Maintenance Courts: briefing

On the other hand, some government departments sent money from garnishee orders but no list, so one did not know who to credit or debit. Respondents, when asked to bring documents, did not bring their salary advice slips, knowingly stalling the process. After filling in forms, people often do not know what to do. In one example, a women fought to collect arrears amounting to R22 000. In the end she only received R700, as the legal process was expensive. In the Free State they have a multidisciplinary task team, moving all family-related matters to one centre.

Gauteng
The Gauteng representative explained that there was a shortage of staff and they were therefore relying on NGOs. There were 58 members from two NGOs who were educated on the Act, and who helped with the completion of forms. Of the 80 prosecutors that were recently appointed only two were placed in Gauteng. She said they recruited unemployed legally qualified graduates. They were dealing with legal matters and unemployed clerks were dealing with maintenance matters.

Mr Jiyane mentioned the situation in Market Street. Services needed to be decentralised to ensure that people did not need to travel, as this was inhibiting too many poor people.

Limpopo

The Limpopo representative spoke of the downgrading of offices in 1997-98 and how this had affected them. She noted the problems with the centralisation of training and that there was not much focus on training magistrates and prosecutors on maintenance issues. The Department had appointed maintenance prosecutors without input from the province's side. She said it was costly to send clerks for training. There was an incident where a woman had been appointed as an investigator at Potgietersrus but because it was district based, she could not help someone 6 kilometres away who was out of the district. There was also a problem with sheriffs, and a shortage of staff. There was a Court Performance task team, which visited courts, to check on such things as starting time and general matters concerning courts.

Northern Cape
Mr Isaac said that officers dealing with maintenance issues needed sensitivity training. Females regularly deal with officers and clerks who are arrogant and rude. They planned to employ people with legal training in these positions. Paralegals, paid salaries by the Danish Government, had been deployed and were assisting them in Human Resources. They tried to take maintenance services to the rural areas, in terms of paying out and taking in claims there. The National Department's process of building temporary courts in these areas has been implemented. They had asked sheriffs to supply a database to assist investigators. The biggest problem was lack of infrastructure - the process needed to take place in a more dignified and confidential manner. The Capital Works budget could be used to build cubicles so there could be some privacy. He felt that there was a need to shorten the process.

Western Cape
Mr Mohammed said that 80% or more of Western Cape courts were in the rural areas. Only 12 courts were in the metropole area, so complainants had to travel long distances. There is also a lack of pay points. There were cases of South African Police employees who refused to serve summonses on their colleagues. Prosecutors were also reluctant to serve on maintenance matters. He provide statistics on Mitchell's Plain, which had received 2900 maintenance complaints, 300 warrants for arrest and 2500 subpoenas. 360 defendants could not be traced and 240 were not prosecuted at all. Access to courts needed to be promoted. They had formed Maintenance Forums to look at blockages in the system. They had also begun implementing a pilot project to increase access in rural areas, by using satellite courts for maintenance and family violence. In Phillipi , Thembaleku and Khayelitsha special courts had been opened. They were badly needed, as was demonstrated by the long queues. He noted that shortage of staff was a problem.

Discussion
Mr B Mkhalipi (ANC) appealed to Mr Jiyane that the Mpumalanga representative who had decided not to attend should be forced to appear within seven days. Defiance was being displayed and requested the name of that person. He felt that this attitude reflected in the way they serve the community. He said that if the Department did not start letting heads roll, their heads would roll. He felt that Maintenance was not a priority within the Department as cheques were lying about for months on end. There was a lack of implementation, for example, there was no checking for compliance. He wanted to know if people working in the offices were actually doing their jobs.

Mr Mokoena replied that those type of people were known as elephants, even if they were pushed, they would not move.

Ms Kondlo (ANC) said human resource shortages were common, but she was not able to see the link with down-grading in 1997-98. They needed to know how to resource the department in terms of personnel. The effectiveness of penalty clauses was questioned. She wanted to know whether it was implemented and whether the default rate was, for example, 80% or 10%. She wanted to know where they were in terms of beneficiaries. For example, did they know if at least 60% were receiving maintenance? They needed a reflection so they could see if interventions were working. All provinces should be taken on board. She added that they could not have a government department relying more on NGOs to implement its own programmes.

Mr R Nyakane (UDP) said they needed to focus on moral regeneration, by concentrating on their communities and family involvement. People were ignoring the road that tribal authorities could take in interrogating and solving social problems. He suggested referring some cases to the tribes concerned, defaulters should be interrogated and shamed. Also, this would be more cost effective. Issues such as human relations and culture should be looked at. The disrespect shown by personnel towards women coming to claim maintenance needs to be addressed.

A member (ANC) said the issue of mainteneance should fall under social services. He added that in many cases too much money was spent on transport. For example, you might spend R50 on transport and come back with R10 for the house.

