Case Law[2024] ZAGPPHC 1237South Africa
S.T.H v A.T.H (060610/22) [2024] ZAGPPHC 1237 (28 November 2024)
High Court of South Africa (Gauteng Division, Pretoria)
28 November 2024
Headnotes
Summary: Divorce action – marriage irretrievably broken down. Spousal maintenance sought by the wife. No satisfactory evidence was led by the wife to demonstrate that she requires maintenance for the rest of her life. The factors set out in section 7(2) of the Divorce Act not met. Held: (1) The divorce decree is issued. Held: (2) The claim for spousal maintenance is refused. Held: (3) Each party to pay its own costs.
Judgment
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# South Africa: North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria
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## S.T.H v A.T.H (060610/22) [2024] ZAGPPHC 1237 (28 November 2024)
S.T.H v A.T.H (060610/22) [2024] ZAGPPHC 1237 (28 November 2024)
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sino date 28 November 2024
SAFLII
Note:
Certain
personal/private details of parties or witnesses have been
redacted from this document in compliance with the law
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FLYNOTES:
FAMILY – Maintenance –
Lifelong –
Parties were married for 25 years
– Onus on plaintiff who was seeking lifelong maintenance –
Plaintiff worked
for duration of marriage – Was financially
irresponsible – Failing to disclose earnings for certain
period –
Defendant’s business not doing well and he
has serious health issues – Both parties have existing and
prospective
means to deal with consequences of breakdown of
marriage – Claim for spousal maintenance dismissed –
Divorce Act 70 of 1979
,
s 7(2).
REPUBLIC OF SOUTH
AFRICA
IN THE HIGH COURT OF
SOUTH AFRICA
GAUTENG DIVISION,
PRETORIA
Case
Number: 060610/22
(1) REPORTABLE: NO
(2) OF INTEREST TO OTHER
JUDGES: NO
(3) REVISED: NO
DATE 28/11/2024
SIGNATURE
In the matter between:
S
T[…] H[…]
Plaintiff
and
A
E T[…] H[…]
Defendant
Delivered:
This judgment was prepared and
authored by the Judge whose name is reflected and is handed down
electronically by circulation to
the parties/their legal
representatives by e-mail and by uploading it to the electronic file
of this matter on Caselines. The date
for hand-down is deemed to be
28 November 2024.
Summary: Divorce
action – marriage irretrievably broken down. Spousal
maintenance sought by the wife. No satisfactory evidence
was led by
the wife to demonstrate that she requires maintenance for the rest of
her life. The factors set out in
section 7(2)
of the
Divorce Act not
met
. Held: (1) The divorce decree is issued. Held: (2) The claim for
spousal maintenance is refused. Held: (3) Each party to pay its
own
costs.
JUDGMENT
MOSHOANA, J
Introduction
[1]
During the subsistence of a marriage, both husband
and wife attract the reciprocal duty to support each other. However,
on application
of the so-called ‘clean break’ principle
that duty falls away upon dissolution of the marriage. Given the
social realities,
section 7(2) of the Divorce Act 70 of 1979 (Divorce
Act) was introduced to endow a divorce Court with discretionary
powers to make
an order, which the Court finds just in respect of
payment of maintenance by the one party to the other for any period
until death
or remarriage of the party in whose favour the order is
given. Based on the above statutory provision, it does not
axiomatically
follow that a party is entitled to maintenance by
virtue of having been married to the other party.
[2]
This is a divorce action instituted by Mrs S[…]
T[…] H[…] . The action is defended by Mr E[…]
T[…] H[…] . Both parties are in agreement that
their marriage has irretrievably broken down. Therefore, this
Court
is satisfied that the marriage has reached a state of disintegration
and there is no reasonable prospect of the restoration
of a normal
marriage relationship between them. At the conclusion of this
judgment, this Court shall not hesitate to exercise its
discretionary
powers contemplated in
section 4(1)
of the
Divorce Act.
