Soutter v Soutter [1915] ZATPD 104 (11 March 1915)

Husband and wife.-Order to restore conjugal rights.-Active service.- Evidence of non-return.-Public Welfare and Moratorium Act, 1914, sec. 5 (5).-Waiver.

A defendant was ordered on the 2nd February to restore conjugal rights on or before the 1st March. Shortly after service of the order, he went on active service. On the 25th February he wrote saying he had no intention of returning to his wife. Held, that though a defendant could waive the benefit of sec. 5 (5) of the Moratorium Act, there was not in these circumstances sufficient proof, even apart from the Act, of renunciation of his right to
return.