BY SIBONGINKOSI MAPHOSA
Tsholotsho villagers have expressed mixed views over the Marriages Bill (2019) with some saying they fear the proposed law will promote promiscuous behaviour.
The Bill, which seeks to repeal the Customary Marriages Act (Chapter 5:07) and the Marriages Act (Chapter 5:11), has generated a lot of debate around the country and the government was recently forced to remove some clauses following pressure from the public.
Parliament’s Justice and Legal Affairs portfolio committee chaired by Misheck Mataranyika held meetings at Tsholotsho business centre and Nyamandlovu last week, where villagers were given a chance to make their input on the proposed law.
Bekithemba Ngwenya from the National Aids Council in Tsholotsho told one of the meetings that the proposed law was a recipe for disaster.
“This Bill will fuel the spread of HIV when we are already struggling as a country to supply people living with HIV with anti-retroviral drugs,” Ngwenya said.
“If this Bill becomes law it, will fuel trouble as HIV cases will be on the rise.”
Ngwenya said the Parliamentary portfolio on Justice and Legal Affairs members, who were drawn from various thematic commitees that include HIV and Aids and Gender promised the people of Tsholotsho that they had noted all their concerns and promised to take them to Parliament for debate.
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Mataranyika had told the villagers that if the Bill becomes law, traditional chiefs would become marriage officers in a bid to curb unregistered marriages.
“If this Bill is enacted into law, chiefs will become legal marriage officers like your church pastors and the magistrates, we are trying to avoid the issue of cohabiting,” Mataranyika said.
“So, no one will have an excuse that they are cohabiting because they do not have transport money to go to town to register their marriage.
“The chiefs will offer this service for free, you do not pay anything in cash or in kind.
“If a chief asks for some form of payment be it cash or in kind, you have the right to sue them.”
However, some villagers said the government should be careful not promote alien values through the proposed law.
Baxolile Ndlovu said the government must not impose a Western culture.
In Nyamandlovu, a headman identified as Nkulumani Ndlovu provoked a heated debate when he proposed that the age of consent be reduced to 12.
The committee concluded the Matabeleland North hearings in Nkayi and Inyathi.
