[imagesource: Saturday Star]

The most recent Sunday Times Rich List put Douw Steyn’s wealth at just a tick over £2 billion.

He can afford to take a financial knock here and there and come out the other side alright, but that doesn’t mean he’s the sort to hand over his money without a fight.

Case in point, the conclusion of a long-running legal saga between the insurance mogul and Donne Botha, which finally wrapped up in Durban High Court this week.

It’s Steyn who has come up trumps, with the court ruling that the pair were never legally married.

TimesLIVE below:

Botha sought an order that Steyn must pay her R100,000 per month until her death or if she remarries. She also sought an order that Steyn pay her an amount equal to half of his estate.

Botha made these claims as she believed she was married to Steyn — but the billionaire disputed that they had been married.

Half of Steyn’s estate would be a figure well north of R10 billion.

Let’s start in 2005, when Steyn and Botha met, with the pair getting engaged just a few months later.

In April 2007, Botha says the pair signed an agreement, dealing with “proprietary issues” for when the marriage was finalised. Botha claims the agreement laid out that she would be entitled to a house valued at R5 million, R20 million in hard cash, R100 000 a month in payments, and other benefits should they separate.

On August 18 2007, the couple hosted a ceremony at a London hotel.

Invites were sent out and guests from around the world flew in, a custom made dress was designed (by the same designer who made Princess Diana’s dress), and a wedding planner made sure everything went off without a hitch.

During the ceremony, rings were even exchanged, so that’s a wedding, right?

Here’s the plot twist:

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.

Botha testified that the information she had received from Steyn was that this was a matter of simply the signing of the register when they got back to SA as they were both South African.

Image: TimesLIVE

When they returned to SA, they stayed together until Botha walked away from the relationship in 2009.

Steyn has since disputed what occurred in London, saying it was a “blessing ceremony” rather than a wedding.

Legal experts called upon to testify backed him up, saying Botha understood that the two were never legally married under English law.

The judge in the matter, Khosi Hadebe, was critical of Botha, saying she “dismally failed” to show that she was ever married to Steyn, adding “the least said about her as a witness, the better.”

Hadebe ultimately ruled that Botha must have known, even back in 2007, that no marriage had legally taken place.

She is now liable for substantial court costs, including those incurred by Steyn.

Looks like she won’t be setting foot inside Palazzo Steyn any time soon.

[sources:timeslive&sundaytimes]