After 10 years of litigation, the lobola conundrum is set to head to the SCA. Joburg City Theatres CEO Xoliswa Nduneni-Ngema’s lengthy battle for half of wealthy businessman Sifiso Dabengwa’s estate was dealt yet another blow last week when the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) dismissed her application for leave to appeal, says a Sunday Times report. They would take the matter to the SCA, said Ike Motloung, Nduneni-Ngema’s lawyer.

‘We will appeal this matter all the way, even if we must end up at the Constitutional Court,’ he is quoted as saying. At the centre of the battle is Dabengwa’s contention that lobola, on its own, does not constitute a customary marriage. Both parties needed to consent and, in a ceremony, the bride had to be handed over to the groom. But the former actress insists she is entitled to half of Dabengwa’s estate because successful lobola negotiations and an umembeso ceremony (an exchange of gifts by the families) in 2003 constitute a customary marriage.

Judge Colin Lamont had dismissed Nduneni-Ngema’s leave to appeal on the grounds that there was little prospect for success, said Dabengwa’s lawyer, Billy Gundelfinger. Motloung reportedly said: ‘We don’t think the judge understands customary law.’

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