Divorce judgement from the Johannesburg High Court. The only real issue in dispute was the distribution of the assets in the joint estate, particularly the plaintiff’s interest in a pension fund worth over R7 million. The plaintiff claimed a forfeiture of the benefits in relation to her pension fund on the basis of the defendant’s gross misconduct throughout the marriage in addition to his making very little contribution to the joint estate.
Adams J found that based on the testimony given, including that of the parties’ adult children, the defendant was very abusive towards the plaintiff and the children, and he had not meaningfully contributed towards the joint estate. However, the marriage was one of long duration. Therefore, an order of partial forfeiture was granted in that the plaintiff retained her entire pension fund and the defendant retained the immovable properties, with no order as to costs.