JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – Losing presidential candidate Joseph Makamba Busha is embroiled in a messy divorce battle with his South African wife.
The millionaire investment fund manager was on Tuesday ordered to pay his wife, Nomakhwezi, R30,000 monthly maintenance pending a report by a family advocate on child access rights and custody of their three children.
Nomakhwezi was demanding R69,000 per month at the North Gauteng High Court, after telling a judge that Busha had “cut her off financially” after he commenced divorce proceedings in December last year.
Busha, whose company JM BUSHA Investment Group (Pty) Ltd reportedly manages over R5 billion in retirement funds, was accused by his estranged wife of cutting off their Wifi and Dstv, repossessing a Mercedes-Benz E280 he bought her and also removing here and the children from a medical aid scheme.
In his answering affidavit, Busha said his wife’s car was not taken from her but the vehicle was mechanically unsound and could not be driven.
He added that their home wi-fi was not necessary as their children did not use it. He also denied the physical abuse claims.
With regards to the medical aid, he said he removed himself and one of their children from their scheme in October 2017 before joining another one in October last year.
“I am responsible for the reasonable medical needs of the family and have never shirked this responsibility,” he wrote.
Speaking after the hearing, Nomakhwezi’s lawyer Graeme Krawitz said: “The judge made an order that he must pay R30,000 a month maintenance pending the outcome of the family advocate’s report and must give her back her car; put her children on medical aid and pay for the maids, car repairs and schooling.”
Describing Busha as an “extremely wealthy man”, Nomakhwezi claimed her husband of nine years stopped her from running a catering business because he wanted her to be a housewife.
She said Busha used to give her R20,000 every month to run the household. She spent R10,000 of that money on groceries.
Since divorce proceedings commenced in December, she claimed Busha had moved out of their suburban home to stay in their cottage. He had become physically abusive and she had to obtain a protection order, the court heard.
Busha, who denies the abuse charges, was now giving his wife R7,000 monthly while the divorce progresses.
Nomakhwezi said the money was too little as she demanded R14,000 for food, R6,000 for entertainment, R4,700 for a domestic worker, R10,000 for clothing, beauty and haircare (R4,000), cellphone and landline (R1,000), data (R1,000), gym (R800), petrol (R3,000), magazines and periodicals (R500), parking (R300) and medical aid (R8,000) for a total of R69,000. The judge granted her R30,000.
“Since he cut us off, it has been very tough. I had to seek relief from back home in KwaZulu-Natal even though he was still buying a few items for the kids. I have been a stay-at-home mom with the children. I know what type of food they eat and for them to be cut off, I’ve had to chip in and seek relief from my family,” she said.
Busha, of the FreeZim Congress party, came fourth in a field of 24 candidates in the 2018 presidential race after polling 17,566 votes.
