'It is so sick': Afrikaans singer, Min Shaw's family opens up about bizarre wedding lie

Afrikaans singing sensation Min Shaw got the shock of her life when she read in a magazine she had married a man 39 years her junior and even enjoyed a lavish honeymoon in Mauritius.

But the 91-year-old knew nothing of it — there had been no wedding at all and she was instead lying in a Roodepoort, Gauteng hospital bed with a broken hip.

The man, who had allegedly claimed to be the groom, was her manager, Shaun Mynhardt, who is dating a well-known male Cape Town doctor.

Shaw is a well-known Afrikaans singer who rose to fame in the 1950s and 1960s and became a household name through her music, films and stage appearances.

She was one of the biggest stars of her time and remains a respected figure in SA entertainment.

But the Jy is my liefling hitmaker has now taken a big knock after she became entangled in the fake marriage scandal.

The scandal started when Mynhardt allegedly sent emails to Huisgenoot posing as Shaw — even using her official email address — claiming the two had hitched.

To back up the story, the 52-year-old is said to have supplied photographs of the pair taken over the years at weddings and other functions, passing them off as “honeymoon” pictures, which led to the story being published.

When it later emerged that Mynhardt had allegedly lied to the magazine and that there had been no wedding, he publicly ripped into Shaw’s family and friends, including actress Lizz Meiring.

Mynhardt has flatly denied the allegations, claiming instead that a group of people were jealous of the SA Legends Museum he started to honour local singers, actors, theater mavens, and broadcasters.

He also claimed Shaw — whom he referred to as “Aunty Min” — owed him R8,000.

“I have never claimed to be married to her, never pretended to be married to her, and never had any romantic involvement with her,” he told IOL.

“She is an elderly woman whom I regard as family … I have known Auntie Min for approximately 30 years.”

More of Mynhardt’s response appears at the end of this article.

Huisgenoot editor Yvonne Beyers referred IOL to a follow-up story the publication had run.

The report laid bare Shaw’s claim that Mynhardt had allegedly lied and that the emails sent to the publication were supposedly of his own making.

Shaw’s family said the entire saga was scandalous.

“There was no wedding,” Marina Summers, Shaw’s stepdaughter, told IOL on Thursday.

“I was shocked to see the magazine story.”

Summers, 62, said Shaw and Mynhardt had known each other for many years after he first approached her to write a biography and later became her manager.

The pair also worked together on a kykNET TV show, Die Huis Van Legendes.

She said they then lost contact for about three years before Mynhardt suddenly reappeared on November 26 last year, taking Shaw out for a quick bite for her birthday.

He later proposed marriage over a WhatsApp message, Summers claimed.

"At the time, her sister had just died, and she was deeply upset.

"She spoke of wanting a fresh start in Cape Town, but he repeatedly promised to fetch her and never did."

Growing frustrated and confused, Shaw, she said, then apparently cut contact.

"On December 28, she fell and broke her hip and was admitted to hospital," Summers said.

“We informed him she was in hospital and he then sent flowers to her hospital ward, signing the card ‘to my beautiful wife.

“She gave the flowers away, became extremely upset and concluded she had been lied to as he did not pick her up to take her to Cape Town as promised.”

She said it was not long thereafter that the family saw a magazine report claiming Shaw had secretly married and honeymooned abroad.

“Min was unaware the story had been published and had not given any interviews or written any emails ... when she saw the article she was shocked."

She further alleged Mynhardt created multiple social media accounts posing as Shaw and others, interacting with his own posts.

Shaw, she said, was not digitally savvy, could not type emails, and mainly communicated through voice notes on WhatsApp.

Summers said Mynhardt later made repeated public posts attacking Shaw and her relatives — including the dead — while dredging up “old stories from her past”.

She described the behaviour as erratic and said the family had shielded Shaw from much of it so she could focus on recovering.

Shaw’s niece, Michelle Gomes, said the family believed Mynhardt manipulated and used the elderly singer.

