Synopsis:
Application for leave to appeal directly to the Constitutional Court. Partners in a permanent same-sex relationship since June 1994 sought in the High Court a declaratory order that the 'Marriage' between them was legally binding in terms of the Marriages Act 25 of 1961, secondly, an order directing that their relationship be registered as a marriage in terms of the Marriage Act and Identification Act 63 of 1997. The High Court dismissed the Application by holding that, under the common law, marriage is a legal union of a man and a woman for the purpose of a lifelong mutual relations and that the Marriage Act contemplate a marriage between a male and a female to the exclusion of others. The applicant then applied to this court directly. Moseneke J dismissed the application and ordered that the applicant first have their matter considered by the Supreme Court of Appeal.
