Last Friday, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, in collaboration with the Social Justice Foundation, concluded a Memorandum of Understanding (‘MoU’) with the Consumer Profile Bureau to blacklist parents who default on their child maintenance payments.
According to research by the Social Justice Foundation, up to 70% of parents default on their maintenance obligations within the first two years of the granting of a maintenance order. Under section 31(1) of the Maintenance Act (‘the Act’), failure to comply with the provisions of a maintenance order constitutes a criminal offence. For various reasons, the criminalisation of non-payment does not guarantee that defaulting parents will honour their maintenance obligations.
To facilitate compliance, the Maintenance Amendment Act, which amends various sections of the principal Act and introduces new provisions to enhance the legislative framework, was promulgated in 2018. Crucially, the amendments heighten government’s powers to regulate and penalise maintenance defaulters. Notably, section 26(2A) of the Act empowers maintenance court officials to supply the details of an individual against whom a maintenance order has been granted to credit bureaus and credit providers. The practical implication of this is that potential applicants’ maintenance obligations will now reflect on their credit profiles and form part of their affordability assessments when purchasing a vehicle or applying for a clothing store card.
The conclusion of an MoU is thus aimed at executing the progressive objectives of the Act, namely to enable and enforce maintenance payments. The full implementation of the system, however, will take some time as government must first develop a database to facilitate the collection and dissemination of information. For certainty, maintenance debtors’ information will not be made publicly available.
STBB’s family law attorneys have extensive experience in applying for, varying, and enforcing maintenance orders. For expert legal assistance, contact our specialists at familylaw@stbb.co.za.
