Fathers cite discrimination as Limpopo implements custody mediation first

Strong opinions have been expressed to parliament about so-called discrimination against men in the Children’s Act.

From September, the Limpopo High Court will be the first to implement rule 41 A Uniform Rules of Court to force mediation between parties.

In July, Judge President of the High Court in Limpopo Ephraim Makgoba called on legal practitioners to comply with Rule 41 A Uniform Rules of Court when they issued proceedings as per the ruling last year.

“Henceforth, the registrar will decline to issue the court process unless the rule has complied with the effect of 1 September,” said Makgoba.

A concerned father of a three year old and an activist in many nonprofit organisations said he wished all provinces would follow suit.

“Kudos to the judge president. The people in Limpopo are lucky, I wish all the provinces would put it this way,” the activist said.

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“Uniform Rules of Court. In any litigation before any Supreme Court. It makes sense and is modern and the world works that way.

“It seeks to alleviate the burden on the courts so that cases may be settled between adults ahead of time,” the activist said.

He added that mediation was cheaper and easier when everyone was mature and reasonable throughout the process.

“The end decision is then made an order by the court and it saves everyone time and money and drama.”

He said the problem was that not all Supreme Courts applied the law and rule equally.

“We are in the value system of the society where 50%of the families were separated, which means that there were a lot of children growing up in struggling households,” the activist added.

He said he was against the principle of mothers being seen as better than fathers based on their gender.

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“That’s untrue. What about in a same-sex relationship who adopt, how does one determine the better mother or worse father?” he said.

He said the recommendations of the Commission of Gender Equality before parliament were problematic because they discriminated against male parents.

“How do you distinguish between the household of a father and of a mother as the primary residence? What is the second residence? It cannot just be a place of visitation,” he said.

He said the logical outcome of divorce was that the child gets two homes. “One household is not more important than the other,” the activist said.

– marizkac@citizen.co.za