marriage patterns in south africa: methodological and ... · pdf filemarriage patterns in...

Marriage patterns in South Africa:Methodological and substantive issues

Debbie Budlender, Ntebaleng Chobokoane and Sandile Simelane1

Abstract

The relative dearth of analytical work on marital status to date arises, in part, from the

difficulties associated with collecting and interpreting data. The problems are

particularly acute in South Africa as a result of the wide diversity in marriage forms,

cultures, religions and languages. Inadequacies in coverage of large segments of the

population during the apartheid years add to the difficulties. The paper describes some

of the historical, legal and social reasons for the data difficulties. It then describes and

examines data from various household surveys, the 1996 population census and

administrative sources on type, prevalence and timing of marriage to assess the extent of

the problems. Because census and survey data reflect perceptions of marriage, while

administrative data generally record the legal system, the paper can consider differences

between the two views of marriage, as well as differences between sources which

purport to measure the same view. The paper concludes that despite the many problems

in the data, careful analysis can reveal important trends in marriage patterns in the

country.

Keywords

Marriage, South Africa, Household Survey data, legal reform

Introduction

Marital status is of interest to a wide range of disciplines. Economists,

sociologists, anthropologists and demographers, among others, will often

include marital status in their investigations.

SAJDem 9(1):1–26

1

1 Debbie Budlender, Centre for Actuarial Research, University of Cape Town, Private Bag, 7700 Rondebosch.

Email: [email protected]

Ntabaleng Chobokoane and Sandile Simelane are from Statistics South Africa.

Unfortunately, there has been relatively little work to date on this topic in

relation to South Africa. One of the reasons for this dearth arises from the

difficulties associated with collecting and interpreting appropriate data. This is

particularly serious given the variety of marriage forms, and the range of

cultures and religions which affect marriage and marital status. This paper

attempts to describe and assess the seriousness of the data difficulties.

The paper begins with a critical analysis of different data sources as well as

legal and social issues with a bearing on the measurement of marriage patterns.

We then use these sources to ascertain type, prevalence and timing of marriage.

Analysis of types and prevalence of unions and marriages is presented using

simple contingency tables and percentages. The prevalence of marriage is

estimated by obtaining the proportion ever married at age 50. This approach is

based on the assumption that the majority of people who want to marry will do

so before reaching 50 years of age. Timing of first marriage is determined

through direct and indirect methods. The direct method involves the

calculation of the mean age of the distribution of responses to the question on

age at marriage. The indirect method uses the singulate mean age at marriage

(SMAM), an estimate of the average number of years lived in the single state by

those who marry before age 50 (Hajnal 1953).

Three main sources of data are used in the paper, namely the 1996

population census, the October Household Surveys (OHSs) and the 1998

South African Demographic and Health Survey (DHS). Each of these data sets

was designed to cover the total (relevant) population of the country, whether

as a sample survey or as a full census. Some census calculations in this paper are

based on the complete data set, using a Supercross version supplied by

Statistics South Africa. Others are based on the 10 per cent sample, again using

a Supercross version. The full census data were adjusted for the undercount,

and weights were applied to the 10 per cent census sample and the survey data

to ensure that the results are nationally representative.

The fourth source of data is Statistics South Africa’s reports on

administrative records of marriage. These are intended to cover the country as

a whole, but have a range of weaknesses in coverage which are discussed

below. For this source, the printed reports rather than the raw data were used.

At the outset, we note that the administrative data measure a different

phenomenon from the survey and census data. When working with the

administrative data, we are looking at the state’s view of who is married in

terms of the prevailing laws of the country. When working with survey and

2 Southern African Journal of Demography 9(1)

census data, we are dealing with the perceptions of the individuals’ concerned,

or those of respondents, as to what constitutes marriage. The legal and

sociological views match in some cases, but not in all.

The Recognition of Customary Marriages Act

In 1998, the legal situation in the country in respect of marriage changed

significantly – especially for African people – with the passing of the

Recognition of Customary Marriages Act, Act 12 of 1998.

Prior to 1998, the Marriage Act of 1961 was the only law which provided

for recognition of marriage as defined by the South African legal system. The

Act was racially and culturally biased in that it did not recognise relationships

formalised according to indigenous African rites (“customary” marriages) as

well as relationships formalised in accordance with Hindu or Muslim law.

Relationships formalised according to indigenous African rites were legally

recognised, but were not recognised as “marriages” and did not have the legal

consequences of a marriage. Muslim relationships were not recognised at all

because of their potentially polygynous nature. Couples entering into these

types of relationships would only get legal recognition of their union as a legal

“marriage” if they subsequently formalised the union in one of the recognised

ways. The Recognition of Customary Marriages Act changed this situation by

according legal recognition to customary marriages. However, the Act still

does not recognise all religious marriages. More specifically, Islamic and

Hindu marriages are not recognised. “Customary law” is defined in the Act as

the “customs and usages traditionally observed among the indigenous African

peoples of South Africa and which form part of the culture of those peoples”

and a “customary marriage” is a marriage “concluded in accordance with

customary law” (s1). The Act was important symbolically and in many other

ways but may, nonetheless, have less statistical effect than could be expected.

