Keynote address by the Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, the Hon John Jeffery, MP, at the 25th Year Anniversary Celebrations for the Office of the Family Advocate, held at Umbumbulu, KwaZulu-Natal
Programme Director, Adv Makhanya
The MEC Social Development, Mrs Thusi
Inkosi K.S Makhanya of the Sobonakhona Traditional Council
Chief Family Advocate, Adv Seabi-Mathope
Cllr H.G Maphumulo of Ward 96
Representatives from civil society
Ladies and gentlemen
Sanibonani, ninjani?
Today’s event is part of our Department’s activities to celebrate the 25 year existence of the Office of the Family Advocate.
The Office of the Family Advocate is there to look after the needs of minor or dependent children.
The Family Advocate exists because for us as a nation, children are important. Whatever we do, we must ensure that we do what is in the best interests of the child.
There is saying that “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken people.”
What this means is that if we raise happy, confident children and give them the love and care that they need while they are young, they will grow up to be happy, confident adults who are able to make a positive contribution to their own families, communities and society.
The Family Advocate is there to help us in build strong children.
A Family Advocate is a family law specialist who does not take sides, but assists the parties to reach an agreement on disputes regarding parental responsibilities and rights of their children. A Family Counsellor is a specialist social worker whose role is to assist parties with relationship difficulties to better manage the personal or interpersonal issues with children.
When the Children’s Act was promulgated it extended the mandate of this Office, in that the Office is able to serve all children within South Africa, regardless of their parent’s relationship status.
In the past, the beneficiaries of the services offered by the office of the Family Advocate used to be only the courts and parties to divorce proceedings. Now the Family Advocate assists children below the age of 18 years, courts, litigants, fathers of children born out of wedlock, married couples and children of unmarried couples.
Currently there are 26 established offices in all 9 provinces, with a distribution of between 2 and 4 offices per province. Furthermore, all courts in the country are serviced through satellite service points.
The establishment of these offices marked a new era in our society in that the services of the Office of the Family now reaches previously disadvantage communities. This also contributes to raising awareness in society about caring for children. As the public became more aware of the services offered by the Office of the Family Advocate, the demand for these services has increased immensely. This is evident from the fact that the Family Advocate is involved in, on average, 2000 mediation of family matters and 5000 divorce litigation matters per month.
So how does it work?
Upon application by either of the parties or by direction of the court, the Family Advocate will interview the parties in the presence of each other, or separately where necessary, to find out more about their personal circumstances and background details in the matter.
The Office of the Family Advocate also interviews the child with the assistance of the Family Counsellor in order to obtain and convey the child’s views on the matter to court. The aim is to protect the child from testifying in unfamiliar or intimidating court environment.
The Family Advocate helps the parties reach an agreeable or solution through mediation.
If the parties reach an agreement the Family Advocate will then help them draft a parenting plan or responsibilities and rights agreement which can be registered with the Office of the Family Advocate or made an order of court.
If the parties cannot reach an agreement, the Family Advocate will then compile a report for court and make a recommendation based on the enquiry that was conducted.
The functions and duties of the Family Advocate include the filing of the court reports, appearances in court, conducting mediations between the parties, dealing with public queries, dealing with child abductions and international cases of disputes over parental rights and responsibilities, chairing family group conferences, facilitation and registration of parenting plans and facilitation of parental rights and responsibilities agreements.
All these services are provided free of charge, however, the parties may be required to pay for additional expert reports such as reports pertaining to psychological evaluation and other forensic tests where those are critical to the determination of the child’s best interests.
The Family Advocate acts in the best interests of a child, as a neutral institution and cannot act as the legal representative for either litigant in any matter. Family Advocates not only assist with divorce matters in the divorce court, but also in the matters heard in the Regional Courts, Children’s Court, mediation in domestic violence issues and assist in maintenance courts.
Why is it so important to highlight the work of the Office of the Family Advocate?
Because we need to tell our communities about children’s constitutional rights - we must ensure that children are heard when it comes to the matters concerning their welfare. We need to promote parental responsibilities and rights.
We must communicate the message that all parents are equal, thereby promoting co-operative parenting and spread the message that fathers need to get involved in their children’s lives and that children need both parents.
It is also important for us to reach out to all role-players, such as teachers, who are stakeholders of the Office who ordinarily assist with information during investigations into the welfare of the child.
We must spread the message that parents must mediate before they litigate. Mediation helps to contain the levels of conflict and often produces a win-win result.
We know that many of our communities are plagued by things like poverty, unemployment, domestic violence, teenage pregnancy. We must make sure that the services of the Family Advocate reach these communities.
There is an African saying – it comes from Ghana – which says that a family is like a forest, when you are outside it is dense, when you are inside you see that each tree has its place.
The Family Advocate is there to see that the little trees grow up to be strong trees, trees that can weather any storm.
As a result of our recent outreach activities, the Office of the Family Advocate has been inundated with phone calls from people all over the country who need assistance over the telephone.
Some of the parties visited the offices in person and others took advantage of the services offered at the exhibition stalls.
The Office of the Family Advocate, our Department – the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development – and government are here to help you.
Ngiyabonga, thank you.
