Pretoria - Almost half of marriages annulled in the country during 2014 had not reached their 10-year anniversary mark.
The divorces were between couples in their early- to mid-40s and 55 percent of them affected children younger than 18 years of age.
Statistics SA said recently that the 25 000 divorces that year were an increase of 3.4 percent from the 2013 figure of 23 885, and most of the divorce applicants were women.
During the same year, 155 058 marriages were registered, of which 150 852 were civil marriages, 3 062 customary and 1 144 civil unions.
The laws of the country recognise the three types of marriages.
The civil marriage is between a man and a woman. Customary marriages are allowed under African customary law, which allows polygynous marriages. Civil unions recognise couples married across the gender spectrum.
In its analysis of 2014 marriages, Stats SA noted trends. “Generally, the warmer months, from September and peaking in December were the most popular for civil marriages.”
The Easter holidays also proved a popular choice for civil marriages. The highest number of weddings in 2014 took place in December, while with six percent June recorded the lowest.
With most marriages, both bride and groom were getting married for the first time, but there were more men (three percent) getting married for the second time, and 1.1 percent were widowers.
At least 87 percent of women had never been married before and two percent were divorcees, the statistics showed.
The 3 000 customary marriages registered indicated a decrease of 12 percent from 2013 and the age trend showed that more women were married under customary law before they turned 18. Men were generally older than their brides with an age difference of between five and six years.
The 24 689 divorces processed in 2014 were dominated by black couples.
Stats SA reported that 37 percent of divorced couples were black and 28 percent came from the white population.
“There was a notable increase in the coloured population group - from 16 percent in 2013 to 20 percent in 2014.”
In 2013, male divorcees were generally aged 43 years. This changed to 40 in 2014. Women were on average aged 39 years in 2013 and 40 when they divorced in 2014. About 46 percent of these couples did not spend their 10th wedding anniversary together.
In 34 percent of the divorce cases, the men were the initiators with the exception of the black population, who had fewer women filing for divorce. Women in the other population groups constituted above 50 percent of women filing for divorce.
About 58 percent of white women, 57 percent of coloured and 55 percent from the Indian/Asian population group filed for divorce from their spouses.
The report said 55 percent of the couples had children younger than 18 with 39 percent coming from black African families; 25 percent from the coloured population; 23 percent from the white population group and 6% from the Indian/Asian population groups.
Pretoria News