The first week of September marks the 5th annual commemoration of SA Marriage Week, that aims to draw awareness to nurturing and the celebration of marriages in Mzansi.
This comes in light of recently published reports by DIY Legal indicating a 20 percent increase in divorce applications since the start of lockdown level 4, with an added increased interest in divorce, but most had to be halted until after lockdown.
The report has since ranked South Africa 83rd place out of 154 countries for divorce.
And while the picture looks gloomy, SA Marriage Week seeks to address such spikes by strengthening unions and transforming the nation through encouraging healthy, happy families with joyful children.
And it all starts with a strong and respectful marriage, according to Valerie Govender, SA Marriage Week’s Marketing Director.
With this year's theme dubbed“Growing Together”, the campaign will further offer a free online marriage assessment tool to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of any marriage, and also assist couples to identify possible trigger areas while offering practical solutions and resources.
“Also, in light of all the news surrounding gender-based violence we have a free video series also on the website titled, ‘From Anger to Affection’ which teaches couples how to navigate away from anger in their relationship and use it to be affectionate. It promotes respect and trust in marriage as opposed to strife and disrespect,” she said.
The local campaign is part of the global Marriage Week International organisation which was founded 24 years ago and is based in the UK.
The core of existence is to promote and celebrate the union of marriage.
“This is a great opportunity to breathe new life into your marriage, wherever you are in your marriage journey. You will learn new ways to cherish your spouse and hear from experts in the field of marriage, on how to do marriage better. We also have volunteers who have committed their time specifically to pray for marriages and families in trouble, so even if it’s just to send an anonymous prayer request I would encourage participation,” adds Govender.
Although the statistics continue to paint a gloomy picture of the marriage institution in South Africa, Govender refutes those numbers, claiming that the campaign has exposed an even wider pool of couples who actually see the value of marriage and it’s benefits.
“There’s also been a more intentional approach to nurturing the relationship in the past few years. It takes time together to keep a relationship strong and vibrant.
"Marriage doesn’t have cruise control or an autopilot setting. The problem with most marriages is that life becomes too busy. As an organisation we’ve had a steady increase in marriage counselling which illustrates that spouses are willing to invest in making their union work.
“Marriage is God’s design for families and we need to protect and support it. Research proves that where families are healthy and happy the immediate community benefits. It all starts with the union of marriage and through SA Marriage Week we want to draw awareness to nurturing and celebrating marriage.”
To participate in the free online Marriage Assessment tool visit www.samarriageweek.co.za.