In a landmark decision, South Africa’s Constitutional Court has ruled that men may legally adopt their wives’ surnames, striking down a decades-old law that restricted the practice to women.
The court declared Section 26(1)(a)–(c) of the Births and Deaths Registration Act unconstitutional, finding that it discriminated unfairly on the basis of gender by denying men the same rights long afforded to women.
The case was brought forward by Jana Jordaan and Henry van der Merwe, along with Jess Donnelly-Bornman and Andreas Nicolas Bornman, after both couples were denied requests to alter their surnames.
Van der Merwe was refused the right to take his wife Jordaan’s surname, while Bornman was prevented from hyphenating his surname to include his wife Donnelly’s name.
Although the Free State Division of the High Court had already ruled in their favor, the Constitutional Court’s confirmation was required to make the judgment legally binding nationwide.
The decision marks a significant step for gender equality in South Africa, granting couples greater freedom in shaping their family identities.
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