Pumza Fihlani
BBC News, Johannesburg
A commission in South Africa has ruled that a university bursary offered to virgins is “unlawful, unfair, unreasonable and unconstitutional”.
The Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) ruled that the maidens' bursary fund offered by the uThukela District Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal should be discontinued.
News of the bursary caused an outcry earlier this year, with some saying it was discriminatory.
The scheme was meant to encourage girls to remain “pure”, it was reported.
Virginity testing is practiced in some South African cultures and is consitutionally protected provided it is done with the girl’s consent.
But the commission was worried that how the municipality was using the practice was unfair to the girls concerned.
"Culture and cultural practice should not be used as a factor to exclude those who do not subscribe... from benefiting or receiving from services provided by government," CGE head Keketso Maema told media.
The recipients had to undergo virginity testing every holiday to show that were not sexually active.
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