IMPROVING LIVES THROUGH DATA ECOSYSTEMS

A total of 167 264, civil marriages, 5 084 customary marriages and 987 civil unions were registered in 2012. A comparison with the 2011 data shows that registration of civil and customary marriages dropped by 3,7% and 10,4% respectively but that of civil unions increased by 13,8%. The median ages of first time civil marriage bridegrooms (33 years) and brides (29 years) remained unchanged in 2012. For customary marriages, there was an increase of one year from 32 years in 2011 to 33 years in 2012 for bridegrooms but median age for brides remained at 27 years. Whereas the median age for Spouse1 remained at 36 years that of Spouse2 decreased by a year from 34 years in 2011 to 33 years in 2012.In 2012, 21 998 completed divorce forms were processed indicating an increase of 4,9% from 2011. There were more female than male plaintiffs. The median age for male (42 years) and female (38 years) divorcees remained unchanged in 2012. About half (48,9%) of the 2012 divorces came from marriages that did not spend their tenth wedding anniversary.  12 083 children (aged less than 18 years) came from 54,9% of the divorces.