In a story blending love, betrayal, and the complexities of marital law, the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria was tasked with deciding who should inherit the pension fund of Hlakong Jacob Malatjie, a man who secretly maintained two marriages until his death in March 2014.
Pertunia Phina Malatjie, one of the two women claiming to be Malatjie’s lawful wife, sought a court order to validate her civil marriage to him. Armed with a marriage certificate from the Department of Home Affairs, Pertunia believed her claim to spousal recognition and the accompanying pension benefits from the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) was secure. However, her confidence was shaken when another woman, Sekgobela, surfaced, claiming to be Malatjie’s customary law wife, threatening Pertunia’s eligibility for spousal maintenance.
In her court testimony, Pertunia recounted meeting Malatjie in late 2009. Their relationship blossomed quickly, and in July 2011, lobola negotiations began with her family. A settlement of R28,000 was agreed upon, with R15,000 paid upfront. By October 2011, the remaining R13,000 was settled, and Pertunia’s family accepted gifts from Malatjie’s family to finalize the union. She was officially handed over to Malatjie’s family in December 2011, following Bapedi customs, with her family slaughtering a sheep to symbolize the union of the two families.
However, Sekgobela’s claim to Malatjie’s estate dated back even further. She produced a lobola letter signed by both families and a tribal chief, asserting that her customary marriage to Malatjie began in December 2004. Sekgobela told the court she met Malatjie in 2003, and by the following year, they had their first child. After the birth, they formalized their relationship through a customary wedding. Despite Malatjie’s infidelity, including an affair that led to a temporary separation in 2008, Sekgobela said they reconciled in 2009 and had a second child in 2010.
According to Sekgobela, Malatjie’s pattern of cheating continued. In 2011, they rented a place together in Tokologo, Mhluzi, but Malatjie eventually moved to Chromville Flats, citing dissatisfaction with their living arrangement. Sekgobela claimed that Malatjie’s visits to her and their children became sporadic, and suspicions of another woman surfaced when her children mentioned a lady who cooked and cleaned for them during weekend visits. When confronted, Malatjie dismissed the woman as merely a cleaner. It was only after his death that Sekgobela learned this “cleaner” was Pertunia, his civil law wife.
Sekgobela argued in court that she was Malatjie’s legal wife, producing a document where Malatjie had named her the beneficiary of his pension fund. The court had to weigh both women’s testimonies against the legal framework of the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act, which requires that both parties be over 18, consent to the marriage, and that the union be celebrated according to customary law.
Judge Nicolen Janse van Nieuwenhuizen noted that Pertunia did not dispute that Sekgobela’s marriage to Malatjie met these criteria. The judge concluded that Malatjie was legally married to Sekgobela when he entered into his civil marriage with Pertunia, rendering the latter union invalid under South African law.
Pertunia’s application was dismissed with costs, affirming Sekgobela as the rightful spouse and beneficiary of Malatjie’s pension fund. The case closed a chapter of hidden lives and overlapping commitments, revealing the tangled web of love and legality left in Malatjie’s wake.
