The prohibited degrees of affinity and consanguinuity that apply to a marriage under the Marriage Act also apply under the Civil Union Act;[1] thus a person may not form a civil partnership with his or her direct ancestor or descendant, sibling, uncle or aunt, niece or nephew, or the ancestor or descendant of an ex-spouse.
Government officials (primarily magistrates and Home Affairs civil servants) who are appointed as marriage officers under the Marriage Act are also automatically appointed to solemnise civil partnerships.
Originally, government marriage officers who had an objection of conscience to solemnising same-sex civil partnerships were exempted from doing so if they noted their objection in writing to the Minister of Home Affairs.
Any reference to marriage in any law, including the common law, is deemed to include civil partnership in terms of the Civil Union Act; similarly, any reference to husband, wife or spouse in any law is deemed to include a civil partner.
In a 2010 divorce case the Western Cape High Court recognised the validity of a British civil partnership as equivalent to a civil partnership in South African law.