In addition to improving the situation of African people – and African

women in particular – in respect of inheritance, pensions, medical aids, child

maintenance, and divorce settlements, we can expect that the Act will change

the registration statistics collected by the vital statistics section of Statistics

South Africa. The impact is difficult to predict, as the Act came into effect only

on 15 November 2000, due to a delay in issuing of regulations. Statistics South

Africa observed some reporting of customary marriages in the data covering

2001, but has not yet published its analysis of these statistics. Islamic and

Hindu marriages will continue to be unrecorded for the foreseeable future.

Marriage patterns in South Africa 3

The registration fee for customary marriages is R10, and is thus unlikely to

provide an obstacle for any but the poorest of the poor. This should assist in

improving the quality of the data. Also on the positive side, the Act provides

benefits that might prompt women, in particular, to register. Most

importantly, marriages concluded after the Act came into effect are in

community of property. This is a system which usually provides more

protection for women. The impact of this attractive aspect on registration will

be limited first by the extent to which men resist registration so as to resist

sharing and, second, by the fact that it is a limited benefit if earnings and

property are limited. The latter situation is true for many couples in the rural

areas in which customary marriages are most prevalent. Further, marriages

entered into before the date the Act came into effect “continue to be governed

by customary law” (s7(1)) unless the couple apply to change the property

system. Customary law generally favours men in terms of property.

The fact that the Act attempts to legalise as many marriages as possible

could also discourage registration. Nhlapo (1999:4) notes that the inclusive

approach was adopted because “traditionally people don’t consider

registration of their marriages to be a high priority.” To promote inclusivity,

failure to register will not render a marriage illegal (s4(9)). Non-registration

will also not nullify many of the benefits of the Act, such as the repeal of laws

which made women married by customary laws minors and gave their

husbands marital power, and a provision that gives mothers equal rights to

custody of their children (Mbatha 1997:6).

Another potential problem for the collection of statistics is that the

regulations make registration of a customary marriage a relatively

cumbersome procedure. The couple must have identity books – a requirement

which is not always easily fulfilled. They must also complete many forms. This

is an obstacle that will deter the illiterate and semi-literate, in particular. The

Act further requires that the marriage must be registered within a given period

– 12 months for a marriage entered into before the Act came into effect, and

three months for marriages entered into after this date. Mbatha notes that this

could result in non-registration if, as the women she interviewed claim, “men

play delaying tactics by either failing to create time to register the marriage,

blaming it on work, or by a general refusal to create time” (Mbatha 1998a:5).

A further negative element is the fact that the Act states that the parties to a

customary marriage must generally be at least 18 years of age. This presents

problems because customary marriages are more likely than others to involve


young people. While there is provision in the Act for exceptions, this age limit

will probably result in non-registration of a significant number of customary

marriages that have occurred in the past, and will almost certainly continue,

between people who are younger than 18.

A final complication in terms of predicting future increases in registered

marriages is that, in the past, some couples who married under customary law

subsequently also married in terms of the Marriage Act of 1961. Some did so in

order to obtain the property and other benefits of a civil marriage. This was

more likely to happen with urban and less poor couples. Others did so because

of a “mind-set … [that] believes that customary marriages are inferior to civil

marriages” (Mbatha 1998b:7).

The new Act continues to provide for couples married by customary law

also to contract a civil marriage under the Marriage Act of 1961. This will

presumably result in double counting in the registration statistics. It will also

retain the current situation in surveys where the response of the spouses to a

question as to their type of marriage could differ.

Respondents’ reporting of marital status

Most surveys find that more women than men are reported to be married.

Budlender (1999b:17) hypothesises that this could, at least partly, reflect

different perceptions about what constitutes marriage, as well as the perceived

desirability of being seen as married. For example, if a couple is physically

separated, with the man in town and interested in other relationships, while

the woman is in the rural areas and hoping for regular remittances, he may

report that he is separated or even divorced, while the woman reports that she

is married.

Cohabitation is also likely to be differently reported by different people. This

is a relatively common marital status in South Africa. Goldblatt (1999:7) notes

that, while in many developed countries, “cohabitation is a middle class choice,

in South Africa it is a real problem outside of the control of most poor women.”

Statistics on cohabitation almost certainly exhibit even more weaknesses

than statistics on marriage. First some cohabitees will not be willing to

acknowledge this status to an outside interviewer, and will instead report

themselves as either married or single. Second, the term is often

misunderstood, especially when translated into different languages.

Table 1 is derived from the series of October household surveys conducted

over the five years 1995–1999. The table suggests a gradual increase in the


percentage of people reporting themselves to be living together over the

period. However, the period is too short and the increase too small to make

any definitive statements. What can be noted is that the number of people

reported to be living together is significantly larger than the number of people

reported as widowed, divorced or separated.

Table 1 Per cent distribution of women aged 15–49 by marital status, 1995–1999

Year MarriedNever

married

Living

togetherWidowed

Divorced/

separatedTotal

1995 35 58 4 1 2 100

1996 34 58 4 2 2 100

1997 32 59 5 1 2 100

1998 31 58 7 2 2 100

1999 30 60 6 1 3 100

Source: October household surveys, 1995–1999

In terms of married people, the bridewealth custom introduces another

‘perception’ complication into the statistics. Bridewealth is common in South

Africa among African people. The payments of bridewealth are often spread

over an extended period. This can result in differing perceptions as to when

the couple are married – when the first payment is made, or only when the final

payment is made. The two parties to a marriage may report the same event

differently. Parties to different marriages are even more likely to differ in their

manner of reporting.

