The legal fraternity has welcomed the recent Free State High Court judgment affording a husband the right to take on his wifes surname.
This after two different couples approached the court when the Department of Home Affairs denied the husbands the right to assume the surnames of their wives.
They argued that the act and regulations perpetuate gender norms set by patriarchal society that entrench gender inequality.
Legal expert Ayanda Moremoholo says the judgment means a section of the Birth and Death Registration Act should now be amended as prescribed by the court.
"This is a groundbreaking judgment because whatever the Constitutional Court is going to say will bring a lot of different issues that are going to be automatically corrected within our community and this is definitely a step in the right direction."
