By Lebogang Seale
Family members of star footballer Gift Leremi are at each other's throats over the contents of his will.
At the centre of the feud is a townhouse the gifted footballer, who died in a car accident three years ago, owned in Winchester Hills.
Leremi's father Robbie and his half-brother, Jeffrey Karabo Leremi, have gone to court to contest his widow Mamello Ralematha's ownership of the Joburg property.
In papers filed with the court, Robbie claims Ralematha never stayed in the townhouse while Gift was alive. She "invaded the townhouse with her relatives and literally took occupation" of it after his death, he says.
Leremi, who played for Sundowns, Orlando Pirates and Bafana Bafana, died in a car crash on September 3, 2007. A squabble broke out almost immediately between his father and mother's families over who would bury him.
Ralematha was in the Johannesburg High Court on Tuesday, while Leremi's father and uncle did not attend.
In court documents, Robbie also denies that Ralematha was ever married to Leremi, saying she had merely been his girlfriend.
"I know the deceased had an affair with the second respondent (Ralematha), and I only found out after (their) two children were born. I learnt from media reports that (she) is the wife," Robbie states in the court documents.
"And to my astonishment, I also learnt that Leremi was customarily married. I was not aware of any intentions by him to be married despite the fact that I was the person who assisted him with all contracts concluded between him and the professional soccer clubs he played for," he says.
Robbie also alleges that his own parents had shown him a copy of the will after Leremi's funeral, making him the sole heir to the estate.
He says his lawyer had advised him to search for the original copy of the will, but he could not find it.
Robbie alleges that it was after she became aware of this that Ralematha made an application to the Master of the Court, who is the first respondent in the matter, to be appointed "the sole executor of the will by virtue of the fact that (Ralematha) is the surviving spouse".
Robbie also questions the authenticity of Leremi's signature on the will.
"Despite the fact that I personally know the signature of the deceased, I have caused that such signature be verified by a handwriting expert," he says.
High Court Judge Moroa Tsoka scrapped the matter from the roll because Robbie and Jeffrey did not arrive in court, but sources close to the pair have told The Star that the pair were seeking to take further legal action.