REVEALED: 270 MARRIAGES ENDED IN 6 MONTHS

MBABANE – At least 270 married couples ended their marriages in a space of six months, from April to September 2024.

In its second quarter report, the Ministry of Home Affairs reported to Parliament that 167 marriages ended in divorce, while 103 were nullified. A marriage is nullified if its foundation was initially wrong for several reasons, such as bigamy and adultery, among others. The ministry said in the first quarter, 74 divorce proceedings were finalised, while 63 were nullified. In the second quarter, there were 93 divorces and 40 nullification of marriages.

“Divorce and nullification of marriage are legal processes handled by the High Court and magistrates courts in Eswatini. Once a marriage has been legally dissolved through a divorce or declared void through nullification, individuals may need to apply for expunging of their marriage certificate from the records held by the Civil Registration Department. “This ensures that the marital status of the individuals is accurately updated in the National Population Register (NPR) and that the marriage is no longer legally recognised,” the ministry said. Early this year, this newspaper reported that in just one year, registered divorce cases increased by 70 per cent, quoting the Annual Vital Statistics Report 2023.

It was reported that among both sexes, divorces occurred between the age groups of 30 and 34, and 40 and 44 years. According to the report, most brides got divorced between the ages of 35 and 39, while grooms retired from their matrimonial unions between 40 and 44 years.  Regional Civil Registrar Andile Dlamini, under the CSO, said 117 married women between the ages of 35 and 39 divorced in 2023.  She said the figure was high compared to men, where 98 of them did the same. She then wondered why most married women of this age category were divorcing.

The report also presented a section presenting the lifespan of marriages that were registered for divorce and nullification. On average, most civil rite marriages lasted between five and nine years, whereas Eswatini Law and Custom marriages lasted 10 to 14 years. According to the report, the longest marriage lasted between 45 and 50 years and it was in terms of Eswatini Law and Custom. For civil rites marriages, it was between 35 and 40 years. There were no nullifications of Eswatini Law and Custom marriages with less than one year.

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