Statistics from registration of marriages

Bah argues that censuses and the vital statistics registration system are “by far

the most important sources” of data on marriage when compared with, for

example, surveys and other administrative data (Bah 1999:6). In South Africa

both these “most important sources” have significant weaknesses. This section

discusses the vital registration system. Bah (1999) acknowledges that the extent

to which the number of reported marriages and divorces is accurate depends on

whether these events are registered. This, in turn, depends on “the individuals’

perception of marriage and divorce” and the marriage and divorce legislation. In

the past, registration did not cover large segments of the population. In addition,

perceptions as to what constitutes marriage may change over time and differ


between individuals and groups. The change in legislation will make

comparisons of trends in marriage over time difficult, if not impossible.

Changes in legislation are not the only cause of problems in respect of

comparability over time. Difficulties also exist for non-customary, non-Hindu

and non-Muslim marriages. As in so many areas, apartheid politics is

responsible for some of these difficulties.

Non-customary African marriages were included in the registration

statistics for the first time in 1991. A problem for comparative analysis even

from that date is that the official geographical boundaries of South Africa have

changed. The 2 391 marriages recorded in respect of ‘African areas’ in 1991

thus only reflect marriages in the six ‘self-governing territories’, i.e. homelands

other than the Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda and Ciskei. These marriages

account for 2.2 per cent of the total 108 929 marriages registered in that year

(Central Statistical Service 1991). Further, within official ‘white’ South Africa,

the geographical division in the statistics was into the then four provinces

rather than the nine provinces of today. The first year for which data can more

meaningfully be compared with the most recent statistics is 1994.

A further geographical disjuncture reflects a shift in responsibilities

between government authorities. Until mid-1996 civil marriages were defined

as those solemnised in courts. From 1 June 1996, the responsibility for

solemnising marriages was transferred to the Department of Home Affairs and

the meaning of civil marriages changed accordingly. The shift in responsibility

affects the statistics if one goes beneath the provincial level as the distribution

of magistrates courts and Home Affairs offices differ. The shift in

responsibility also resulted in loss of data. First, when transferring the

marriage data from one bureau to another in 1998, the Department of Home

Affairs destroyed all data on birth and marriage registration that were more

than a year old. This affected coverage by Statistics South Africa of some late

registrations for 1997. Second, in 1999 the Department of Home Affairs

stopped specifying the population group of individuals registering their

marriage in data forwarded to Statistics South Africa (Bah 1999:5).

The most recent publication (Statistics South Africa 2002) reports on

marriages registered in 1999. Because the Customary Marriage Act only came

into effect in November 2000, these data therefore continue to exclude

customary marriages. For the purposes of this paper, we refer also to data from

the previous release (Statistics South Africa 2000) which covers 1997 and 1998,

so as to assess the extent to which the patterns are consistent over the years.


A total of 155 807 marriages were registered in 1999, of which 52 603

were religious (Christian or Jewish), 70 544 civil and 32 633 unspecified. The

Western Cape and Gauteng recorded the highest crude marriage rates i.e.

marriages per 100 000 of the population. These two provinces are the most

urbanised and the wealthiest of the nine provinces in the country. The Western

Cape also has an unusually low presence of Africans in the population, and

thus less likelihood of customary marriages. Gauteng has the third lowest

proportion of Africans. The wealthier provinces also have relatively higher

proportions of adults in their population. The statistics thus make intuitive

sense.

In 1998, 44.6 per cent of registered marriages were solemnised under civil

law, down from 48.4 per cent in 1997, despite the fact that the total number of

marriages remained almost constant between the two years, at 146 729 in

1997 and 146 741 in 1998. The relevant release (Statistics South Africa 2000)

does not suggest any reason for the nearly four percentage points difference

from one year to the next. In 1999, the percentage increased again, although

only to 45.3 per cent.

The most recent publication (Statistics South Africa 2002:12) reports that,

for registered marriages, the median age at marriage for men was 33.7 and for

women 29.5 years in 1999. (Unfortunately, as noted above, separate figures

are not available for the different population groups.) The number of

marriages peaks for both women and men in the age group 25 to 29 years.

The above statistics seem credible if we accept the limited coverage in terms

of forms of marriage. But disaggregation reveals some weaknesses. For over a

fifth (21 per cent) of all marriages registered in 1999, the records do not

distinguish between religious and civil. The percentage for which the type of

marriage is unspecified is as high as 52 per cent in Mpumalanga. The problem

is not confined to rural or ex-homeland areas. The percentage of unknowns

stands at 30 per cent in urban Gauteng.

One way of assessing the reliability of the statistics is to examine patterns

over time. Due to the changes in provincial delimitations, the earliest year for

which we can make a meaningful comparison with the most recent registration

statistics is 1994. Statistics for 1994 (Central Statistical Service 1994) show a

relatively similar overall total – 133 309 marriages in 1994 compared to the

155 807 recorded for 1999. The percentage distribution across the provinces

is also very similar. As can be seen from Table 2, the proportion of marriages in

