ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the possibility of a statutory second marriage during the subsistence of a customary first marriage, and with the possibility of a customary second marriage during the subsistence of a statutory first marriage. In the Bechuanaland Protectorate and in Basutoland the non-existence of a customary marriage with a third person verified by production to the marriage officer of a certificate from the chief of the area to which each party belongs. A statutory marriage necessarily involves renunciation of customary law in so far as it allows polygamy. The laws of most territories contain provision for the punishment of the offence of bigamy. Such provision envisages primarily the case where a party to an existing statutory marriage contracts a second marriage which is also a statutory marriage. In Swaziland parties who intend to contract a statutory marriage are required to produce certificates; such certificates must show that ‘according to law there is no hindrance to the proposed marriage’.
