Courts

MBABANE – What was supposed to be a joyful day today, full of love and excitement for a couple, was not to be after the High Court stopped their wedding at the eleventh hour.

The wedding of Assistant Inspector Lucky Dlamini, based at the Police Academy in Matsapha, and Nokuthula Simelane was stopped after Mbongeni Simelane, who described her as his second wife, ran to court to stop the wedding.

Mbongeni argued that Nokuthula is his wife and he was not prepared to lose her.

“I love my wife and I cannot afford to lose her to the second respondent (Dlamini) for anything in this world. I cannot fold my hands and allow the second respondent to snatch her from my grip, hence, I have decided to move this application at the latest possible hour to save our marriage from the intrusion of the second respondent,” Mbongeni informed the court.

Judge Nkosinathi Maseko also interdicted the marriage officer from conducting the wedding and publishing the marriage banns, among other prayers. The court also ordered the police to effect the order.

The order operates on an interim basis pending finalisation of the matter, where the applicants also seek an order declaring the marriage in question unlawful. The wedding of Dlamini and Nokuthula was scheduled for today at Divine Healing Ministries International in Manzini.

In his founding affidavit, Mbongeni of Mantabeni under Ekutsimleni Umphakatsi, claimed that Nokuthula was, in fact, still legally bound to him under the Eswatini Customary Law.

Mbongeni confirmed he is married to two wives, with Nokuthula allegedly being his second wife, whom he married in June 2021. He stated that he sought and received the permission and consent of his first wife, Cebile Simelane (nee Mhlanga), before marrying Nokuthula, although Cebile requested not to be present at the ceremony for reasons of convenience.

Mbongeni’s mother, Lomini Simelane (nee Dlamini), was cited as the second applicant in the matter, representing the late head of the parental home.

Mbongeni emphasised that under Eswatini Law and Custom, the marriage is not confined to the two individuals, but involves the woman being married to the family, making his mother a fully authorised party to the application.

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Woman denies marriage, calls order ‘baseless, vexatious’

MBABANE – Nokuthula has denied that she is married to Mbongeni Simelane.

“No marriage exists,” said told the High Court in her answering affidavit. She vehemently denied the existence of a subsisting customary marriage and labelled Mbongeni’s application as baseless and vexatious. Motsa challenged Mbongeni’s claim that she is his wife, stating unequivocally that: “I am Nokukhanya Motsa and not Nokuthula Simelane (nee Motsa). I firmly deny that I am married to the first applicant.”

Nokuthula stated that although she and Mbongeni were in a relationship that resulted in her pregnancy, her late father agreed to the union only if it was to be a common law marriage. She alleged that Mbongeni sent some people with two cattle: one for asking for her hand and one specifically for damages because she was pregnant before marriage.

She also alleged that Mbongeni then went against his agreement with her father. Instead of proceeding with a common law marriage, she submitted, he decided to ‘put me in a cattle byre and performed on me an Eswatini Law and Custom marriage ritual’.

According to Nokuthula, when her father was informed of the attempted ‘customary ritual’, he refused to accept the marriage and turned back the people who had been sent by the Simelane family. She said in June 2021, her father personally collected her from the Simelane family homestead.

“After my father collected me, the Simelane family never came to fetch me from my parental home, as it normally occurs when a wife leaves her marital home,” Motsa deposed. The veracity of these allegations is still to be tested in court. Nokuthula is represented by Innocent Mahlalela of V.Z. Dlamini Attorneys.

*Full article available in our publication.

The wedding that was interdicted by the High Court was scheduled to take place today at Divine Healing Ministries International. (Pic: File)