The Voice (Francistown)
Nomsa Ndlovu
20 May 2008
Francistown — Details of adultery, where a cheating husband was caught red-handed in bed with his mistress, were aired at Maun customary court on Monday morning. The aggrieved wife is claiming P60 000 as compensation from the woman who is tearing her love-nest apart.
Sitting next to her husband's snobbish mistress, Gaone Masole, daughter to Councillor Gaditshwane Mmutle of Shorobe Village in the Ngamiland district, looked anything but a happy wife.
"My husband told me that she is carrying his child and bringing her here is wasting my time; he is the one who is going to pay compensation for her," she said
Not only has Laurene Onneetse Sokwe broken down her 10-year marriage, said Masole, but she has also ignited endless fiery fights between her and her husband.
Appearing before Go-Tawana Chief's Representative Kgosi Labane Meno, Gaone Masole explained how her husband Dumani Masole's illegitimate affair with Sokwe came to her knowledge. She was at her work place, A to Z Mica Build, on a date unrecalled when her brother entered her office in the company of a man who introduced himself as the accused's uncle.
"This man requested me to warn my husband against his love affair with his niece stating how he loathed the way he frequented their yard with disrespect as if he was not married. As a family, they were against what was happening as it hindered their daughter from finding a non-committed man to marry her. If I failed to warn him, he had said, I was going to be sorry for what they were going to do to him," she said.
Masole said she immediately investigated the matter and was shocked to find her husband's car parked at his lover's gate and the two lovers in a lovey-dovey mood inside. A fight between the two women ensued.
Sokwe ran into their yard and Masole pursued only to be stopped by the defendant's grandmother who demanded to know what was going on. "I told her that I had followed my husband who was having an affair with their daughter but the old lady seemed to be in the dark about what I was talking about. She told me that she always saw a lot of men trafficking the yard and she didn't know who amongst them was my husband."
It was then that Sokwe allegedly confessed to the affair.
Masole said from there, all attempts to end her husband's illicit affair, including getting her brother-in law to reconcile them, failed. Instead, the adulterous affair seemed to intensify. She alleged her husband became even abusive to her, publicly.
One incident, she said, was when, after pleading with her husband not to assault her in front of the Sokwe family, he took her home and beat her in the presence of his brother. He allegedly also attempted to shoot but was stopped by his brother.
"I later found my way out of the house, jumped into my car and drove to the police where I reported the matter. But when we arrived home he was nowhere to be seen. We later found him sleeping at his friend's place where the police took away the gun and advised us to return home and seek counselling from our brother. They also referred me to the customary court saying that they were powerless over the matter as it was a civil case," said Masole.
The following day, she said, her husband's mistress called to taunt her. "Then a day after, she called again with her cell-phone number hidden. She apologized for hurting me, stating that she had parted ways with Masole and will never be seen in his company."
The promise was never kept as Sokwe tormented her with phone calls until she sought intervention of the police. Police investigations helped expose Sokwe and the two women were confronted. She was warned about the implications of having an affair with a married man.
"To my surprise I caught her in bed with my husband just a few days after her statement before the police. My husband and I engaged in a fierce fight while she locked herself in her house."
Gaone Masole's brother, Thebe Mmutle, also gave evidence. He said that on the night in question, he was sleeping when at 02:00hs he was woken by his brother in-law. Mmutle said his brother-in law explained that "he was in hot soup as his wife had caught him in bed with another woman. I gave him a place to sleep and in the morning I asked him to take me to his girlfriend's place. When we arrived there, we found my sister with her in-laws inspecting her car that her husband had slammed into one of the Sokwe houses as he tried to escape."
In her defence, Sokwe said that she was not in love with Masole but the man was the one pestering for her love. She said it was a lie that Masole's husband was caught sleeping at her place. That day, in the middle of the night, she said she was awoken by a noise outside her house only to find the estranged couple at loggerheads.
"I took my mobile phone and called my cousin who was with them and asked what was happening. He told me that the complaint had found her husband in our yard. Knowing that the wife suspected me to be ruining her marriage, I went back to bed and left the two to sort out their problem," she said.
Kgosi Meno found Sokwe's explanation unbelievable and postponed the case so Sokwe can bring forward her grandmother and sister who she said were her witnesses.
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