The Limpopo High Court in Polokwane recently ruled in favor of the children of the late Andronica Phalane, denying their stepmother, Cynthia Juliet Phalane, the right to claim a house that had been paid off by their mother. The case, which centered on the ownership of a property in Lebowakgomo Zone A, involved complex family dynamics and a long-standing legal battle over the house, which had originally been purchased by Andronica and her former husband, Gulbooi Phalane.
The property dispute dates back to the 1970s when Andronica and Gulbooi, who married in 1969, bought the house in question. Despite the property being registered in Gulbooi’s name, Andronica continued to pay for the bond and municipality rates after their divorce in 1976. Although Gulbooi forfeited the joint estate, leaving the property to Andronica for the benefit of their two children, the title deed remained under his name. Over the years, Andronica kept up with payments, despite challenges, and continued to live in the house with her children.
In 1995, Andronica and Gulbooi agreed to transfer the title deed to her name. However, due to bureaucratic delays, the transfer was never finalized. After Gulbooi’s death in 2008, Andronica fought to have the property officially registered in her name. However, she passed away in 2019 before her declaratory application could be resolved. Her children, aware of the ongoing legal battle, continued their mother’s efforts to claim the house as her rightful property.
The court case took a significant turn when Andronica’s children, Phahle Phalane and Mahlaku Jermina Mphahlele, presented compelling testimony to support their claim. Phahle, who was born in 1967, testified that he had always known the property to be theirs, as his mother had been the sole financial contributor to the house. He emphasized that Cynthia, although married to his father, never lived in the property and had no legal claim to it. Mahlaku Mphahlele echoed her brother’s sentiments, providing receipts of payments made by their mother for the bond and rates, all of which were in Gulbooi’s name due to the delay in transferring the title deed.
Cynthia, on the other hand, argued that the property was not part of the forfeited estate because it was acquired after her divorce from Gulbooi. She claimed that Andronica had lived in the house as a tenant, with Gulbooi’s permission, and that any payments made by Andronica were out of kindness, not ownership. However, Cynthia could not provide evidence to support her claims, and her defense was not convincing in the face of overwhelming evidence presented by Andronica’s children.
Acting Judge Malose Monene found in favor of Andronica’s children, ruling that the property had never belonged to Gulbooi, either in life or at his death. The judge emphasized that Andronica had been the one who paid for the property and had lived there uninterrupted for more than 30 years. The court declared that Andronica was the rightful owner of the house before her passing, and the deeds office was ordered to transfer the property into her name. Cynthia was also ordered to pay the costs of the legal application, as her claims were deemed to lack merit. This ruling brought a long-awaited resolution to a complex family dispute, reaffirming Andronica’s rightful ownership of the property.
