A weekend newspaper report on former Anglican Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane’s wife suing him for maintenance was aimed at tarnishing his image, his lawyer said on Tuesday.
”[He] is deeply saddened by the story published in the Sunday Times of August 30 2009, entitled ‘Cleric’s Wife Sues for Support’ and the inaccuracies contained therein.
”We believe that this story was deliberately aimed at tarnishing his image and casting aspersions on his integrity,” his lawyer, Kaamilah Paulse, said in a statement.
Paulse said Ndungane did not want to settle the matter through the media.
”The court proceedings initiated, without notification, by his estranged wife, Mrs Nomahlubi Vokwana-Ndungane, have arisen from a difficult and strained situation which the Ndungane family has been trying, for some time, to resolve.
”The legal process will now be taken further in an appropriate manner,” she said.
The Sunday Times reported that Ndungane left his wife two years ago after he allegedly told the family he was going on a 10-day retreat in Polokwane, but never returned.
His wife told the Sunday paper that she could barely support herself.
According to the report, she is suing him for maintenance after being married to him for 22 years.
Comment from the Sunday Times could not be obtained immediately. — Sapa