(Faculty of Law, University of the Free State, 2009) Bakker, P.
English: The Civil Union Act 17/2006 is compared to the Marriage Act 25/1961 to determine
whether similar life partnerships should be regulated by more than one act. Thereafter the
Draft Domestic Partnership Bill is investigated to determine the intended future marriage
law system of South Africa. It is clear from the discussion that a hierarchy of personal
relationships exist. Such a hierarchy does not promote diversity and a meassure of
deregulation of marriage is proposed as a more suitable solution.