Johannesburg - The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have blamed the ANC government and the Department of Home Affairs for registering marriages and marrying off underage children into their systems.
This comes after Statistics South Africa reported that South Africa saw more than 207 underage girls and boys being married off for the 2021/2022 financial year.
The report indicates that of these, 188 were girls, while the remaining 19 were boys.
According to the Child Not Bride Organisation, child marriages for 15-year-olds in South Africa account for 1% of underage marriages, while for 18-year-olds, they account for 4% of total marriages.
The organisation indicates that child marriages in the country are driven by gender inequality and the belief that women and girls are somehow inferior to men and boys.
‘’In recent years, the practise of ukuthwala has been involved to justify the abduction of girls as young as 12 to be married off to older men. Although this is prohibited, it still reportedly occurs in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal Provinces. In many cases, some lo'ey or gifts are given to parents in a distortion of ilobolo practises,’’ the organisation said.
In a statement on Tuesday, the EFF said it was alarmed by this set of statistics.
‘’The EFF notes the alarming report from Statistics South Africa to the African Union that 207 children (all under the age of 18) were married in the year 2021. Disturbing, yet unsurprising, is that the ANC government decided it was acceptable to register this illegality and the children's rights violations with the Department of Home Affairs (DHA),’’ the EFF said.
The EFF said allowing minors to be married off is not permitted by the country's constitution, as the legal age for marriage is 18.
‘’This once again highlights the criminal characterization of the ANC government. If the ANC government is not killing our children in school pit toilets, it is sanctioning the rape, trafficking, and murder of children,’’ the party said.
EFF spokesperson Leigh-Ann Mathys said children in South Africa have been forced to suffer human rights violations by an uncaring government that has failed to enforce laws that ensure their safety.
‘’The debate on the legitimacy of child marriages has long concluded that it amounts to insurmountable abuse and violence for children in such circumstances. Child marriages are particularly traumatising as they, by nature, encapsulate the atrocious existence of statutory rape in character,’’ she said.
The report comes after the government indicated in 2019 that it was developing a draft prohibition of forced marriages bill, which was set to provide greater protection from these harmful practises.
Attempts to get comment from the Department of Home Affairs were unsuccessful at the time of publishing.
The Star