Rejected By My Beloved Son
YOU South Africa|12 April 2018

Heartbroken Hannes explains why he never told Eben – who wants his adoption nullified – that he wasn’t his real dad

Carla Coetzee
Rejected By My Beloved Son

THERE were many times when he asked himself if he was doing the right thing. When Hannes Maré looked at his son Eben he often wondered how he’d react if he found out the truth: that he and his wife weren’t his biological parents.

But Hannes was too scared to tell Eben because he remembered the oath he’d sworn in court more than half a century ago. A magistrate made him promise never to try to find the biological parents of the baby boy he was adopting. 

And now decades later everything he feared has come true. After discovering the truth Eben isn’t only furious with Hannes and his wife, Eugené, for keeping

Hannes (84) sighs heavily as he tells us about the hardships he faces in the twilight of his life. In 1966 he and Eugené adopted baby Eben, the same Professor Eben Maré who recently told YOU about his high court battle to benefit from the estate of his biological dad, Pieter André Bezuidenhout (YOU, 15 March 2018).

The multimillionaire was murdered in 2016, three years after he and Eben met for the first time. André left a fortune worth about R86 million. Because Eben was adopted as a baby and his biological dad didn’t leave a will he isn’t legally entitled to a cent of it. Unless he can persuade a court to declare his adoption null and void the entire estate will be divided among André’s three surviving children and one of his grandchildren.

But his court bid is causing his adoptive parents great pain. Today Hannes, his adoptive dad, or “real father” as he calls himself, is talking exclusively to YOU to explain his side of the story. He was just doing his parental duty protecting his child – and he has no regrets about his silence of so many decades, he says.

Esta historia es de la edición 12 April 2018 de YOU South Africa.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

Esta historia es de la edición 12 April 2018 de YOU South Africa.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE YOU SOUTH AFRICAVer todo
BALLON IN THE BAG
YOU South Africa

BALLON IN THE BAG

Manchester City midfielder Rodrigo Hernandez Cascante says his Ballon d'Or win is a victory for Spanish football

time-read
4 minutos  |
14 November 2024
IT WAS ALL A LIE
YOU South Africa

IT WAS ALL A LIE

A new doccie exposes the Grey's Anatomy writer who fabricated her life story

time-read
5 minutos  |
14 November 2024
'I WILL NEVER GIVE UP'
YOU South Africa

'I WILL NEVER GIVE UP'

After her husband, anticorruption activist Alexei Navalny, was poisoned and murdered by the Kremlin, she became the public face of Russia's opposition. In this candid interview Yulia Navalnaya opens up about life on the run, her perilous family life and why she's continuing her husband's fight to save their country

time-read
10+ minutos  |
14 November 2024
AGREE TO DISAGREE
YOU South Africa

AGREE TO DISAGREE

Trevor Noah on how his childhood squabbles with his mother inspired his delightful new book

time-read
4 minutos  |
14 November 2024
PAUSE THE CLOCK
YOU South Africa

PAUSE THE CLOCK

Researchers have discovered that the ageing process spikes at 44 and 60. Here's what you can do to slow it down

time-read
5 minutos  |
14 November 2024
MPOOMY ON TOP
YOU South Africa

MPOOMY ON TOP

We chat to SA's most popular female podcaster about love, loss and her booming success

time-read
4 minutos  |
14 November 2024
MY BROTHER IS NOT TO BLAME
YOU South Africa

MY BROTHER IS NOT TO BLAME

Tinus Drotské says his sibling, ex Bok Nǎka, is the victim in the brawl with a neighbour that landed up in court

time-read
4 minutos  |
14 November 2024
MATT THE RECLUSE
YOU South Africa

MATT THE RECLUSE

A year after his friend's tragic death, the actor continues to shun the spotlight

time-read
4 minutos  |
14 November 2024
A LEAP OF FAITH
YOU South Africa

A LEAP OF FAITH

After her husband tried to kill her by tampering with her parachute she thought she'd never trust a man again-but now she's found love

time-read
5 minutos  |
14 November 2024
THEY'RE MY KIDS!
YOU South Africa

THEY'RE MY KIDS!

This West Coast woman treats her monkeys as iftheyre humans and animal activists are not happy about it

time-read
4 minutos  |
14 November 2024