South Africa Can Require ‘Get’ Before Approving Civil Divorce
South Africa can require `get’ before approving civil divorce.
Jewish leaders here have hailed an amendment to South Africa’s
divorce law that links civil and religious divorces.  As a
result of the amendment enacted late last year, the country’s
courts may now refuse to grant a civil divorce until the
necessary steps have been taken to obtain a religious divorce.
In the past, when the two divorces were not linked, there were
often abuses within the Jewish community, such as when a husband
would refuse to grant his wife a religious divorce, or "get,"
but would be able to obtain a civil divorce.  Under these
circumstances, wives remain "agunot," Hebrew for "chained,"
unable to remarry under Jewish law.  Now the parties to a
divorce, particularly women, will be free to rebuild their
lives.  But because the amendment is not retroactive and will
only apply to future divorces, the plight of existing "agunot"
is not affected by the new legislation.  So