Divorce rates on the Rise in South Africa

Data published by the Department of Social Development in 2021 shows South Africa has seen a steady decline in traditional ‘nuclear’ families, with similar changes in divorce and marriage rates being seen over the last decade.

Registered marriages steadily declined in the 10-year period between 2008 and 2017, dropping from 186,522 in 2008 to 135,458 in 2017. A similar decrease has been seen in customary marriages, and in 2017, just 2,588 customary marriages were registered at the Home Affairs.

This is a steep drop from the 16,003 customary marriages recorded a decade earlier in 2008.

Together, the decrease in marriage and increase in divorce has led to a sustained decline in couple-headed households for some time in South Africa, the department said.

More recently, legal experts pointed to a surge in new divorce instructions in the country since the onset of the Covid pandemic.

Family lawyers said that February and March are typically divorce filing months, however, the pandemic has caused a spike in other months amid increased job losses, and psychological effects including anxiety and depression, while couples were also forced into close proximity for extended periods of time during lockdown.