In the months after the establishment of the government of national unity (GNU), we have witnessed much contestation about performance between cabinet ministers of different political parties.
We have seen the DA’s messaging, for example, consistently referring to its members in cabinet as “DA ministers”, strategically distinguishing its brand as a prominent player in the GNU’s deliverables.
None of this is unexpected.
Any party operating in a multiparty arrangement would want to strategically position itself as a significant player in the success of the collective partnership.
What is unacceptable, however, is doing so dishonestly by claiming work done by others as your own.
Home affairs minister Leon Schreiber recently announced on social media platform X that his department had issued the first batch of 33 certificates recognising Muslim marriages.
In response, DA leaders quickly celebrated the milestone as a political victory, with public works minister Deon Macpherson claiming “The DA has done in three months what the ANC couldn’t do in 30 years”.
This is disingenuous and false.
The bill recognising Muslim marriages was signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa in May, before the GNU came into office.
SOWETAN SAYS | Muslim marriage bill not DA's win
In the months after the establishment of the government of national unity (GNU), we have witnessed much contestation about performance between cabinet ministers of different political parties.
We have seen the DA’s messaging, for example, consistently referring to its members in cabinet as “DA ministers”, strategically distinguishing its brand as a prominent player in the GNU’s deliverables.
None of this is unexpected.
Any party operating in a multiparty arrangement would want to strategically position itself as a significant player in the success of the collective partnership.
What is unacceptable, however, is doing so dishonestly by claiming work done by others as your own.
Home affairs minister Leon Schreiber recently announced on social media platform X that his department had issued the first batch of 33 certificates recognising Muslim marriages.
In response, DA leaders quickly celebrated the milestone as a political victory, with public works minister Deon Macpherson claiming “The DA has done in three months what the ANC couldn’t do in 30 years”.
This is disingenuous and false.
The bill recognising Muslim marriages was signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa in May, before the GNU came into office.
The amendment of the bill was a victory fought for by Muslim women who argued in court that marriages entered into in terms of the tenets of Islam have not been afforded legal recognition for all purposes.
In 2022, the Constitutional Court ordered the amendment of the Marriage Act of 1961 and the Divorce Act of 1975 as unconstitutional.
The court agreed and recognised the need for and importance of protecting Muslim women and children of Muslim marriages, particularly when such a marriage is dissolved.
This court order set the ball rolling to give true meaning to the principle of societal diversity and inclusivity as envisaged in our constitution.
The issuing of Muslim marriage certificates by home affairs is most welcome and indeed, long overdue.
But it is certainly no victory of the DA.
It is a matter of compliance by the department, a victory for Muslim women who took on the fight to protect their rights and those of their children, and an affirmation of the standing of those legal rights by our apex court.