Child maintenance defaulters brought to book
Mpho Mokwape | Thursday August 7, 2014 13:09
“This results in accumulation of unpaid child support arrears that becomes difficult to pay over time”, he said, adding that the system, which operates on an interstate basis, needs close monitoring and cooperation.
Zambezi further said custodial parents must report the non-compliance of non-custodial parents immediately, instead of waiting for the child support arrears to accumulate.
He noted that the biggest challenge they are faced with is managing contacts with non-custodial parents who live far away from their bases.
In cases where non-custodial parents fail to comply with the court order, they are tracked down through provisional contact details, Zambezi pointed out.
He said this however proves to be problematic as some change their addresses and contact numbers. “While more still needs to be done with the non-compliance of non-custodial parents over unpaid arrears, we try to apply suitable enforcement techniques to track down these individuals,” he said. Zambezi said the child support programme operates on the cooperation of all involved and therefore needs to be carried out before jurisdictions.
Mochudi Magistrate Principal Clerk Officer, Pelonomi Letshobi, said non-custodial parents often fail to comply with the child support court order due to reconciliation of the two parties.
She pointed out that sometimes parents reconcile their differences and slack on demand for child support but when relations sour they expect quick assistance from the police.
Letshobi said accumulative arrears are difficult to pay over time especially as custodial parents tend to demand the arrears in lump sums. “Custodial parents should not stop their partners from fulfilling their child support obligations, regardless of the change in their relationship status,” she stressed. Letshobi also said it is the aggrieved party’s responsibility to ensure payments are made consistently after a court order has been filed.
“We often send reminder letters to those who lag behind with payments and derive a plan to mutually address the matter,” she added.