Triple union overload for wife

THE WIFE of a well-known Durban radio and television presenter has launched a unique high court application seeking to nullify his two subsequent marriages – one of which she learnt about through a text message.

The woman, who married the presenter in a customary union in 2012, said she knew he had entered into a second customary marriage because she had been forced to attend the ceremony.

But she was completely unaware that he had married again in a civil union in October last year until wife number three sent her a WhatsApp message saying the ceremony had taken place at the Department of Home Affairs.

“At the time, I was still reeling from the announcement of the second customary marriage,” she said in her affidavit which came before Durban High Court Judge Graham Lopes on Friday.

Wife number three said she needed more time to consult with an attorney before responding, and the matter was adjourned until next month.

The presenter – who has children with all three women – has not yet filed any notice of opposition.

The basis of the application is the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act, which states that a husband in a customary marriage who wishes to enter into a further marriage must first make an application to the court to approve a written contract regulating the future matrimonial property system of the marriages.

It is believed that the law is seldom adhered to in South Africa, and the first wife says it wasn’t done in this case.

He was also not legally entitled to enter into the registered marriage when already married in terms of customary law, she says.

The woman was 25 when she got married at Nkandla after he paid lobolo of R40 000. The following year, while she was pregnant with their third child, her sister-in-law disclosed that he had married again.

“I was very upset… Only the first part of the ceremony took place. The second part – the official family handing-over and welcoming – was planned for later at a celebration which required my presence in accordance with custom.”

The month before the “handing over” ceremony, she received the WhatsApp message from wife number three, and her husband later confirmed he had married her.

“I never gave permission for that… and in any event, in terms of the act, a civil marriage to a third party cannot coexist simultaneously with a customary marriage.”