[3
]
The remaining issue to be tackled in this judgment
is the claim by Mrs T[…] H[…] to have Mr T[…]
H[…]
ordered by this Court to pay to her maintenance in
the amount of R28 000.00 per month until her death and to retain her
on
a medical aid paid by him. This issue remains because the T[…]
H[…] s were unable to agree on the issue of payment
of
maintenance as claimed by Mrs T[…] H[…] . There was
also an issue of redistribution of assets, which was jettisoned
at
the tail end of the submissions of counsel for Mrs T[…] H[…]
. This was occasioned by the fact that she led no
evidence to sustain
such an order.
Pertinent background
facts and the evidence tendered.
[4]
On 1 August 1997, the plaintiff, Mrs S[…]
T[…] H[…] married the Defendant, Mr A[…]
E[…]
T[…]
H[…] out of community of property and without an accrual
system. There are no children born out of the
marriage. The T[…]
H[…] s tendered evidence of themselves and they called one
witness each in support of each other’s
case. A summary of the
testimony tendered before Court shall be outlined hereunder.
Mrs
S[…]
T[…]
H[…]
[5]
She is the plaintiff in the present action. She
and Mr T[…] H[…] agreed that a decree of
divorce be granted
by the Court. She is claiming maintenance from Mr
T[…] H[…] and she seeks to be retained on his
medical aid
since she has hearing difficulties and uses two hearing
aids. She did not dispute that she has one or two and sometimes five
glasses
of whisky daily. She disputed being an alcoholic as averred
by Mr T[…] H[…] . She drinks because she works with
children
all day and she relaxes with whisky after hours.
[6]
She considered their marriage relationship to be a
toxic one. She did not dispute that Mr T[…] H[…] is
a chronic
diabetic patient. He also had a back operation during the
Covid 19 period. She and Mr T[…] H[…] worked
together at Nashua Vaal. She relocated to Nashua Bethlehem. Around
2000, she left employment at Nashua and she was paid some money,
the
value of which she does not remember. Around the same period, she and
Mr T[…] H[…] opened a restaurant
business, which
did not flourish.
[7]
After the demise of the restaurant business,
she obtained employment at Gestetner, which later became Ricoh. She
was employed as
a salesperson. She left Ricoh and was paid her
pension monies. In 2007, she joined SAPHOR, a financing company as an
account executive,
equivalent of a sales representative.
[8]
In March 2021, she semi-retired. She however
retained her employment at SAPHOR and worked as a freelancer earning
a commission instead.
She testified that Mr T[…] H[…]
had asked her to look after the children of his daughter at a
salary of about
R10 000.00. This testimony was disputed. Whilst
looking after those children (M[…] and L[…]) Mr T[…]
H[…]
would at time give her cash for those functions. Mr
T[…] H[…] also given her a credit card to use.
[9]
She testified that Mr T[…] H[…]
used to buy food for the household. On or about 14 December
2022, she left the
common home as she could no longer take the abuse
from Mr T[…] H[…] , who in her evidence was an abusive
and racist
person. He despised the fact that her sister was married
to a “dark” person (meaning an African man). At some
point
she purchased an apartment at Emfuleni. Her late mother used to
stay there until she fell ill and moved to their matrimonial home.
[10]
She testified about her expenses and with
reference to some of her salary slips she demonstrated the commission
she earned, which
fluctuated over a period of time. She also receives
income from the rental of the apartment. She also received some money
after
the passing of her mother. She admitted to having been
financially irresponsible. She cannot afford to leave the place she
acquired
after leaving the matrimonial home in December 2022.
Although the place is unaffordable, her reasons being that she cannot
afford
to move to any other place that cannot accommodate her
worsie
dog. Her other reason being that she does not want
to leave her apartment because it is close to where Mr T[…]
H[…]
lives. She will travel for an hour to her workplace
as opposed to a less than 15 minutes’ travel.
[11]
She testified at length about her financial
quandaries. It is unnecessary to narrate in this judgment all the
expenses she tabulated.
