Murdered doctor’s children ask court to nullify ‘forged’ will
Siblings accuse stepmom for faking final document
The children of the late Highlands Park team doctor Godfrey Sankubele Dire, 62, who was found murdered in Sasolburg, Free State, in 2018, have dragged their stepmother to court for allegedly forging his will. prison’
Dire s mistress Malibyane Maoeng is serving a 15 years’
term after she was found guilty of possession of the doctor’s car and using his credit card to purchase furniture.
The Government Pension Administration Agency (GPAA) launched an investigation after Angela, Dire’s widow, submitted the beneficiary form in 2018 to claim her husband’s pension from the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF). The form, which did not have a signature but only a thumbprint purported to be of Dire, named Angela as the sole beneficiary.
The GPAA’s forensic and fraud prevention management unit nullified Angela’s submission “because it excluded beneficiaries who were financially depending on him at the time of his death,” read the GPPA’s report which Sowetan has seen.
The GPAA also concluded that “there are no records of the beneficiary nomination by the late Dr Dire at the GEPF”.
It declared that all the deceased beneficiaries should be recognised equally. Dire had been working for the government for about 12 years before he died.
Dire’s eldest child Zamuxolo and his two siblings – Nomava and Reabetswe – hauled their stepmother to the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg to challenge the joint will that she and Dire allegedly signed after their wedding in 2006.
In that will, Angela and her daughter Mbalenhle (from a previous relationship), are listed as sole beneficiaries.
They want the court to recognise Dire’s 1994 will which lists them and their grandmother as beneficiaries.
Dire’s biological children, however, argued in court papers that Sowetan has also seen that the last will did not exist and should be nullified because Angela had also forged their father’s signature and excluded them in favour of Mbalenhle.
A report by Lourika Buckley, a forensic handwriting expert, which was submitted in court, confirmed that Dire ’ s signature was forged.
“It is my professional opinion, in view of the dissimilarities in individual writing characteristics, that the disputed signatures 1,2,3 and 4 are not authentic and were not made by the same hand that executed the known signatures, SG Dire,” read the report.
Dire’s biological children also argued in court papers that when the undated will was drawn up, Mbalenhle, 9, was using another surname before her mother changed her surname to Dire in 2011.
“The third defendant [Mbalenhle] is referred to a name in 2006 which she became legally entitled to on 18 June 2011. In other words, the citation of the third defendant in the alleged joint will is indicative that the will was created under fraudulent circumstances,” read the court documents.
Ndzondo Kunene Mosea Inc, who represent Angela and her daughter, dismissed all the allegations against their clients. They charged that Angela and Dire had signed the will in the presence of other attorneys and a receptionist. “The first and third avers that the joint will is valid and that there is no basis raised or supported by the plaintiff that will convince the honourable [court] to disqualify them as both the executrix and a beneficiary to the deceased’s estate,” read their court papers.
They also argued that the deceased always regarded Mbalenhle as his child hence Angela changed her surname.
“This matter has been frustrating to all parties. We have done the pretrial and we are waiting for the trial date allocation,” Thulani Mosea, the respondents’ lawyer, said.
According to Nomava, her father had two houses which he bought before getting married out of community of property to Angela. He had four cars and various life policies.