Husbands who take wives’ last name lose nothing: Historian

Expert in African indigenous knowledge systems, Professor Pitika Ntuli, says husbands assuming their wives’ surnames doesn’t emasculate them.

Instead, he believes, it is a display of a divine love that defies the odds.

The scholar was weighing in on the recent watershed Bloemfontein High Court decision that granted men the right to adopt their wives’ surnames.

The matter had been brought to the court by two husbands who argued that a section of the Births and Deaths Registration Act was unconstitutional and discriminatory as it barred them from taking their wives’ last names, among others.

The two men say the piece of legislation bolstered gender inequality and gender norms imposed by a patriarchal society.

The ruling on their matter, which has been described as a major blow to patriarchy by some, has been suspended for two years to allow Parliament and the President to amend the provisions of the law which were in question.

Welcoming the decision, which he says could be a sign of an evolving culture, Professor Ntuli says there’s no reason for men to fret over this as taking one’s spouse’s surname does not mean surrendering your own.

“In this particular case we have to come up with a divine and ancestral love that a man is able to say I can take my wife’s surname, he will still remain himself. It is a reversal, similar to when a woman takes a man’s surname. It will be about what people believe in and the triumph of love.”

Professor Ntuli says while the ruling may be a milestone, one needs to consider that South Africa has its own customary laws.

He believes a court that deals with customary matters would have probably arrived at a different conclusion, considering issues of spirituality and ancestors.

“(But) Ultimately it is what satisfies the two people who are in love.”

Cultural expert, Professor Musa Xulu, says men assuming their wives’ last names is not a strange thing in other parts of the world as other cultures do that.

However, he says in sub-Saharan Africa; most parts of Europe and the west for instance, the women adopt their husbands’ surnames.

“In terms of the African religious system, when you marry you marry into the family of the living and the dead and the not yet born. Your past become buried, and you adopt a new kind of persona as a woman. So, it’s a religious thing for a woman to adopt the surname of a husband, it’s not just done for fun because when you perform rituals – they are to the family of the husband and seldom to the ancestors of the family of your mother. The problem is I can’t see the family of the wife accepting the husband as a family member in that religious context,” he adds.

There’ve also been mixed views from social media users on the matter. Written by Lindiwe Mpanza

Bloemfontein High Court says that a man should be allowed to take his wife’s surname…

…someone said that foreigners will use this hack to change their surnames to South African surnames.

Then there’s opportunistic men who marry into rich families, with powerful surnames…

— Penuel The Black Pen (@GodPenuel) October 24, 2024

You adopting too much USA 🇺🇸 nonsense! , this is why Zuma want the constitution changed!!

— ThePitBull (@ThePitBull007) October 23, 2024

A wife taking her husband’s surname was unknown in Igbo land until the arrival of the white man. Traditionally, wives remained part of their fathers’ families while on ‘ije di,’ a marriage mission to their husbands’ families. Changing surnames after marriage was unnecessary.… pic.twitter.com/VO4weTaD21

— LumiXtra (@lumen5000) May 23, 2024