Marriage fraudsters could have their citizenship revoked

Source: Times Live, 15/02/2020

“We are now handling a very difficult case of somebody who got
married and after getting citizenship he got divorced and went
home to fetch the ‘real’ wife. So we are taking his citizenship
away. But he is resisting and says that we are evil as we found
out about his fake marriages after a long time. So he is
threatening to go to court,” he said.
Between April 2018 and June 2019 Motsoaledi said there were more
than 2,000 fraudulent marriages, almost all involving foreign
nationals. About 1,100 had since been annulled while more than 600
were referred to courts to be dissolved through divorce.
Speaking to TimesLIVE at the Valentine’s Day mass wedding at
Robben Island on Friday, Motsoaledi said young women were often
victims of these undesirable marriages, enticed with money.
“Young women who need money for their nails, hair and cellphones
are usually caught up in these marriages. Some of the girls do it
knowingly that they don’t want this marriage, but they do it
anyway knowing that they will just discard it. But the new
marriage policy will be very clear and have measures in place to
minimise occurrence of these marriages of convenience. Those who
think that getting married is a game will realise that it’s a
dangerous game,” he said.
The proposed single marriage law, which is currently being
investigated by the SA Law Reform Commission, seeks to give
everyone equal rights, regardless of their religious and cultural
background. The new statute will replace the Marriage Act of 1961,
the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act of 1998 and the Civil
Union Act of 2006.
The commission is considering either a single act with a unified
set of requirements, or an “omnibus option” reflecting the current
diverse set of legal requirements and consequences of civil,
religious and customary marriages and civil unions.
It is also looking into consent and capacity to marry, minimum
age, the issuing of marriage licences and marriage ceremonies. It
will also look into spousal support, antenuptial agreements,
cohabitation rights, dispute resolution in family matters and
bogus marriages.
Motsoaledi said one of the weaknesses of the current law was that
it allowed one person to register a marriage alone, as long they
had the required documents.
“In the new law we will require them to come together. Some of the
women end up getting married unknowingly because they had their
documents stolen. So we want both of them to appear together,” he
said.
The new law is expected to come into effect in 2021.
Marriage officers will also be trained to look out for red flags
in potential bogus marriages. In cases of foreigners marrying
across the border, countries of origin will also be consulted to
check the marital status of marriage applicants.
“So in the proposed law it’s going to be a little bit tough. We
are going to demand some information from the countries of origin
that you are actually not married. We will train marriage officers
to understand the implications of marrying across the borders.
People take marriages like a game ... that I will just marry and
annul. But that game will now become a very dangerous one to
play,” he said.
Motsoaledi said under the new marriage regime teenage marriages
will not be tolerated. Statistics from the department of social
development show that in 2016 there were 103 teenage divorces and
in 2017 there were about 73.
Currently parents are allowed to give their daughter`s hand in
marriage even if they are underage.
“There are about 14,600 ministers of religion and 1,400 home
affairs officers. All of them will be instructed about this. Even
if you go to them as a teen they will tell you that I’m sorry I
won’t allow you,” said Motsoaledi.
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