Limpopo stepmother loses court battle over a house that was paid for by children's late mother

The Limpopo High Court in Polokwane ruled against a stepmother who wanted to claim a house, which was paid off by her late husband's ex-wife.

The matter came to court after the stepmother, Cynthia Juliet Phalane, who was married to Gulbooi Phalane, refused to let his children inherit the house.

Initially, Gulbooi Phalane was married to Andronica Phalane in community of property in December 1969.

The couple had two children and bought a house in Lebowakgomo Zone A.

Due to patriarchal norms at the time, the house was under Gulbooi's name.

In October 1976, the couple divorced and Gulbooi Phalane forfeited the entire joint estate.

He left the property with Andronica to raise their two children, Phahle Phalane and Mahlaku Jermina Mphahlele.

After their divorce, in January 1977, the title deed was eventually issued, and it was registered under Gulbooi's name.

Even though the house was under Gulbooi's name, Andronica continued to pay for the bond as well as municipality rates. 

In December 1986, Gulbooi got married to Cynthia and they got a house in Masodi village, about 130 kilometers from the property occupied by Andronica.

In April 1995, the former couple agreed to change the names of the title deed from Gulbooi to Andronica, however, due to some delays, the transfer was never finalised.

In July 2008, Gulbooi passed away and he was buried in Masodi village where he lived with Cynthia.

Andronica continued to fight to have the property registered under her name. However, she passed on in November 2019 while her declarator application was still pending.

Aware that their mother was engaged in a legal battle to have the house in her name, her children continued with the application.

In court, Phahle, Gulbooi and Andronica's son, testified that he was born in 1967 two years before his parents could get married.

He knew that his parents had jointly purchased the property prior their 1976 divorce and he also knew that the title deed was only issued after their divorce in 1977.

He said he lived in the property with his mother and only moved out when he bought his own house. In 2014, he took his mother to live with him because she was sick.

The house was then rented out to various tenants.

He acknowledged Cynthia as his stepmother but indicated that she never lived on the property.

He added that when his father died, as part of their culture, his coffin never went past the property, however, his mother's coffin went past the house because she had lived there for over 30 years.

To support her brother's testimony, Mphahlele said her mother solely paid for the bond and municipality rates up to her death.

She said she still had the receipts of payments, and they were in her father's name only because the property had never been changed from his father’s names to her mother's names.

She added that she was shocked to discover that Cynthia was claiming the property as part of her late father’s estate.

She said in recent years, Cynthia kicked out their tenants and replaced them with her own tenants who subsequently paid rent to her.

In her defence, Cynthia said the property was not part of the property forfeited by Gulbooi to Andronica because it was only acquired after their divorce.

She confirmed that Andronica had occupied the property for more than 30 years but insisted that she stayed there with the permission of the owner, Gulbooi.

She insisted that Gulbooi was the one paying for the property but could not produce proof thereof.

Regarding the money that was paid by Andronica over the years, she said was a tenant because Gulbooi allowed her to continue living in the house as an act of kindness.

Acting judge Malose Monene said he was not persuaded that Cynthia had built a case.

"All that I have is a widow who wants property against a typhoon of facts all militating against her claim on all the basis of a declaratory order raised by the plaintiffs (Andronica's children)."

The judge said Gulbooi forfeited the entire estate during the divorce, and it can't be said the house belongs to him because of logistics regarding the registration of the property.

Moreover, it was added that Andronica paid off the house, her stay at the property was uninterrupted and it was never challenged by Gulbooi.

"The property was never his in life and was not regarded as such by anybody even at his burial time," said the judge.

Based on the evidence, the judge declared Andronica as the lawful owner of the property and added that she was the owner before her death.

The deeds office in Polokwane was directed to register the property into Andronica's name.

Meanwhile, Cynthia was ordered to pay the costs of the application.

sinenhlanhla.masilela@iol.co.za

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