Divorce action
Regarding divorce proceedings, the only grounds for divorce in terms of s 3 of the Divorce Act are the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage and the mental illness or the continuous unconsciousness of a party to the marriage.
The court may grant a decree of divorce on the ground of irretrievable breakdown of a marriage if it is satisfied that the marriage relationship between the parties to the marriage has reached such a state of disintegration that there is no reasonable prospect of the restoration of a normal relationship between them.
Any facts or circumstances which may be indicative of the irretrievable breakdown are relevant and should be specifically pleaded. The fact that the parties have not lived together as husband and wife for a continuous period of 12 months, the defendant’s adultery, or that the defendant has been declared a habitual criminal and is undergoing imprisonment as a result thereof would be accepted as proof of the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage.
Thus, although malicious desertion and adultery are not grounds for a divorce, they are factors to be considered when considering whether the marriage has irretrievably broken down.
For more go to Notes on action (trial) proceedings