ABSTRACT
The Native Marriages Act of Southern Rhodesia similarly makes the consent of both parties an essential condition of the validity of the marriage. The native marriage officer must be satisfied ‘that the intended husband and wife freely and voluntarily consent to the marriage’. There have been comparatively instances of interference with native law in so far as it makes the consent of parents or guardians an essential condition of the validity of a customary marriage. Statutory provisions regarding the attainment of legal majority by Africans exist in parts of South Africa. Among the rules governing capacity to contract a customary marriage there are some which have been little affected by modern legislation or administrative action. In Nigeria the matter was dealt with by a provision empowering native authorities, with approval of the Chief Commissioner, to make rules for regulating child betrothals and prescribing safeguards—a provision which did not go so far as to authorize the complete prohibition of child betrothal.
