Cape Town - Parliament’s portfolio committee on home affairs has urged Al Jama-ah leader Ganief Hendricks and Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi to meet in a bid to “find points of convergence” on the Registration of Muslim Marriages Bill (RMMB).
The advice was given by committee chairperson Mosa Chabane (ANC) with an eye on the June 2024 deadline set by the Constitutional Court to ensure compliance with the court’s order recognising the validity of Muslim marriages.
At the same time, the committee said it was conscious of the fact that the department was in the process of developing an Omnibus Marriages Bill, which provides for the solemnisation, registration and dissolution of all marriages.
Earlier, Hendricks had briefed the committee, with the minister in attendance, on the RMMB which is an Al Jama-ah private members’ bill seeking a mechanism to establish the registration of Muslim marriages with the Department of Home Affairs.
Presenting the RMMB to the committee, Hendricks said it would assist the government to comply with the Constitutional Court order recognising Sharia marriages as valid.
Responding to Hendricks’ presentation with one of his own, Minister Motsoaledi assured the committee that the department was eager to find solutions.
“We are not at variance. We are not enemies or opponents in this matter. The presentation I’m making is not to prove Hendricks wrong, it’s just putting the facts on the table to allow members of the committee to exercise their own discretion.”
Motsoaledi said the DHA was currently registering Muslim marriages through the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act (RCMA) following the Constitutional Court judgment, which also instructed the government to provide an interim measure for the registration of Muslim marriages.
As Hendricks was making his presentation, he was flanked by members of the Cape Town Ulama Board and leaders of the Cape Town Islamic Educational Centre as well as other Al Jama-ah leaders.
In a statement following the briefing, Cape Town Ulama Board head Mufti Sayed Haroon Al Azhari said: “Muslims have been in South Africa for over 300 years. We form part of the Rainbow Nation and deserve our religious rights to have our marriages recognised.”
He said non-recognition of Muslim marriages was a discriminatory injustice that deprived the community of basic dignity.
Al Jama-ah spokesperson Shameemah Salie said: “My hope is that the private members’ bill as put forward by Ganief Hendricks should be implemented as soon as possible. It is imperative that the relief sought by Muslim women and men be seriously considered and adhered to and that their marriage be recognised.”
A lawyer by profession, Salie accused Minister Motsoaledi of causing unnecessary delays and not attending to this matter with the seriousness it deserves.
“Why should Muslims continue to be impacted if other communities are not advancing individuals to champion their concerns?” Salie said.
“Our Muslim women and men should not suffer a day longer when there is a reasonable solution before us to maintain the dignity of both in Muslim marriages,” Salie said.
mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za