A wife whose husband secretly sold their home, leaving her and their children unlawful occupants, received a lifeline when a judge ordered an urgent inquiry about whether she and her children had other living options.

A Pretoria News report says the woman was married in community of property to her now-estranged husband. She told the court the first she had heard about the sale of their matrimonial home – in which they had lived for more than 15 years – was when the new owner pitched-up and said he wanted to move in.

She turned to the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) in a bid to overturn an order by a lower court – granted in favour of the new owner – that she and her children should be evicted from their home in Mamelodi East. 

The mother argued that the magistrate had erred in finding that their eviction had been just and equitable under the law.

She claimed the magistrate had erred in not conducting an inquiry about whether the eviction would lead to their homelessness.

The lower court ordered the eviction of the mother and the children and held that she had not placed any factors before the court to indicate that there was a possibility of homelessness if they were to be evicted.

But the High Court found that had been wrong as the mother had pleaded destitution and her estranged husband had sold their matrimonial home and their primary residence without her consent, leaving her with 85% of the furniture.

She said she did not have the financial means to take care of her children. 

The facts were sufficient for an inquiry on possible homelessness, which had never been done, the High Court found. 

The matter was remitted back to the lower court for an urgent inquiry regarding whether eviction would lead to the mother and children’s homelessness.

Full Pretoria News report in The Star

Judgment