National Courts powers to dissolve marriages if ... ƒ””‹‡† ƒ …ƒ Šƒ˜‡ ‰‹”Žˆ”‹‡† Ǧ Ž‡‰ƒŽ ƒ†˜‹•‘”
PIGG’S PEAK – Should the Marriages Bill be enacted, dissolving customary marriages will be easy.
This is because Eswatini national courts will be empowered to hear requests for the dissolution of customary marriages. Also, there will be no need for legal representation as any one of the two parties involved will be able to initiate the process.
John Mavuso, who is a Legal Advisor in the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, revealed this during consultations on the Marriage Bill, 2022 and Matrimonial Property Bill, 2022.
Divorce
The consultations were held at the Pigg’s Peak Hotel and Casino yesterday, attended by chiefs and bantfwabenkhosi. However, one had to give reasons for the intended divorce and even provide evidence for same.
Princess Tsandzile, the Regional Administrator (RA) of Hhohho Region, said this would be a good move for many women. She said many women failed to leave relationships because they did not have the money to approach the courts to dissolve their marriages.
The RA said it was expensive to get lawyers for women who wanted to divorce and this resulted in them opting to continue staying in their marriages.
Meanwhile, Prince Mahloma submitted about women who wanted to marry more than one man. He said he had noted in other countries where this was being deliberated and wondered if this would apply in the country.
However, Mavuso responded that there was no provision for that and that it would not be included in this new piece of legislation. He also said this was the same for members of the
LGBTQI community, who wanted to marry people of the same sex. He said this would not be allowed.
“It is against the Constitution,” he said. He added that there was no provision in the Constitution that allowed people to have wives or husbands of the same sex.“It cannot happen,” he said.
PIGG’S PEAK – Have a girlfriend is fine for a man married in customary marriage but his wife cannot have a boyfriend.
The condition for the man is that his girlfriend should not be married.
John Mavuso, the Legal Advisor in the Ministry of Justice and Constitution Affairs, noted this during his presentation. He said in siSwati, kuphinga or adultery did not apply if the man had a girlfriend even if he had a wife, as long as the other woman was not married.
Permissible
He stressed that for a woman, whether the boyfriend was married or not, it was not permissible. He said this was because men were customarily allowed to have more than one wife.
“If he did not have a girlfriend, how will he find a second wife?” he asked.
Mavuso also presented that cohabitees would also be treated like people who were married when distributing property.
He said property could be distributed when one of the partners died or if they separated.
Rights
He also said children born from these relationships also had equal rights like those born from a married couple.
One of the questions that were asked by the attendees was about children from people who were not cohabiting.
Also, the same was asked about the rights of those women who had children with men whom they were not staying with.
“What are the rights of those women?” he asked. Mavuso responded that these should also be considered.