South Africa's latest statistics show that marriages are up, divorces are down and the seven-year itch actually happens about nine years into the partnership.
They also reveal that there were almost 17% more divorces among African couples last year than a decade ago.
The number of marriages concluded in South Africa have increased by about 3% every year for the past decade and divorces have dropped by almost a quarter over the same period, according to figures released by Statistics South Africa.
The statistics were for 2008, and data for registered customary marriages (16003) and civil unions (732) were included for the first time. Information on divorces among these partnerships is not yet available.
Of the nearly 29000 divorces recorded last year, more than a third - 10 110 - involved African couples. The number of divorces involving white couples last year is nearly on par with Africans at 9481, but this is 7% lower than divorces recorded among whites 10 years ago.
Professor Kammila Naidoo of the University of Pretoria' s Department of Sociology said the spike in divorces among African couples could be because this group had faced the most change in recent years, adding stress to relationships.
"This sector has faced enormous change and that really impacts on marital unions," she said. A rise in the status of African women may have also increased competition between married couples, often leading to more tension on the home front, she said.
Last year there were 3057 divorces among coloured couples, 1802 among Asian/Indian couples and nearly 1000 among interracial couples. The races of more than 3000 divorcing couples were unspecified.
Family law expert Nthabiseng Monareng said counselling was considered taboo by many Africans, and this could contribute to the number of divorces.
Another notable difference in the African population was that men opted out and filed for divorce, whereas in other race groups it was usually women who sought to end a marriage.
As for how long marriages last, the figures show that 159 couples threw in the towel after 40 years of marriage, while 55 South Africans were over the age of 80 when they divorced their spouses.
Divorce attorney Billy Gundelfinger said divorce among older couples could be due to the men in the partnership getting a "second wind" when they had been married for more than 30 years, had made a lot of money and sought younger women - who were, in turn, attracted to their bank balances.
"Sometimes it's a case of the purse and the nurse," Gundelfinger said.
The average divorce comes about nine years into the marriage, the statistics show.
Cape Town lawyer Peter Baker said some countries had a mandatory waiting period before filing for divorce; South Africa does not - and it "may be the easiest country to get divorced in. It can take 10 days."
Naidoo said the reason for shorter marriages could also be that the social pressures to sustain marriages were simply not there.
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