Cape Town - “I used to be gay, but I’m not anymore.”
So says 28-year-old Zainoedeen Louw, whose former 51-year-old wife Shameema Rafferty Louw made headlines recently when she made a public appeal for him to return.
Now the desperate Delft woman has threatened her ex, sending him a voice note in which she says she would accuse him of molesting her 13-year-old son and have him arrested.
“Jy wil mos nou vuil speel met my, so I’m going to show you what I can do. Ek sal jou binne in die tronk sit. Sien dat jy dit nie gedoen het nie, ek gaan ’* saak maak dat jy het vir [haar kind] ge-abuse, dan kyk ons wie lag die laaste,” she says in the voice note to Zainoedeen. (You wanted to play dirty, so I am going to show you what I can do. I will put you in prison. Since you did not do it, I will lay charge that you abused (her child), then we will see who laughs last.)
The mother of three approached the Daily Voice two weeks ago, saying her husband of six months had divorced her without her knowledge and she learnt through his mother that he is gay.
The couple met on Facebook last year.
The heartbroken woman said she does not care about his homosexuality, and begged him to come home.
Zainoedeen refused to comment at the time, but this week he had a change of heart and said he wanted to tell his side of the story.
Zainoedeen was joined by his mom, 56, and his aunt, 60, during an interview at a relative’s house in Kalksteenfontein.
The young man claims Shameema had “lied to him from the start”.
“I had a miserable married life. She lied to me,” he says.
“I never knew until after we were married that she had older children.
“Her ex-boyfriend, that she dated for three years, lives across the street from her. He came there when I was not there.
“I started working at a Muslim call centre in Athlone and she accused me of cheating and I had to quit my job.
“She also threatened me in a voice note saying that if I don’t come home, she is going to open a case against me and say I abused her child.
“I wanted a family with her, and have my own child, but she drove me away.”
He says after the divorce, he broke down mentally and was treated for stress.
“She took my clothes, my ID and my wedding rings. She is harassing my sick mother and other family members,” he adds.
“I applied for a talaq in September, and she was called in. She beat me with a brick inside the MJC offices. A talaq was issued on 14 October, but I am still not free of her.”
His mother, who asked not to be named, denied Shameema’s claims that she (the mother) had caught Zainoedeen having sex with another man.
“He used to wear dresses when he was younger and was so (gay). He is making better choices now,” she says.
Asked if he is gay, Zainoedeen says: “I was gay. That is in the past. I want Shameema to leave me alone. I do not want her back.”
Shameema did not want to comment on any of Zainoedeen’s allegations or her voice notes, instead insisting that she will not let go of her husband: “I love him and I want him home.”