She testified that Mr T[…] H[…]
ran a golf cart business, which started as a hobby for him. The
business made
enough money and that money was kept in a safe. She
confirmed that some of that money from the golf cart business was
used to pay
staff at the company ran by Mr T[…] H[…]
and a partner. Her testimony that the golf business made enough
money
was disputed.
[12]
She continuously made loans and sought assistance
from her family members. She launched a
rule 43
application and this
Court awarded her alimony
pendente lite
in the tune of R17500.00. As at the trial of the
action she was continuing to receive the alimony, yet she continued
to struggle
financially. Because she was unable to manage her
finances, she became blacklisted and had maxed all her various credit
cards.
As at the trial of the action, her sources of income were the
rule 43
alimony, rental from the apartment and her commission from
SAPHOR.
[13]
She testified that with the R28 000.00 she was
claiming she will try to survive. She left the matrimonial home
because Mr T[…]
H[…] made her life a living hell.
During cross-examination she testified that she had no discussions
with Mr T[…]
H[…] before leaving the matrimonial
home. She actually obtained a protection order against him. She
conceded that
the decision for her to retire from her work was not
discussed and agreed to by Mr T[…] H[…] . She confirmed
that
she had always worked and always received an income. For the
period November 2023 to April 2024, she did not place before Court
her earnings. It was suggested to her by counsel for Mr T[…]
H[…], that where she received more commission she was
hiding
that information to the Court. She agreed that she did not place
before Court her efforts to better her alleged financial
struggle.
[14]
She also testified that the apartment was put on
the market. When sold, it will ameliorate some of the financial
struggles she allegedly
has. She could not dispute, because she was
not aware, that Mr T[…] H[…] ’s business was
struggling and his
R40 000.00 salary was reduced to R30 000.00 a
month. She had not looked into the financial standing of Mr T[…]
H[…]
. She is unable to confirm that Mr T[…] H[…]
will be able to afford what she claims. She has a fully paid up
vehicle and petrol benefits from her employer. She further testified
that given her skills, if they are used optimally, she will
be able
to survive on her own.
Nolleen Egwatu
[15]
She is the sister of the plaintiff. She had known
Mr T[…] H[…] for many years. She had visited the
matrimonial
home of the T[…] H[…] s several times. She
had experienced the verbal abuse on her sister. The abuse used to
happen
in front of her late mother. Mr T[…] H[…] hated
the fact that she was married to an African man. She testified
that
he is a racist. In cross-examination it was put to her that Mr T[…]
H[…] was against the drugs dealing
of her husband. In
retort, she testified that she has evidence of the racist conduct on
the part of Mr T[…] H[…]
.
Mr A[…] E[…]
T[…] H[…]
[16]
He is the defendant and was married to the
plaintiff. As to the reasons for the breakdown of the marriage, he
testified that the
plaintiff abused alcohol which always led to an
unbearable situation at the matrimonial home. On 14 December 2022,
whilst at his
business premises, he was served with a protection
order. It came as a shock to him and only learned from people that
the plaintiff
was moving assets from their matrimonial home.
[17]
He denied allegations of physical assault and
verbal abuse. He also denied the racist allegations. The plaintiff
was always in employment
and she never retired. She actually worked
from home. He provided her with facilities to work from home. He had
provided the plaintiff
with R10 000.00 for food in the house as well
as a discovery card. She always paid for her personal needs and was
in control of
her finances including her late mother’s pension
monies.
[18]
He is self-employed and he is involved in three
interrelated businesses. In one business he is a 50% shareholder and
in another
a BEE company owns 51% whilst he owns 32% and his partner
owns 12%. He receives a salary from the business and for the longest
of time, the salary was fixed at R40 000.00. When the business took a
knock because of cancellation of contracts his salary was
reduced to
R30 000.00 a month. As benefits from the company, he receives a
medical aid, a company vehicle (2014 Land Cruiser) and
fuel. No
dividends were ever declared. The business is struggling and it
retrenched employees.
