Discussion: “Non-payment of Maintenance Orders for the Maintenance of children and Problems related thereto”
2006-09-07. It has been almost 6 years since the Maintenance Act of 1998 was passed, and still this law is not doing justice to the paper it is printed on. Apart from there being so many women that are not even aware of this legislation, independent research has found that the non-performance of maintenance payments through the Courts, when measured against the current active record set, ranges between 65 and 90%. This simply means that women are not receiving the money that they should. And at this point in time, it is still unclear how many maintenance orders have been granted.
Madam Speaker and Honourable
Members
It has been almost 6 years since the Maintenance Act of 1998 was passed, and still this law is not doing justice to the paper it is printed on. Apart from there being so many women that are not even aware of this legislation, independent research has found that the non-performance of maintenance payments through the Courts, when measured against the current active record set, ranges between 65 and 90%. This simply means that women are not receiving the money that they should. And at this point in time, it is still unclear how many maintenance orders have been granted.
The problems experienced with the maintenance system are basic, and, until we get the basics right this system will never work. Filing and recordkeeping is substandard; there are no clear guidelines as to how the maintenance amounts should be calculated; and more often than not key information regarding, for example, earnings are not even recorded.
Honourable members, the lack of adequate implementation makes the Maintenance Act of 1998 look like a sham. This act was supposed to be one of the victories for women, but has yet to perform as it should. The ID hopes that the Minister of Justice and his department will rectify this situation as soon as possible and that we don’t have to wait another 6 years for proper implementation to start.
Thank you
Released by ID President Patricia de Lille – 084 777 2065
It has been almost 6 years since the Maintenance Act of 1998 was passed, and still this law is not doing justice to the paper it is printed on. Apart from there being so many women that are not even aware of this legislation, independent research has found that the non-performance of maintenance payments through the Courts, when measured against the current active record set, ranges between 65 and 90%. This simply means that women are not receiving the money that they should. And at this point in time, it is still unclear how many maintenance orders have been granted.
The problems experienced with the maintenance system are basic, and, until we get the basics right this system will never work. Filing and recordkeeping is substandard; there are no clear guidelines as to how the maintenance amounts should be calculated; and more often than not key information regarding, for example, earnings are not even recorded.
Honourable members, the lack of adequate implementation makes the Maintenance Act of 1998 look like a sham. This act was supposed to be one of the victories for women, but has yet to perform as it should. The ID hopes that the Minister of Justice and his department will rectify this situation as soon as possible and that we don’t have to wait another 6 years for proper implementation to start.
Thank you
Released by ID President Patricia de Lille – 084 777 2065
