A South African farmer, lawyer and businessman has sparked controversy by advertising for a second wife to join his marriage, with strict criteria including virginity and age. Gerrit Coetzee, 58, has been married to Andrea, 43, for 25 years, and the couple now wants children, prompting the unusual public call-out.
Strict criteria for prospective bride
The newspaper advert lists requirements such as being a non-smoker, a virgin, having 'values cemented in faith' and respecting 'that the man is the head of the household'. The couple is looking for someone aged 16-25, a detail Gerrit defends, saying time is needed to get to know the other party before having children.
Gerrit said: "People don't read with understanding and they fixate on the 16-year thing. This isn't something that's going to happen overnight. You must meet the person and get to know them. You must meet their family too. A lot of time might pass before I enter into marriage."
Desire for an heir
The couple, who live in a triple-storey mansion on a farmstead in the northern Free State, did not have children. Gerrit now wants an 'heir' to inherit his wealth, expressing concern about his assets going to the state under inheritance law if he remains childless.
Garrit said: "For every seven years you don't have children, a generation dies out. I'm sitting in a situation of 'who is going to inherit my things?' If I don't have children, my assets will go to the state according to our inheritance law."
Bride price and reactions
The 'bride price' is included because Gerrit wants the prospective bride's parents to "prove to me their daughters are still virgins at 16", citing a "Biblical prescription that the woman must be a virgin when she enters marriage". Other fertility options were considered but deemed "time-consuming and expensive".
The advert offers "a substantial financial package, which includes a R100,000 bride price for the parents and R5 million estate provision for the bride (16-25)". It also mentions a formal family introduction meeting with the head wife of the house.
Reactions on social media included accusations of chaining women up in basements and being a serial killer, which the couple dismissed as laughable. Gerrit said he turned down a 74-year-old applicant who "didn't meet the criteria".
Andrea said she was not shocked by the proposal, describing it as a "voyage" and a "new adventure", adding: "If it's done alongside my beloved, then so it shall be."
