Secret divorce was news to her

A wealthy businesswoman has laid a charge of fraud against her lawyer husband for allegedly divorcing her behind her back.

Marilyn Mofomme, 45, claims that her husband, Mpho, got his girlfriend to pretend to be his wife to fool the sheriff serving the divorce summons.

Mofomme said she would not have known her husband had divorced her if not for a friend who overheard people talking about it at a funeral.

"She called to ask if it were true. I told her it was not and that my husband was a reputable lawyer and would not fraudulently divorce me. I was shocked when I discovered that he had indeed divorced me," she said.

Mofomme, whose 52-year-old husband moved out of their home in the Pretoria suburb of Faerie Glen in June, has filed an application for the divorce to be rescinded.

Mpho Mofomme did not deny the claims. He fumed: "I do not know you, or how you got this number. This is a very confidential phone. I am not going to comment on any story. I am not a celebrity and I do not see how this will be in the interest of the public. "

Ga-rankuwa police spokesman Mathews Nkoadi could not confirm that a complaint had been made because his computer was "down because of cable theft".

The drama started in January when sheriff Refiloe Moeletsi received a letter from Mofomme Attorneys, instructing the sheriffs' office to serve summons on Mofomme's wife.

"The sheriff's office called a number provided and a woman confirmed that she was Mrs Mofomme. An arrangement was made for her to collect the summons," Marilyn Mofomme said.

"Two days later the woman arrived but she could not be served with the summons because she was not carrying an identity document, and when she came back on February 3 with the identity document she was served with the divorce papers. That was definitely not me."

Marilyn Mofomme went to the Ga-rankuwa Regional Court to contest the divorce. The court arranged an identity parade so that the deputy sheriff could point out the woman who collected the summons but "the deputy sheriff said she was not in the line-up, though I was".

The court heard that the telephone number Mpho Mofomme gave to the sheriff's office was that of his girlfriend, whom his wife says has "moved in with him into our Hartbeespoort house".