Statement re marriage/s.
(1)Statement
I ---------------------------- ------------the wife/husband of the deceased,-----------------------------married to him/her by Civil/Customary Law, hereby state that to the best of
my knowledge and belief, no one else was married to the deceased at the time of
his/her death, either by Civil, or Customary law.
(2) Other Marriages and names of spouse/s
1--------------------------------------------------- ----Civil/Customary
2-------------------------------------------------------- Civil /Customary
3---------------------------------------------------------Civil/ Customary
4---------------------------------------------------------Civil/ Customary
5--------------------------------------------------------Civil/ Customary
The position before 2 December 1988, which is the date of the amendment of the the
Marriage and Matrimonial Property Law Act 3 of 1988 is that the only valid marriage
is the civil marriage. (See Nkambula vs Linda 1951 (1) SA 377 (A).) The wife in the
customary union is considered to have been deserted by her husband.
The position from 2 December 1988.
The Marriage and Matrimonial Property Law Amendment Act 3 of 1988 came into
operation on the 2 December 1988 The Recognition of Customary Unions Act ,120 of
1998 repealed it). In terms of section 1 (2) of that Act a person who is a partner to a
customary union is not competent to enter into a civil marriage during the subsistence
of the customary union. The effect thereof is that the civil marriage would be
invalid(Thembisile and Another vs Thembisile and Another 2002 (2) SA 209 (T)
paragraph 32 on page 15 of the report.
Therefore if the civil marriage took place first, a valid customary union may not be
entered into. If the customary marriage took place first, a civil marriage may not be
entered into, unless it is to the same person. Two or more customary unions may exist
together. Customary Marriages may,if not previously registered, now be registered in
terms of the Recognition of Customary Unions Act, subject to certain conditions
Signed -----------------
Witness-------------
Date ----------------------
Witness-------------