‘Courts abusing children’
No justice for the maintenance-seekers
IT’S abuse in another form – mothers trying to get justice from a maintenance court so that errant fathers can pay their child support. A group of them picketed outside the maintenance court in Plein Street yesterday, demanding that the Department of Justice hear their plight.
Rene Fahrenfort has had her maintenance case postponed more than 24 times. She was diagnosed with cancer in 2015 and for two years her case has been in court and then postponed.
“What happened originally was that my husband came to hospital and saw how I looked and then just stopped my maintenance payments,” Fahrenfort said.
She went to court to report the matter but it’s been an ongoing battle for her.
“I haven’t received a cent so far and nothing has been done. I have received seven months of chemo and had two major operations and I still had to go to court,” she said. She said it’s been a heartbreaking journey for her.
“I am hoping for this to go to trial and I would like to see someone held accountable for this incompetence,” she said.
She is part of Child Maintenance Difficulties in South Africa (CMDSA), which held demonstrations outside the maintenance court in Plein Street. They also handed over a memorandum to the clerk of the maintenance court, which included 10 demands. The group were demanding urgent intervention in the maintenance courts, where they said service delivery was declining.
“It’s to highlight the abuse of children by the Department of Justice. There are cases that have not been resolved in over 20 years. It just goes on and on. So we are here to highlight the inefficiencies of the department,” said Felicity Guest, founder of CMDSA.
Guest started CMDSA in July 2014 as a Facebook group to offer support to people going through the maintenance system. Over the years they have garnered the support of more than 19 000 members and are managed by a strong administration team consisting of retired magistrates, paralegal advisers and mediators.
“Woman come to these courts to get some sort of financial relief, but they can’t and many of them end up going through depression because they give up,” said Guest.
Among the demands CMDSA listed were full compliance with the provisions of the Children’s Act; for the child’s right to family care or parental care; to basic nutrition, shelter, basic health-care services and social services; to be protected from maltreatment, neglect, abuse or degradation.
They also want cases to be resolved within a six-month period and compulsory implementation of interim maintenance where there is no maintenance from the parent that receives an income.
The DA’s spokesperson for women in the presidency, Denise Robinson, said: “My heart goes out to the numerous mothers and women who struggle to get maintenance. The justice system does not seem to be supporting woman and we as the Democratic Alliance called time and time again for additional funding for the department. The system is broken.”
Robinson added that she would be intensifying her call for more resources and funding to be given to the Department of Justice.
Percival Wagenstroom from the Justice Department said: “When it comes to family matters it really touches us deeply. From our side, the department will look into this and respond to their grievances,” he said. –
THERE ARE CASES THAT HAVE NOT BEEN RESOLVED IN OVER 20 YEARS. IT JUST GOES ON AND ON. WE’RE HERE TO HIGHLIGHT THE INEFFICIENCIES