Cape Town - The Department of Home Affairs and the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development have come under fire for failing to introduce bills in Parliament that will give Muslim marriages legal status.
This comes after the programme committee heard that Parliament’s bills office was still waiting for a draft bill from the departments.
Briefing MPs, parliamentary legal adviser Charmaine van der Merwe said the two departments had confirmed they were working on a new act that would fix the constitutional defects in the divorces and marriages legislation.
“We have asked for a draft bill. We are waiting for a response,” Van der Merwe said.
In June 2022, the Constitutional Court handed down a judgment that recognised the validity of Muslim marriages and protected the rights of people who marry according to Muslim rites, especially women, and the children born of these unions.
Parliament has until June 2024 to fix the constitutionality of the legislation.
Al Jama-ah leader Ganief Hendricks raised concern that no bill on divorce and marriage had as yet been introduced to the national legislature by the Department of Home Affairs.
Hendricks charged that Muslim women’s dignity had been harmed for decades, including during the democratic dispensation.
“Not a day longer must pass for them to continue to suffer this indignity. That is why I have taken an initiative to come with two amendment bills, as required by the Constitutional Court. It meets all requirements,” he said.
“You must take interest in these matters. It can’t be that the Department of Home Affairs is trying not to obey the order of the court that there must be a Muslim bill,” he said.
Hendricks also said Parliament should take heed of the Zondo Commission, which observed in its report that the national legislature was equally liable to implement court judgments.
ACDP chief whip Steve Swart said he shared Hendricks’ concerns.
“This matter has been coming for a long time. My concern is that we have not seen bills from the departments.”
National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said they would follow up on the matter.
“We will seek an audience with the departments of Home Affairs and Justice to understand where the problems are,” she said.
However, Mapisa-Nqakula said departments tended to have a long list of bills that required immediate attention, but they did not deal with even half of them by the end of the year.
“These are some of the issues I will discuss with the leader of government business,” she said.
Cape Times