IMPROVING LIVES THROUGH DATA ECOSYSTEMS

A total of 89 338 civil marriages, 1 585 customary marriages and 1 471 civil unions were registered in 2020. A comparison with the 2019 data show that registration of all marriages and unions decreased. Registered civil marriages, customary marriages and civil unions decreased by 31,1%; 43,2% and 16,9% respectively. The median ages of bridegrooms and brides on civil marriages were 37 years and 33 years respectively. The 2020 registered civil marriages shows that 82,0% of bridegrooms and 87,0% of brides married for the first time. Nearly a quarter (24,6%) 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 44,7% of the registered customary marriages were from KwaZulu-Natal. Regarding civil unions, the median age for spouses-1 and spouses-2 were 35 years and 33 years respectively. Civil unions registered in 2019 indicates that Gauteng had the highest proportion with 44,8%.

There were 16 097 completed divorce forms processed in 2020, indicating a decrease of 32,1% from the 23 710 divorces processed in 2019. There were more women 8 490 (52,7%) than men 5 505 (34,2%) divorcees who filed the divorce in 2020. The median ages at divorce in 2020 were 45 years for men and 41 years for women. The results show that four in ten divorces 6 919 (43,0%) of the 16 097 in 2020 came from marriages that did not spend their tenth wedding anniversary. In 2020, there were 8 826 (54,8%)  divorces with children aged less than 18 years affected.