Your question
I got married in 1984. Very young. Divorced soon after. Remarried in 1987. I can't find the divorce papers of my first marriage and thus can not receive my pension money as the government needs to see the divorce papers Magistrate court can't help Please assist
The supplied sources do not provide a procedure for obtaining a lost divorce order or decree. They only address marriage records and certificates. 13
You may apply in writing to the relevant registrar, marriage officer or magistrate for a search of the marriage register in that officer’s custody and, subject to the regulations and any prescribed fee, a certified copy of an entry may be issued. Such a certificate is prima facie evidence of its recorded particulars in public offices. 3
If the record of your 1984 marriage is located, a duplicate marriage certificate may be issued where the original was lost, stolen or destroyed, on payment of the prescribed fee. If the original marriage record cannot be located, the Registrar-General may use supporting material, publish a public notice, investigate the matter, and register the marriage late if satisfied that a valid marriage took place. 24
A duplicate marriage certificate is not stated in these sources to replace divorce papers for pension purposes. The supplied legislation does not establish that the pension authority must accept it instead of a divorce document. 134
Verified sources
Where this answer comes from
Births, Marriages and Deaths Registration Act 81 of 1963-Regulations 1987-0214
Marriage Certificate (first issuance) Free Duplicate Marriage Certificate
Civil Registration and Identification Act 13 of 2024
(h) any supporting documentation, including - (i) an original or a copy of the relevant marriage certificate; (ii) a copy of the marriage register maintained by the marriage officer confirming that the marriage took place; (iii) relevant documentation from the religious denomination or organisation, if any; (iv) a certified copy of an antenuptial contract, if applicable; and (v) wedding photographs or other evidence; (i) evidence of the matrimonial property regime which applied to the marriage; and (j) any other information that the Minister may prescribe. (3) The registrar must, within ten days after receipt of the application in terms of subsection (1), forward the application to the Regis...
Births, Marriages and Deaths Registration Act 81 of 1963
magistrate upon receipt by him of a written application from any person and upon payment of the prescribed fee, (if any) to cause search to be made in any births, deaths or marriage register which is in terms of this Act or a law relating to the registration of births, marriages or deaths which was in force in the Republic in the custody of such officer, and, subject to the provisions of subsection (4), and of any regulation, to issue a certified copy in the prescribed form of any entry contained in such register or in any document attached to such register. [subsection (1) substituted by Act 18 of 1968 and by Act 58 of 1970, and amended by AG 3 of 1979 and by Act 5 of 1987] (2) [subsection...
Civil Registration and Identification Act 13 of 2024
(b) consider any information or objections received in response to the public notice; and (c) conduct any investigation which the Registrar-General may consider necessary to determine whether the marriage should be registered, including questioning the spouses, the witnesses to the marriage and the marriage officer. (7) If the Registrar-General, after locating the original marriage record or after complying with subsection (6) where the original marriage record cannot be located, is satisfied that a valid marriage took place within Namibia and that it has not been registered in terms of this section, the Registrar-General must register the marriage under this Act, with a notation indicating...
Civil Registration and Identification Act 13 of 2024
(b) consider any information or objections received in response to the public notice; and (c) conduct any investigation which the Registrar-General may consider necessary to determine whether the marriage should be registered, including questioning the spouses, the witnesses to the marriage and the marriage officer. (7) If the Registrar-General, after locating the original marriage record or after complying with subsection (6) where the original marriage record cannot be located, is satisfied that a valid marriage took place within Namibia and that it has not been registered in terms of this section, the Registrar-General must register the marriage under this Act, with a notation indicating...
Divorce Laws Amendment Ordinance 18 of 1935
paragraph (a) of sub-section (1) of section one intends to marry again, he shall (whether the marriage be by special licence or after publication of banns) obtain a certificate under the hand of the Master to the following effect, namely - (a) a certificate that the provisions of paragraph (a) of section two have been complied with; or (b) if no order has been made under that paragraph a certificate stating that fact. (2) Every such certificate shall be delivered to the marriage officer before whom the marriage is intended to be solemnized. (3) Any such person who marries again without obtaining such certificate as is required under sub-section (1) shall be liable to a fine of not exceeding...