Landmark high court ruling awards housewife 40% of husband's estate after 30-year marriage

A GROUNDBREAKING Pietermaritzburg High Court ruling has awarded a wife 40% of her husband's estate plus R20 000 monthly maintenance, recognising her 30 years of unpaid domestic work and business support.

- YOSHINI PERUMAL

The case offers hope to South African women who sacrifice careers for family responsibilities.

The case has resonated with women as it underscores the contributions that often go unrecognised in marriages.

During the case, the wife, 58, told the court that although she assisted her husband, 70, in his business, looked after his two children from another marriage, and did whatever she could for him, he never gave her access to cash as he said he would provide for her.

She said she was struggling to make ends meet because it was not easy to find a job at her age.

The woman testified she started working for him as a receptionist at the age of 18 after she completed Standard 8.

She worked from 1987 to 1990. He was married at the time. They went on their first date while he was married, and he started divorce proceedings against his first wife.

He thereafter moved into a property in Bryanston, Johannesburg, and she moved in with him in 1993.

She thereafter lived permanently with him until she left the matrimonial home in 2023.

The woman said he did not give her a specific amount as wages, but he gave her cash to pay for the electricity and water, and the use of a motor vehicle.

She said they were together 24 hours a day, seven days a week, as they were together at work and at home.

The woman said she cared for his children while they lived with them, cooked, washed, did the laundry, ironed and cleaned. She supported his hobbies even though she had no time for her own hobbies.

After she left him in June 2023, she moved to a property that belonged to them in Leisure Bay. He then sold the property in 2024, and when she took some furniture from the house, he laid criminal charges of theft against her. The prosecutor refused to proceed with the charges.

She further testified that she was assaulted, and that he consumed alcohol in excess.