Woman accused of ‘marrying’ partner after his death
A Soshanguve family in northern Pretoria is fighting to restore their late relative’s dignity after uncovering staggering fraud.
Their relative’s death certificate was allegedly falsified, and he was posthumously ‘married’ to his girlfriend five years after his death.
City Press reports that Samuel Sithole died of natural causes on 6 October 2013, at the age of 58. His abridged death certificate, issued two days later in Ga-Rankuwa, listed him as unmarried.
However, in March 2018, a second death certificate mysteriously surfaced, falsely reflecting Sithole as customarily married to his girlfriend.
The woman obtained an unabridged marriage certificate, which indicated her marriage to the deceased.
The certificate showed their marriage was solemnised on 15 May 2010, the date recorded on the alleged fraudulent lobola agreement letter.
Records reveal that on 23 October 2013, just 17 days after Sithole’s death, an attempt was made to register a customary marriage between them.
The Mabopane Department of Home Affairs rejected the application, ruling that it fell outside the three-month statutory period following any lobola agreement.
However, the alleged fraudulent marriage later appeared in the system as valid.
The woman then approached the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) to compel registration, but her application collapsed after the Sithole family opposed it.
They argued that no lobola had ever been paid and they had no knowledge of any negotiations.
The court struck the matter off the roll in September 2016.
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.
