Jilted lover Desiree Joseph’s story sounds like a whirlwind romance – except she’s a simple girl from Wellington, he’s the son of a former president and in the middle of it all is a four-month-old baby girl.
Joseph, 27, claims she is the mother of Willem de Klerk’s alleged lovechild. De Klerk, 44, is the son of former president and Nobel Peace Prize winner FW de Klerk.
On Sunday, the first-time mother was thrust into the spotlight when by chance, President Jacob Zuma, attending a rally in Paarl, posed with little Anahita – a blue-eyed, dark-blonde baby.
De Klerk is disputing Anahita is his child and has requested paternity tests. But he declined to tell his side of the story, saying he was awaiting the test results.
Joseph now fears her baby will grow up without a father.
She has been to court in a bid to get maintenance payments for Anahita after her break-up with De Klerk.
Speaking to Weekend Argus this week, Joseph said she and businessman De Klerk met in mid-2008 through her sister.
“I didn’t know who he was at first, but we liked each other’s company and it picked up from there.”
Joseph said the two dated for two-and-a-half years. Although De Klerk was often away for work, when he was home in Wellington, they ate out at restaurants. He occasionally bought her gifts and introduced her to his friends.
“He portrayed himself as an honest, decent person,” she said. “He opened the car door for me and sometimes he slept over at my dad’s place. I always believed everything he said.”
Joseph said that when she discovered she was pregnant, it was “a shock” to them both, but he initially supported her. They had even planned how to care for the baby, she said.
When she was seven months pregnant, she caught De Klerk with another woman and immediately broke off the reltionship, she said.
“She was white and older than him. I was surprised.”
The next few months – particularly the first month after her daughter was born – were tough. She waited, hoping De Klerk would come to see the baby.
“When I looked at her, I started crying because she looks just like him. I started begging him to come and see her. I sent SMSes and I called, but got no response.”
Joseph, who works as a midwife in Cape Town, said she had had some contact with FW de Klerk, who had wished her well after Anahita’s birth. But he had not yet seen the baby either. His son had only seen her once – when the blood tests were conducted.
FW de Klerk’s spokesman Dave Steward said the former president was not prepared to comment on the matter.
Joseph said that while her family and friends were supportive, she wanted De Klerk to be a father to Anahita.
“I want him to be a daddy to her. I grew up in a close-knit family and I want the same for my daughter.”
She regretted the way things had turned out, and the fact that she and De Klerk no longer spoke. “I’m a simple person – I didn’t want this. I just wanted a family.”
De Klerk caused controversy in the early 1990s by dating a mixed-race woman, Erica Adams – a relationship he apparently ended after pressure from his mother, the late Marike de Klerk.
He later went on to marry Nicole Noordien, from whom he had a messy divorce.
He and Noordien have two daughters.