An unusual case of polyandry – a woman with more than one husband – is before the Durban High Court in an application in which the woman is trying to get maintenance from her most recent “husband” who is arguing that, unknown to him, she was still married to someone else.
The matter came before the court as a “Rule 43” application which, in terms of the Marriages Act, entitles separated spouses to claim maintenance before the finalisation of their divorces.
The case involves an unregistered Islamic marriage which is not covered by the act. However, last year a judge awarded what was believed to be the first interim maintenance order in an Islamic divorce case which was seen as precedent-setting.
What makes this application different is the allegation of polyandry and the argument by the latest husband that the man she was first married to is responsible for her upkeep, not him.
In her affidavit the woman – who cannot be named to protect the identity of her son, fathered by her first husband, and her daughter by her second – says the Marriage Act is applicable to her. She wants her Islamic marriage to the wealthy businessman in March 2013 declared legally valid and that she is entitled to a “legal divorce”.
In the meantime, she wants maintenance of R50 000 for her and her daughter, that she and both children be kept on his medical aid, a car and other expenses relating to the children.
