Apartheid marriage law to bite the dust
Plans are at an advanced stage to have the infamous Native Administration Proclamation 15 of 1928 reviewed.
This is according to Inge Zaamwani-Kamwi, the presidential advisor on constitutional affairs and private sector interface, who was speaking during a town hall meeting at Omuthiya.
Under this law, all marriages contracted in the northern communal areas (NCA) are automatically out of community of property and the government would like to change this, after it was raised as a critical concern during President Hage Geingob's previous town hall meetings in 2015.
Zaamwani-Kamwi said this law will be reviewed to give people the right to make use of the marital property regime of their choice.
“Currently all marriages contracted north of the veterinary cordon fence (VCF), or Red Line, are automatically out of community of property. After the 2015 town hall meetings we listened to your concerns and we decided to have the law reviewed to give all Namibians an equal chance to marry in or out of community of property,” said Zaamwani-Kamwi.
“For those who have already married, the new law will have an 'amnesty period' for couples affected by the Native Administration Proclamation.
They will be given an opportunity to change and this will be done through their district magistrates' courts.”
During the amnesty period, spouses may jointly approach a magistrate to change or clarify their marital property regime.
The magistrate will be able to issue a new marriage certificate that indicates the marital property system the couple has chosen. This opportunity will only apply to people who were affected by the Native Administration Proclamation
After the 2015 town hall meetings, the presidency consulted the Law Reform Development Commission (LRDC) and it was agreed to replace the infamous 'Red Line law' with a new matrimonial regime. The Red Line law effectively creates a default marital regime for citizens married north of the VCF, which is different to the rest of the country, which sees marriages being in community of property if there is no antenuptial contract.
Reihold Nabot said they welcome the idea of changing this law, because in the past people from the north, who wanted to marry in community of property, had to travel to Tsumeb to wed officially.
“It was such a long and costly exercise for one to marry in community of property. One had to travel to Tsumeb if you want to marry in community of property and for those who could not afford such an exercise, they were left with no other opportunity but to marry out of community of property,” said Nabot. Historic evidence suggests that the reasoning behind this law was the concern that 'native' men who entered into civil marriages in these areas were likely to be parties to customary unions at the same time.
So if the civil marriage was out of community of property, this kept the husband's property separate, so that some of it could go to the customary wife or wives.
ILENI NANDJATO
This is according to Inge Zaamwani-Kamwi, the presidential advisor on constitutional affairs and private sector interface, who was speaking during a town hall meeting at Omuthiya.
Under this law, all marriages contracted in the northern communal areas (NCA) are automatically out of community of property and the government would like to change this, after it was raised as a critical concern during President Hage Geingob's previous town hall meetings in 2015.
Zaamwani-Kamwi said this law will be reviewed to give people the right to make use of the marital property regime of their choice.
“Currently all marriages contracted north of the veterinary cordon fence (VCF), or Red Line, are automatically out of community of property. After the 2015 town hall meetings we listened to your concerns and we decided to have the law reviewed to give all Namibians an equal chance to marry in or out of community of property,” said Zaamwani-Kamwi.
“For those who have already married, the new law will have an 'amnesty period' for couples affected by the Native Administration Proclamation.
They will be given an opportunity to change and this will be done through their district magistrates' courts.”
During the amnesty period, spouses may jointly approach a magistrate to change or clarify their marital property regime.
The magistrate will be able to issue a new marriage certificate that indicates the marital property system the couple has chosen. This opportunity will only apply to people who were affected by the Native Administration Proclamation
After the 2015 town hall meetings, the presidency consulted the Law Reform Development Commission (LRDC) and it was agreed to replace the infamous 'Red Line law' with a new matrimonial regime. The Red Line law effectively creates a default marital regime for citizens married north of the VCF, which is different to the rest of the country, which sees marriages being in community of property if there is no antenuptial contract.
Reihold Nabot said they welcome the idea of changing this law, because in the past people from the north, who wanted to marry in community of property, had to travel to Tsumeb to wed officially.
“It was such a long and costly exercise for one to marry in community of property. One had to travel to Tsumeb if you want to marry in community of property and for those who could not afford such an exercise, they were left with no other opportunity but to marry out of community of property,” said Nabot. Historic evidence suggests that the reasoning behind this law was the concern that 'native' men who entered into civil marriages in these areas were likely to be parties to customary unions at the same time.
So if the civil marriage was out of community of property, this kept the husband's property separate, so that some of it could go to the customary wife or wives.
ILENI NANDJATO
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