This means the couple can no longer live together as man and wife. Both partners or one partner must prove to the court that the marriage broke down so badly that there is no reasonable chance of getting back together.

These are examples of the kind of evidence the court will accept as proof of irretrievable breakdown:

• The couple have not lived together like husband and wife for a period of time.
• One partner had sexual intercourse with somebody else and because of this the other partner finds it impossible to continue living together as husband and wife.
• One partner is in prison after being declared an ‘habitual criminal’.(This means he or she keeps committing crimes, and because of this was sentenced to 10–15 years in prison.)
• One partner deserted the other.
• One partner abused the other, for example the husband keeps assaulting the wife.
• One partner is an alcoholic or a drug addict.
• The partners no longer love each other – they may be too different, or they married when they were too young.
• One of the partners finds it impossible to live together as husband and wife for any other reason.