Cape Town - A Cape Flats couple finally got their happy ending as they tied the knot months after being conned by a bogus builder.
Raymond and Jenny Jacobs said their “I do’s” at Home Affairs in Wynberg on Tuesday and moved into their new Manenberg home, albeit with just a mattress and their love to keep them warm.
Raymond, 52, appeared in the Daily Voice earlier this year after his plans to marry Jenny on 6 June flopped as their house was not ready.
The meter taxi driver had saved R5 000 which he paid to alleged conman, Michael Miles, in April to build a house in Jenny’s brother’s yard for them to occupy when they got married.
But their plans were delayed after Miles was arrested and charged for fraud.
Raymond got his money back, but the couple says it has been a struggle to build a new home.
“We had to buy the slabs and roof and get someone to do it for us. We had to cancel the wedding the last time because we had no place to live afterwards,” says Raymond.
“I was sleeping on a couch at someone’s house and Jenny lived with her mother. But after sukkeling (struggling) for months, we finally got it finished.”
The couple met a year ago at Nyanga Junction where Raymond admits he had been eyeing the mom of three for a long time.
Jenny was a widow and rarely took off work at the South African Astronomical Observatory where she is a general worker.
Picture: Noor Slamdien/African News Agency (ANA)
In September last year, Raymond spotted her in line at a Capitec ATM where he says he seized the chance to chat to the shy woman.
“I even waited for her at Shoprite, but then we met at the tote where I asked her for her number, but she said she did not have a phone.”
Jenny admitted on Tuesday: “I lied to him, but I phoned him later that day.”
Raymond says the first thing she asked was if he had a wife, but he assured her he was single.
The couple started texting each other and went on dates and have been inseparable since.
Raymond’s son, Raymond Lee, 24, was their best man and took an hour off work to watch the couple tie the knot.
“I am very happy for my daddy and to welcome my new mommy,” he said.
The couple says while they could not afford a reception or honeymoon, they were determined to have a happy ending.
“We only have a mattress and the cement floor is still drying, but we have a place we can call our own. We are doing it like the old people did way back then and we will have our happy ending,” says Raymond.