Date: 22 October 2024
Opinion Piece By: Boitumelo Zwane, Public Education Officer for the Commission for Gender Equality
Child Maintenance, a mental health nuisance
This opinion piece seeks to highlight the gendered nature of maintenance and related mental health impact. The month of October has been declared Mental Health Awareness Month to educate the public about mental health and to reduce the stigma and discrimination that people with mental illness are subjected to.[1]
The maintenance legislation[2] of South Africa stipulates the “legal duty of any person to maintain another person”[3] while provisioning for maintenance courts[4] to provide such services in respect of the Maintenance Act 99 of 1998 as amended. According to Hall. K “The share of children living with both parents decreased gradually from 39% in 2002 to 34% in 2010 and remained stable at around 34% for the next 10 years. Forty-two percent of all children (8.6 million children) live with their mothers but not with their fathers. Only 4% of children live in households where their fathers are present and their mothers absent. Twenty percent do not have either of their biological parents living with them. This does not necessarily mean that they are orphaned: 85% of children without any co-resident parent have at least one parent who is alive but living elsewhere”.[5]
Child maintenance matters as stipulated in Section 15 of the Maintenance Act 99 of 1998 are brought to courts, possibly in higher numbers compared to other types of maintenance matters. The section stipulates the duty for parents to provide for their children’s reasonable needs for proper living and upbringing. It also includes the provision of food, clothing, accommodation, medical care and education.
The legislation is seemingly uncomplicated, however many parents, find themselves at loggerheads at the issue of maintenance. It is usually a battle between the mothers (as applicants and primary caregivers) and the fathers (as respondents) regarding the needs of the child and what is the reasonable amount for the father to contribute. The results are commonly a nightmare of negotiations and costly legal processes.
For all parties involved, the stress experienced during maintenance battles can culminate into mental health challenges ranging from depression, anxiety disorders, and addictive behaviours. For the child (ren) involved, these battles inflict on the rights of the child(ren) as stipulated in Section 28 (2) of the Constitution which enshrines the child’s best interest being of paramount importance in every matter concerning the child. Fathers typically feel justified in their reasons for refusing/ not being able to pay or for not agreeing to the requested amount, and their reasoning disregards the cost or impact to the mother who is the primary care giver of the child (ren).
In these instances, mothers carry the invisible burden of unpaid care work involving taking care of the children. In endeavouring to raise healthy and well-rounded human beings, they are required to be present and consistent in meeting the children’s daily emotional, physical, and spiritual needs, including their practical needs ranging from daily school and extracurricular demands, while maintaining healthy social relations with families and friends. Mothers do so for their children while doing so for themselves. This presents as quite a burden to carry while continually being embroiled in a maintenance battle to coerce a father to carry their legal duty to provide for the needs of the child. Mothers find themselves in unending back and forth disagreements with fathers, hoping that an amicable agreement can be reached, however when it does not happen, some mothers give up and face raising the child(ren) alone. Various studies have found that most mothers approach courts as a last resort.
Notwithstanding, culture and socialisation plays a role in determining gendered roles, which places an expectation on men to be the financial providers. These expectations disregard the changing world of work and disregards the impact of economic decline that has led to job losses, leaving men unable to provide for themselves and their families. Furthermore, men are socially not perceived to possess the natural skills to nurture children, hence not many men are sole primary care givers to their child (ren). The question remains about the alternatives available for men, when they cannot provide as expected and yet society discriminates those who may want to be primary care givers. These social expectations result in stress, anxiety and depression in men.
Apart from the above, legislation and the courts are in place, however marred by their systemic challenges, the question remains, what is going wrong. It is perhaps time to consider at length the reasons why South African fathers across socio-economic lines, evade their responsibility and expect to do so with impunity. Going to lengths of violent behaviours such as demeaning and humiliating remarks, bullying, threatening and intimidation, at the expense of the child(ren) and the laboring mother. It must be emphasized that refusal to contribute towards child maintenance is considered as an act of violence, as this violation characterises itself through financial and emotional abuse and further demeans the human dignity of the mothers and children involved. The emotional and psychological impact of this violation is often not considered, including how its impact manifests itself later in life.
In conclusion, the key questions to be raised are whether the existing legislation has been effective in addressing the gendered and systemic dynamics surrounding maintenance, as well as whether cultural norms have been effective in shaping a working society. Additionally, it should be considered whether there has been adequate sensitisation about the impact of maintenance and how it affects the mental health of all concerned?
[1] https://www.gov.za/news/events/health-awareness-events/mental-health-awareness-month
[2] Maintenance Act 99 of 1998 as amended
[3] Section [2(1)] of the Maintenance Act 99 of 1998 as amended
[4] Section 3 of the Maintenance Act 99 of 1998 as amended
[5] Hall. K. (2021-2022). Demography of South Africa’s children, 164-168. https://ci.uct.ac.za/sites/default/files/content_migration/health_uct_ac_za/533/files/CC%2520-%2520demography.pdf