A man appeared to have married four brides during one ceremony in Limpopo this past weekend. In a video circulating on social media, the groom and his four brides can be seen enjoying their recent nuptials.

The wedding is believed to have taken place in a village in Limpopo called Ga-Makgeru on November 8, 2020. In the video, the four brides and the groom are captured happily dancing into the tent packed with amused guests where the ceremony was going to be.

Three of the brides were wearing similar dresses and one of the four stood out in a long sleeve dress.

Polygamy is no foreign concept in most South African cultures, but it is unusual for mutiple marriages to occur on the same day. Typically, couples host seperate ceremonies over time.

While bigamy is a punishable offence in South Africa, customary marriages operate differently. According to Home Affairs, if a male person is already in a customary marriage and wishes to enter into another customary marriage he has to, at his own cost, get a court order from a competent court which will regulate his future matrimonial property system.

It is also possible for a male person who is already in a customary marriage to enter into a civil marriage. They should follow the normal procedure for civil marriages.

Polygamy is legal under certain circumstances in South Africa. The circumstances include practices of various cultures and religions in South Africa. There are no religions or cultures that recognise a woman having multiple husbands, so polygamy is typically understood as one man having mutiple wives.

Also read: What you need to know about polygamy in South Africa

Picture: Unsplash