swaziland times

EZULWINI – The number of registered divorce cases has increased by 70 percent in just one year, a report says.
It is said that there was an increase of 163 divorce cases as 232 couples dissolved their marriages in 2022, while the 2023 Annual Vital Statistics Report reported that 395 marriages were registered in 2023 for the purpose of dissolving marriages.The Central Statistics Office (CSO) released the Annual Vital Statistics Report 2023 yesterday at the Royal Villa in Ezulwini. According to reports, among both sexes, the divorce age is between 30 to 34 years and 40 to 44 years. According to the report, most brides divorce between the ages of 35 to 39, while grooms retire from marriage between the ages of 40 to 44.Andile Dlamini, a regional civil registrar under the Central Statistics Agency, said that in 2023, the number of divorces among married women aged between 35 and 39 was 117. She said that this number was high compared to men, who divorced 98. She then pondered why married women in this age group mostly divorced.

The report also looks specifically at the duration of registered divorces and annulled marriages. On average, most civil marriages last between 5 and 9 years, while Swazi legal and customary marriages last between 10 and 14 years.The report states that under Swazi law and custom, the longest marriage lasts between 45 and 50 years, while under civil ceremony, the longest marriage lasts between 35 and 40 years. No marriages lasting less than one year have been declared invalid in violation of Swazi law and custom.

On the other hand, Dlamini also noted that the number of void marriages dropped by 19 per cent, from 112 to 91 in 2023. She said most of the void marriages occurred between the ages of 35 to 39 and 45 to 49, both men and women.Dlamini said 26 married women aged between 35 and 39 annulled their marriages in 2023. This figure is said to be higher than married men in the same category as only 16 of them annulled their marriages.It is said that men between the ages of 40 and 49 annul their marriages for various reasons. The report shows that the number of annulments of marriages by men between the ages of 40 and 44 was 23, while the number of women of the same age was 17, of which only 17 applied to the Home Office for annulments.

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Another 23 married men aged between 45 and 49 also dominated the annulment of marriages over women of the same age, including 15 women.Interpreting the report, Dlamini said much more needed to be done to find out the possible reasons why married women exited their marriages.On the other hand, Dlamini noted that there was a decrease in the number of marriage registrations between 2021 and 2023. On the contrary, there was an increase in the number of registrations of Swazi legal and customary marriages between 2022 and 2023.Number of registered marriages (civil ceremony and Swaziland law and custom) by average age of bride and groom at marriage. From 2021 to 2023, the average marriage age for men remained between 36 and 40 years old, while the average marriage age for women was between 31 and 32 years old.