the Western Cape has declined, while that in Limpopo has increased,



Table 2 Marriages registered by method of solemnisation and province,

1994, 1998 and 1999

Number Per cent

1994 Religious Civil Unknown Total Religious Civil Unknown Total

Western Cape 14 583 8 986 211 23 780 24 14 4 18

Eastern Cape 6 161 4 111 169 10 441 10 6 3 8

Northern Cape 2 125 1 817 29 3 971 3 3 0 3

Free State 5 433 4 733 443 10 609 9 7 7 8

KwaZulu-Natal 9 755 6 451 1 719 17 925 16 10 29 13

North West 2 745 4 538 348 7 631 4 7 6 6

Gauteng 16 791 21 891 1 701 40 383 27 33 29 30

Mpumalanga 2 242 5 844 826 8 912 4 9 14 7

Limpopo 1 146 7 786 426 9 358 2 12 7 7

Unspecified 74 64 42 180 0 0 1 0

Outside SA 21 53 45 119 0 0 1 0

Total 61 076 66 274 5 959 133 309 100 100 100 100

1998

Western Cape 13 912 9 354 820 24 086 27 14 3 16

Eastern Cape 5 249 6 053 4 513 15 815 10 9 16 11

Northern Cape 1 879 1 697 110 3 686 4 3 0 3

Free State 3 168 5 998 2 967 12 133 6 9 10 8

KwaZulu-Natal 12 078 5 761 2 428 20 267 23 9 8 14

North West 2 473 6 724 1 451 10 648 5 10 5 7

Gauteng 11 814 17 833 8 129 37 776 23 27 28 26

Mpumalanga 933 2 542 3 674 7 149 2 4 13 5

Limpopo 629 9 296 3 106 13 031 1 14 11 9

Unspecified 85 192 1 756 2 033 0 0 6 1

Outside SA 74 21 22 117 0 0 0 0

Total 52 294 65 471 28 976 146 741 100 100 100 100

1999

Western Cape 14 195 9 630 754 24 579 27 14 2 16

Eastern Cape 9 319 7 057 4 411 20 787 18 10 14 13

Northern Cape 1 948 1 919 175 4 042 4 3 1 3

Free State 3 418 7 025 2 765 13 208 6 10 8 8

KwaZulu-Natal 7 899 4 452 2 261 14 612 15 6 7 9

North West 2 811 7 329 1 779 11 919 5 10 5 8

Gauteng 10 803 17 329 12 300 40 432 21 25 38 26

Mpumalanga 1 228 2 891 4 455 8 574 2 4 14 6

Limpopo 587 9 666 3 538 13 791 1 14 11 9

Unspecified 410 3 195 158 3 763 1 5 0 2

Outside SA 12 51 37 100 0 0 0 0

Total 52 630 70 544 32 633 155 807 100 100 100 100

suggesting an increase in African marriages. This could reflect either a real

increase or, alternatively, better recording of marriages in African-dominated

areas. Unfortunately, there is no breakdown by population group to

substantiate this suggested reason for the pattern.

More detailed comparison of the statistics for the two years according to

method of solemnisation is more difficult. In 1994, the category

corresponding to the “religious” of 1999 is referred to as “solemnised in

churches” and the “civil” of 1999 is referred to as “solemnised in magistrate’s

courts”. We can assume that, for example, Jewish synagogues were included in

the category of “church”. A more intractable problem is the significant

increase in marriages for which the method of solemnisation is recorded as

unknown. These marriages accounted for only 4 per cent of all registered

marriages in 1994, but for a much higher 21 per cent in 1999. The

performance of all provinces deteriorated over the period. By 1999, in only

two provinces – Western Cape (at 3.1 per cent) and Northern Cape (at 4.3 per

cent) was the percentage unrecorded less than 14 per cent. This deterioration

in record-keeping is worrying.

If we focus only on those marriages for which the method of solemnisation

is known, Western Cape and Northern Cape show a stable pattern, with

approximately 60 per cent marriages solemnised by religious rites in Western

Cape and approximately 50 per cent in Northern Cape. North West and Free

State show marked declines in the proportion of religious marriages between

1994 and 1999, from 38 per cent to 28 per cent and 53 per cent to 33 per cent

respectively. Both these provinces have (relatively) low percentages of

unknown, and the figures could reflect a real shift between the two methods of

solemnisation. Variations for other provinces produce little useful

information given the large percentages unknown and the fluctuations from

year to year.

Data on marriage from the 1996 census

In this section we examine data from the 1996 census. First we look at the

extent to which the patterns they reveal compare with those reflected in the

vital registration statistics. Second, we look at what further information the

census reveals. In particular, we are interested in the extent to which census

data can tell us about type of marriage, and thus provide indications as to the

number of additional marriages that will be registered under the Customary

Marriages Act.


The census and vital registration data measure different things: the

registration figures reflect marriages taking place in a particular year, while the

census records the number of people who are married, and not divorced or

separated, at a particular point in time. Further, the registration figures reflect

the location where the marriage took place, which will often be the home area of

the parents of the bride or groom, while the census figures reflect where the

partners to a marriage were living at the time of the census. Finally, the

registration figures count couples, while the census figures count individuals.

On one hand, this should not make a difference in that each marriage should

involve two people. Thus, we might assume that the census figures merely

double-count. However, complications arise for two reasons. First, where there

is polygamy, there will be less than double the number of individuals as some

individuals will be involved in more than one marriage. While polygamy is not

as important a phenomenon in South Africa as in some other countries, it could

produce a slight mismatch in the overall number of male and female married

people. Second, where we look at geographical patterns, the two partners may

be living apart. This second consideration is particularly pertinent in South

Africa, where migrant labour and poor job prospects in rural areas mean that

many men, in particular, leave to look for work in urban areas.

