Mistress and family lose stake in R20m building
A business tycoon’s secret family has lost their stake in a R20m building on Cape Town’s Atlantic seaboard after the man’s widow sued to get it back.
A Times Select report says Ephenia Broodie died at the age of 76 a year ago, but her executors took over the litigation she began after her husband’s death in 2016.
Last week, five SCA judges ruled unanimously that Samuel Broodie’s decision to give 75% of a Sea Point building to his mistress and their two children was invalid.
They said Mokgohu Martha Ledwaba (62) – and the children she had with Broodie in 1989 and 1993 – must sign over their interest in a close corporation, Seepunt Eiendomme, to the Broodies’ estate.
Judge Clive Plasket said the case ended up being simple to resolve.
‘On Ledwaba’s own version, she does not get out of the starting blocks,’ he said. This was because she made no effort to find out if Ephenia had given her husband – to whom she was married in community of property – permission to give away the lion’s share of their joint estate.
The Matrimonial Property Act stipulates the third party to a transaction kept secret from a spouse has to be able to prove she did not know consent had not been given.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
