DESERTION OF MARRIAGE FOR 6 MONTHS SHOULD BE GROUNDS FOR DIVORCE - FOLK

MBABANE – A common submission among emaSwati during stakeholders consultation over the Marriages Bill was that desertion of marriage for six months should be grounds for a divorce.

This is according to the Chairperson of the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Portfolio Committee and Kwaluseni Member of Parliament (MP), Sibusiso Mabhanisi Dlamini, who shared the most frequently raised submissions during the consultations with emaSwati on the Marriage Bill, 2022 and Matrimonial Property Bill, 2022.  He said as the ministry’s portfolio committee, on behalf of Parliament, after the Bills were received in Parliament, the committee was sent out for engagements by the Speaker, Petros Mavimbela, who assigned it to the different regions in the country as per procedure when a piece of legislation was brought to the House.

He stated that to raise awareness on the consultation exercise, it was advertised through print media, so that all those who wanted to make submissions on the law could do so. “The portfolio committee went through the stakeholders’ consultation process and further went to 11 tinkhundla to hear emaSwati submissions pertaining to the Bill. The nation had quite a number of things to say about the piece of legislation,” said the chairperson. The MP said one of the main concerns raised during the consultation exercise was the legal age for marriage, with frequent requests for the woman’s age to be changed from 18 to 21 and the man’s age to be changed from 18 to 25. It was stated that a person, who was aged 18, was still too young and incapable of appreciating the value of marriage and carrying out the duties of a wife or husband. Most emaSwati felt the man should be older so as to ascertain maturity and the ability to cater for a family. “When they are both 18 and married, the couple is not taken seriously, hence, there was objection over this being the legal age for marriage,” he said.

The MP further highlighted that the nation was also particularly concerned about desertion of marriages, which was when a person left their marital home and deserted their family. According to the portfolio committee chairperson, people made submissions that after six months, that marriage should either be dissolved or a divorce instituted. “Desertion causes major problems, for instance if the spouse leaves and the other spouse is left to struggle at their marital home and develop that homestead without them. When the abandoned spouse passes away, the deserter can still return to reap the benefits,” said the MP. He said emaSwati mentioned that six months was enough for a marriage to be dissolved if the spouse had deserted it.
The MP also spoke on the provision on cohabitation, stating that most had raised concerns about it simply because they had not understood it. “The notion was that this provision is already a law yet that is not the case as Parliament based most of the law on the Constitution, which states that there should be protection of property belonging to people who reside together,” he said.

Cohabitation

The chairperson further said the clause on cohabitation requiring registration was to rectify challenges the country had witnessed in the past where when people cohabited, once the male died, those from the man’s family took possession of all the items, with the belief that these were the belongings of the deceased. The MP was speaking during Eswatini television breakfast show, elaborating on the Bills and the work done by the portfolio committee. “EmaSwati spoke and said three years should not pass without the items and property during cohabitation being registered. If the woman comes to live with the man with her own furniture, she needs to declare that these items are hers and further register them,” said the MP.
He further said the new provision on distribution of estates in the Matrimonial Property Bill was also new and it would assist emaSwati as previously, when a man passed away, their family would sometimes evict the wife/widow from the marital homestead and further insult her. He said they would then take possession of the property left behind by the husband and leave the wife to fend for herself after being chased away.

“For instance if I die, all my possessions and properties will be left in the possession of my wife. If this law is passed, all the relatives who want in on the estate will no longer be able to do so. The gap in terms of this was now very evident, when you look at that there was a piece of legislation from 1964 and 1983 and the Constitution being passed in 2005. When you calculate 2005 to today you realise just how old and outdated the previous Acts on the matter are,” he said. The MP highlighted that the next process regarding the Bill which was at its final leg, was to engage pastors, emajaha and one final inkhundla under Sigwe Constituency. The following week will see the portfolio committee and the ministry sitting down to evaluate the content of the submissions. This is to ensure the amendments suit the submissions made by the public. He further said the tinkhundla system was beneficial in that it allowed people to express themselves, although not all tinkhundla were visited. “We will also engage parliamentarians to further assess the legislation clause by clause and do the necessary amendments,” he said.

Wrongdoing

Meanwhile, in a previous stakeholder consultation, executive members of Eswatini Inter-Denominational Ministers’ Fellowship (EIMF), which is a council of pastors in ministries, stated that the Bill should not regulate wrongdoing and legitimising cohabiting. It was further reported in a different consultation that the Ministry of Justice Portfolio Committee had identified a need to in-depthly look at the estate distribution clause. The Chairperson, Dlamini, stated that something should give when it came to the winding up of an estate. “Within a period of three months something should have happened. You find that in most cases it takes up to 20 years for the estate to wind up and this is wrong,” said the Kwaluseni MP. He said three months should be enough for the estate to wind up.

In a previous report, it was also highlighted that 10 civil society organisations, who are championing women’s rights and sexual reproductive health issues in Eswatini had, so far, made submissions to the House of Assembly on amendments to the proposed Marriage and Matrimonial Property Bills of 2022. The proposed amendments were on different sections of the Bills on the Marriage Bill 2022. Civil society organisations proposed that cohabitation of an unmarried man and woman living together as husband and wife be six months and more, not the three years that is currently in the Bill.

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