Our first comparison looks at distribution by province. Despite the fact that

the Census records currently married people while the vital registration figures

record new marriages, the comparison reveals smaller differences than might

have been expected. Table 3 shows that it is only in respect of Western Cape,

Eastern Cape and Gauteng that there are more than three percentage points

difference in the distribution across the provinces. As expected, the more urban

provinces where traditional marriages are less common account for a lower

proportion of all married people than their proportion of total registered

non-customary marriages. The statistics thus make sense, although the implied

effect of customary marriages is less than might have been expected.

We can also compare the distribution across provinces of people recorded

in the census as married by civil and religious rites with the distribution of

registered marriages in Table 4. Here, we again find a close match except in the

case of KwaZulu-Natal, which accounts for 18 per cent of individuals married

by civil or religious rites in the census, but only 14 per cent of marriages

registered in 1999.

These close matches could mean that the census statistics on traditional

marriages present a fairly accurate reflection of marriage in South Africa. One



Table 3 Marriages registered and currently married people by province, 1996

Province Registered Per cent Currently married Per cent

Western Cape 25 165 17 1 195 932 12

Eastern Cape 13 919 9 1 371 713 14

Northern Cape 3 691 3 200 142 2

Free State 11 463 8 772 431 8

KwaZulu-Natal 20 963 14 1 728 006 17

North West 10 787 7 782 027 8

Gauteng 39 866 27 2 253 253 22

Mpumalanga 7 705 5 648 412 6

Limpopo 12 383 8 1 083 112 11

Unspecified 567 0 – –

Outside SA 223 0 – –

Total 146 732 100 1 0035 028 100

Source: Statistics South Africa 1999:7; Census 1996

Table 4 Marriages registered and people currently married by civil or religious rites

by province, 1996

Province Registered Per cent Currently married Per cent

Western Cape 25 165 17 1 100 525 16

Eastern Cape 13 919 9 774 648 11

Northern Cape 3 691 3 192 370 3

Free State 11 463 8 529 163 8

KwaZulu-Natal 20 963 14 1 270 916 18

North West 10 787 7 574 099 8

Gauteng 39 866 27 1 740 674 25

Mpumalanga 7 705 5 347 589 5

Limpopo 12 383 8 411 099 6

Unspecified 567 0 – –

Outside SA 223 0 – –

Total 146 732 100 6 941 083 100

Source: Statistics South Africa 1999:7; Census 1996

of the unknown factors is the extent to which individuals are married by both

traditional and civil rites and, if so, which of these states they are more likely to

report in a census questionnaire. Another unknown in assessing future

statistics is the extent to which formalisation of customary marriages could

change marriage trends by making customary marriages more attractive. As

they stand, the data suggest that registration of customary marriages might

generate a relatively small increase in vital registration statistics. A third

unknown is how the word “traditional” is understood by respondents. It seems

likely that at least some respondents will see this term as referring to a

“traditional” wedding in church with the bride in a white dress and veil!

We turn now to what the census data can add to our understanding of

marriage. Table 5 shows the pattern of civil and religious, as opposed to

traditional, marriages by age group. The table reveals higher percentages of

people married by traditional rites among both the youngest and oldest age

groups. Thus the highest incidence of traditional marriage is among 16–19 year

olds, where 60 per cent of married individuals are married by traditional rites.

The next highest rate is among those aged 80 years or more, followed by those in

the 20–29 years and 70–79 years age groups. This pattern can be explained by

the combined operation of two forces. On the one hand, it is likely those who

marry traditionally tend to marry earlier than those who marry under civil or

religious rites. There is some weak support for this assumption in the OHS 1998

data which show a one year difference in mean and median age at first marriage,

but only for women, between those married traditionally and those married by

civil rites. This could explain the high incidence among the teenagers. On the

other hand, in previous decades African people were more likely than now to

marry by traditional rites. This explains the higher prevalence of traditional

marriage among the older age groups. What we do not know at this stage is how

the 18-year age provision in the Registration of Customary Marriages Act will

affect both marriage practices and registration.

A further possible route for estimates of different forms of marriage from

census data is religion. Unfortunately, the question on religion is the only one

that is not compulsory in the census. Close on one in ten (9 per cent, or over

2 million) of the population aged 16 years and above either refused to answer

this question or had no religion specified. A further 12 per cent (3 million) said

they had no religion.

One might hypothesise that customary marriages would be most likely

among people with traditional beliefs. In fact, under 0.1 per cent of the


population aged 16 years and above were recorded as having African

traditional belief as their religion. As expected, the overwhelming majority

(96 per cent) of those claiming African traditional belief as their religion were

African. A larger, but still very small percentage (1.5 per cent) of the

population aged 16 years and above, claimed Islam as their religion. Of these,

44 per cent were Indian, 43 per cent coloured.

