Pretoria - An alleged love affair with another man, expensive cars and the spending of more than R2 million in two years (over and above his monthly income), all formed part of the scandalous accusations against a top government official, which emerged during his divorce proceedings in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria.
It also emerged that the wife was a big spender, as she squandered more than R1.2m which she received in a pension payout when she had quit her job.
Acting Judge Avrille Maier-Frawley kicked off her judgment by saying: “ Because of the interests of the minor child involved and because allegations of a salacious nature were made by the parties, I deem it prudent not to refer to the parties by name.” She referred to the applicant as Mrs F and the defendant as Mr F.
The parties were involved in a messy divorce, resulting in various court applications, including in the Children’s Court.
Mrs F is demanding substantial maintenance from her now former husband, to whom she was married for 20 years. The maintenance is in respect of herself and their teenage son.
She also demanded that her ex-husband contribute R200 000 towards her legal costs in the various courts. She said she was jobless and was forced to incur legal costs due to her husband’s stance. He wanted to remove their son from his school and refused to pay towards her maintenance pending their divorce.
Mrs F said her husband, a top official at the Department of Trade and Industry, was unfaithful to her and she, among others, caught him “caressing” another woman’s breasts during a party, which he blamed on having consumed too much alcohol.
His 51-year-old wife said she also found hotel receipts and cellphone money transfers from him to “a certain gentleman”, to whom the court referred only as RH. After perusing her husband’s bank statements, Mrs F discovered he had bought expensive clothes for RH. Between February 2015 and June 2015 Mr F also made airtime and cash transfers to RH exceeding R9 000.
According to her, he refused to talk about “his affair” and she subsequently had a meltdown.
Her husband moved out of their luxury Pretoria home in October last year and moved into an upmarket estate in Midrand, with RH.
Mr F, however, told the court that he only “mentored” RH and vehemently denied that they had an affair.
He in turn accused her of infidelity and said she had a long-standing affair with her former boyfriend (before they got married).
Mrs F said that when she met her husband at a Valentine’s party 20 years ago, she though she had met her prince on a white horse. She thought he was “going to provide everything she ever dreamt of”. The court heard that when the marriage fell apart, so did she.
Mr F, 51, meanwhile told the court the marriage was doomed from day one, as he could never have “ a decent conversation” with his wife. He accused her of “violently attacking” him on various occasions.
It emerged that their finances during their marriage fell apart, and by the time the court granted a divorce, they were both under debt review with debt running into more than R1.3m.
Mrs F accused her husband of buying sleek cars while they could not even afford to pay their electricity bill. She also accused him of forging her signature on a bank document to obtain a bond over their house, which he allegedly squandered.
The judge expressed her dismay at how the two had mismanaged their finances.
She said both were equally to blame for the divorce. The judge put her foot down when Mrs F wanted her ex to pay maintenance for the rest of her life. She said the order the ex-wife wanted would effectively see her husband working for the rest of his life to support her.
The judge ordered that Mr F will pay maintenance to his wife of R4 403 a month, but only for the next three years. Thereafter she must start looking after herself.
“For as long as she does not work, she will remain beholden to a man who has demonstrated that he will not be held,” the judge said.
Mr F must, meanwhile, also contribute R200 000 towards her legal costs.