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Only a marriage officer may conduct a marriage. Every magistrate, special justice of the peace, and commissioner is a Marriage Officer, as are those ministers of religion so designated by the Minister of Home Affairs

There are three types of marital regimes each regulating the matrimonial property in a different manner:

Marriage in Community of Property;

Marriage out of Community of Property;  (antenuptial contract)

Marriage out of Community of Property with the inclusion of the Accrual System.

Marriage in Community of Property

Marriage in Community of Property is where all the assets and debts of each spouse, including assets held before the marriage ceremony and those acquired during the marriage, become part of a joint estate of which each spouse owns an undivided half share. Practically this means that whatever assets a person had before marriage and assets that person acquires during marriage, become part of a joint estate. Thus, the spouses are co-owners of the joint estate, each owning a 50% share thereof.

Marriage out of Community of Property

A Marriage out of Community of Property is normally associated with an agreement called an “Ante Nuptial Contract” (ANC). This type of contract must be entered into between two people before they get married. The contract governs how the property of each person entering into the marriage will be dealt with upon dissolution of the marriage.

The purpose of an ANC is to change some or all of the automatic financial consequences of marriage. An ANC allows the husband and wife to decide on the financial consequences of their marriage, thus on dissolution of the marriage, the property and assets are divided according to the conditions set out in the contract.
Marriage out of Community of Property With the Accrual System

With this form of Matrimonial regime the persons wanting to enter into marriage conclude a written agreement before marriage in which all property of each spouse acquired before the marriage shall not form part of the other spouse’s estate and shall always be the sole property of that spouse. The accrual system can be viewed as a form of deferred community of property, although the parties still remain independent of each other and are not liable for each other's debts.