South Africa's highest court has ruled that husbands can take the surname of their wives, overturning a law that barred them from doing so. This decision is a victory for two couples who brought the case, with the Constitutional Court stating that the law constituted gender-based discrimination.
Henry van der Merwe was denied the right to take the surname of his wife, Jana Jordaan, while Andreas Nicolas Bornman was unable to hyphenate his surname to include his wife’s surname, Jess Donnelly-Bornman, according to reports from the public broadcaster SABC.
As a result of this ruling, Parliament will have to amend the Births and Deaths Registration Act and its related regulations for the decision to take real effect.
The couples challenged the law, describing it as archaic and patriarchal, and argued that it violated the equality rights enshrined in South Africa’s constitution, adopted after the end of white-minority rule.
They had previously won their case in a lower court and sought confirmation from the highest court to solidify the ruling.