“God knows what he thought he would get," Gomes said.

"She only gets a salary from her deceased husband’s estate.”

Gomes said Mynhardt made Shaw wait for weeks, repeatedly telling her he was on his way to fetch her and take her to Cape Town.

“He [allegedly] made her wait for three weeks and kept saying he was coming.

"If she had ended up in Cape Town, God knows what would have happened to her.”

She said when Mynhardt proposed marriage, Shaw was emotionally vulnerable.

“When he asked her to marry him, she was like a schoolgirl with a crush.

"She did love him in her own way and she was devastated when it all fell apart.”

Gomes said Shaw was not active online.

“Min does not have an email address and she also does not have Facebook,” she said.

She also recalled an alleged earlier fallout between Shaw and Mynhardt three years ago, when contact abruptly stopped.

Gomes said Mynhardt and his partner arrived at Shaw’s home and dumped her clothes and belongings inside before disappearing from her life.

“She didn’t hear from him in three whole years,” she said.

According to Gomes, the situation took a toll on Shaw’s health.

“It started to affect her mentally and physically.

"She wasn’t even eating properly. She was stressed out.”

She said the day before Shaw’s fall, the singer believed Mynhardt was finally coming to see her.

“The day before the fall she had Christmas presents for Shaun’s parents.

"She realised he was coming ... I told her I would help her unpack.”

Gomes also rejected claims that Shaw financially benefited Mynhardt.

“She has never splurged anything on him,” she said.

“He insists they got married in community of property.

"She’s still the heir to her husband’s commercial property, which is worth R5m.

"By law she is within her rights to sell it, but she won’t because she wants the money to go to his children.”

She further claimed Mynhardt reported her for elder abuse.

“Police showed up at the hospital and she told them to stop asking stupid questions and they left,” Gomes said.

Former agent and manager Mara van der Bergh described the saga as absurd and said it never made sense.

“This situation is past ridiculous, it is not feasible and he used her,” she said.

“He would disappear for months at a time.”

Van der Bergh said she immediately questioned the honeymoon claims.

“The minute I saw the news that they’d gone to Mauritius for their honeymoon, I couldn’t imagine Min Shaw on a plane,” she said. “I phoned where she had stayed for 38 years. She was there — and not in Mauritius.”

She said Mynhardt first entered Shaw’s life by proposing to write her biography.

“When I was still her agent, he approached me and said he was a big fan and wanted to write her life story.

"That was how he got into her life.”

Van der Bergh accused Mynhardt of spreading lies and provoking conflict. 

Van der Bergh said she last spoke to Shaw on Thursday morning.

“Physically, she is still frail but she sounded chirpy like she always is.”

She dismissed Mynhardt’s claim that he had cared for Shaw for decades.

“He says he’s been her caregiver for 30 years.

"That’s a load of rubbish ... this is a a sick situation.”

Mynhardt said Shaw had been close to his family long before he became her manager, explaining his great-uncle was late theatre legend Siegfried Mynhardt, with whom Shaw worked on films in the 1960s.

He said after his divorce in 2014, he later assisted Shaw in a “managerial and supportive capacity”.

He denied providing any information to Huisgenoot, instead alleging the story had been sold to the magazine by Gomes.

Mynhardt claimed Gomes had threatened to “destroy my life and reputation” by selling stories if he did not give her money.

He further alleged Shaw lived in poor conditions and said she relied on a small pension from her late husband’s estate.

He claimed family members were in control of her bank card and her health had deteriorated as a result.

Mynhardt said Shaw had been scheduled to visit Cape Town and perform at a concert in January, but the plans fell through after she broke her hip in December.

“There have never been romantic getaways,” he said.

“Any travel has been work-related and often included my [current] partner.”

Addressing social media claims, he said he had not contacted police and denied reporting anyone for elder abuse.

He said whoever alerted police had done so independently.

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