By Bahle Gama
Incarcerated former MP Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza has told his second wife Hloniphile that he is broke and cannot afford to give her the E50 000 maintenance fee she is demanding.
In his answering affidavit filed on Tuesday afternoon, he stated that he has three wives and 16 children, therefore where does Hloniphile expect him to have such a gigantic amount monthly just for her and their three children?
“Using her grossly unreasonable claim as a yardstick how much then would I have to raise to support my entire family every month her claim is misplaced,” he submitted.
Bacede said Hloniphile should be graduating at UNESWA this year, and even if she were to be immediately employed, he doubts she would receive a net salary of E50,000. A fact he said shows how unrealistic her claim is.
Bacede told the court that when he was incarcerated, the children he has with Hloniphile were enrolled in Manzini, not in Mbabane as alluded to in her affidavit.
“I neither know the Mbabane-based school where she has enrolled our children nor did she consult me in this regard. It cannot be said I consented in the circumstances,” he said.
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He stated that when he was arrested in July 2021, he and Hloniphile had established their matrimonial home at Coates Valley in Manzini, and these were leased premises.
Bacede alluded that Hloniphile secretly orchestrated a plan to leave their marital home with their children upon seeing that his term in office as a Member of Parliament was coming to an end and would negatively impact his income.
He alleged that Hloniphile ensured that he received his last salary at the end of October 2023, before implementing her plan at the beginning of November of the same year.
“She clandestinely left our matrimonial home at night for reasons and destinations unknown to me,” he stated.
Bacede noted that Hloniphile boasts that they are legally married, yet she conducts herself in a manner that offends their marriage.
He said by consenting to marry him, Hloniphile decided to leave her parents and stay at her matrimonial home with her family, including himself and their children.
He cited that because he is incarcerated and in a helpless state is not a general licence for his wife to do, as she pleases, and abuse our children to satisfy her selfish desires.
Bacede questioned why his wife relocated to reside with her mother who is a police officer in a police compound is, wherein he said what boggles his mind is why Hloniphile would hatch out a relocation plan if all her intentions were good.
Conveniently after he had lost his dependable source of income and his business ventures had failed, courtesy of his arrest.
He stated that during his arrest, they had commenced building their matrimonial home at Ngongola, and when his bail application attempts failed, together with Hloniphile, they put their heads together and agreed to prioritise the completion of the homestead.
This was a means to cut rental expenses regarding the rented home at Coates Valley.
He said he harnessed all money he had access to including his gratuity and channelled every cent towards completing the homestead at Ngongola with an ultimatum set for December 15, 2023.
Hloniphile is said to have been extensively involved during the construction exercise and she chose fittings and finishings of her choice.
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“Therefore, I was taken aback when she left during the night in November 2023, at a stage when the final touch-ups were being done at the Ngongola homestead. I cannot stop asking myself what she wants from me, or rather seeks to achieve,” he submitted.
He said that having been with Hloniphile for almost a decade, he thought he knew her, but only now does he realise through her conduct that he was mistaken.
Bacede said it seems to him that his wife’s apparent ulterior motives are way more than what meets the eye.
“If she is at a point where she wants freedom from our marriage, this is something which I don’t have control over and I cannot stand in her way, regardless of how sad I feel.
However, we should ensure that our innocent children do not unnecessarily suffer,” he said.
Becede suggested that their children could reside with his other two wives together with their half-siblings. One is at Mphaka and the other at Luve.
Also, they can reside at his parental homestead at Hosea with his mother, siblings, and many other supportive relatives and helpers.
He argued that the children he has with Hloniphile have never been exposed to a compound set up like where his mother-in-law resides, because even their home at Coates Valley is stand-alone.
He reiterated that he loves his children and does not need a pronouncement by the court that he must maintain them.
However, “she is presently frustrating me in discharging my duties in this regard because she unilaterally makes decisions and once she hits a wall, she comes back with demands far beyond my means.”
He further stated that he has been in custody for almost three years but has never stopped trying his best to support his family through the pension of E12,000 he receives as a former MP.
“It pains me that just because I no longer have money, she can then distastefully treat me in the manner she is and use our innocent children in the process,” he said.
Bacede also admitted that he has a huge family consisting of 16 children who cannot be sufficiently sustained by the pension he receives, and extended gratitude to his extended family, specifically his siblings for their continued support in financing his direct family needs whilst incarcerated.
He further questioned why Hloniphile does not reside with her mother at Ngongola if she wants emotional support as she claims, just as it had been the case at Coates Valley.
“As things stand, it is difficult to seek any financial support from my family for neither myself nor they know the whereabouts of the children and the conditions under which they live,” he said.
He further alluded that Hlobsile is using the children in a quest to drain money from him, which he unfortunately no longer has.
He added that he would continue trying his best to support his family, but they must all appreciate that things have drastically changed and negatively so,
because “I no longer have the money I used to have before my incarceration and all my businesses failed.”
