The Minister of Justice and Labour Relations, Wise Immanuel, has pointed out that the limited availability for wedding bookings at magistrates' courts is primarily due to the significant workload faced by magistrates.

He was responding to IPC MP Elvis Lizazi, who raised concerns regarding the backlog of wedding bookings, particularly at the Gobabis and Ondangwa Magistrates' Courts.

“Ondangwa, there are three permanent magistrates, and are seized on a daily basis. We have a heavy caseload of criminal cases, and it's therefore impossible and impractical to schedule or to book weddings on an unlimited account.”

He also clarified that solemnising marriages is primarily the responsibility of the Ministry of Home Affairs under the Marriage Act, which allows the Minister to designate public servants and religious leaders as marriage officers.