Historic Ruling: South African Court Rules Men Can Take Wives’ Surnames

South Africa’s Constitutional Court has ruled that men are now legally permitted to adopt their wives’ surnames, striking down provisions of the Births and Deaths Registration Act that were found to discriminate on the basis of gender.

The court declared sections 26(1)(a) to (c) of the Act unconstitutional, describing them as unfair to men who wished to change their surnames after marriage.

The judgement followed a challenge brought by two couples, Jana Jordaan and Henry Van Der Merwe, as well as Jess Donnelly-Bornman and Andreas Nicolas Bornman.

Van Der Merwe had been refused the right to take Jordaan’s surname, while Bornman was blocked from hyphenating his surname with Donnelly’s.

Although the Free State Division of the High Court had earlier ruled in favour of the couples, confirmation by the Constitutional Court was necessary for the order of invalidity to take effect.

The court’s decision is being hailed as a landmark victory for gender equality in South Africa.