A KwaZulu-Natal woman who brought scandalous evidence against her husband in an effort to score spousal maintenance had her application struck off the roll.
The woman, who is the middle of a divorce from her husband, approached the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Durban and brought a Rule 43 application seeking interim maintenance until the divorce is finalised.
The husband didn’t file an opposing affidavit.
Judge Rob Mossop, who presided over the matter, noted that the woman’s application was extreme and contained lengthy affidavits with irrelevant allegations against the husband
Judge Massop said the woman attached dozens of photographs including a picture of a Michael Kors handbag allegedly purchased by the husband, pictures of lipstick and a semen stained t-shirt as well as messages recorded on a cellphone relating to an incident involving viagra pills.
The judge said it was shocking that the wife’s legal representative allowed such irrelevant information to find a place in the application.
“Those who compiled this application obviously have paid no heed whatsoever to the contents of Uniform Rule 43 and its specific purpose,” said the judge.
The judge added that the application was an abuse and if the wife wants her application to be considered, she must comply with the prescripts of Rule 43.
“Judges simply do not have the time to peruse lengthy affidavits that narrate every misstep and alleged wrongdoing of a spouse.
“Often these allegations are included simply to colour the court’s mind against a particular party. One way of potentially halting these abuses is to order costs against a party that is guilty of prolixity,” said judge Massop.
In this case, Judge Massop said he would assume that the woman had no knowledge of what her application should contain.
“Those that had such knowledge, and who must have known that the application that was prepared for the applicant offended the provisions of Rule 43, were her legal advisers,” he said.
The judge ordered no costs to the application and further ordered the attorney who was representing the woman not to charge her for legal fees.
sinenhlanhla.masilela@iol.co.za
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