South Africa’s top court ruled Thursday that men should be able to take their wives’ surnames and a law that prevented this amounted to unfair gender discrimination.

The Constitutional Court said the legal ban served no legitimate government purpose and was suspended, paving the way for parliament to enact amendments to the legislation.

While men were deprived of the ability to take their wives’ surnames, the discrimination was “far more insidious” for women, the ruling said.

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It “reinforces patriarchal gender norms, which prescribe how women may express their identity, and it makes this expression relational to their husband, as a governmental and cultural default,” it said.

The case was brought to court by two couples, one of which wanted to honour the woman’s parents who died when she was young. In the other case, the woman wanted to keep her ties to her family surname as she was an only child.

Previously, men would have to apply to the home affairs department to change their surname, a request that was not automatically granted.

Provisions allowing men to assume their wives’ surname on marriage are already in place in other countries, mainly in Europe and in certain US states.

AFP

Jihadists have set up roadblocks in the south and west of landlocked Mali near the borders with Senegal and Mauritania, where vital goods are imported daily.

Mali has battled a security crisis for over a decade, fuelled by violence by groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS) as well as local criminal gangs, which is compounded by a severe economic downturn.

Since early September, jihadists have imposed intermittent roadblocks on major routes leading to the capital, disrupting the movement of goods and people near Bamako and in the west.

Several witnesses told AFP that traffic had been brought to a standstill and was stretching back more than 10 kilometres (six miles) on a main highway near Bamako because of a blockade.

Mali’s junta has sought to play down the impact.

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“If enemy movements are sometimes observed, they do not last more than 20 to 30 minutes. Therefore, we cannot talk about a blockade,” said Colonel-Major Souleymane Dembele, head of the army’s Directorate of Information and Public Relations (DIRPA), at a press conference on Monday.

Observers say the jihadists’ aim is to paralyse the economy, rather than to control territory.

They also want to show that the Malian army does not have the security situation under control, they say.

A private transport company, which has been targeted in attacks by the jihadists, has announced it is suspending its services “until further notice for security reasons”.

Several vehicles transporting fuel or consumer products coming from Senegal have also been targeted by the violence.

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At least 10 buses have also been set on fire across the country by the jihadists, who first forced the passengers off the vehicles, according to an AFP count.

– ‘Restore order’ –

With no direct access to the sea, Mali imports most of the products it needs by road, such as hydrocarbons, fish, fruits and vegetables, from the port of Dakar, Mauritania or Ivory Coast.

Last weekend no tanker truck carrying fuel made the Dakar-to-Bamako trip for fear of reprisals from jihadists.

“We have decided to stop all our trucks for the time being. We are considering sending emissaries to the jihadists to discuss securing our activities,” an official from a Malian fuel company told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Jihadists also abducted six Senegalese drivers last weekend before later releasing them.

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The Malian army, which initially played down the blockades, has announced it is deploying troops to “restore order” on highways in the west and south of the country.

“The situation is difficult. The army has sent reinforcements into the field, it’s true. But these reinforcements don’t stay long, while the jihadists remain on the ground,” an elected official in the western Kayes region told AFP.

“The army must change its mode of intervention,” the deputy added.

Junta chief General Assimi Goita on Tuesday chaired an extraordinary defence council meeting in Bamako.

No official statement was released afterwards, but a source close to the talks said the security situation had been discussed.

“Significant measures have been taken to ensure the safety of property and people,” the source said.

Mali has been ruled by a junta since back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021.

Since then, the military rulers of the West African nation have turned away from traditional Western partners, especially former colonial power France, and strengthened ties with Russia and China.

AFP

Ghana has begun accepting West African nationals deported from the United States, including Nigerians, President John Dramani Mahama said on Wednesday.

According to Reuters, Mahama disclosed that a first batch of 14 deportees, made up of Nigerians, a Gambian and others, had already arrived in Accra, with the Ghanaian authorities facilitating their return to their respective countries.

“We were approached by the US to accept third-party nationals who were being removed from the US, and we agreed with them that West African nationals were acceptable because all our fellow West Africans don’t need a visa to come to our country,” he said.

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He justified the decision by saying West Africans “don’t need a visa anyway” to come to Ghana.

The arrangement comes amid Washington’s intensified deportation drive under President Donald Trump, who has pushed for removals to “third countries” as part of his hardline immigration policy.

Trump has previously overseen deportations of migrants to Eswatini, South Sudan and Rwanda despite safety concerns raised by rights groups.

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Nigeria, however, has rejected similar overtures from Washington.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, said in July that the Federal Government would not accept deportees from outside Nigeria, citing national security and economic concerns.

Trump hosted five West African leaders at the White House on July 9, where, according to Reuters, one of the key objectives was to persuade them to receive deportees from other countries.

They include the leaders of Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania and Senegal.