Ex-girlfriend evicts wife from house

The woman, Evelyn Tshabalala, is currently embroiled in a dispute over a four roomed RDP house in Bophelong which she said was owned by her late husband. Tshabalala’s late husband had been living with a girlfriend where the two were renting and they are said to have jointly registered for an RDP house which was later issued. Tshabalala said that she met her late husband in 2007 long after he had separated from the girlfriend. He was then already living in the house in Bophelong Extension 1, they got married and were blessed with one child.

In 2017 the husband died following a short illness, and trouble began. While in mourning the ex-girlfriend is said to have come back into the picture, demanding that Tshabalala and her child vacate the house. The woman apparently claimed that her name is on the title deed and that she was the sole owner of the house now that Tshabalala’s husband was deceased. The family was apparently threatened with violence if they did not vacate the house and this led to both Tshabalala and the woman opening protection orders against each other.

The matter has already been to the Vanderbijlpark Magistrates Court where the magistrate ruled that the two women should share the house 50/50. What bothers Tshabalala is that the claimant, who is apparently from Lesotho, has her own house and only wants the house Tshabalala is in because she wants to give it to her brother.

“She once tried to sell it and sent people here who told me that they had bought the house for R110 000 but I would not budge. Where am I supposed to go? This is my late husband’s house. I just want to warn all women out there that while their husbands are alive they need to check every piece of paperwork so that they are not left in the lurch with their children,” Tshabalala said.

Although Sedibeng Ster could not reach the other woman for comment, a copy of the handwritten statement (Protection order) that she wrote against Tshabalala states that she is also entitled to the house. In it she said that she used to have fights now and then with the late boyfriend. Following the fights, she would then go away and come back after some time (two months at the most) after the boyfriend called her back and apologised. The woman said in the statement that when she heard of her boyfriend’s death she came back only to find Tshabalala in the house.

“I want my house because my name is the one on the title deed,” the woman said. Tshabalala is however standing her ground and states that it is impossible for her to give the women the house and that she does not have the money to buy the 50% stake from the woman for the house as advised by the court. “The woman was long out of my husbands’ life. Why does she resurface immediately after he dies? She was not married to him, I was. And where am I supposed to go with my child? This is the only place we call home. All she wants is for us to go so she can sell the house and nothing else.

“I just want to advise other women out there that they need to make sure that their things are in order or else they will find themselves in the same situation that I am in. I also want to tell men that they need to be careful as there are women out there who are only after their money and property. They need to be careful and not leave their families in a mess when they either separate or die.” The case goes back to court in Vanderbijlpark later this year.