Couple in court after dreams of marriage fall apart
A woman hoping to heal her hurting heart with a big payday left Molepolole Magistrate Court disappointed last week.
36-year-old Nandi Letlhoma had dragged her former fiancé, Kabelo Tshekoyagae, 52, to court demanding P30, 000 for breach of promise to marry.
She left without a Thebe.
The mother-of-six, all from a previous relationship, told court she met Tshekoyagae, who also had children of his own, in 2013. Head over heels in love, within a year of their whirlwind romance the couple were engaged.
“In 2015 we bought rings and clothes for our wedding ceremony after buying household properties like a wardrobe,” testified Letlhoma, unable to suppress a smile at the six-year-old memory.
Two years later, however, the love affair cooled.
“The misunderstanding began in 2017 after I caught him with his concubine. When I asked him, he claimed the woman was his workmate,” continued Letlhoma, adding she sought advice from numerous people before eventually taking the legal route.
Disputing his ex-girlfriend’s accusations, Tshekoyagae insisted the woman in question was neither a lover nor a workmate but in fact his daughter.
Growing increasingly emotional, he claimed Letlhoma once reduced him to tears, telling court she had threatened to leave him and bought a black bin bag to collect her clothes.
“She once said she was bewitched, her relatives did not want her to be married.”
He further maintained their dreams of marriage were destroyed by Lethlhoma’s refusal to accept his children.
“Our mix-up started when she did not want my first-born child. After we bought the rings, I requested that we discuss the issue of children, she said her children will stay with her mother and she did not want to be stressed by other women’s children.”
Bursting into tears, Tshekoyagae added he had given Letlhoma not just his heart but his hard-earned cash as well.
“I loved this woman true love but she disappointed me, even our marriage attire is with the tailors. I assisted her to support her children. My money has finished. Whenever I got paid, I gave her all my salary. I do not have money to pay her, I finished my money on her!” he charged, torn between sadness and anger.
Telling court of his difficult upbringing, Tshekoyagae claimed his mother tried to sell him to a Zimbabwean woman when he was 15 and that his stepfather regularly abused him.
Believing he had finally found his soulmate, Tshekoyagae said he maintained Letlhoma’s children every month, spending most of his P6, 000 monthly wage on her and her six kids.
“I even have two beds and television that I bought at your place; I gave all I have,” continued the upset man, breaking down with emotion.
Tshekoyagae’s witness, Nametsego Kgosiyang, 44, testified that he was a longtime friend to both.
“Whenever they had a misunderstanding, they called me for counselling, either over the phone or we’d have a meeting,” he explained, adding every time he tried to unite the couple, it seemed Letlhoma disrespected her boyfriend.
“She would even leave him for two days not knowing where she was and failing to answer his phone calls,” stated Kgosiyang.
In the end, Magistrate Kefilwe Resheng dismissed the case and told Letlhoma she would not be getting any compensation.
“From the evidence led it is clear that what caused the rift between you and the defendant was the issue of his children. The defendant stated that you found it hard to accept his children; this is the thing that caused him to repudiate the agreement to marry you. Children are a fundamental basis of every marriage, especially those born in previous relationships,” ruled Resheng.
