All free to contribute to customary bills
NOBODY from any community will be barred from contributing to the discussions on the Recognition of Customary Marriages Amendment Bill or the Customary Initiation Bill when they come up for public hearings later this month.
Reagen Allen, chairperson of the standing committee on cultural affairs and sport, made the ruling yesterday during a discussion about the next step for the bills, which have been under discussion by the legislature.
Committee member Peter Marais had suggested that public input should come only from members of the communities affected by the laws as they were not for general application.
“We are dealing here with customary laws which don’t affect a lot of communities. If we are going to have a public input, it must be with the people who will be mostly affected by them and not with people who don’t even understand the implications,” said Marais.
“We must face the reality that if you are going to discuss the customs of the Griqua, of which I am a member, I don’t want anyone else to come and decide. Griquas will decide what is good for us,” he said.
Responding to Marais, Allen said: “We should not pre-empt what inputs and comments we will receive. I highly doubt for instance that a person from Mitchells Plain will want to make extensive input into the Initiation Bill, but I wouldn’t want to bar anyone from doing so,” said Allen.
“We have resolved to proceed with a virtual public hearing, coupled with an extensive public input process in the light of the Covid-19 pandemic. I have no doubt that we will receive adequate comment from the public on the bills prior to our negotiation mandate,” said Allen.