On Wednesday, July 1, Lawmakers in the upper house of the parliament in South Africa passed a bill that that bars marriage officers from objecting to marrying same-sex couples. The bill was passed with 33 votes in favour of it.
According to Times Live, this means the bill is one step closer to becoming law after the National Assembly also approved it in 2018. The only step remaining now is for President Cyril Ramaphosa to assent to it.
“The purpose of the bill was to repeal section six of the Civil Union Act of 2006 which allowed for a marriage officer to inform the home affairs minister of their objection to solemnise a civil union between same-sex couples on the grounds of conscience, religion and belief,” Times Live reported.
In 2016, South Africa became the first African country to recognise same-sex marriages after the Civil Union Act was passed by Parliament. According to News24, “The Act was introduced after the Constitutional Court ruled it unconstitutional for the state to provide benefits of marriage to opposite-sex couples yet denied same-sex couples the same.”
However, marriage officers have been able to choose not to provide services to same-sex couples since the act doesn’t hinder them from doing that. “I think if you’re running a business and making a profit in our country where we have very clear laws that celebrate same-sex couples and the sexual orientation identity of all people, then most definitely you should offer those services whatever your beliefs are,” Rev Ecclesia de Lange, Director – Director of Inclusive & Affirming Ministries (IAM) added.
According to Pink News, while section 9 (c) protects citizens of South Africa from being unfairly discriminated against based on beliefs. Nevertheless, as much as removing section six impacts these two constitutional sections, Shaik said, she urged the National Council of Provinces to accept the bill without changing it.
“Those in favour of the repeal of section six argued that section six is problematic as it allows the marriage office to impose a moral judgment towards [same-sex couples],” the chairperson of the select committee on justice Shahidabibi Shaik said.
