Jail him - Mother tells court as maintenance war deepens
Spira Tlhankane | Monday September 28, 2026 10:11
She says years of unpaid maintenance and repeated defiance of court orders have left her with no reason to believe he will voluntarily provide for their children. Nonofo failed to comply with last year’s Court of Appeal (CoA) order which directed him to pay child maintenance arrears of P340, 500.
Ontlametse later confronted his ex-husband with contempt proceedings that resulted in the issuing of a warrant of civil imprisonment which Nonofo is now fighting in his application for stay of execution.
Nonofo wants the High Court to make an order that the execution of the warrant of arrest for civil imprisonment dated September 17, 2025 be stayed pending final determination of the applicant’s bid for rescission which is filed simultaneously with this application.
In her answering affidavit opposing the application, Ontlametse prays to the court that it upholds the warrant of civil imprisonment.
She argues in court papers that the applicant is very self absorbed and self serving that not at any given time has he mentioned or took into account the damage and harm his actions have contributed to the upkeep and growth of his children.
Ontlametse said since their separation in 2016 and the 2018 divorce, Nonofo has never contributed to the children's upkeep and has disregarded all court orders and that to him the only person who matters is himself.
The ex-wife maintains that if the court grants the applicant his wishes then she and her children will be prejudiced because Nonofo has never complied with any court order before court or any agreement with the Deputy Sheriff of the court.
“The applicant does not have any good grounds of rescission as he has failed to state such on the application. All he is bothered about is his freedom. There are no prospects of success for the applicant on this application for the applicant as he has failed to mention them. The applicant has been given ample time to rectify this. There are no prospects of success in this application as the ruling has already been upheld by the Court of Appeal,” Ontlametse noted.
“The applicant has been given a suspended maintenance order to alleviate his situation but still failed to comply with the court order, rather he opted to take the matter to Court of Appeal where the ruling was upheld. According to court rules when the stipulated time lapses without compliance the Registrar of the High Court issues a warrant.
“It has taken the applicant seven months to approach the court for any assistance. Upon being served with warrant of civil imprisonment now he made empty promises to the Deputy Sheriff then comes to the court with such an application.”
She said the applicant not being a first offender, this should not have come as shock when faced with a warrant of arrest.
Ontlametse added that Nonofo’s current application is just a delaying tactic to stall the process of civil imprisonment.
She said the applicant never approached the court about his reason for failure to comply with the court order.
With Nonofo’s reason that he failed to comply because his consultancy makes it difficult to have a steady stream of income, Ontlametse replied that the applicant is not being honest about his finances because even during separation and divorce he had means to take care of his children.
She said the applicant has never made effort to adhere to the court order since 2016, which shows that his children are not a priority in his life.
“The amount of P527, 750.00 did not come as a shock to the applicant. A letter dated 28th August, 2024 detailing an amount of P549, 460.00 the owed amount at the end of that month was served on the applicant through his former attorney, Themba Joina. It seems now the applicant has cultivated his tendency of shifting blame on his legal representatives as he had done with Thembani Jeremiah who happened to be the lawyer who represented him during his divorce.
“This shows that the applicant will never take accountability for his actions or responsibility for the up keep of his children rather he is always quick and eager to blame it on someone else. This goes to prove that the applicant is therefore, not being candid with the honourable court when he alleges that he is not aware of the amount accumulated for the past years,” Ontlametse pointed out.
She further maintains that the applicant is able to pay for the children's up keep but doesn't want to do what is right for them.
Ontlametse says Nonofo has made payment proposal not in good faith and that it has now become clear that he never had any intention to follow suit in his commitment.
“His financial capabilities have also been proven by him engaging of legal representation every time a warrant of arrest is issued against him rather than making payment towards his child maintenance arrears. This proves how selfish and self serving the applicant is towards his own children. Never in his applications had he ever mentioned or considered the impact of his actions on his children,” she emphasised.
Ontlametse says the applicant has shown his financial muscle by engaging five different attorneys all of whom have applied for urgent application.
She added that there is no prejudice to the applicant to have a warrant of personal attachment on him because he has been given a 12 month suspended sentence as relief to help him dissolve the maintenance debt which he still failed to do so.
In the end, she says there is no urgency in this matter and the applicant has no grounds for stay of execution in this matter. She said the applicant is very dishonest and has no regard for the court, its rules or orders.