Pretoria - The South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg ruled against a former husband who wanted to stop paying maintenance to his ex-wife saying she made upto R150 000 as an escort.
On October 18, 2022, the court granted an order suspending the obligation of maintenance to the ex-wife after the husband submitted an affidavit stating that his former partner made between R88 000 and R153 000 per month.
The former husband used a private investigator and relied on the investigator’s report and a set of internet advertisements to compile his application.
However, the ex-wife denied that her income from being an escort exceeds a few thousand rand a month.
The court also granted her an opportunity to file a financial disclosure form which would disprove claims that she was no longer in need of the maintenance payments.
On November 17, 2022, she filed the papers, and according to Judge Stuart Wilson, the financial statements provided no indication that she earned a regular or substantial income from being an escort, or from any source other than from her ex-husband.
In a responding affidavit, the ex-husband failed to take the matter any further, instead, he continued to rely on the private investigator’s report to press a series of inferences that his ex-wife was being dishonest about her income, and is hiding additional bank accounts and sources of income from the court.
In his judgment, Wilson said the investigator’s report had not been confirmed under oath and the husband’s evidence failed to expand beyond the report and internet advertisements, ultimately falling short of standard evidence.
Based on the ex-husband’s lack of evidence, Wilson said he was reluctant to make an order that would result in undue financial hardship for the ex-wife, also, the hardship could potentially harm the ex-wife’s relationship with their minor child.
Wilson also dismissed the ex-husband’s application to return a car the ex-wife was using.
IOL