It applied only to those who were marriage officers by view of their position in the government—mainly magistrates and officials of the Department of Home Affairs.
Several constitutional scholars argued that this provision was unconstitutional, calling it "state-sanctioned discrimination" in violation of the right to equality.
[4][5] In May 2017, MP Deidre Carter asked Minister of Home Affairs Hlengiwe Mkhize whether she would be willing to introduce legislation to repeal the objection provisions from the Civil Union Act.
[6] In January 2018, Carter introduced the Civil Union Amendment Bill to repeal the objection provisions.
She quoted Chapter 10 of the South African Constitution, which states that "services must be provided impartially, fairly, equitably and without bias", when lodging the bill with the Office of the Speaker of the National Assembly.