Currently, an unfaithful husband or wife is not pay for his or her wayward behaviour because liability lies with whoever they were involved with.
This bothers Internet Caf operator
Kagiso Morwa. "When two people do something like this (engaging in infidelity), they should both be answerable for it but in most cases, the couple goes home and mend their fences while the other person pays for damages. How can one ever respect their spouse after something like this," he asked. He said he understands that sometimes when spouses have been together for a long time, it is hard to separate.
"You end up compromising because of the kids, the assets and just the vows themselves. In some cases, you have been in the marriage for several years and you feel like you can't start from scratch," he said.
Most adultery cases are heard at Customary Courts where litigants usually demand large amounts of money to be paid in something like 30 days or less. Dorcus Gotlop, a self-employed woman says this is a scheme to make money quickly through the Customary Courts.
She says that people especially women should learn that it is not wrong to leave a man who has cheated or to end non-existent relationship.
"It happens a lot nowadays. This thing of men having multiple partners and sometimes children. The difference now is that people have no respect for one another," she says. She feels that when someone is having a 'small house' - secret lover - the spouse is bound to find out.
"The small house will be sending text messages trying to make you feel bad and you are bound to react harshly," she says.
Tatitown Customary Court president Margaret Mosojane said that the fact that people often take action against the lover said to be breaking their marriage does not mean the spouse cannot be sued.
"People who get involved in a relationship when they are married can be sued even though the aggrieved party always end up suing the person who is not their spouse," she said.
She added that sometimes it is a matter of choice or ignorance of the when it comes to who to sue in adultery. "In other countries, they will sue both parties but as Batswana, we are a society with a copy cat syndrome and so just because someone had the same experience and dealt with it in a certain way, the next person is going to want to do it that way too," she added.
Mosojane said that people who come across issues like these should seek advice from lawyers. This because the bottom line is that when a person gets into a relationship with a married man or woman they are breaking the law.
