Two Cases, Two Outcomes: The Factual Matrix of S.M v N.M and B.S v K.W.S
The contrasting outcomes in S.M v N.M (D6667/2024) [2024] ZAKZDHC 54 (28 August 2024) and B.S v K.W.S (2025/027511) [2025] ZAGPPHC 1085 (26 September 2025) provide a striking illustration of divergent judicial responses to lengthy Rule 43 applications. Both matters
When Ten Days Wasn’t Enough: The Van Wyks’ Journey to the Constitutional Court
The seed of this constitutional challenge was planted in the lived reality of a Johannesburg couple facing a choice no family should have to make. Werner and Ika van Wyk were expecting their first child. Mrs van Wyk operated two businesses, and
Factual Matrix: A Rule 43 Application Following Talaq and Divorce Summons
The applicant and respondent in S.W v A.L (Case No 2025-094930) [2025] ZAWCHC 440 were pensioners who had married each other on 16 September 2019 in accordance with Muslim rites and Shariah law. This was notably their second marriage to one another, having been
From Rule 43 Relief to Repeated Refusal: The Factual Matrix of Mounting Non-Compliance
The factual backdrop to this contempt application reveals a distressing pattern of deliberate defiance that began almost immediately after Mahomed AJ granted interim relief in terms of Rule 43 of the Uniform Rules of Court on 25 January 2024. The order was
Factual Matrix and Procedural History: From Closed Pleadings to Constitutional Development
The parties in this matter were married out of community of property, excluding the accrual system, pursuant to a duly registered antenuptial contract. The respondent husband instituted divorce proceedings in the Mpumalanga Division on 19 August 2021, seeking a decree of divorce, primary care
The Factual Matrix: When Husbands Want to Take Their Wives’ Surnames
The facts giving rise to this landmark constitutional challenge present a stark illustration of how outdated legislation can collide with modern family choices and constitutional values. The case involved two couples who found themselves constrained by the gendered provisions of section 26(1)(a)-(c) of the
Factual Background and Procedural History
The case A.C v H.C (2024/148225), decided on 28 July 2025 in the Gauteng Local Division, Johannesburg, addressed a Rule 43 application for interim relief in a matrimonial dispute. The applicant (A.C) sought several forms of pendente lite relief while divorce proceedings were contemplated. Specifically, she requested:
Primary residence of
Factual Matrix: From Rule 43 Order to Contempt Proceedings
The factual backdrop to this matter illustrates the unfortunate reality facing many maintenance beneficiaries in South Africa. The parties, former spouses with a three-and-a-half-year-old son, found themselves embroiled in protracted maintenance enforcement proceedings following the respondent’s systematic non-compliance with a Rule 43 order.
On 22 January
A Decade of Persistent Litigation: The Factual Matrix
The factual landscape of this matter presents a striking example of how matrimonial disputes can spiral into prolonged abuse of court processes. The saga began with the granting of a divorce order by the Western Cape High Court on 26 August 2020, but rather than marking the
Factual Matrix: Relocation Assessment and Parental Cooperation in Cross-Border Child Relocation
The factual foundation of this Western Cape High Court decision reveals the complex procedural and substantive challenges inherent in international child relocation disputes where parental cooperation is contested. The applicant mother sought judicial intervention to compel the respondent father’s participation in a relocation assessment