divorce is often premised on successful registration of the marriage, which seldom occurs. Secondly, that the continued patriarchal nature of customary marriages stands in the way of realizing gender equality, particularly in relation to the proprietary consequences of a marriage. As a result, we make possible recommendations of how the Act’s objectives can be met