A woman who had a child with her husband’s friend and publicly celebrated the child on Facebook will forfeit her share of her husband’s pension after a Johannesburg court, South Africa, ruled that awarding her half would amount to an “undue benefit” and humiliation for the husband.
The couple married in community of property in January 2011. The wife instituted divorce proceedings in August 2024, asking for the dissolution of the marriage and an equal division of the joint estate. While both parties agreed the marriage had irretrievably broken down, the husband asked the South Gauteng High Court to deny her 50% of his pension payout from the Municipal Gratuity Fund after it emerged she was involved with his friend and had a baby with him.
According to his testimony, the husband discovered the relationship and “chased her away from the marital home” because he found the situation intolerable. He also said he had supported the family financially throughout the marriage while his wife did not work, later learning she and his friend were expecting a child after seeing a Facebook post about her baby shower.
