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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | 'Til Deportation do us Part: The Extension of Spousal Recognition to Same-Sex Partnerships |
Author: | Silver, Bradley |
Year: | 1996 |
Periodical: | South African Journal on Human Rights |
Volume: | 12 |
Issue: | 4 |
Pages: | 575-581 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | South Africa |
Subjects: | domicile marriage law homosexuality Cultural Roles Law, Legal Issues, and Human Rights Politics and Government |
External link: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02587203.1996.11834927 |
Abstract: | The benefits granted by the law to married couples in South Africa are manifold. The past few decades have seen an erosion of the traditional status of marriage, and inevitably, the nuclear family as well. Yet the South African State has been slow to recognize nontraditional family structures and to extend to them the benefits once reserved solely for marriage. One such benefit is the right to claim spousal status in an application for permanent residence in South Africa. The Department of Home Affairs can, and does, deport people who have been in long-term relationships with South African citizens. By ignoring the existence of nonmarital partnerships, same-sex couples are most harshly affected. This article examines the definitions of 'spouse' in the Aliens Control Act no. 96 of 1991 and the Aliens Control Amendment Act no. 76 of 1995, and the effect of these definitions for same-sex and other unmarried partners. It concludes that the limitation of the word 'spouse' to partners in a civil or customary marriage as defined in the 1995 Act, is unconstitutional because it violates the right to equality. Notes, ref. |