HOME AFFAIRS REFUSES TO MARRY GAY COUPLE

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The Citizen has reported that the Germiston Home Affairs office has apparently refused to marry a gay couple.

The newspaper said that Alexander Bruce (25) and Jaco van der Walt (19) decided to get married after being together for a year and approached the Germiston Home Affairs office on December 17 last year.

They booked an appointment to marry on January 2 at the same office.

When they arrived on the day, however, an official allegedly laughed at the couple and told them that the Germiston office “only does ‘normal’ marriages”. He was also apparently unsure if same-sex marriages are legal.

The couple were then told by a supervisor to go to the Alberton Home Affairs office, where they are now planning to finally tie the knot.

“I am really upset about what happened, it was a slap in my face,” Van der Walt told the newspaper. “I was so excited about getting married and was really disappointed when we couldn’t go through with it.”

According to The Citizen the couple plan to take legal action against the Germiston Home Affairs office. An official told the newspaper that the office had no record of the appointment made by the men on December 17.

The Civil Union Act, which allows same-sex couples to marry in South Africa, came into force in December 2006.

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