Table 5 Population aged 16 years and above by type of marriage and age, 1996

Age groupMarried:

Civil/ religiousPer cent

Married:

TraditionalPer cent Total Per cent

16–19 21 302 40 31 556 60 52 858 100

20–29 885 739 62 540 590 38 1 426 329 100

30–39 2 101 476 70 889 191 30 2 990 667 100

40–49 1 787 900 73 661 718 27 2 449 618 100

50–59 1 127 776 73 419 114 27 1 546 890 100

60–69 669 223 67 332 401 33 1 001 624 100

70–79 280 389 63 167 081 37 447 470 100

80+ 67 279 56 52 294 44 119 573 100

Total 6 941 083 69 3 093 945 31 10 035 028 100

Source: Census 1996

Table 6 provides a cross-tabulation of religion with marital status as

recorded in the 1996 census. Civil and religious marriages were combined in

one category. Of those claiming to be married by civil or religious rites, over

three quarters (79 per cent) were Christian, 9 per cent were of unspecified

religion and 6 per cent had no religion. More interesting is that, of those

claiming to be married by traditional rites, a full 69 per cent were Christian,

while 20 per cent claimed no religion and 9 per cent were of unspecified

religion. The table reveals that over a quarter (28 per cent) of married

Christians were married by traditional rites. These statistics could support our

earlier suggestion that “traditional” marriage is being understood in a way

different from that intended by the census designers.

Disappointingly, the discussion above suggests that the census questions on

religion and type of marriage provide very little to help us in estimating

changes in registration statistics that can be expected from implementation of

the Customary Marriages Act.


Table 6 Population aged 16 years and above by religion and marital status, 1996

Never

married

Married:

Civil/

religious

Married:

Traditional

Living

togetherWidowed

Divorced/

separatedUnknown Total

Number

African

traditional4 443 1 365 3 054 411 828 372 100 10 574

Muslim 115 874 181 886 26 396 4 458 18 007 14 267 2 540 363 429

Christian 8 504 458 5 464 609 2 144 487 890 676 988 522 538 900 170 784 18 702 436

Hinduism 112 490 205 049 22 499 3 810 27 628 10 103 2 296 383 874

No religion 1 486 891 409 511 612 926 245 445 138 714 86 592 27 408 3 007 485

Refused/

unknown1 038 247 647 368 281 968 122 401 103 094 68 463 59 603 2 321 144

Other 19 146 31 296 2 614 1 764 5 132 3 468 375 63 796

Total 11 281 550 6 941 083 3 093 945 1 268 965 1 281 924 722 165 263 106 24 852 738

Per cent

African

traditional0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Muslim 1 3 1 0 1 2 1 1

Christian 75 79 69 70 77 75 65 75

Hinduism 1 3 1 0 2 1 1 2

No religion 13 6 20 19 11 12 10 12

Refused/

unknown9 9 9 10 8 9 23 9

Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100

Source: Census 1996

Patterns of marriage in South Africa

The data from the 1996 census and the October Household Surveys permit

investigation into the types and timing, as well as the prevalence, of marriages

entered into in South Africa. The analysis of these three aspects is undertaken

at three levels – national, population group, and rural/ urban residence. The

disaggregation is used to ascertain differences, if any, in marital practices

between different groups. In addition, the comparison of results from


different sources provides indications as to the consistency and reliability of

the data.

Type of marriage

Figure 1 shows the distribution of the married population by type of marriage.

A large proportion (70 per cent on average) of the people who were married at

the time of the surveys were reported to be married by civil rites. The

consistency of the proportions between the OHSs and the census is interesting

in that, whereas Census 1996 was clear on how to treat religious marriages, in

OHSs none of the options included religious marriage, and this type of

marriage may therefore have been reported as either civil or traditional

depending on the respondent’s and fieldworker’s perception.

The consistency of the proportions of people married by civil and

traditional rites is maintained for all four population groups when the data are

disaggregated by population group. In fact, the differences between the OHSs

are generally as great as those between the OHSs and the census. The coloured

population group is the only one where the split between civil and traditional


0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

OHS 1995 OHS 1996 OHS 1997 OHS 1998 OHS 1999 Census '96

Source of data

Per

cent

Civil marriage Customary marriage

Figure 1 Per cent distribution of the married population by type of marriage,

RSA, 1995–1999

in the census is outside the range covered by the set of OHSs. Yet even in this

group, the percentage point difference between the census values and the

nearest OHS values (for 1997) are smaller than the difference between the

nearest OHS value and the next nearest value (1996 and 1998).

The patterns for African and Indian population groups are the least stable.

For the latter, the instability can be explained by the relatively small sample

sizes, especially when using OHS data. For the former, the instability could

reflect variability in how the different terms are interpreted. However, there is

no clear pattern in terms of instrument effects.

Looking at differentials in marriage form between urban and rural areas, it

is apparent that traditional marriages are a rare phenomenon in urban areas,

accounting for less than 20 per cent of all marriages. Both the census and the

OHS data show that traditional marriages are generally more common among

non-urban dwellers than civil marriages. This finding is not surprising given

that African people predominate in non-urban areas to an ever greater extent

than in urban and, as shown above, traditional marriages are more common

among Africans. The African predominance in non-urban areas does not,

however, explain all of the difference between the urban and non-urban

marriage patterns. If we confine our attention to Africans, the 1996 census

reveals that 30.7 per cent of married people in urban areas were married by

traditional rites, compared to 58.4 per cent in non-urban areas.

Types of union

Polyandry is so rare in South Africa that polygamy is treated as synonymous to

polygyny. As a result, the focus of this sub-section is on estimates of the extent

of polygyny. However, it is generally accepted that polygyny is no longer

widespread in the country (South African Law Commission 1999:3). The only

source of data on polygyny in South Africa is the 1998 Demographic and

Health Survey. These data show 4 per cent of married women reporting that

their husbands have other wives beside themselves. When disaggregated by

population group, the percentage is 7 per cent among married African women,

3 per cent among coloured, 2 per cent Indian and 1 per cent white. These

percentages may be overestimates as some women may have interpreted

“other wife” broadly to include women with whom the husband cohabits but

to whom he is not necessarily formally married. The possibility of this

happening is increased by the fact that the word for “wife” is the same as the

word for “woman” in some South African languages.


