Civil Union Amendment Bill

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed the Civil Union Amendment Bill into law, in a move that will now see marriage officers in the employ of the state no longer having to decide whether to officiate same-sex marriages or not. Under the new 2020 Civil Union Amendment Act, which was gazetted last week, this prevents marriage officers from refusing to conduct same-sex marriages. However, the move has been met with resistance from some quarters such as the Christian non-profit organisation Freedom of Religion South Africa (FOR SA) who lamented that the amendment to the law failed to replace the right of marriage officers to solemnising same sex marriages with another remedy that meets constitutional standards.We speak to: • Thiruna Naidoo, communications and advocacy associate at the Centre for Human Rights • Roche Kester is the Manager at the organisation OUT LGBTI