South Africa Might Legalize Polyandry and the Internet Can’t Handle It!

This new law proposes no more categorization of marriages based on gender, race, religion

By Lens Staff | 9:36 am | Jun 30, 2021
polyandry - South Africa

South Africa is making global headlines with its recent proposal to legalize polyandry – women having multiple husbands. Their reasons? To level the playing field since polygamy is already legal.

The country is considering legalizing polyandry for equality. South Africa is one of the few states where polygamous marriages are legal. Now it has proposed to legalize polyandry for gender equality. Whether or not women chose to do so will be up to them, but at least the law will support the option.

The Internet has a lot to say about this, from memes, to support, to the opposition.

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South Africa’s New Neutral Marriage Law

The marriage equality proposal was submitted by South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs in a green paper. South Africa’s existing marriage law accepts polygamy because it’s based on the Calvinist Christian and Western traditions. According to the paper;

“There is a need for an overarching policy that is based on constitutional values and the understanding of modern society dynamics.”

The paper highlighted how flawed South Africa’s current marriage law is. It notes how the existing law allows the marriage of minors. But renders a marriage void if a partner in a marraige undergoes a sex change. That is why a more contemporary law was proposed.

The same law proposes removing marriage categorization along lines of race, sexual orientation, religion, and culture. This would mean legal recognition of Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, and Rastafariyan marriages in the country.

A ‘gender-neutral’ marriage regime is being suggested. Meaning a dual system of either monogamous or polygamous marriages. However, religious clerics that hold seats in the Parliament are opposing the law.

 

No to Polyandry, but Yes to Polygamy?

While the argument to support polygamy is often ‘there are more women than men, and this will help all women find husbands‘ it is largely due to cultural acceptability. Hardly a quarter of the world’s states legally allow polygamy, and almost all of them are in Africa or the Middle East.

Similarly, there are cultures in which women having multiple husbands is acceptable. It’s a cultural practice much like polygamy. Polyandry being practiced legally in the Plateau of Tibet, a region shared by India, Nepal, and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, and the Marquesas Islands in the South Pacific.

However, conservatives in the country are arguing that polygamy is acceptable but polyandry isn’t because men are jealous people, this would affect the traditional family system, this would raise issues about parentage.

Meanwhile, supporters of the move point out that paternity tests would remove that issue, not to mention this wouldn’t be of focus in a non-nuclear family. While same-sex marriage which is legal in South Africa already outmoded the traditional family system.

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Some argued that this will affect their culture. It is pertinent to mention that polyandry was practiced in African cultures in regions that are now the states of Kenya, Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In fact, it’s even legally recognized in Gabon.

 

Others just admitted this was about controlling women.

 

.What do you have to say about the marriage equality proposal? Let us know in the comments below.