Johannesburg – An ugly divorce battle between a Zimbabwean-born millionaire-cum-politician and his South African wife reached its peak with the woman demanding R69000 as monthly spousal maintenance. The legal clash is taking place in the North Gauteng High Court.
The husband is a business tycoon and the owner of several companies. He is also a big political figure in his home country and recently ran for presidential candidacy. The two parties cannot be named to protect the identity of their three children who are aged three, five and seven.
The lawyers of the two parties met to discuss the woman’s demands and to fix the details about the access of the couple to their children. Earlier, the woman made an assertion that “Since the divorce started, there has been a lot of turmoil and hence has resulted in him cutting me off, which meant I can’t provide certain stuff for the children.�
She also accused her husband of physical abuse and preventing her from running a small catering business from their home. She added that she did not have any source of income as her husband wanted her to be a housewife.
The demand of R69000 a month was broken up by assigning R14000 for food, R6000 for entertainment and R4700 for a domestic worker. In addition, the wife needs R10 000 for clothing, R4000 beauty and hair-care , R1000 for cell phone and landline charges, R1000 for data, R800 for gym, R3000 for petrol , R500 for magazines and periodicals, R300 for parking charges and last but not the least R8000 as medical aid.
The couple got married nine years ago and spend the years happily in their Joburg suburban home. Trouble started in paradise last year and finally the husband proposed a divorce last December. During the proceedings, he was also issued a domestic violence order and was asked to pay his wife R7000 monthly as emergency monetary relief.
The arrangement was insufficient for the women as she stated in the submitted court papers that “Not only is the amount of R7000 wholly inadequate for the maintenance of the minor children and me, but the applicant is also in breach of that order in that he has only made four payments, notwithstanding that he is an extremely wealthy man.�
She further added that the husband stopped the DStv subscription and wi-fi connection, took away her Mercedes-Benz E280 and cut off the family’s medical aid in December last year, which made her situation tougher.
“I had to seek relief from back home in KwaZulu-Natal, even though he was still buying a few stuff for the kids, but I have been a stay-at-home mom with the children,� she mentioned.
The husband in his answering affidavit replied that the car was taken away as it was having mechanical problems. He denied all charges of physical abuse and said that home wi-fi was not necessary for the children.
“I am responsible for the reasonable medical needs of the family and have never shirked this responsibility,� he remarked.
The wife’s attorney, Graeme Krawitz mentioned that in an interim order, the judge has asked the husband to pay R30000 a month for maintenance along with instructions to give the wife back her car, put her children on medical aid and pay for the maids, car repairs and schooling.
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