Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Thembi Simelane has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Social Justice Foundation and the Consumer Profile Bureau to insulate child support payers from economic activities.

The maintenance memorandum will lead to online listing of deaths with the Consumer Profile Bureau and the Social Justice Foundation.

“Nowhere to Hide”

“This marks a historic step in our mission to ensure that the unsustainable have nowhere to hide. With this memorandum of understanding, we are sending a clear message to those shirking their responsibilities: your days are numbered. We are coming for you,” Simelane said during the signing at the Brigitte Mabandla College of Justice on Saturday.

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The department will develop a system to pass details of our child support payers to the credit bureau, which will then make this information available to all other credit bureaus and credit providers.

“This will result in harming the ability of child support debtors to gain access to credit. This move is aimed at implementing the provisions of the Maintenance Act 1998 (Act No. 99 of 1998) (the Act) as amended.

“Both the civil and criminal provisions of the Act have provisions requiring the transmission of personal data of non-paying child support debtors and enforcement judgments against them to credit bureaus and credit providers. This partnership will not only benefit the implementation of the Act, but will benefit, at a later stage, from the wider orders made in the Family Law environment.

READ ALSO: Limpopo maintenance officer found guilty of stealing child support money

“This partnership is essential as it will create a system that will not only create a mold register, but will also streamline the process to ensure essential information is compliant with the provisions of the Act and the Children Act 2005, as has been modified. “

Child support cases

The minister said his department would also work with the Department of Employment and Labor to ensure potential applicants were asked about any court orders against them, rather than just focusing on criminal records.

READ ALSO: Justice Department Halts Electronic Child Support Payments Amid Security Breach Investigation

“You will not be treated economically in the country where you neglect your child. Failure to pay child support adversely affects the best interests of our children and undermines their right to support. This neglect fuels hardship and poverty, affecting countless children, including those still in school.

“If someone fails to pay maintenance as ordered by a court (except in the case of a lack of means), they commit an offense and face fines or imprisonment. Parents have the right to file criminal charges if support obligations are not met.”

Simelane said countless child support cases have come before courts across the country, with accompanying orders, yet many parents have not complied with court orders.

“We want to end this, we want to fully implement it,” Simelane said.

READ ALSO: The child support payment system has been suspended, leaving beneficiaries in financial difficulty

Social Justice Foundation Executive Director Anneke Greyvenstein said SowetanLive that up to 70% of those with maintenance obligations do not meet within the first two years of the court order.