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South Africa Case Law

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Family And Children [2025] ZAGPJHC 404

Letaoana v Road Accident Fund (2014/40055)

Letaoana v Road Accident Fund (2014/40055) [2025] ZAGPJHC 404 (23 April 2025)

Court
South Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg
Case number
2014/40055
Judge
D Marais

The court found that the plaintiff had proven the existence of a customary marriage with the deceased in accordance with section 3 of the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act. The defendant did not dispute the conclusion of the marriage during trial and failed to plead or prove the existence of a prior civil marriage that would invalidate the customary marriage. Even if the marriage was invalid, the facts established a binding agreement to support, entitling the plaintiff to claim for loss of support. The boni mores did not require invalidation of the support agreement, as the plaintiff act…

Source excerpt

  • Recognition Of Customary Marriages Act
  • Duty Of Support
  • Loss Of Support
  • Pleading Requirements
  • Civil Union Act
  • Contra Bonos Mores
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Family And Children [2021] ZAGPPHC 556

EJ and Others v Haupt NO (63756/2020)

EJ and Others v Haupt NO (63756/2020) [2021] ZAGPPHC 556; 2022 (1) SA 514 (GP) (11 August 2021)

Court
North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria
Case number
63756/2020
Judge
Neukircher

The court held that section 40 of the Children’s Act must be interpreted to include spouses in a civil union, in line with the constitutional imperative to avoid discrimination and promote equality. The use of the word 'spouse' in section 40(1) demonstrates legislative intent to include same-sex couples, and the exclusionary wording in section 40(3)(b) is limited to the context of a male gamete donor. The court found that both applicants, as spouses in a civil union, automatically acquire full parental rights and responsibilities in respect of the minor child born via artificial insemination,…

Source excerpt

  • Civil Union Act
  • Parental Rights And Responsibilities
  • Artificial Insemination
  • Birth Registration
  • Equality Clause
  • Best Interests Of Child
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Family And Children [2021] ZAWCHC 43

O.B v L.B.D.S (20540/2018)

O.B v L.B.D.S (20540/2018) [2021] ZAWCHC 43; [2021] 2 All SA 527 (WCC); 2021 (6) SA 215 (WCC) (9 March 2021)

Court
Western Cape High Court, Cape Town
Case number
20540/2018
Judges
Saldanha, Henney, Cloete

The majority held that the appellant established, on a balance of probabilities, that she was domiciled within the Western Cape High Court's jurisdiction at the time the divorce summons was issued. The court interpreted section 1(2) of the Divorce Act to mean that the relevant date for jurisdiction is the date of issue, not service. The appellant's evidence showed she intended to settle in Caledon indefinitely, had made arrangements to live and work there, and only decided to return to Russia after the summons was issued. The court adopted a flexible approach to the domicile requirement, cons…

Source excerpt

  • Divorce Jurisdiction
  • Domicile Of Choice
  • Civil Union Act
  • Deeming Provision
  • Forum Shopping
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Administrative Law [2017] ZAWCHC 90

KOS and Others v Minister of Home Affairs and Others (2298/2017)

KOS and Others v Minister of Home Affairs and Others (2298/2017) [2017] ZAWCHC 90; [2017] 4 All SA 468 (WCC); 2017 (6) SA 588 (WCC) (6 September 2017)

Court
Western Cape High Court, Cape Town
Case number
2298/2017
Judge
Binns-Ward

The court held that the Department of Home Affairs' refusal to process applications for alteration of sex description under the Alteration Act for persons married under the Marriage Act was unlawful and unconstitutional. The Alteration Act does not require divorce or deregistration of marriages as a precondition for relief, and the Department's conduct infringed the applicants' rights to administrative justice, equality, and dignity. The legislative framework does not contain a lacuna preventing relief; the Department's reliance on public or religious sensitivities and alleged data system lim…

Source excerpt

  • Alteration Of Sex Description Act
  • Marriage Act
  • Civil Union Act
  • Administrative Justice
  • Equality And Non Discrimination
  • Identity Documents
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Family And Children [2015] ZAGPPHC 849

Duplan v Loubser NO and Others (24589/2015)

Duplan v Loubser NO and Others (24589/2015) [2015] ZAGPPHC 849 (23 November 2015)

Court
North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria
Case number
24589/2015
Judge
GC Muller

The court held that, despite the promulgation of the Civil Union Act, the Constitutional Court's reading-in remedy in Gory v Kolver NO remains operative, as Parliament has not specifically amended s 1(1) of the Intestate Succession Act to exclude permanent same sex life partners who have undertaken reciprocal duties of support. The applicant, having lived in a permanent same sex partnership with the deceased and undertaken reciprocal duties of support, qualifies as a 'spouse' for intestate succession purposes. The court is bound by the doctrine of stare decisis and must apply the reading-in r…

Source excerpt

  • Intestate Succession
  • Same Sex Partnerships
  • Civil Union Act
  • Reading In Remedy
  • Equality Clause
  • Stare Decisis
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Family And Children [2010] ZAWCHC 224

Steyn v Steyn (6427/2010)

Steyn v Steyn (6427/2010) [2010] ZAWCHC 224 (27 October 2010)

Court
Western Cape High Court, Cape Town
Case number
6427/2010
Judge
P.A.L. Gamble

The court held that a civil partnership concluded in England under the Civil Partnership Act 2004, which is legally recognized in that jurisdiction and has all the hallmarks of a marriage, should be accepted as a valid and binding civil partnership in South Africa according to the lex loci celebrationis principle. The Divorce Act is the appropriate statute for dissolving such partnerships, and the term 'marriage' in the Divorce Act must be interpreted purposively to include registered foreign same-sex marriages or civil unions/partnerships that are lawful in the country where they were conclu…

Source excerpt

  • Civil Union Act
  • Foreign Same Sex Marriage
  • Divorce Act Interpretation
  • Matrimonial Property Regime
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About this LexChat collection

South Africa decisions are organised by court, judge, legal area and indexed issue so a practitioner can move from a proposition to a citable authority with the surrounding context intact.

Source links and collection timestamps are retained alongside the indexed records.