COP’S STRANGE MARRIAGES TO 3 WOMEN

MBABANE – He is married to three women; the second wife has a certificate saying she is the first; the first is estranged, with no certificate; the third is legally the second and is expecting.

This is the story of Pigg’s Peak-based police officer Thulani Gwebu who last weekend threw a baby shower and 30th birthday celebration for his supposed third wife - a party that was held in one of the resorts in northern Hhohho and attended by a crowd of mostly police officers. The supposed third wife is also a police officer and is based at the same police station as her husband. Gwebu’s first marriage was through Swazi Law and Custom; the second was through civil rites; and the third was also through Swazi Law and Custom.

Who is the legal wife?

Who is legally the wife and who is not? Human rights Lawyer Sibusiso Nhlabatsi opined that the marriage that was conducted through civil rites was null and void. He said the other wives were legally married to Gwebu. Nhlabatsi based this on Section 7 of the Marriage Act of 1964, which addresses the subject of ‘person already married’. “The real wives are those that were married in accordance with Swazi Law and Custom. The second wife is not a wife in terms of the law because he has been married under the Marriage Act, which states that you cannot get married if you are already married,” Nhlabatsi said.

Section 7(1) of the Act reads: “No person already legally married may marry in terms of this Act during the subsistence of the marriage, irrespective of whether that previous marriage was in accordance with Swazi law and custom or civil rites and any person who purports to enter into such a marriage shall be deemed to have committed the offence of bigamy: Provided that nothing contained in this section shall prevent parties married in accordance with Swazi law or custom or other rites from remarrying one another in terms of this Act.

Nhlabatsi said when Gwebu married the second wife through civil rites, he was already married as per the Act so he couldn’t enter into another marriage. “He was supposed to marry the second wife in accordance with Swazi Law and Custom. As it is, the second marriage is null and void,” the lawyer said. Asked on the legal recourse that could be available for the civil rites wife, he said the first thing to be ascertained is whether she was aware that the man was married when they entered into the marriage.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: