MANZINI – Former Ngwempisi Member of Parliament Mthandeni Dube and his wife have mutually agreed to end their 15-year marriage.
Their divorce was finalised just a week after Dube was conditionally released from prison.
Dube and Gugu Hazel Baxter were married in community of property.
They appeared before Senior Magistrate Simangele Mbatha at the Manzini Magistrates Court on Monday.
The senior magistrate granted a final decree of divorce by consent of the parties.
According to court records, Dube and Baxter agreed that the marriage had irretrievably broken down and that there were no prospects of reconciliation.
The pair had one child aged 17 years. The former couple has reportedly made arrangements regarding the division of their joint estate.
Dube, when addressing the court, under oath, stated that their only child was born at least two years before they got married on December 31, 2010 in Mankayane.
He submitted that after getting married, he and Baxter established a marital home at his parental homestead at Ngcoseni in Mankayane.
He also mentioned that they acquired two motor vehicles and household furniture.
He said they also acquired a piece of land but had not established anything on it. Dube conceded that he made mistakes.
“We have differences which are not easy to solve. We are miserable in the marriage. We have agreed that I be the one to file the application,” Dube told the court.
He pleaded with the senior magistrate to grant the final decree of divorce. The former legislator also submitted that they should both have physical custody of their child in turns and for each of them to retain the marital assets in their possession.
Baxter did not cross examine Dube. She also did not object to Dube’s averments. The court proceeded to grant the final decree of divorce.
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Former Ngwempisi MP Mthandeni Dube and his wife, Gugu Hazel Baxter, have agreed to the nullification of their marriage of almost 15 years. (File pic)