The Chair cited an example where a woman was getting maintenance from four men for one child. He wanted to know why this irregularity had not been detected. He noted that some offices paid out once a week, others fortnightly and still others, once a month, and wondered if the discrepancies had been improved. He also wondered why some provinces were using NGOs to train their officials. He noted that there were volunteers who handled cash and that these volunteers were not getting a salary. He wanted to know if that was a normal situation.

A committee member commented that case management flow would help deal with a lot of the problems. Another noted that in Kwa Kwa many officials had been removed.

Mr Jiyane said an incremental approach needed to be taken to improve the system of maintenance delivery, where they would give the Committee regular feedback.

He conceded that mistakes had been made, like in 1997 they put a design of the Department together with no scientific methodology. They need a uniform system that reflects RSA policy. They acknowledge the overwhelming call by the officials for new posts, however to deal with this matter they first want to establish a more scientific model to put in place as a first step in the restructuring process. Once it has been established in KZN, they wished to have it working in the whole country. This process will not only look at the administrative approach, as there still is a need to banish old norms, by designing a more performance-driven approach.

The downgrading that took place in 1998, was not done by looking at government policy, this has changed. Three hundred people are required for the administration of the Department, and a scientific process determined this. The government was giving additional funding to the Department. R75m will be used to assist in the increase of the establishments, of which they are only left with R26m, as a result of last year's spending. For the immediate demand they are hiring on a temporary basis, until such time as the different structure is in place.

The relationships formed with NGOs are on a partnership basis. He acknowledged the need to remove the negativity on the ground, noting that they would visit these offices on a continual basis. The Department's Chief Financial Officer, Mr McKenzie, had suggested the outsourcing of services, which they would be looking into.

He noted that the criminal justice system alone could not deal with all of the social problems involved in Maintenance issues. They needed some form of partnership with cluster departments. As a society there needs to be more promotion of the family unit. Strong families would make formidable communities, which in turn would make a formidable country.

He concluded by stating that the absence of the Head of the Department in Mpumalanga was not done with the intention of undermining the Committee, but rather it was an earnest inability to attend the meeting. The representative would report to this Committee when requested.

Ms Shabala (KZN) asked how the success rate could be measured. Sometimes a father would decide to leave a job, to avoid paying maintenance. Some of them did not want to support children venturing into tertiary education. Maintenance was an ongoing matter. Due to the training being centralised, they had taken outsiders, because of their skills. They lacked dispute resolution skills. Without such skills, more matters had to go to court. Community involvement was what was needed at this stage, law had previously been a mystery, courts had been closed to communities. She noted a success story regarding tribal intervention. Also, if a mother and child were separated by distance, the grandmother looking after the child should receive the money.

The Eastern Cape representative described the relationship between the national and provincial offices. The province would report their recommendations for their area to the National offices, where they would decide the national priorities. The provinces did not have a final say on the matter. She acknowledged the concerns raised by Mr Mkhaliphi, and noted they had made certain promises to the Committee that they were working hard to fulfill. Monitoring issues of compliance needed to be identified. They needed an online system so that they could see whether cases were still on track. Two officials had been fired. They had difficulty with this, because of the outsourcing issue, where they found themselves adapting. She expressed their frustration with the whole process. With respect to the Rehaubusha project, she mentioned that although it appeared to be a good project, she had only attended two or three meetings and her provinces involvement had been minimal.

Mr Durand announced their plans to analyze the data access to rural areas in this year. They will extend services through periodic or temporary courts, which will address maintenance issues. They aimed to make the maintenance investigators permanent staff of the Department. Prosecutors were withdrawn because of the problems with their mandate, the core function of their role needs to be re-addressed.

Mr Mohammed (Western Cape) said he wanted to raise issues concerning maintenance payouts. He felt this should happen on a daily basis. They should rather do less of other work, but payouts should occur in this manner. This was because some people had to hitchhike very far to get there, only to be turned away. The NGOs had never provided funding to their Department, at the most they provided materials. They were gaining a lot from the NGOs. For example, colleagues could get training from them.

A Provincial Representative said that they were utilizing volunteers. They should be made to sign confidentiality forms and they should not be used to handle cash as this might lead to misconduct. With respect to financial misconduct, they had made progress, as there were now huge fines levied on offending officials.

The Chair noted that the Committee felt empowered by speaking with the Department. He requested a response as quickly as possible to the feedback provided.

Mr Jiyane expressed his appreciation for the robust conversation, noting that the Committee should unapologetically come down hard on the Department, as this was their role. He apologised for any inconsistencies and promised feedback as soon as possible.

The Department was thanked for their attendance at the meeting. Committee members stated that Maintenance needed to become more of a priority for the Department. The Committee's door would always be open to assist them in the process of transformation of Maintenance delivery, as the process was lagging behind.

The meeting was adjourned.