A divorcing husband asked the Western Cape High Court to order that his wife forfeit her share of their assets upon divorce, as he claimed she squandered millions of rand they have accumulated in assets over the years on gambling.

The wife, in turn, said she only gambled for entertainment, and she told the court that she only spent small amounts on this pastime. The wife turned to court to obtain a divorce from her husband, a medical doctor, and she asked that their estate be divided equally, as they are married in community of property.

The husband, in a counterclaim, asked that because of her gambling, she either forfeited her half or a portion of the joint assets. While the wife alleged abuse by her husband for the break-up of the marriage, the husband, in turn, said it was because of her “compulsive gambling addiction”. 

The wife testified how, at various stages of the marriage, she has contributed financially to their joint estate, and she said it was only when they encountered financial problems that the marriage went sour.

She conceded that she started gambling socially around 2012 when her son turned three and was at school. At that point, she had won about R4,000 from the R500 her mother had given her. The wife said that gambling became an enjoyable habit for her to have fun. She could not give a definitive figure of the amounts gambled over time in total.

She admitted taking money from the business she ran to fund her gambling habits. She said she used her winnings towards household expenses. The husband’s evidence was that his wife’s gambling has resulted in significant financial losses to the joint estate. He said she withdrew and gambled substantial sums from the joint accounts and the business accounts.

According to him, the gambling losses ran into millions of rands. He testified that his wife would be unduly benefited if she were to receive half of the joint estate, given her conduct and limited contribution to the growth of their joint estate. He said, “one cannot claim or get what they do not deserve or work for”.

In countering his claims of her “gambling addiction,” the wife said he also likes to try his hand at gambling on occasions. According to her, he further uses household money to play the Lotto.

Counsel for the husband argued that using the wife’s own testimony, where she said she only went to the casino about three times a week, at an average of R5,000 per visit for approximately the past five years, this equates to a minimum of R3.9 million in gambling expenditure. It was argued that this figure equates to a substantial portion of the joint estate that was wasted by gambling.

The court accepted that the wife, by her own admission, gambled. Evidently, this gambling was probably more than social, as the wife would have the court believe, but the court said there was no proof that this habit was an addiction which impacted on the estate.

It was found that there is not a basis for a court to order forfeiture. “The evidence which this court accepts is that both spouses, to a greater and lesser extent, gambled or alternatively tended to go to gambling areas,” the court concluded.

zelda.venter@inl.co.za

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