Originally published 2021-06-30.
Illustrative image: the idea of a woman with more than one husband drew wide media attention and heated debate on social media in 2021.
No, South Africa did not legalise polyandry, the practice of a woman having more than one husband. In April 2021 the Department of Home Affairs published a Green Paper on marriage policy for public comment, and one of the options it recorded, raised by human rights and gender activists during consultations, was that equality might require legal recognition of polyandry. A green paper is a discussion document, not a law or even an official policy, yet the idea set off one of the country's loudest social debates of that year.
Here is what the paper actually said, why it touched such a nerve, who spoke for and against, and where marriage reform went next.
What the 2021 Green Paper proposed
South Africa's marriage law is spread over several acts written at different times. Civil marriages fall under the Marriage Act of 1961. Customary marriages, including polygynous ones in which a man has more than one wife, are recognised under the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act of 1998. Same-sex couples have been able to marry since the Civil Union Act of 2006. Muslim, Hindu and Jewish religious marriages, by contrast, had no full legal recognition of their own.
The Green Paper, released on 20 April 2021, argued that this patchwork was not built on a single policy grounded in constitutional values such as equality, non-discrimination and human dignity. It set out options to bring all marriages under one framework, recognise religious marriages, update who can conduct weddings and protect people in unregistered unions. Public comments were accepted until 30 June 2021. Polyandry was one option among many, recorded because some participants in the ministerial dialogues had argued for it.
Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi later told Parliament he was deeply disappointed by commentary claiming a polyandry bill was already before lawmakers. He stressed that a green paper contains proposals meant to stimulate debate, while a white paper is a formal statement of government policy.
Polygyny, polyandry and polygamy: the terms
- Polygamy is the general word for marriage with more than one spouse.
- Polygyny means one man with several wives. It is legal in South Africa under customary law and in a number of other countries.
- Polyandry means one woman with several husbands. It is rare worldwide, but it has a long history in the Himalayas, especially fraternal polyandry in parts of Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan and northern India, where brothers share a wife. It has also been reported among some communities in Africa, including in Nigeria and among the Maasai.
The case against: culture, identity and family
The fiercest objections came from conservative and religious voices, and from some men in polygynous marriages. Businessman and reality-TV personality Musa Mseleku, known for his four wives and the show Uthando Nes'thembu, told the BBC: "This will destroy African culture." He questioned how children would know their lineage and whether a wife would now pay lobola, the bride price traditionally paid by the groom's family.
Kenneth Meshoe, leader of the African Christian Democratic Party, also opposed the idea, predicting jealousy and conflict between husbands who felt neglected in favour of another man. Other critics raised practical questions about paternity, inheritance and the legal duties of each husband.
Critics on the other side noticed the tension: several of the loudest opponents accepted a man taking multiple wives while rejecting the reverse. That charge of a double standard became a central thread of the debate.
The case for: equality and honesty about real relationships
Supporters argued that if the law allows men to have several spouses, refusing the same option to women is discrimination by gender. Charlene May of the Women's Legal Centre told the BBC: "We cannot reject law reform because it challenges certain patriarchal views in our society."
Collis Machoko, an academic who has researched polyandrous families, told the BBC that such relationships already exist but are kept secret for fear of stigma. In his view, the fierce reaction showed that many societies remain uncomfortable with women holding the kind of control that men have long held in marriage.
Both camps were, in a sense, pointing at the same problem: a constitution that promises equal treatment sits uneasily beside marriage rules that allow multiple spouses for one gender only.
Myths that spread online
- "South Africa has legalised women marrying several men." False. Fact-checkers, including Lead Stories, pointed out in 2021 that no such law was passed.
- "The government wants to introduce polyandry." Misleading. The paper recorded the idea as one consultation view; it was never adopted as policy.
- "The reform was only about polyandry." False. Its main aims were to unify marriage law, recognise religious marriages and protect vulnerable spouses, especially women and children.
What happened next: the Marriage Bill
The consultation led to a White Paper on marriages and then to a Marriage Bill, introduced in 2023. According to a September 2025 analysis by the law firm Fasken, the bill would merge the existing marriage laws into a single statute, bring religious and other unrecognised marriages into the legal framework, ban child marriage, give spouses equal legal capacity regardless of gender or sexual orientation, and set out how property and divorce rules apply to polygamous unions.
Coverage of the bill describes rules for polygamous marriages in general and does not describe any recognition of polyandry. As of September 2025 the bill had still not been enacted and was in its public participation phase, with Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs holding hearings in the provinces.
Why the debate still matters
The polyandry row was short-lived, but it exposed a real question that every constitutional democracy with plural family traditions has to answer: how can the law respect custom and religion while treating men and women equally? South Africa's answer is still being written. For people in customary, religious or same-sex marriages, the outcome will decide very practical things, such as who inherits, who can claim maintenance and how property is divided after divorce.
Sources: UCT Libraries: Green Paper on Marriages in South Africa, 20 April 2021; SAnews: Minister disappointed with misleading polyandry proposal commentary (May 2021); Fasken: New Marriage Bill (23 September 2025); Wikipedia: Polyandry; Lead Stories fact check (May 2021); quotes reported by the BBC.
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