King angry over law giving first wives veto right
KING Goodwill Zwelithini may not like it, but first wives have the right to veto a man’s decision to take on another spouse.
Last week, the monarch, while addressing the House of Traditional Leaders, referred to the Recognition Of Customary Marriages Act as a “brutal law designed against our heritage”.
“In short, this law stipulates that if a man wishes to marry a second or third wife, he needs to get written consent from the existing wife,” he said. “As Zulus, we have never heard of this even in ancient times.
“If we do not agree, we should invite the Constitutional Court to arbitrate for us,” the king said.
Polygamy is a contentious issue in South Africa.
KwaZulu-Natal multimillionaire businessman PG Mavundla, who has three wives, said: “If you decide to embark on a customary marriage and intend on taking another wife, the first wife has to give you a written consent.
“The same happens when you decide on a third wife, the first and second wife have to consent. A court has to endorse this before you go to Home Affairs.”
Mavundla has been married four times. His first wife died in 2010.
According to the 2013 Statistics SA findings published last week, a total of 158 642 civil marriages, 3 498 customary marriages and 993 civil unions were registered in 2013.
A comparison with the 2012 data shows that registration of civil and customary marriages dropped by 1.5% and 23.2% respectively, but that of civil unions increased by 0.6%.
Despite the drop in customary marriages, polygamy was popular, Zulu cultural expert Professor Sihawu Ngubane said.
“It is becoming popular because we have also witnessed it from religious people like the Rev HQ Nala, who took a second wife from his congregation.
“The inter-faith leadership is now arguing that as a Christian, you are not allowed to have more than one wife.
“But the reverend disputes that, saying there is no verse in the Bible that says you can’t have more than one wife.” Ngubane said consent from first wives was always a requirement for a Zulu man to take on another wife.
“It was never in writing but it was in practice. In the past, if the wife refused the whole process would come to a standstill,” he said.
A man used to take a second spouse when his first wife admitted she could no longer perform duties, such as household chores, as expected.
“Initially, they would take relatives like the first wife’s younger sister. It was quite convenient for the hus- band as there would be a discount in paying lobola.”
In some cases, first wives even approached women on behalf of their husbands.
Lisa Vetten, a research associate at the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research, said the idea of consulting existing wives was deliberately included in the legislation as one of the concerns was just how many wives can a husband reasonably support.
She said the impact on the first wife also had to be considered.