The estranged first wife of Mandla Mandela, former president Nelson Mandela's grandson and heir, has accused the Mvezo chief of beating her and having a string of affairs during their five-year marriage.
Photograph by:
An urgent application filed at the Mthatha High Court by Tando Mandela, 31, formerly Mabunu, offers a brief insight into the couple's unhappy marriage.
"Regrettably, the marriage relationship between [Mandela] and myself has broken down on account of the first respondent's physical abuse of me, his adultery with other women and other factors, which are not relevant to the purposes of this application," she said in court papers.
Mandela, who is also an ANC MP, hit back in his responding papers, accusing his first wife of deserting him and saying he was unable to perform his duties as chief without a wife by his side.
Last weekend, Mandela, 35, took a second wife - French-speaking teenager Anais Grimaud - whom he wed at the Mvezo Great Place in Mthatha at a ceremony attended by President Jacob Zuma's third wife, Thobeka Madiba.
Last Friday, Tando Mandela filed her application in an 11-hour attempt to stop Mandela from marrying the 19-year-old from the Indian Ocean island of Réunion.
The court action comes as he and his first wife are in the middle of divorce proceedings at the Mthatha High Court.
Though Tando Mandela failed to stop the wedding going ahead at the weekend, Judge Zamani Nhlangulela ruled that half of Mandela's R5-million account be frozen pending the outcome of the divorce.
Mandela was also ordered to pay the costs of his first wife's urgent application and show cause on April 15 why the order should not be made permanent.
Grimaud has been named as the second respondent in the case.
Tando Mandela claimed in court papers that her estranged husband earns about R700000 a year as an MP, R12000 a month as a traditional chief, holds company chairmanships and directorships, and earns about R800000 a year from his ties to a freight company.
She claimed in court papers that she had only been informed of her husband's second marriage through a text message sent to her on March 8.
The message read: "Abathembu invites you to the traditional wedding of Nkosi Zwelivelile and Anais Grimaud (Nobubele) on the 20th March 2010 at Mvezo Komkhulu in the Eastern Cape."
In his answering affidavit, Mandela denied that he had beaten his first wife or had any affairs during their marriage.
He also claimed that she and her family were informed that he would take a second wife after she had apparently deserted him by filing for divorce.
"My family on receipt of divorce proceedings, including myself, informed [her] family that their child had deserted me after she instituted divorce proceedings against me," he said.
Mandela said her family was then told that Mandela, as Mvezo chief, could not carry out his responsibilities without a wife.
But Tando Mandela claims that her husband was to blame for their break-up after he beat her and had affairs.
And though he had affairs with other women in the past, he "has now pursued the ultimate relationship of advertising his intention to enter the customary traditional marriage with the [Grimaud]".
Tando Mandela, a full-time student studying towards a post-graduate diploma in media management, also claimed that her husband called her a "gold digger" and that he had refused to grant her a divorce settlement.
The two are reportedly married in community of property.
"Regrettably, [Mandela] has refused to share his financial information with me openly, declared that I will not get a cent on divorce, and has accused me of being a gold digger," she claimed.
She said she stood to be significantly prejudiced in the light of "his flamboyant lifestyle, his ongoing affairs with other women, and his expressed intention to marry others during the time we are still married".
She claimed she did not have assets of her own partly because Mandela insisted that she focus on her studies. Now, she relies on the charity of her sisters.
As part of her divorce settlement, Tando Mandela is claiming livestock that she said they co-owned, as well as 11 rondavels and cars, including a Land Cruiser.
No comments:
Post a Comment