Johannesburg – South Africa’s Constitutional Court has ruled that men are legally allowed to adopt their wives’ surnames, striking down sections of the Births and Deaths Registration Act that prevented this. The decision was announced on Thursday.
The court found that the law served no legitimate government purpose and discriminated on the basis of gender. Judge Leona Theron said the practice of women taking their husbands’ surnames stems from colonial-era patriarchal norms, where women were seen as legally inferior to men.
The case involved two couples. One couple wanted to honour the wife’s late parents, while the other sought to retain family ties through a hyphenated surname. Both husbands had been denied permission by the Department of Home Affairs.
Theron declared the contested provisions invalid but suspended the declaration for 24 months, giving parliament time to amend the law or draft new legislation. Until then, current provisions will not block anyone from taking a spouse’s surname, resuming a previous surname, or adding a past surname to their current one.
The court also ordered the Minister of Home Affairs to cover the legal costs of the two couples.
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