Pretoria
3 May 2006
Programme Director
Honoured Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
Since the launch of âOperation Isondloâ in Limpopo on 12 December 2005, we
have managed to bring relief to thousands of suffering women. I am pleased
today that we can hand over this cheque of R95 000 to Mrs Johnson. Our success
in recouping the money was due to the co-operation of a number of key
role-players, such as the employer of the former husband, the financial
institution, the court and the maintenance investigating officer.
As Government we want to emphasise that the non-payment of maintenance,
results in degeneration of the family unit as the children are sometimes driven
to a life of crime. Operation Isondlo aims to guard against this eventuality by
encouraging more mediation and the involvement of all stakeholders in
maintenance matters.
Despite the existence of empowering legislation that provide for, among
others, the provision for maintenance investigators and granting of orders by
default, women and their dependants still continue to struggle to access
maintenance. Some of the problems that continue to trouble our maintenance
system include inadequately trained court staff and insufficient facilities and
resources.
It is therefore clear that the problems in our maintenance system cannot be
resolved through the process of legislation alone, but by also inculcating a
culture of maintenance payment amongst those that are legally liable and
responsible to maintain those in need of maintenance. Through the âOperation
Isondloâ campaign we are also working at inculcating a culture of respect for
the law and its attended process.
A well functioning and effective maintenance system is critical not only for
the children, but for substantive equality for the women in South Africa. With
the increase in divorce and the number of children born outside marriage, more
and more women find themselves bearing the sole responsibility of caring for
their children.
To address these problems, we have since put in place a number of
initiatives to ensure the proper and efficient functioning of the maintenance
courts. Some of the initiatives include:
* Appointment of 140 maintenance investigators and the provision of
intensive training
* Creation of posts of 427 maintenance clerks and 86 maintenance
investigators
* Facilitating the development of the Magistratesâ Guidelines for the
implementation of the Maintenance;
* The launch of âOperation Isondloâ.
It is now my pleasure to personally hand over this cheque to Mrs Johnson.
This serves as a confirmation that our collective efforts can only improve the
maintenance system and benefit the vulnerable.
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Justice and Constitutional Development
3 May 2006
