The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has confirmed a landmark eviction order in a contentious property dispute arising from protracted divorce proceedings, addressing enforceable rights against third parties in cases of divorce. The case involved the rights of a divorcing couple and those of the buyers of the property in a situation where the house became central in protracted divorce proceedings that went on for more than 15 years. The dispute pertained to a family home that was sold by Mr M (who cannot be identified because of South African divorce laws) to Cara Masureik and Joost van Lier.
The sale came as Mr M and his wife Mrs M were involved in a bitterly contested dispute over who could live in the house. At the heart of the dispute were complex questions about the nature of marital property rights, the enforceability of accrual claims against purchasers and the narrow procedural route for challenging final SCA judgments. Mrs M, who was living in the house, was locked in extended divorce proceedings with Mr M, from whom she was estranged.
They were married out of community of property with the accrual system, meaning upon divorce each spouse would be entitled to half of everything the other had acquired during the marriage. Mr M in the meantime sold their matrimonial home, but Mrs M resisted eviction and launched multiple legal challenges. The Western Cape High Court granted an eviction order in favour of Masureik and Van Lier in December 2023, finding that Mrs M no longer had legal rights to continue living in the house they had bought.
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The court dismissed arguments that the sale and transfer were unlawful, or that evicting Mrs M would breach her constitutional rights such as dignity and access to courts. To overturn the order, Mrs M argued that as a spouse married out of community of property, she held a proprietary interest in her husband’s assets ― including the property — which should have protected her right to continue living in the house. She argued that her contingent accrual right ought to shield the property from disposal or at least warrant an interdict to prevent the sale pending divorce proceedings.
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