Constitutional Court ruling reignites interest in Enhle Mbali and Black Coffee's divorce saga
Black Coffee and Enhle Mbali's divorce is back in the spotlight after the Constitutional Court ruled against the signing of antenuptial contracts after customary marriage.
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The long-running divorce battle between actress Enhle Mbali Mlotshwa and global DJ superstar Nkosinathi Maphumulo, also known as Black Coffee, has once again captured public attention, this time sparked by a major Constitutional Court ruling on customary marriages and antenuptial contracts.
While the judgment does not directly involve the former couple, it has reignited interest in their bitter legal showdown, which has dragged on for more than six years and remains unresolved.
The Constitutional Court recently overturned a High Court ruling that had declared parts of the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act unconstitutional. In doing so, the apex court firmly reaffirmed that customary marriages carry the same legal weight as civil marriages, a principle at the heart of the Mlotshwa and Black Coffee dispute.
Importantly, the court did not ban antenuptial contracts signed after a customary marriage, as some have suggested. Instead, it ruled that any attempt to change a marriage’s property regime must comply with existing legislation and be subjected to proper court oversight to ensure fairness to both spouses.
The ruling has put the spotlight back on the high-profile divorce, which turns on whether the pair entered into a valid customary marriage in 2011, whether a later civil marriage and antenuptial contract were legally effective, and how their assets should ultimately be divided.
The drama is far from over. The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) is now set to re-examine the matter after Black Coffee was granted leave to appeal a Gauteng High Court judgment delivered in October last year.
That ruling found that the couple had indeed entered into a valid customary marriage in community of property and ordered that the estate be divided accordingly, including an award of spousal maintenance to Mlotshwa.
Black Coffee is appealing several aspects of the ruling, including the finding that a valid customary marriage existed and the court’s decision to grant spousal maintenance. He has argued that the matter raises legal questions of broad public importance and that there is a reasonable prospect the SCA may reach a different conclusion.
In granting leave to appeal, the Johannesburg High Court acknowledged that conflicting judgments on similar cases have created legal uncertainty, making it necessary for the SCA to step in and provide clarity.
As the former couple braces for yet another court showdown, the court of public opinion is already in session, with South Africans closely watching to see whether Black Coffee will manage to overturn the ruling or whether Mlotshwa’s legal victory will stand.
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