[19]
As his personal assets, he owns a house valued at
R1.5 million which is bond free. He also owns another house from
which he receives
rental of about R6000.00. The said house is still
bonded. Additionally, he owns a motor bike valued at about
R90 000.00. He
also has pension fund benefits valued at around
R1.5 million. He had a third property, which he had to sell in order
to meet the
rule 43
order obligations. He referred the Court to the
bank statements of his only personal account. His total monthly
expenditure amounts
to R54 300 exclusive of the
rule 43
alimony
order.
[20]
He confirmed that the business is not doing well
and the PPC and Omnia Fertilizers contracts were placed on hold. The
audited financial
statements of the business for the year ending 28
February 2023 reflects a profit of about R117 000.00. Where the
business account
reflects huge payments, it is because of advance
payments from companies like Hullet Tongaat which was placed under
business rescue.
The money does not belong to the business. He is not
in a position to pay spousal maintenance. According to him, the
plaintiff
is in a position to maintain herself.
[21]
In cross-examination, he testified that the golf
cart business is not profitable. The profit margins are between R10
000 and R15000.
Despite an apparent ferocious attempt during
cross-examination to demonstrate that the golf cart business expends
close to R6 million,
he remained steadfast that the business is not
profitable at all. Due to passage of time and without the aid of
source documents,
he was unable to point out in the bank statements,
the money from the golf cart business against which the expenses were
made.
When confronted with a figure of over R5 million, attributed to
the golf cart business, he testified that if the cost of sale is
taken into account the profit margin still remains small.
[22]
He testified that over the months he would move
funds from a money market to pay for expenses and every month
reconcile those payments
and get refunded. He testified that where
there are monies paid to him by the company besides his salary, those
represents the
reconciliations. On average, over a period of time the
safe will keep in it around R108 000. Some of the cash would be used
to
pay for the business expenses. He does not keep any money for
himself.
Ms Bianca De Jager
[23]
She is the biological daughter of Mr T[…]
H[…] . Her daughter who was born in 2020 was minded by one
Patricia, the
helper. She had no agreement with the plaintiff that
she will look after her daughter. She is aware that the plaintiff is
still
employed. The plaintiff had a drinking problem. She will start
drinking after 14h00 almost daily. This drinking problem had caused
a
friction between the T[…] H[…] s.
Legal submissions
[24]
At the conclusion of the evidence stage, legal
representatives of both parties made oral submissions in an open
Court. Both representatives
were afforded a further opportunity to
augment their submissions in writing by 22 November 2024. They
obliged, and this Court is
thankful for their well-researched written
heads. This Court found them extremely helpful in preparation of this
judgment. In summary,
Mr Coetzee submitted that Mr T[…] H[…]
as compared to Mrs T[…] H[…] is
sufficiently resourced
and should be ordered to pay spousal alimony.
He is cash flushed and had hidden some of his income, so went the
argument. On the
other hand, Ms Fabricius argued that Ms T[…]
H[…] has failed to establish the need for spousal
maintenance.
She elected not to call an expert to evaluate her
position, capacity and skill, so the argument went. As an
alternative to
spousal maintenance until death, it was submitted that
a rehabilitative spousal alimony of R15000.00 for a period of 12
months
would be just.
Analysis
[25]
When regard is had to
section 7(2)
of the
Divorce
Act, the
default position with regard to alimony is that the
divorcing parties should make an effort to reach an agreement instead
of a
Court deciding the issue on their behalf.
Section 7(1)
specifically provides that a written agreement between the parties
will
inter alia
be
with regard to the payment of maintenance by the one party to the
other. Once the parties fail to reach an agreement, a Court
retains
discretionary powers to make a just order with regard to the payment
of maintenance.
[26]
Absent from the provisions of the section is the
right to maintenance payment as a legal consequence of having been
married to someone.
Section 7(2)
sets out various factors that a
Court may have regard to in order to make a just order of payment of
maintenance to the other party.
Those factors are:
·
Existing or prospective means of each of the
parties;
·
Their earning capacities;
·
Their financial needs and obligations;
·
The age of each of the parties;
·
The duration of the marriage;
·
The standard of living of the parties prior to
divorce;
·
Their conduct in so far as it may be relevant to
the breakdown of the marriage;
·
An order in terms of subsection (3);
·
And any other factor.
