IMPROVING LIVES THROUGH DATA ECOSYSTEMS

A total of 129 597 civil marriages, 2 789 customary marriages and 1 771 civil unions were registered in 2019. A comparison with the 2018 data show that registration of civil marriages and customary marriages decreased by 1,3% and 11,7% respectively whereas civil unions increased by 7,3%. The median ages of bridegrooms and brides on civil marriages were 37 years and 33 years respectively. The 2019 registered civil marriages shows that 81,1% of bridegrooms and 86,0% of brides married for the first time. About a quarter (25,0%) of civil marriages were registered in Gauteng.

The median age of bridegrooms for customary marriages was 36 years and that of brides was 30 years. About 41,7% of the registered customary marriages were from KwaZulu-Natal. Regarding civil unions, the median age for spouses-1 and spouses-2 were 36 years and 34 years respectively. Civil unions registered in 2019 indicates that Gauteng had the highest proportion with 44, 0%.

There were 23 710 completed divorce forms processed in 2019, indicating a decrease of 6,2% from the 25 284 divorces processed in 2018. There were more women 12 615 (53,2%) than men 8 210 (34,6%) divorcees who filed the divorce in 2019. The median ages at divorce in 2019 were 45 years for men and 41 years for women. The results show that four in ten divorces 10 221 (43,1%) of the 23 710 in 2019 came from marriages that did not spend their tenth wedding anniversary. In 2019, there were 13 264 (55,9%)  divorces with children aged less than 18 years affected.