Customary vs civil rites wife in estate
MBABANE – “Do you regard the customary wife as a wife yet there is a civil rites marriage certificate (for the first wife) in the file?”
The Judicial Commission of Inquiry sought an answer to this question yesterday when former Ntondozi Member of Parliament (MP) Musa Ndzimandze and his wife Cecelia appeared before the commission.
Ndzimandze addressed the commission on behalf of his wife and stated that her mother, who was married to John Fly Simelane, was not included in the distribution of the estate.
Cecelia’s mother, Jane, according to Ndzimandze, was married to John in terms of civil rites and the marriage was registered in 1968. John, who died on April 25, 2017, is said to have married his second wife, Andrinah, in 1984 in terms of Eswatini Law and Custom.
Ndzimandze said Andrinah was appointed as the executrix of John’s estate, while Cecelia’s mother was excluded from the distribution account.
Judge Lorraine Hlophe enquired from Hlatikhulu Assistant Master Thobile Maziya if the Master’s Office regarded Andrinah as a wife in the presence of Jane’s civil rites marriage certificate. The judge asked if the civil rites marriage was not recognised as valid because Jane, who died in 2019, had an abridged certificate.
Inherited
Maziya was, however, unable to respond, save to say that she was not present when the file was opened and she inherited it, as a result, she could not speak for the officer who handled it previously. Maziya also said she could not respond to the question of how Andrinah was appointed as the executrix as she inherited the file.
Deputy Master Lindelwa Magagula, whose input was sought by the commission, requested to have a look into the file with the officers and give a report to the commission.
Ndzimandze informed the commission that they had two issues emanating from John’s estate. He said the first issue was that, despite that Jane survived John, she was excluded from the estate distribution account. He said the master said they did not recognise her civil rites marriage certificate.
According to Ndzimandze, he advised that since Jane and John were married in common law, she was entitled to 50 per cent and a child’s share of the estate.
He informed the commission that during the distribution, the master considered John’s five children and the second wife, Andrinah.
Ndzimandze also told the commission that they were not sure how the second wife was appointed as the executrix ‘because by law, the marriage was bigamous’.
“Make (Jane) was excluded despite that she was alive when babe (John) died. During the distribution, she had died because the matter had taken too long. We expected her to get 50 per cent and a child’s share from the estate. The master ignored her marriage certificate,” he said.
Ndzimandze submitted that the second wife, who married in terms of Eswatini Law and Custom, and the children, got an equal share. He said he was advised to go to the Home Affairs in Hlatikhulu, where he was told to proceed to Nhlangano, where the files had been taken to.
Certificate
Ndzimandze stated that Jane’s marriage was entered on October 4, 1968 and he was told that if he got the certificate, it would be converted to the current state.
He said he was able to get a copy of the certificate and the master refused to accept the abridged certificate, because it lacked some details.
Ndzimandze said if the second marriage was to be contracted, the first wife should have been divorced. He said in the present case, the second marriage was bigamous.
Assistant Master Maziya said she met with Cecelia’s attorneys in February this year on the issue of the marriage certificate.
She said they told her that they would go and look for the certificate and she was currently awaiting their return, because the abridged certificate was not of assistance.
Ndzimandze had brought the certificate to the commission and Maziya said she was seeing it for the first time.
Ndzimandze said if only the assistant master had informed them in 2019 that the certificate in the file lacked details, the issue could have been resolved three years ago, but they were told about it in February 2024.
“We want to know, now that we have the certificate and it states that this was a common law marriage without an antenuptial agreement, what does it mean to the master in terms of the benefits?” asked Ndzimandze.
Regarding a plot at Ngwane Park, Extension 1, Ndzimandze said it was occupied by John’s firstborn daughter and he used to visit her but others said it was a family house and they were entitled to it. He said they were hoping that it would be evaluated and the occupier to buy them out.
However, he said the matter was handled by attorneys from Khumalo Ngcamphalala and that they allegedly received correspondences from the law firm. He alleged that there was no communication with them from the Master’s Office.
Maziya denied that her office was difficult to communicate with.
She also explained that in some instances, they preferred to deal with beneficiaries directly rather than having other family members present in the office.