A Thembisa woman who admitted to burning all of her husband’s clothes and partly torching his car will receive half of his government pension fund and a share of their house in the divorce settlement.
The ruling was recently made by the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg after the husband filed for divorce and sought forfeiture of patrimonial benefits against the wife. He requested that she forfeit the house, his two cars, and half of his pension fund.
The pair got married in community of property in 2007 and had one child in their marriage.
In his evidence, the husband stated that he bought the house in 2011 and claimed the wife refused to contribute towards the household expenses. He mentioned that he financed her education, but once she got a job, she did not contribute to the joint estate.
To further support his claim, he said she received a lump sum payment of over R17,600 from an arbitration award and used the money to renovate her parental home.
He claimed that in 2011, they had a disagreement and she tried to burn the house and his car.
He testified that in 2013, his wife began staying out overnight due to extra marital affairs and would sometimes return home drunk late at night.
He said that when he informed her of his intention to divorce, she retaliated by burning all his clothes and damaging the engine of his car.
Due to the tumultuous nature of their relationship, he moved out of their home in 2014 and began living with his brother.
In her evidence, she explained that she partially burned the car and all his clothes because the husband was harassing her and had also threatened her with a gun.
She denied having any extramarital affairs and accused the husband of infidelity. She claimed he infected her with a chronic disease, which now requires her to be on medication.
Regarding her contribution towards the household expenses, she stated that it was agreed upon that the husband would cover the bond, while she would handle groceries, municipal rates and taxes, electricity, and clothing for their child.
She further testified that she was solely responsible for the cooking, cleaning of the house and caring of child.
She denied using her arbitration award proceeds towards renovating her parental home and asserted that the proceeds were used for the benefit of the family.
Judge Nomonde Mngqibisa-Thusi said from the evidence, the marriage between the parties appears to have been rocky from the start, with violence perpetrated from both sides.
The judge said the husband failed to provide sufficient proof that the wife was cheating and did not contribute to the growth of the joint estate.
“I am convinced that both parties have contributed, in one way or the other, to the upkeep and growth of the joint estate even though not at the same level,” she said.
In addition, she said there was no evidence provided that the wife used arbitration proceeds to renovate her parental home.
As a result, the judge said the joint estate will be divided equally including the husband’s pension fund.
However, the wife’s claim to be retained in the husband’s medical aid after divorce was dismissed.
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