Divorce hearing

Two weeks had passed and no one heard anything from Thandi. S’bu had moved back to the mansion hoping to feel closer to her and maybe get some clues on where she could have gone. He had gone to different television stations and on social media urging her to come back home or at least let him know that she was okay but there was no response. S’bu was starting to wonder if Thandi had managed to leave the country like she was planning to when he received a call from the highest court in the country informing him that it had received a divorce application. He was informed that the hearing will be held the following week. He didn’t know if he should celebrate or be sad. At least he now had a confirmation that Thandi was okay but if she approached the highest court in the country it meant that she was more determined than ever to divorce him. “You have to forgive me baby, there is no way that I am ever letting you go” he said looking at her portrait. He then took out his phone, called his uncle Zake informing him that he needed a lawyer.

“The court has set a date for our divorce hearing”Thandi told Amahle. She had spent the past two weeks sending evidence to human rights lawyers of unfair treatment by local court who set her divorce hearing date for ten years time. It did not take much convincing for the court to decide that the original date was absurd and the judge involved was called for disciplinary hearing.

“I can’t wait for all of this to be over now. I miss normal life, meeting friends and going out for ice cream” Amahle said.

“I know baby, we don’t have to hide after the hearing. You can meet your friends and have as much ice cream as you want”Thandi said. She was also tired of hiding and missed normal life.

The day of the hearing had come. The journalists were all around the high court. Thandi recognised the faces, they were all so familiar, she had spent the past eight months avoiding them. She got off the car and walked into the court holding Amahle with one hand and Sipho with another. They walked in and sat next to five human right lawyers that were representing her. S’bu saw them walk in and completely broke down. He still could not believe how he terrorised the people who mattered so much to him. Thandi noticed that the Jobe’s, Dlamini’s and Sbu’s friends all came out in their numbers. She browsed through her emails, avoiding any contact with them.

Everyone was instructed to stand, the judge walked in and instructed everyone to sit down. The hearing started with Thandi’s lawyers giving details of every unfair treatment, prejudice and abuse she has suffered because of her husband. They also stated that Thandi wants divorce and custody of her children. She was deferring anything else she had claim over.

After the tea break, it was Zake’s turn to respond and represent S’bu. He caught everyone completely off guard when he thanked the human rights lawyers for representing Thandi. He told the court that he will not dispute anything the lawyers have said because it was all true and that the Jobe family was very ashamed for the way they treated Thandi.

“Your honour it is important for me to state that Thandiswa and S’busiso are bound by a rare connection that this court is unlikely to be able to break” Zake said. He called S’bu’s grandmother who gave details of how Thandi and S’bu were married by ancestors three years before their actual white wedding. “Normally, two cows or sheep from both families are slaughtered and the mixing of their blood represent the union of the couple. In their case, it was their actual blood that united them and I don’t know of any way to separate them. That is how our great grandparents got married” S’bu’s grandmother explained to the court. Zake called Bonga as an expert in culture and traditions. Bonga had a PhD and extensive knowledge of culture and traditions. Bonga told everyone that according to his research there was no divorce back in the days when married couples were bound by their actual blood. That was the reason the tradition changed and couples were now represented by animals and their blood. Zake then told the court that if it disregarded the traditions and decided to divorce the two, S’bu also wanted custody of both his children and Thandi could not defer anything because everything the two of them own was already under her name. Thandi paged through the file her lawyers passed to her. S’bu had transferred everything under her name. JC, all the properties, all the cars and everything in the bank was under her name.

“I don’t want any of this!” she cried.

The lawyers were now stuck on how to proceed. They had experience in fighting for what their clients deserved but in this instance both parties were refusing to claim the wealth. Thandi’s lawyers told the court that Thandi is seaking divorce on her white wedding and will address the traditional one, traditionally. They also stated that S’bu had no right in asking for custody of Sipho when he had publicly denied him as his son. They also suggested that since Amahle will be 18 years old in few months, the court should let her choose which parent she wants. They ended by asking the court to instruct S’bu to reverse everything he had transferred under Thandi’s name because she did not want it.The hearing was taking a long time, Sipho was getting tired of sitting in one place. He was too young to understand what was happening. He was pacing between the court benches moving from Thandi to Amahle when he caught sight of S’bu.

“Daddy!” he shouted running to him, attracting everyone’s attention.

S’bu picked him up, placed him on his lap and tears rolled down his face. He had denied and ignored him, yet Sipho was still so happy to see him.

Zake could not believe his luck. It was going to be hard for him to convince the court that S’bu was a good father and deserved at least shared custody of his children because everyone knew that he had publicly denied Sipho and Amahle wanted nothing to do with him. Sipho running to S’bu was the only proof that S’bu was a good Father and his children needed him in their lives.

Zake and Thandi’s lawyers went back and forth the whole day and could not agree on anything until the judge decided that the two parties should have a mediation and come back when they come to an agreement. The court ruled that S’bu should be allowed access to spend time with his children as it was clear to everyone that Sipho missed his Father very much. This meant that Thandi had to move back to the city. Both parents were prohibited from taking the children out of the country until the hearing was concluded. Thandi would have preferred to leave the court as soon as possible to avoid contact with everyone but Sipho was still with S’bu and she could not leave him behind.