Marriage is becoming less common in South Africa, with many people marrying later and unmarried couples increasingly choosing to live together instead of tying the knot.

This is according to a StatsSA statement, making reference to its Marriages and Divorces 2021 report.

The report states that 106 499 marriages took place in 2021, compared to 161 112 in 2012, in SA.

It makes reference to the general marriage rate, which is the number of people who got married in that year divided by the population, aged 15 years and above, for every 100 000 people.

It says that according to this measure, a person is more likely to get married if they live in the Northern Cape — at 347 marriages for every 100 000 people — than anywhere else in the country. “In terms of customary marriages, 2 676 customary marriages were registered at the Department of Home Affairs in 2021, compared to 1 585 in 2020.”

One is more likely to be married [if one lives] in Limpopo, at 18 marriages for every 100 000 population, followed by Mpumalanga with 11, then KZN at nine marriages for every 100 000 population.

The report adds that the median age of bridegrooms in customary marriages was 36 years in 2021, while that of brides was 29 years in the same period.

Customary Marriages

“In contrast to customary marriages, the number of civil unions registered in South Africa increased by 52,3% in 2021. There were 2 240 marriages registered in 2021, compared to 1 471 in 2020.”

While marriages in SA have decreased, divorces have increased by 13,1% since 2020. StatsSA said 18 208 divorces were granted in 2021.

The report shows that in general, the median age of men divorcees was higher than that of women, regardless of population group, at 45 years for men compared to 41 years for women.

Most divorces were from marriages that lasted between zero and nine years, followed by those that lasted between 10 and 14 years.

Counselling Psychologist

Weekend Witness spoke to local counselling psychologist Claire Ngcobo, who has an interest in couples’ therapy.

Ngcobo said one thing that may have contributed to the decline in marriages is the fact that people have started to take marriage seriously, to such an extent that some even undergo premarital counselling.

“People know what they want, and want to do it long term. They want to go into marriage with someone they know. No one wants to be a divorce statistic. People are now thinking more logically when entering marriage, and with a better understanding of it.”

Ngcobo said she would attribute it to the psych of the people who want to get married.

“Think about the Covid-19 days and lockdown. I wouldn’t link divorce and the decline in marriages to lockdown because people made use of couple’s therapy during that time to try to work out their issues. There was hope,” said Ngcobo.

She said couples were confined to a limited space during lockdown and that impacted on the psych and functionality of the marriage and created conflict. However, people were still willing to attend therapy and try to make things work.