CLAIM: ‘If you got married after September 2022 and your marriage certificate says Chapter 5:11, you must get the marriage certificate amended at the Marriages Registry otherwise the marriage is null and void. It should read chapter 5:17.’
SOURCE: WhatsApp message
VERDICT: Misleading. Authorities have indicated that there is a pending statutory instrument to correct this defect.
A message forwarded many times circulated on WhatsApp in the month of March 2024 claiming that marriage certificates issued after September 2022 under Chapter 5:11 were defective and should be returned to the Marriage Registry for rectification.
The message was inserted onto a Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) circular on Defective Marriage Certificates issued to its members and dated 11 March 2024 and also appeared on X (formerly Twitter).
‘It has been brought to our attention that despite the existence of the New Marriages Act, the stationery being used for civil marriages registered after the effective date has not changed,’ read the circular in part.
‘Parties are therefore still being given marriage certificates which now incorrectly read “5:11”. We are advised that pending an overall rectifying instrument to save all such affected marriages, lawyers or individuals can take the certificates in question to Mr Mpala, the contact person in the Registrar’s Office, who will insert the correct Act and stamp the marriage certificate accordingly.’
The LSZ added that members dealing with divorce cases should ensure that affected certificates are rectified first as they are considered ‘null.’’
On X (formerly Twitter) user Ntombizodwa @MsNtombizodwa, on 19 March 2024 shared the LSZ circular on the platform, however, without the claim inserted in the one circulating on WhatsApp. The message read as follows: ‘I can’t seem to find it on the official @lawsocietyofzim pages. Is this letter legit? @thabanimnyama Any idea?’
Responding to Ntombizodwa’s question, the Law Society of Zimbabwe @lawsocietyofzim, said: ‘It is legit’, meaning it’s circular to its members.
Law Society of Zimbabwe spokesperson, Richard Chidza said while the insertion to the message was not part of their original circular, they, indeed, sent out communication to their members on defective marriage certificates.
‘We can confirm that the circular is from the Law Society and this was directed to our members to make sure they are aware as they go about their business,’ he said.
“We have offered a proposal for rectifying the issue and it’s in that circular.’
Misleading
While it is true that the marriage certificates are ‘defective’, authorities have not said that the marriages themselves have become null and void.
The Law Society Circular says that there is ‘an overall rectifying instrument to save all such affected marriages’ ‘pending’. It is those couples that have filed for divorce that are mostly affected. The circular advises their lawyers that they will need to have the certificates corrected before the divorce proceedings can commence. The circular does not say, or mean, that all those whose certificates have not been corrected should consider themselves immediately unmarried as implied by the inserted message.
It is worth noting that the LSZ circular was primarily directed at their members (who are lawyers) and not the general republic. Therefore, the claim announcing these marriages null and void is misleading, encouraging as it does, everyone affected to travel to Harare, see Mr Mpala and have their certificates corrected or consider themselves not married.
Civil Registry spokesperson Ms Tsungai Muguti was quoted by the Chronicle, as saying the department was awaiting a statutory instrument from the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, to correct the anomaly. However, in the meantime those affected and want to correct this can only do so in Harare and none of the provincial offices.
Changes to Marriage Laws
Civil marriages in Zimbabwe have historically, legally, been separated from customary marriages. Previously, civil marriages have been referred to as Chapter 37 and later as Chapter 5:11.
Customary marriages on the other hand, were regulated through the Customary Marriages Act Chapter 5:07, which commenced on 1 January 1951.
The new Marriages Act [Chapter 5:15], which came into effect on Friday, 16 September 2022, among other things repealed the old Marriages Act [Chapter 5:11] and the Customary Marriages Act [Chapter 5:07].
Following this, Statutory Instrument (SI) 141 of 2022 renamed the new Marriages Act [Chapter 5:15] to the Marriages Act [Chapter 5:17].
‘Correction and Assignment of Chapter Number to the Marriages Act [Chapter 5:15] (Act No. 1 of 2022),’ reads the SI in part.’
The new Marriage Act of 2022 is therefore cited as the Marriages Act [Chapter 5:17).
The new marriage act means that the age-old distinction where a ‘5.11 marriage’ (former Chapter 37) meant a civil marriage, presumably superior, and the lesser known ‘5.07 marriage’ (former registered customary marriage, no longer exists. All marriages now fall under Chapter 5:17.
The marriage certificate
It is important that marriage certificates be corrected as the mistake makes the certificate invalid and the marriage null. After getting married, couples need valid certificates as they are required in certain circumstances:
- Suing of adultery damages in the case of infidelity
- Deriving spousal benefits during the marriage and after death of either spouse
- Inheritance in the event of death
- Resolution of conflict in the case of divorce
Conclusion
The claim: ‘If you got married after September 2022 and your marriage certificate says Chapter 5:11, you must get the marriage certificate amended at the Marriages Registry otherwise the marriage is null and void. It should read chapter 5:17,’ has been rated as misleading. While the certificates are defective, the defect does not automatically render the marriages but those divorcing need to get them corrected before divorce proceedings can commence. The new Marriages Act [Chapter 5:17] came into effect in September 2022 repealing the old Marriages Act Chapter 5:11 and Chapter 5:07, which applied to all marriages in Zimbabwe.