The timing of marriage

Our direct estimates of mean age at first marriage are based on responses to a

question in the OHSs of 1997 and 1998 which asked how old the person was

when they first married or lived with a partner. (This question was not asked in

all the OHSs.) The responses could be biased downwards to the extent that

people report first age at which they started living together with someone

rather than first age at marriage.

This bias is likely, on the one hand, because living together is more

commonly reported for younger people than older people. (Of course, living

together might also be more common today than it was in the past, so that we

cannot assume that those who are now in their forties behaved like those

currently in their twenties when they were that age.) For example, there are

only 1.7 married people aged 16–19 years for every person of this age who is

reported as living together with a partner. Among 20–29 year olds, there are

3.2 married people for every person reported as living together. The ratio

increases for each age group, to 27.7:1 for 69–69 year olds and 38.3:1 for

those aged 70 and above. The age group 20–29 accounts for 35 per cent of all

people living together, with another 35 per cent in the age group 30–39 years.

On the other hand, the bias might be limited as the OHS 1998 data show

virtually no differences in the mean and median age of first marriage or

co-habitation between those who are currently married and those currently

living together. Further, living together is recorded as the current situation for

a relatively small percentage of people (see Table 1). We suspect that living

together is under-reported, and that similar under-reporting of living together

will occur in respect of the age at first marriage or cohabitation question. If this

is true, the bias in the calculation of first age at marriage will not be large.

The 1997 and 1998 OHSs suggest that the mean age at marriage for South

Africans is around 25 years. The breakdown by sex provides a mean of

28 years for males and 24 years for females, yielding an average difference of

four years between married couples (Table 7). These figures are higher than

those reported by the United Nations for most other African countries (United

Nations 1988:66–71). Table 7 also suggests that Africans (males in particular)

tend to marry much later than the other groups. Indians, on the other hand,

have the lowest mean age at marriage (24 years). Calculation of variances for

male and female of the different population groups reveals that these are

significantly larger for African and coloured men and women than for Indians

and whites. Further, while Africans marry later and Indians earlier, both


groups have an average difference in the ages of husbands and wives of four

years, a difference which is larger than those for coloured and white couples.

Table 7 Mean age at marriage (direct method) by population group, sex and source

Population groupOHS 1997 OHS 1998

Male Female Total Male Female Total

African 28.4 23.7 25.7 28.1 23.5 25.5

Coloured 26.3 24.0 25.0 26.1 23.8 24.9

Indian 25.6 21.7 21.8 25.6 21.8 23.5

White 25.8 23.0 24.3 26.4 23.5 24.9

RSA 27.5 23.5 25.3 27.4 23.5 25.2

Source: OHS 1997 & 1998

The data do not show marked differences in the timing of marriages

between urban and non-urban areas. However, the average difference in the

ages of the spouses differs markedly between the two areas. Whereas urban

husbands have an average of three years of seniority over their wives, the

difference in non-urban areas is five years. This pattern is again at least partly

explained by the predominance of African people in non-urban areas.

The administrative data provide information about median age at marriage

rather than mean age. The medians from the administrative data and the OHSs

are not strictly comparable, in that the former refers to the age at which the

most recent marriage was entered into, while the OHS refers to the age of first

marriage. As South Africa has relatively high rates of divorce and remarriage,

this distinction could be important.

According to the OHS of 1998, the median age at first marriage is 22 years

for females and 26 years for males (Table 8). These values are significantly lower

than the 30 years for females and 34 years for males recorded in the

administrative data for 1998 (Statistics South Africa 2000). The difference in

respect of current and first marriage would explain at least some of the disparity.

The average age at marriage can be estimated indirectly by calculating a

measure called the singulate mean at marriage (SMAM). There are four points

that must be kept in mind about SMAM. First, the measure relies heavily on

the proportions of people who are reported as single in surveys or censuses. In

the case of South Africa this creates problems because of ambiguity as to how

to treat those who report themselves as “living together”. To circumvent this


problem, the estimates below were calculated treating those living together as

“single”.

Table 8 Median age at marriage by population group and sex, 1998

Population group Male Female Total

African 27 22 24

Coloured 25 23 24

Indian 24 20 22

White 25 22 23

RSA 26 22 24

Source: OHS 1998

Second, while the SMAM is sensitive to age reporting errors, this is not a

matter of particular concern in South Africa, as the data collected in censuses

and surveys typically shows only a small extent of exaggeration in the age

range used in the calculation of a SMAM. Third, the computation of SMAM

from current status data in a single census or survey assumes that age at first

marriage has been constant over time and that differences in mortality or

migration rates by marital status are negligible. Fourth, SMAM results are

biased towards the more recent past. If age at marriage is increasing, then the

proportion single at younger ages will be higher now than a few years before,

and the SMAM should lie between the two.

Table 9 presents SMAM estimates from the 1996 census and the 1995 and

1999 OHSs, as the endpoints of the period covered by the more reliable OHSs.

As expected, the SMAM figures are higher than the estimates derived from the

direct method of estimating the average ages at which people get married.

Table 9 nevertheless confirms the late marriage for Africans shown by the

direct method. Indirect estimates for urban and non-urban are not shown as

they show no differences in the timing of marriage by place of residence.

