The Al Jama-ah party will be resuming their advisory desks at some Home Affairs offices to assist Muslim married couples with the issuing of South African marriage certificates.
The party established ‘oversight desks’ at four Department of Home Affairs (DHA) offices.
In the Western Cape, these advisory desks are situated at the Mitchells Plain and Wynberg DHA.
The advisory desks were set up after it was reported that marriages of Muslim couples were registered as Customary Marriage instead of as a Muslim Marriage.
Al Jama-ah national spokesperson Shameemah Dollie Salie says the advisory desks would resume after elections next week.
Requirements for the registration of a Muslim marriage includes certified copies of identity documents, and two witnesses who were present at the wedding (one from each side of the family). The witnesses must bring along written affidavits, stating that they attended the wedding, along with the date, time and place, and the names of the couple. The witnesses also need copies of their IDs.
Dollie-Salie says the couple must arrange a date with Home Affairs and on the day, must be accompanied by the witnesses.
The couple will also need to bring along their original and certified copies of their Sharia law marriage certificate, an affidavit detailing the date of wedding and dowry.
“If you have a marriage contract you need an attorney to draft and register the contract prior to the above process.”
A hotline number - 021 023 4425 - has been set up to assist couples.
The Women’s Legal Centre (WLC) said Home Affairs reported to Parliament that they are registering Muslim marriages as customary marriages under the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act.
“There is still no law that allows for the registration of a Muslim marriage, and the Marriages Bill which the Department introduced into parliament is meant to remedy this shortcoming. The Bill however lapsed on Tuesday and will need to be reintroduced into the new parliament after the election.”
shakirah.thebus@inl.co.za