South Africa’s top court says banning a husband from taking wife’s family name is unconstitutional

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa’s top court ruled on Thursday that an apartheid-era law banning husbands from taking their wife’s family name or hyphenating both spouses’ surnames was unconstitutional.

The ruling by the Constitutional Court, which said the existing law must be amended, paves the way for husbands to adopt their wife’s last name if they wish to do so.

The decision was met with mixed reactions and at times heated comments on social media, with some welcoming it as a progressive step for Africa’s leading democracy while others slammed it as going against the country’s culture and tradition.

The top court gave South African lawmakers and President Cyril Ramaphosa two years to amend the legislation. The current law — known as the Births and Deaths Registration Act of 1992 —