The SMAM figures suggest a slight increase in the mean age at marriage for

all population groups and both sexes over the period 1995 to 1999. The

period is a short one and the increase is small. The pattern is nevertheless

worth monitoring in the coming years as it occurs alongside the slight increase

in the proportion of living together over the same period reported above.


Table 9 Singulate mean age at marriage (SMAM) by population group and source

Source OHS 1995 Census ’96 OHS 1999

RSA

Male 31.9 31.4

Female 29.6 29.3

Total 30.8 30.3

African

Male 33.1 32.4 32.4

Female 30.4 30.2 30.6

Total 31.8 31.2 32.7

Coloured

Male 30.3 29.2 31.0

Female 30.5 28.6 28.7

Total 30.1 28.8 30.2

Indian

Male 28.2 26.9 28.9

Female 24.4 23 26.6

Total 26.6 25.3 27.7

White

Male 26.2 27.4 28.4

Female 24.1 25.5 26.6

Total 25 26.3 27.2

Source: OHS 1995 & 1999; Census ’96

The prevalence of marriage

The ambiguity regarding the classification of the “living together” category

also affects estimations of the prevalence of marriage. This is so because this

index is dependent on the percentages of people single between the ages 45

and 54. As before, we treat those living together as single.

Table 10 shows the average percentages of people ever married by age 50 by

population group and sex over the period 1995 to 1999. All the data sets

provide comparable estimates. The prevalence of marriage among South

Africans during the period 1995–1999 averaged 83.4 per cent.


Two distinct patterns emerge regarding the prevalence of marriage by

population group. During the period 1995–1999 marriage was almost

universal among whites (94.8 per cent) and Indians (92.2 per cent), treating

those “living together” as single. By contrast, the estimates for Africans and

coloureds suggest that marriage was far from universal among the two groups.

When those “living together” are considered as single, the proportions ever

married were 80.1 per cent and 83.1 per cent for Africans and coloureds,

respectively. Cohabitation is more prevalent – or is reported more often –

among Africans and coloureds than among Indians and whites.

Table 10 Average per cent aged 50 and above ever married by population group

and sex, 1995–1999

Population group Male Female Total

African 79.8 80.4 80.1

Coloured 83.3 82.8 83.1

Indian 92.0 91.8 92.2

White 94.3 95.3 94.8

RSA 83.2 83.5 83.4

Source: OHS 1995–1999

The analysis of the prevalence of marriage by place of residence does not

indicate a large difference between urban and non-urban locations. The

proportion of the population ever married by age 50 averages 84 per cent in

urban areas, and 82 per cent in non-urban areas.

Conclusions

The main aim of this paper is to describe and assess the available data on

marriage in South Africa. Despite the wide range of data sources available,

several weaknesses in these data have been identified which present problems

for the analyst trying to describe and understand marital patterns in the country.

One of the primary problems is the wide range of marriage practices in the

country, and differing cultural understandings as to what constitutes marriage.

This problem is aggravated by linguistic issues, in that the terms used in the

data collection instruments will be understood differently by different

informants and fieldworkers. Further, the instruments are not consistent in

the way they use terms and divide marriages into groups.


A second important source of data disparities is the difference between the

legal definition of marriage – which is what is recorded in the administrative

data – and the sociological perception of the people involved and other

members of their household as to what constitutes marriage. Examination of

the administrative data reveals missing information in respect of type of

marriage, as well as fluctuations in provincial statistics from one year to the

next. These deficiencies suggest that registration of marriage, like that of births

and deaths, might not be recording even the legal situation as well as it should.

This clearly complicates comparison of the legal and sociological ‘pictures’ of

marriage in the country.

The recent change in the law, in the form of the Recognition of Customary

Marriages Act, will in the future further complicate the statistics as the

coverage of administrative data will increase, but by an unknown amount. One

of the aims of this paper was to get some idea of how great this increase might

be. The analysis above, however, shows smaller differences than expected

between data that exclude customary marriages and those that include them.

Further, the fact that registration is not compulsory, and the past and ongoing

possibility of marriage by both customary and civil law simultaneously will

obscure the meaning of observed changes in the statistics.

When looking at type of marriage, survey and census data provide very

similar pictures despite different grouping of categories in the two

instruments. Calculations of mean age at marriage produce higher values than

in most other African countries. These cannot necessarily be explained by a

higher proportion of people living together as the question about age at first

marriage includes age of first co-habitation. Further, the figures for median

age of marriage in the administrative data are even higher than those in survey

and census data. This latter difference is at least partly explained by the fact

that the administrative data refer to the current marriage, while the census and

survey data refer to first marriage. However, it is not clear that this would

account for most of the observed difference.

Data on the prevalence of marriage seem generally consistent. Data on both

marriage and living together reveal significant differences between population

groups, as well as some differences between urban and non-urban areas. In

terms of polygyny, only one source of data is available. Unfortunately, the way

this question was phrased in the DHS might well have been misinterpreted and

the derived estimate is thus open to question.

Marriage, entry into marriage, and their measurement are clearly not


simple concepts, particularly in multicultural, multilingual societies such as

South Africa. Nevertheless, despite the inevitable inconsistencies that are

inherent to data on marriage from different sources, careful analysis of these

data allows researchers to investigate nuptiality and to identify trends in

marriage patterns in the country.

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