how to become a marriage officer in south africa?

[LazyLion]

Hi Gary - do you know whether an attorney can apply to be a marriage officer in order to offer this service to their clients - would the attorney have to apply to the High Court for approval to apply - in the absence of a recommendation letter from a church / religious organisation?

I don't see why they could not apply Debbie.

I don't think applying to the court would help though.
You would still need a letter from some form of representative.
It can be one of the partners of your firm, it could be a local community head (club leader / civic organisation / community watch / etc.)
The point of the letter is to prove that you will be serving a certain community of people.
Remember there is no financial profit or gain to be made from providing the service.

If you draft it from one of the partners, you should include a statement as to how many people in the community you will be able to serve and how some members of the community now prefer to have non-religious marriages, and are therefore not willing to do it through a church, etc. Motivate it well.

Alternatively, you could apply to the court to be appointed as a Justice of The Peace.
Justices of the peace are also marriage officers Ex Officio.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_of_the_peace

 

[Debbiew]

Many thanks Gary - we will draft accordingly and submit. Are there other documents that must go along with the letter to HA?

 

[LazyLion]

Many thanks Gary - we will draft accordingly and submit. Are there other documents that must go along with the letter to HA?

No, not at this stage. The letter simply has your name and ID number and a motivation for why they think you should be appointed.
The Minister will then direct your local branch to send you all the necessary information.

 

[Debbiew]

Thanks - you are awesome!

 

[LazyLion]

No problem, I hope you come right!

 

[Roxanne880303]

Hi. Sorry if this is a bit of an old thread but I'm hoping someone can help:

I'm getting married 23/09/2017.
Two very dear friends are doing the ceremony (its a multi-faith affair).
Neither is a registered wedding officiant.
I have looked around but prices range between 2000 - 3500 - just for them to come for an hour on the day so we can sign the paper.
I was wondering if there were any recommendations of a legitimate wedding official who could come on the day (my fiance feels quite strongly about the legal documents being signed on the day we have the ceremony).
The venue is in Pretoria (North/East, very close to the Kolonade).

Thanks in advance for any and all advice.
Rox

 

[LazyLion]

Hi. Sorry if this is a bit of an old thread but I'm hoping someone can help:

I'm getting married 23/09/2017.
Two very dear friends are doing the ceremony (its a multi-faith affair).
Neither is a registered wedding officiant.
I have looked around but prices range between 2000 - 3500 - just for them to come for an hour on the day so we can sign the paper.
I was wondering if there were any recommendations of a legitimate wedding official who could come on the day (my fiance feels quite strongly about the legal documents being signed on the day we have the ceremony).
The venue is in Pretoria (North/East, very close to the Kolonade).

Thanks in advance for any and all advice.
Rox

Hi Roxanne:

Yes, that 2000 to R3,500 is a reasonable rate these days to get the marriage officer to travel and come out to do the documents.
(It's actually a bit low - the rate is more like R3500 to R5000 these days).
If your fiance would agree to travel the week before and sign the documents ahead of time then I can do it for you for free.
This is perfectly legal and a very common arrangement with marriage officers.
(It is legal because he asks you the two legal questions in his presence and before the two witnesses)

Remember, it is not just about the Marriage Officer's Petrol - it's also his time and effort on a Friday to be there ahead of time and make sure all the arrangements are in place.
He is not allowed to charge you for the legal portion, but he is allowed to recoup his costs in terms of travel and time.

 

[porchrat]

Very generous of you Gary. Good show.

 

[LazyLion]

Let me explain it this way....

I would be more than willing to do it for you at a fraction of the cost... R600 should more than cover my petrol costs from Alberton to Pretoria.
What I am not willing to do though is battle traffic on a Friday afternoon and drunk drivers on a Friday evening to spend several hours with nice people (I'm sure) but people who I hardly know or have any kind of relationship with when I would much rather be home with my family around a braai or out with my friends on a Friday evening.
So it's not really about the cost - it's about what it takes us away from.
Most marriage officers are either busy pastors or like me - people who already have a job and do this as a community service.
(I mean the community service part is where I marry you at my house for free).
So it's not unreasonable to see that they would charge you a reasonable fee for their time in what is actually the busiest part of the year for them (Spring).

 

[Speedster]

You could give Roy Buck a shout - he's a really decent guy. I'm not sure what he'll charge though. You can find his details here: http://www.marriageofficer.za.net/

 

[Roxanne880303]

Thank you all for the feedback!
Thank you LazyLion for the offer and the explanation - it definitely helps clarify things. I'll speak to my fiance and see how he feels on the topic.

Again, thank you everyone.

 

[Kosmik]

I know this was asked before but has anything changed with becoming a marriage officer? MY brother is having his second wedding at the end of next year and it might be cool if I could marry them

 

[LazyLion]

I know this was asked before but has anything changed with becoming a marriage officer? MY brother is having his second wedding at the end of next year and it might be cool if I could marry them

Nope. Procedure is still the same. You need a head of an organisation or church to write in and request for you to take the exam.

