There has been anger at the South African government's proposal to legalise multiple-husbands for women in South Africa.
At present, having multiple wives is legal in South Africa but having multiple husbands is not, gay marriage is also legal.
Many of those men with multiple wives have also spoken out against the law, raising questions of hypocrisy. One such individual, TV celebrity Musa Mseleku, who has 4 wives, said of the new law proposal:
"This will destroy African culture. What about the children of those people? How will they know their identity? The woman cannot now take the role of the man. It's unheard of. Will the woman now pay lobola [bride price] for the man. Will the man be expected to take her surname? Polyandry, because it is shunned by parts of society, has been forced underground. The secrecy is similar to the one found in freemasons When confronted by somebody whom they do not trust or do not know, they even deny that such a marriage exists. All this is because of fear of reprisals and persecution."
Others to oppose the new law include the leader of the opposition African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), who said:
"There will come a time when one of the men will say, 'You spend most of the time with that man and not with me' - and there will be conflict between the two men."
Many of those in favour of the law say that allowing polygamy for men but not women is deeply sexist, and that opposition is based on misogyny.
Professor Collis Machoko, who studies such issues in depth, told the BBC:
"African societies are not ready for true equality. We don't know what to do with women we cannot control. One wife nourished the idea of wanting to be a polyandrous woman when she was in grade six [aged around 12 years] after learning about how the queen bee in a hive hosts many bee co-husbands."
While Charlene May, an advocate at the Women's Legal Centre, added:
"It's important to remember that this Green Paper sets to uphold human rights and we cannot lose sight of that. We cannot reject law reform because it challenges certain patriarchal views in our society."
[h/t: BBC]
COMMENTS