A Zimbabwean woman based in South Africa has won R10 Million maintenance from the estate of her late partner with whom she was cohabitating for two years.
This is after that country’s Constitutional Court ruled
that such relationships were a legitimate family structure, and deserved
respect and recognition under the law.
Court documents show that Jane Bwanya met her late South
African partner Anthony Ruch in 2014. He passed away on April 23, 2016, two
months before he was scheduled to travel to Zimbabwe to pay lobola.
At the time of his death, the deceased was 57 years old and
never been married.
He had a will but the heiress was his mother Lorna Ruch who
passed away intestate in 2013. Anthony was his mothers’ sole heir having been
the only child.
Bwanya made a claim for maintenance at the courts in that
country where she sought an order declaring the Intestate Succession Act 81 of
1987 (ISA) and the Maintenance of Surviving Spouses Act 27 of 1990 (MOSSA)
unconstitutional.
Under the ISA and MOSSA, Bwanya did not deserve any spousal
maintenance from her deceased partner as they were not married, and did not
have any children.
But Bwanya, represented by the Women’s Legal Centre Trust
and the Commission for Gender Equality argued that she deserved maintenance
arguing Anthony had committed to a life-long relationship.
She kept a diary of Anthony’s promises to wed her, and have
her as a lifelong partner. The diary was produced in court as evidence.
Bwanya submitted that she and the deceased contemplated
having a baby together. This aspect of her testimony was corroborated by an
entry dated October 15, 2015 in the deceased’s diary about “cementing their
relationship with a baby,” court papers read.
The ConCourt awarded Bwanya: “a claim of R6 734 964-36
against the estate of the deceased’s mother, Mrs Ruch, in respect of the value
of the immovable property commonly known as 60 Rottingdean Road, Camps Bay
which had been sold by the Executor of the deceased’s estate.
“A further claim of R2 570 000 in respect of the value of the Seaways Flat
located at 31 Beach Road, Mouille Point which was sold prior to the deceased’s
death but finalised after his death. The deceased’s various financial
investments worth R1 million comprising, inter alia, a PSG Investment, an Old
Mutual Investment and cash in an FNB Account.”
The ConCourt gave the South African Parliament 18 months to
make the necessary amendments to the ISA and MOSSA to ensure that surviving
partners receive a share from their deceased lover’s estates. Standard
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