National House of Traditional Leaders submission

COMMENTS BY THE NATIONAL HOUSE OF TRADITIONAL LEADERS ON THE CIVIL UNION BILL [B 26 - 06]


The National House of Traditional Leaders has received a copy of the Bill which was introduced in the National Assembly on 12 September 2006, and has been classified as a section 75 Bill and a Bill falling within the ambit of section 18(1) of the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act, 2003 (Act no. 41 of 2003).

We have considered the provisions of the Bill and our comments are as follows:

INTRODUCTION

The National House of Traditional Leaders derives its mandate from section 212 of Chapter 12 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. It is established in terms of the National House of Traditional Leaders Act, 1997 ( Act No. 10 of 1997) , as amended.

The Constitution, 1996 does not allow discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, the NHTL has a position with regard to the civil Union Bill, it recognizes that in terms of African culture, marriage is a union that brings together families and not only two persons.

The NHTL took a decision in 2005, after the Supreme Court of Appeal took a decision to have a Lesbian couple marriage legally recognized and registered, to hear the views of rural people on same sex marriages by conducting public hearings in provinces where there are traditional leaders, and that is, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Kwazulu-Natal, North West, Eastern Cape and Free State. The communities were unanimous in their opposition to the legislation of same sex marriages based on the reasons that it is against the religious beliefs, customs, traditions and morality and that the government will be violating their beliefs and it will lead to the eradication of the human species, as same sex marriages would not produce any offspring. The communities made it clear that they would always respect their own culture and that they will make sure that wrong practices do not occur in their community.

The NHTL finds that the practice of same –sex marriages is against most African beliefs, cultures, customs and traditions and it also goes against the mandate of the NHTL which is to promote and protect the customs of communities observing a system of customary law.



COMMENTS

The purpose of the Civil Union Bill is to provide for the solemnization and registration of civil partnerships and the legal recognition of domestic partnerships.

We are opposed to this type of legislation based on the following:
· Religious beliefs
The Bible provides that a marriage is a union between two people of the opposite sex.
· Customs, traditions and morality.
The African Custom and Tradition dictates that lobola must be paid before people can live together. It further dictates that families must approve the relationship and be willing to assist the new couples to build and sustain their relationship in a marriage. Therefore the Bill in question encourages what is normally called “vat en sit” which is not acceptable in African culture. This arrangement will discourage people to marry and people will just enter into domestic partnerships.
· Constitution
The National House of Traditional Leaders recommends that the Constitution be amended to define a marriage as a union between a man and a woman. This amendment will guarantee the production of children and also ensures that the moral values remains intact. The above Constitutional amendment is in line with custom, tradition and religious dictates.

The Civil Union Bill grants all rights of marriage to same sex couples and allows the use of the word “marriage” in the ceremony. Again, the Bill deals with registered and unregistered domestic partnerships for opposite sex couples which creates a marriage alternative and rights for unmarried couples. These rights compete with the rights of those in customary marriages, which is a concern for traditional leaders. It impacts on the rights of spouses and children of those legitimately married under customary law. Many unmarried couples may choose to enter into a domestic partnership instead of marriage and that will give children less security than those with married parents.


CONCLUSION

The NHTL does not support the Civil Union Bill as it finds the gay and lesbian’s practices to be against African beliefs, cultures, custom and traditions

We trust that our comments will be acceptable to Parliament.


KHOSI PF KUTAMA
CHAIRPERSON
NATIONAL HOUSE OF TRADITIONAL LEADERS