Just four years ago, the duo of Moemedi and Thelma Senwelo were running a profitable CRACKiT Tuition together as husband and wife.
Today, the two, whose divorce was finalised last year in November, are at loggerheads, the papered cracks in their tumultuous relationship now a gaping window into both their personal and business lives.
The two former lovebirds walked down the isle on March 30th in 2019, but parted ways three years later.
“I gave my wife a business to manage. She made money and stopped being submissive as a wife and that’s why we divorced,” was the ex-husband’s response on why the marriage didn’t last.
According to Moemedi, he founded both CRACKiT and Energetic Market Solutions (EMS), the latter which he eventually handed to his wife in 2021 for her to run the Francistown, Maun, Phakalane, Palapye and Lobatse franchises.
Today the former lovebirds are fighting from different corners as the relationship between EMS and CRACKiT comes to an abrupt bitter end.
“In an exclusive interview with The Voice on Tuesday, EMS former Director accused her ex-husband of harassment.
An unimpressed Thelma told this publication that, since their split, her ex-hubby has been targeting her businesses, harassing staff and attempting to confiscate property that does not belong to him.
She said her ex sent people to her business in Phakalane, where they grabbed files and other important documents.
“He did the same thing in Palapye and Francistown. He’s probably heading to Maun and Lobatse,” said a concerned Thelma.
She said the harassment is confusing to clients, who no longer know who to trust.
“They illegally accessed our mailing data base and have been calling our customers, telling them that I was running an illegal business. This man is using our personal differences to tarnish my name and sabotage my business,” she said.
She further told The Voice that her ex husband and his team have been holding meetings with some of her customers telling them that she’s operating an illegal business.
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“I have invested so much in the franchise and I therefore deserve better treatment. If you want to know the impact I made in the CRACKiT brand, just go read the book written by my ex-husband, where she described me as a bold and assertive woman, and an eagle that fought alongside him in the trenches,” she said.
Thelma, who now operates a tuition outfit under the name Dream World Academy, explained that after the divorce it was difficult to run the business, “Especially after he brought his new girlfriend into the business, who orchestrated the firing of many employees thought to be loyal to me,” she said.
She further accused her ex of mistreating employees, and failing to honour contractual obligations such as salaries and rentals.
“So, looking at all these, I decided to disinvest from CRACKiT,” she said.
However, in an interview with The Voice on Wednesday morning, the ex-husband gave a completely different view from his former spouse and business partner.
“I gave my wife EMS to run and manage as a franchise on an 18-year contract,” explained Moemedi.
He said he was shocked when recently his ex-wife sent him a letter of termination.
“I soon realised that this was not a termination, she was still running my business under a different name. She had already transferred everything to Dream World Academy, which belongs to her brother,” said Moemedi.
The irate ex-husband said the new business has stolen 839 of his customers, who have no idea that they’re no longer part of CRACKiT.
“What she did is fraud, and I’m fighting for what’s rightfully mine. It is a breach of contract, and we’re filing an urgent application to stop Dream World from operating,” he said and further explained that the franchise had a monthly turnover of P850,000.
The couple met in 2017 when Thelma worked as a tutor at one of Moemedi’s establishments. She later went into management and the two dated and married two years later.
“When I met her, she was seven months pregnant, I took her in and today even that baby only knows me as the father,” Moemedi told The Voice, adding that he also paid for her Masters, which she never finished.
“I’m saying all these things to show you that I always had her interests at heart, but it seems she has always had ulterior motives,” said a dejected looking Moemedi.