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Johannesburg - The divorce between former Cabinet minister Tokyo Sexwale and his wife Judy appears to be turning nasty as the couple fight over their assets.
According to the Sunday Times, Judy claims in court papers that her husband of 21 years forced her out of their Johannesburg home and cancelled her credit cards - despite him enjoying a lavish lifestyle that costs almost R2m a month.
She also claims that he once told her she had been “just a toilet” for all the prisoners on Robben Island and accused her of having slept with all the prisoners and warders.
Sexwale hit back saying Judy deluded herself into believing he was a billionaire.
Wants maintenance of R150 000 a month
However, according to his ex-wife, bank statements obtained by her legal team show Sexwale spends about R2m a month now - the same amount he earned in a year as human settlements minister.
Judy is being paid R50 000 a month in maintenance and an additional R55 000 by one of Sexwale’s trust funds to rent a house. She claims she and her two adult children have moved four times in the past year as Sexwale trustees refuse to buy her a house.
She is seeking a temporary order for maintenance of R150 000 a month and a contribution towards legal costs.
She plans to hire forensic investigators to probe what she believes is hidden wealth accumulated by Tokyo.
In January, Tokyo was named South Africa’s third richest man by New World Wealth consulting, which claims he has a net worth of US$200m (about R2.2bn).
Porn claims
In May last year it was reported that their divorce had taken a nasty turn after claims emerged that Toyko had tried to blackmail Judy with hardcore porn claims.
At the time, Judy’s divorce lawyer Beverley Clark says her client "now had no choice" but to bring an urgent application for an interdict against Sexwale.
According to Clark, Sexwale informed a family friend that he had found a "damning series of e-mails" that he said had been exchanged between his wife and a personal security assistant, featuring illegal hardcore pornography.
He's said to have repeated the story to a second family friend - this time showing him "evidence" he claimed to have found in e-mails.
"In my and Mrs Sexwale's view, and consistent with past conduct, Mr Sexwale is trying to blackmail Mrs Sexwale and to pressurise (sic) her to back down in the divorce proceedings.
Tokyo Sexwale's lawyer, Billy Gundelfinger, reportedly told Clark that his client had "no intention to blackmail" his wife of 20 years.
Press gag
Following this report, lawyers for both Tokyo and Judy agreed to refrain from talking to the media over the duration of their divorce proceedings, Sapa reported.
This followed a case management meeting in May last year with deputy judge president Phineas Mojapelo, the Sexwale's separate legal representatives said in a joint statement.
Lawyers for both the Sexwales, the TJS Family Trust trustees, and the TJS Houghton Trust trustees reached an agreement at the meeting.
The different legal representatives would for the duration of the divorce action refrain from discussing the matter with the media, or issuing statements to the media, they said at the time.
