South Africa has become the first country on the continent to authorise marriage for gay and lesbian couples when the controversial civil union bill received the final seal of approval. The legislation, which was overwhelmingly approved by parliament, was signed onto the statute book Thursday by Vice President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka in her capacity as acting head of state while Thabo Mbeki attends a conference in Nigeria.
"The bill has been signed by the acting president," Mukoni Ratshitanga, a spokesman in the president's office, told AFP.
The law, which allows for civil unions to be solemnised by way of either a marriage or a civil partnership, had been widely opposed by religious groups, conservatives and traditionalists.
The government has defended the new legislation for representing a wider commitment to battle discrimination.
"In breaking with our past ... we need to fight and resist all forms of discrimination and prejudice, including homophobia," Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula told MPs earlier this month, when the bill was passed by the National Assembly.
The government was forced to legislate on same sex marriage after the country's highest court ruled in December that existing laws denied gays and lesbians the same constitutional rights as heterosexual couples.
After the end of the apartheid era in 1994, during which black South Africans were denied the vote, a new constitution was drawn up specifically banning discrimination on the grounds of race, gender and sexual orientation.
Last year's court ruling effectively set a December 1 deadline for the government to enact the new legislation.
