Phumzile Van Damme on polyandry: ‘I’m a monogamist but I can’t wait to see you polyandering’

DA MP Phumzile Van Damme has weighed in on the heated debate about polyandry. Her stance? She is monogamous but is happy for women who are keen to take on multiple husbands.

Politicians and civil society have been at loggerheads since the introduction of a new green paper on marriages which proposes, among other things, the recognition of polyandry. 

This would allow women to be married to more than one man at the same time. The public has until the end of June to comment. 

On Tuesday, Van Damme joked that she is ready to have multiple husbands, but quickly clarified that she is a one-man woman.  

Al Jama-ah party leader Ganief Hendricks opposed the marriage arrangement during a heated discussion in a recent plenary hybrid sitting of parliament.

He said the arrangement would be disastrous, particularly in instances where a woman falls pregnant as this would require DNA tests to establish paternity.

DA chief whip Natasha Mazzone accused him of insulting women and called on the parliamentary ethics committee to investigate his comments.

African Transformation Movement (ATM) leader Mzwanele Manyi lashed out at the government, saying it should focus on important issues like the ailing economy and state-owned enterprises. He said polyandry is un-African and would never work.