A South African couple has sparked widespread debate after placing a newspaper advert seeking a second woman to join their marriage, complete with a detailed list of requirements and a substantial financial offer.
Gerrit Coetzee, a 58-year-old farmer, lawyer and businessman from the northern Free State, has been married to 43-year-old Andrea for 25 years.
The couple lives on a farmstead in a triple-storey mansion, and while they never had children together, Gerrit says he now urgently wants an heir.
Why Gerrit Is Looking for a Second Wife
Rather than pursuing fertility treatments or surrogacy, Gerrit decided a second wife was the most practical path to fatherhood.
He placed a newspaper advert that described him as a “farmer, businessman and advocate” seeking a “young marriage partner according to Bible principles.”
The financial offer attached to the proposal was significant. The advert stated that a R100,000 (KSh 782,535) bride price would be paid to the prospective bride’s parents, alongside a R5 million (KSh 39,126,765) estate provision for the bride herself. All these sum to KSh 39,909,300.
Gerrit explained his reasoning for the bride price: he wants the young woman’s parents to confirm their daughter’s purity, which he described as a biblical requirement.
“It’s a Biblical prescription that the woman must be a virgin when she enters marriage,” he said.
He also addressed his concerns about alternative options.
“We can wait for tests and then the tests might say we’re not medically suitable for in vitro fertilisation. There’s too much complication with surrogacy,” he added.
Gerrit Coetzee and wife set requirements for second wife
The advert listed several conditions the prospective bride would need to meet, including being a non-smoker, holding values rooted in faith, and accepting that “the man is the head of the household.”
The age range specified was 16 to 25, a detail that drew significant attention. Gerrit pushed back against criticism of the age requirement, insisting the process would be gradual.
“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,” he said.
He also framed his desire for children in terms of inheritance anxiety.
“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,” Gerrit noted.
Polygamy is legal in South Africa’s Free State province, provided specific legal conditions are satisfied.
The advert also stated that a formal family introduction meeting with Andrea, described as “the head wife of the house,” forms part of the process. According to Gerrit, the decision to go public followed “long conversations” between the couple.
