South Africa Surname Law Ruling: Constitutional Court strikes down ban on men taking wives’ surnames, calling it colonial and discriminatory

South Africa Surname Law Ruling marks a powerful step forward for gender equality as the country’s highest court has declared unconstitutional the law preventing men from taking their wives’ surnames.

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In a landmark judgment, the Constitutional Court ruled that the provision in the Births and Deaths Registration Act — which barred men from assuming their spouse’s surname — violated constitutional rights and reflected outdated, colonial-era gender norms.

The ruling followed a challenge brought by two couples, Henry van der Merwe and Jana Jordaan, and Andreas Nicolas Bornman and Jess Donnelly-Bornman, both of whom were denied legal recognition of their preferred surnames.

The court agreed with their argument that the law was both archaic and patriarchal, noting that in many pre-colonial African cultures, women kept their surnames after marriage and children often took their mother’s clan names.

This tradition was disrupted by European colonisation and Christian missionary influence, which imposed Western values — including the idea that a wife should take the husband’s surname.

“The law is a colonial import that enforces harmful gender stereotypes,” the court stated. “South Africa has made significant advancement in gender equality, yet laws like this remain embedded in the system.”

South Africa Surname Law Ruling sends a strong message about dismantling legal structures rooted in discrimination.

The Constitutional Court’s decision will compel Parliament to amend the relevant legislation before the ruling can take full effect.

Importantly, neither the Minister of Home Affairs nor the Minister of Justice opposed the application, acknowledging that the current law no longer aligns with South Africa’s post-apartheid constitution.

The Free State Society of Advocates, which joined the case in support of the couples, emphasized that restricting men from taking their wives’ surnames reinforced the idea that male identity must dominate in marriage — a stereotype with no place in a modern, equal society.

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With this ruling, South Africa takes a progressive step in removing one more remnant of legal inequality, reaffirming the constitutional right to personal identity and marital freedom.