There was no marriage between insurance billionaire Douw Steyn and Donne Botha, the high court in Durban ruled this week as it dismissed a claim instituted by Botha.
Invitation cards were issued, family and friends of Botha were flown from SA to London at Steyn's expense. A wedding planner was on standby in London. A wedding dress was made by top London designers. All the guests were housed in London at the expense of Steyn.However, the wedding was not registered — and Botha said the reason for this failure was that such a registration could not have happened at short notice, as two weeks was required to get a licence.
When they returned to SA, they stayed together until Botha walked away from the relationship in 2009.After pretrial litigation, the matter was finally heard for three days in November last year. A lawyer from England, Adrian Christmas, testified in court that his understanding was that in the UK a priest conducting a wedding ceremony has an obligation to complete the certification.
In dismissing Botha's application, judge Khosi Hadebe said the evidence gave a clear indication of the lengths Botha was prepared to go to for her to be found to have been married to Steyn.
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