{"id":29318,"date":"2026-03-20T09:11:36","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T07:11:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=29318"},"modified":"2026-03-20T12:11:56","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T10:11:56","slug":"sa-grants-permanent-status-to-muslim-marriage-officers","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/sa-grants-permanent-status-to-muslim-marriage-officers\/","title":{"rendered":"SA grants permanent status to Muslim Marriage Officers"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>The South African (SA) government has granted Muslim Marriage Officers the same permanent status as other religious leaders, ending a long-standing disparity in the certification process.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Under a new directive by the Department of Home Affairs, certified officers will no longer be required to reapply for their credentials every five years.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Meanwhile, the South African Muslim Network (SAMNET) has welcomed the move, describing it as a significant step towards multiculturalism and the elimination of historical prejudice.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>SAMNET Chairperson Faisal Suliman says the change will simplify processes for the Muslim community.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Suliman says, \u201cSince 1992, the process for Muslims has been painful and has led to unnecessary complications and administrative difficulties in the marriage process.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>It is fantastic that our theological bodies have worked hard on the training of marriage officers, and the fact that now everyone is on an equal footing.\u201d<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8211;SABC\/ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":29320,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[78,26],"class_list":["post-29318","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-featured","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"The South African Muslim Network has welcomed the move.","published_date":"","news_description":"The South African Muslim Network has welcomed the move.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/29318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/29318\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29321,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/29318\/revisions\/29321"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=29318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}