Recognition of different types of partnerships; Muslim marriage; protection of the vulnerable spouse

This case concerned a declaration of constitutional invalidity of certain provisions of the Maintenance of Surviving Spouses Act and the Intestate Succession Act, for failing to include person married according to Muslim rites as spouses for purposes of these Act. The court held that the word ‘spouse’ in its ordinary meaning could include the spouses to a Muslim marriage. This interpretation was not strained. Excluding spouses to a Muslim marriage lay in a prejudicial interpretation of marriage, that saw Muslim marriages as being lesser than those regulated by law in South Africa. This interpretation is a remnant of South Africa’s past and can no longer be condoned in light of the Constitution.
The constitutional values of equality, tolerance and respect for diversity point strongly in favour of giving the word ‘spouse’ a broad and inclusive construction, the more so when it corresponds with the ordinary meaning of the word.
Thus, spouses to a Muslim marriage were covered by the Acts, and the Act were as a result not unconstitutional.