[27]
Any
or all of these factors, in so far as they may be relevant to a
particular case would be regarded in order for Court to make
a just
order. This begs the question whether any party bears a specific onus
to establish any of those factors. In
EH
v SH
[1]
,
the SCA held that a person claiming maintenance must establish a need
to be supported by the other spouse. Should the need not
be proven,
it would not be just for a maintenance order to be made. On the
strength of this authority, it must follow axiomatically
that the
claimant, in this instance, the plaintiff, bears the onus to show the
need.
[28]
This
concept of the need seems to arise from the Canadian jurisprudence.
In
Pelech
v Pelech
(
Pelech
)
[2]
,
Wilson J confirmed that in order to obtain support, a claimant must
prove (a) need; (b) that the need arises for a legally acceptable
reason; and (c) that the need/inability is causally connected to the
marriage. As indicated at the dawn of this analysis, chiefly,
it is
the responsibility of the parties to make an effort to reach an
agreement. In support of this view, Wilson J echoed the following
apt
sentiments in
Pelech
:
-
“
I
believe that
every
encouragement should be given to ex-spouses to settle their financial
affairs
in
a final way so that they can put their mistakes behind them and get
on with their lives…
It
seems to me that where the parties have negotiated their own
arrangement, freely and on the advice of independent legal counsel,
as to how their financial affairs should be settled on the breakdown
of their marriage, and the agreement is not unconscionable
in the
substantive law sense, it should be respected.
People
should be encouraged to take responsibility for their own lives and
their own decisions
…”
[3]
[29]
This
Court is in full agreement with the sentiments expressed by the
erudite Wilson J. In
Moge
v Moge
(
Moge
)
[4]
it was confirmed that marriage
per
se
does
not, however, automatically entitle a spouse to support. It is
apparent that our
Divorce Act was
modelled on the Canadian Divorce
Act of 1970. Unlike our Divorce Act, the Canadian one expressly
provides that the needs ought
to be taken into consideration. Section
15(5) of the Canadian Act provides the following:
“
(5)
In making an order under this section, the court shall take into
consideration
the
condition, means,
needs
and
other circumstances of each spouse
and
of any child of the marriage for whom support is sought, including
(a)
The length of time the spouses cohabited;
(b)
The functions performed by the spouse during
cohabitation; and
(c)
Any
order, agreement or arrangement relating to support of the spouse or
child.”
[5]
[30]
It is apparent that the Canadian Divorce Act
compels a Court to take into consideration four factors; namely; (a)
conditions; (b)
means; (c) needs; and (d) other circumstances of each
spouse for whom support is sought. In
Moge
,
it was held that these four factors are viewed as an attempt to
achieve an equitable sharing of the economic consequences of a
marriage or marriage breakdown. It was also emphasised that at the
end of the day however, Courts have an overriding discretion
and the
exercise of such discretion will depend on the particular facts of
each case, having regard to the factors and objectives
designated in
the Act.
[31]
Moge
continued to
expressly and insightfully stated the following:
“
Spousal
support orders remain essentially a
function
of the evidence led
in
each particular case. In some cases, such evidence might come in the
form of highly specific expert evidence which enables parties
to
present accurate picture of the economic consequences of marriage
breakdown in their particular circumstances
[6]
[32]
It must be so that the onus lies on the claimant
to adduce evidence in support of the claim for spousal support. For
present purposes,
the plaintiff was obligated to conduce evidence in
support of the order she seeks.
[33]
Turning
to each of the factors which makes an order just, the means of the
parties are both existing ones and prospective ones.
