Staff Reporter.
Following the recent announcement by the Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, on the temporary suspension of applications for IDs, passports and marriage services due to the increasing numbers of Department of Home Affairs (DHA) staff testing positive for COVID-19, the annual historic Robben Island Valentine’s Day weddings are unfortunately cancelled for 2021.
This year would have marked 21 years of celebrating love on the Island. Last year, 19 couples tied the knot with a historic milestone of Mr Frankford Williams and Cindi Mullins, who are visually impaired, officially being the first couple in South Africa to receive their marriage certificate in braille.
To date, 327 couples have tied the knot on Robben Island as a partnership between Robben Island Museum (RIM) and DHA.
The weddings were first initiated by the late Ms Martha Mgxashe, former Regional Director at the DHA, with the first marriage ceremony held on 31 December 2000 as part of the Millennium Celebrations. In 2001, the ceremony was moved to Valentine’s Day to promote the significance of Robben Island with the establishment of our democracy.
Both RIM and DHA will continue to engage on the possibility of hosting the weddings at a later stage, should conditions allow with the easing of COVID-19 regulations, the organisation revealed in a statement.