 

[Boucher101]

Hi LazyLion,

I'm writing soon to become a marriage officer for the church where I'm currently one of the pastors. I want to know if I would be still be able to solemnize marriages if it happens that I resign form my position and become a normal congregation member, or even move to a new church as a pastor there? Do I need to apply and write the exam again if the answer is no for the precious questions?

Regards

 

[LazyLion]

Hi LazyLion,

I'm writing soon to become a marriage officer for the church where I'm currently one of the pastors. I want to know if I would be still be able to solemnize marriages if it happens that I resign form my position and become a normal congregation member, or even move to a new church as a pastor there? Do I need to apply and write the exam again if the answer is no for the precious questions?

Regards

The answer is not the same for those two scenarios.

You will remain a marriage officer as long as you are a member of that church no matter what your position.

But if you leave the church you could lose your appointment especially if the church asks home affairs to revoke it. But I do know people who have kept it after leaving the church. It is possible.

 

[LazyLion]

Even more possible if you are going to another church.

 

[TammyJ]

@Garyvdh RE: Dion Black of WWW.WEDLOCK.CO.ZA

Hi Gary

This reply comes years after the fact but I hope you can shed some light on what happened next with you and your wife? Was your wedding ever registered? Dion Black appears to be taking my fiancee and me for a ride too. We paid a deposit of R1400 in January and are due to marry in September. Our wedding is 2 months away and we have yet to meet with Dion. He is always conveniently in JHB or freshly back from overseas with a zillion things to do but "he'll be in touch" to arrange a meeting soon - except he never does. He doesn't respond to emails timeously and doesn't return my calls. Despite our wedding being 2 months away, he has no sympathy for the amount of stress he's causing - which I've been very polite in expressing even up until now.

Since (politely) asking for my deposit back last week (we have decided to use someone else) - he is completely ignoring all correspondence from me (email. text and calls). You mentioned that you went to his home and found it vacant? This wouldn't happen to be his home in Bergvliet? Because that's where he claims to live. I feel like we've been scammed into handing over a deposit and all our details for nothing and I don't know whether this is the type of thing that can be reported to the police? Did you manage to successfully sue him for fraud? I don't even know who to complain to because his "poor service delivery" is infact NO "service delivery". He's basically been paid R1400 to do nothing except ignore us and fob us off.... and I want my money back to pay a proper Marriage Officer. This is supposed to be the best time of my life and this man is completely ruining it

Any suggestions you might have would be really appreciated.

Kindest Regards
Tamsyn

@ Garyvdh
We got married in April and got charge almost R3000 by Dion Black from www.wedlock.co.za
Me and my wife both work abroad and planning on relocating. It seems that, since we told Dion Black this, he didn't bother to register our marriage at Dept of Home Affairs as it has been three months and DoHA doesn't have any record or documentation. Dion Black did hand in marriage that he presided over in April and June about a week ago only, but ours wasn't among it....
Dion Black is also not replying to our emails and doesn't take our calls. We went to his residence and found it vacant....
Any advise on how we can proceed to have Dion Black removed as a marriage officer/facilitator and to spare other couples the same trouble would be highly appreciated....
Will a fraud case against him be worthwhile?

 

[LazyLion]

Hi Tamsyn:

You will have to contact the person that posted that to find out what happened next as it wasn't me that it happened to.

I would definitely write a letter to the Director General of Home Affairs and tell him what happened.

Hopefully he can put a stop to this and prevent this guy from scamming other people.

And let me know if you need any more help with the wedding.

Regards
Gary

 

[leighlocksmith]

Hey Gary,

I don't know what kind of dealings you have had with Home Affairs but my sister and I have had a horrible time trying to get hold of them. In January this year my sister applied to become a Marriage Officer, completed the forms and got the letter from a non-denominational organisation at UCT.

Apparently the study materials should have been sent to her from the Head Office in Pretoria, following which she could have done the test at the local office in Cape Town. She has received nothing and would like to marry my fiancee and I in December this year. We have both called a variety of numbers at the Head Office, the last and apparently correct one being 012 810 63 26. Does anyone have any ideas as time is running short and we are not getting much joy from Home Affairs?

Cheers,

Grant

Hey Grant
I am interested to know which non-denominational organisation you got that letter from? Thanks

 

[LazyLion]

Yes, I am a marriage officer. Yes, I can help you get married legally for free. No, I cannot marry you without an ID document, that is a legal requirement. No I cannot marry you tonight quickly, you need to send me all the documents ahead of time so that I can verify if the marriage can legally proceed. No I am not trying to be difficult. Yes, those requirements are all necessary and are required by law. No, I cannot give you an Ante-Nuptial contract tonight before you get married (I am not a lawyer). Yes, you have to actually send the documents to me ahead of time, you can't just "bring them with you tonight". Why not? Because I don't think you are ready and when you show up tonight without the necessary documents then you will have wasted my time and yours. Yes, I do have some opening early next year, but I'm still going to need those documents ahead of time. Sheesh people. The marriage act says that a marriage officer may withdraw himself from any marriage proceeding where he is not convinced that the parties have sufficiently prepared themselves for this wedding. What is it with some people? Getting married is not like going to the movies.