In
casu
based
on the evidence before Court the plaintiff has as existing means, her
commission, her rental, her pension annuities, her late
mother’s
pensions
[7]
. As prospective
means she has the proceeds of the sale of the apartment and the
optimal usage of her skills. On the other hand,
the defendant has as
existing means, his salary and his investments in a money market
account. Prospectively, his pension pay-out
and proceeds from the
house if placed on a market. On the available evidence it cannot be
found that equity demands a balancing
exercise in favour of the
plaintiff. When the evidence is considered objectively, both parties
have existing and prospective means
to deal with the consequences of
the breakdown of the marriage.
[34]
With regard to the earning capacities, the
evidence showed that the plaintiff is economically independent.
Regard being had to all
her sources of income she is able and will be
able to meet her own maintenance needs. She conceded that she was
reckless financially
and once that speckle of irresponsibility is
removed she will be able to maintain herself. She has no child of her
own. Therefore,
the only person she is duty bound to support is
herself. The troubling fact for this Court is that she did not
disclose all her
earnings for a period of about six months. In order
to determine her earning capacity, this Court needed to be provided
with credible
evidence. In the absence of such evidence, this factor
may not be weighed in her favour. Her evidence that the golf cart
business
of the defendant generated more income for the defendant is
nothing but speculation. It is denuded of probative value. On the
probabilities,
the evidence of the defendant must be accepted. She
also corroborated the version of the defendant that the cash kept in
the safe
was used for business purposes as opposed to personal
purposes.
[35]
With
regard to the financial needs and obligations of the parties, it is
clear to this Court that the needs that the plaintiff is
required to
cater for is her own needs. The fact that she brings into the
equation her dog, such is not an obligation within the
meaning of the
section
[8]
. Accordingly, regard
being had to the financial needs and obligations, those of the
defendant, in the counter-balancing act outweighs
those of the
plaintiff. The defendant is a chronic diabetic and has serious health
conditions as opposed to the hearing difficulties
of the plaintiff.
The health conditions of the defendant put a serious financial strain
and obligations on him.
[36]
With
regard to the ages of the parties, although the plaintiff is a woman
of an advanced age, the defendant is older than the plaintiff.
It is
indeed so that the parties have been married for 25 years. However,
the plaintiff had been working for those 25 years. In
Grasso
v Grasso
[9]
quoting Baker J in
Kroon
v Kroon
1986
(4) SA 616
(E) at 362, it was said: -
“
Middle-aged
women who have for years devoted themselves full-time to the managing
of the children of the marriage, are awarded rehabilitative
maintenance for a period sufficient to enable them to be trained or
retrained for a job or profession. Permanent maintenance is
reserved
for the elderly wife who has been married to a husband for a long
time and is too old to earn her own living and unlikely
to
remarry.”
[10]
[37]
Perspicuously, the plaintiff does not fit the bill
mentioned above. She worked for the duration of the marriage, she has
no children
of her own and most importantly she is skilled in the
area of sales and she is capable of using her skill optimally to
support
herself.
[38]
With
regard to the standard of living during the marriage, other than
hearing evidence of the defendant making the plaintiff’s
life a
living hell, there was no proper evidence led to the effect that
during marriage she lived a higher standard of life. Other
than the
evidence that on odd occasions, the defendant would give her money
for food and a credit card to buy household effects,
there is no
evidence that the plaintiff lived a different life than what she
lives now. At the moment since she voluntarily left
the common home
she continued since 2022 to feed and clothe herself. This standard is
no different from the one she lived during
the marriage.
[11]
This Court in the absence of proper evidence of the living standard
is unable to postulate any difference of lifestyle.
[12]
Counsel for the plaintiff conceded during oral submissions that there
was no evidence led with regard to the living standard during
the
marriage.
[39]
With regard to the conduct of the parties, same
will only be taken into account in so far as it may be relevant. In
my view, the
conduct of the parties is irrelevant in this matter. In
Canada, the Divorce Act is specific. In subsection (5), the following
is
legislated:
“
(5)
In making an order under this subsection, the court shall not take
into consideration
any
misconduct
of
a spouse in relation to the marriage.”
[40]
Considering that divorce is no longer based on
matrimonial fault, post-divorce spousal maintenance should and can no
longer be considered
a form of penalty for misconduct. This Court
takes a view that the Canadian legislated position is more apt and
appropriate and
should be considered in South Africa. In
Moge
,
the following was suggested when a Court exercises a discretion,
which suggestion makes the consideration of the conduct of the
parties even more irrelevant:
“
The
exercise of judicial discretion in ordering support requires an
examination of all four objectives set out in the Act in
order
to achieve equitable sharing of the economic consequences of marriage
or marriage breakdown
.
This implies a broad approach with a view to recognizing and
incorporating any
significant
features of the marriage or its termination which adversely affect
the economic prospects of the disadvantaged spouse…
.”
[13]
[41]
Of significance, in exercising its discretion, a
Court is seeking to achieve equitable sharing of the economic
consequences of the
marriage breakdown. In my view, the conduct of
the parties will not assist in achieving an equitable sharing of the
economic consequences
if taken into consideration. It is accordingly
an irrelevant consideration. The legislature, in my view, must
consider removing
this factor from the letter of the law as spelled
out in section 7(2).
[42]
With regard to the catch-all phrase of any other
factor, this Court may take into account that the plaintiff on her
own version
she was financially irresponsible. She continued with
this irresponsible path even after the rule 43 order. She simply
looked at
the defendant as a wealthy person without any insight into
the financial position of the defendant and his companies. Without
any
cogent evidence, she suggested that the defendant was hiding his
earnings. On the contrary she failed to disclose to the Court her
earnings for the period of six months. She sought to falsely create
an impression that the defendant had asked to stop working
and become
a nanny, as it were, when in truth she took a decision to work from
home. Taking those factors into consideration, this
Court is unable
to exercise its discretion in favour of ordering maintenance for her
for life. It will simply not be just and the
equitable sharing of the
economic consequences of the breakdown will not be achieved thereby.
The
issue of costs
[43]
The general approach is that a Court is loath to
make cost orders in divorce proceedings. Counsel for the defendant
forcefully argued
that a cost order is warranted in this matter. She
submitted that the plaintiff had actually abused the rule 35
procedures and
requested disclosure of documents she never used. The
plaintiff abandoned the redistribution claim at the tail end of legal
submissions.
Although this Court was tempted consider a costs order,
when it comes to costs, a Court possesses a very wide discretion. In
the
exercise of my discretion, I am of a fervent view that an
appropriate order to make is that of each party paying its own costs.
[44]
For all the above reasons, I make the following
order:
Order
1.
The divorce decree is granted.
2.
The claim for spousal maintenance is dismissed
3.
Each party to pay its own costs.
GN MOSHOANA
JUDGE OF THE HIGH
COURT
GAUTENG DIVISION,
PRETORIA
APPEARANCES:
For the
Plaintiff:
Mr P J Coetzee
Instructed
by:
Stegmanns Inc, Pretoria
For the
Defendant:
Ms Fabricius
Instructed
by:
Shapiro & Ledwaba Inc, Pretoria
Date of the
hearing:
11-12 November 2024
Date of
judgment:
28 November 2024
[1]
2012 (4) SA 164
(SCA) at
para 13.
[2]
(1989) 4 C.F.L.Q 115
[3]
Id
at
849-850.
[4]
[1992] 3 R.C.S 813.
[5]
Id at
839.
[6]
Id at
871 also see
Ormerod
v Ormerod
(1990)
27 R.F.L (3d) 225 (Ont. U.F. C.t) and
Elliot
v Elliot
(1992)
42 R.F.L (3d) 7 (Ont. U.F. C.t).
[7]
Kroon v K
roon
1986 (4) SA 616 (E).
[8]
See
B
v B
2009
(2) SA 421
(C), where it was found that two adult children is an
obligation within the contemplation of the section.
[9]
1987 (1) SA 48
(C).
[10]
Id at 57.
[11]
P
ommerel
v
P
ommerel
1990
(1) SA 998 (E).
[12]
MB v NB
2010 (3) SA 220
(GSJ).
[13]
See
Moge
above at 866 to 867.
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