Two dads start hunger strike in bid to see their children

Two fathers denied access to their children began a hunger strike yesterday outside the department of social development offices in Pretoria, and said they would continue until they were allowed to see their children again.

When Solomon Mondlane’s partner died 36 months ago, he never dreamed he would lose his then 10-year-old daughter and six-year-old son.

Mondlane said when his partner became ill, because they were not married, he spoke to her parents out of respect.

“However, they came and fetched her and waited for their pastor to pray for her, and she died,” Mondlane said. “They stopped me from burying the mother of my children. From there, they blocked me from my children.”

Mondlane said he had been “in and out of court” for the past two years, despite being cleared by a social worker.

The problem began when a second social worker hired by the grandmother put in a report against Mondlane.

“I want to raise my children, I want to be present in their lives, I don’t want them coming to me when they are 18 and asking where I was,” Mondlane said.

“I’m here as the father, I want to take care of my children.”

Sicelo Mbonani, also starting his hunger strike yesterday out of desperation, said he simply wanted access to his sons, aged four and two, to whom he said he was being denied.

“What is disappointing to me is that the system, the social development, the courts are of no help for us to access our children,” Mbonani said.

Nothing he had tried had helped restore contact with his children or have his case heard, he said.

“I want to be a father, to care for and love my child, to provide and be there for my child,” Mbonani said.

Gary da Silva is the chairperson of Fathers 4 Justice South Africa, an organisation fighting for equal access of both parents to their children.

“The current law states the biological mother automatically has rights and responsibilities to custody and guardianship,” Da Silva said.

He’s sent a 16-page list of demands to President Cyril Ramaphosa, Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, and Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu, among others, requesting these laws be reviewed and amended, following which court action would be following.

“We want the rights of the biological father to automatically assume the same rights of that of the biological mother,” said Da Silva.

“Given the high rates of domestic abuse in South Africa the abuse of the protection order with false allegations is used with the sole purpose to destroy the relationship, sever and alienate the child or children from the other parent,” the document stated.

“In the 6 months that I have been chairman we have assisted hundreds if not thousands of fathers with most of them having a protection order against them,” Da Silva said.

“In that time, we have had one case where it was indeed justified that a protection order was issued. Let me repeat that – one case only.”

Da Silva said the rest of the protection orders were issued “with the sole purpose to destroy, sever, and alienate the father from the child where no just cause existed in the first place”.

He noted it was likely a class action would be instituted, which would rely on crowd funding to cover the massive costs of taking on government and lawmakers.

In the meantime, Mbonani and Mondlani hope someone, somewhere inside the government building where they are standing, will hear their plea.

What happens to your body during a hunger strike

• At the beginning of a fast or hunger strike, hunger pangs usually disappear after two or three days, according to a document on mass hunger strikes from the California Correctional Health Care Services.
• After the third day of a hunger strike, the body starts to use muscle protein to make glucose, a sugar that’s needed for cell metabolism. Levels of important electrolytes, such as potassium, fall to dangerous levels. The body also loses fat and muscle mass.
• After two weeks, people on a hunger strike may have difficulty standing; they can also suffer from severe dizziness, sluggishness, weakness, loss of coordination, low heart rate and a chilled feeling.
• Low levels of thiamine (vitamin B1) become a real risk after two or three weeks and can result in severe neurological problems, including cognitive impairment, vision loss and lack of motor skills.
• After more than a month of fasting, or when more than 18 percent of body weight is lost, severe and permanent medical complications can occur. It can become very difficult to swallow water, hearing and vision loss can occur, breathing can become labored and organ failure can start to set in.
• Beyond 45 days, death is a very real risk, due to cardiovascular collapse or severe infection. – livescience.com

What does the law say?

• According to S. De Figueiredo Attorneys, an overriding principle “of utmost importance in South African law is that the best interests of the child is of paramount importance in any matter involving the child; whether it be a dispute between the child’s parents regarding the care of the child, the contact or guardianship or even regarding the maintenance of the child”.
• “This best interest of the child principle was established in international law and entrenched in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa as well as in section 9 of the Children’s Act,” their website stated.
• “In determining what care, contact and guardianship arrangement would best serve the minor child’s best interests, the court does not look for the ‘perfect parent’ but rather focuses on finding the least detrimental option available for safeguarding the minor child’s growth and development.
• “It is important for a minor child born out of wedlock or a minor child after a divorce, to build and maintain a relationship with the non-primary carer. The aim of contact is to give the non-primary carer the opportunity to preserve to some extent a parent-child relationship. Contact rights to a child born out of wedlock or after divorce should only be removed if it can be proved that this contact is not in the best interests of that child.”
• S. De Figueiredo Attorneys said it was important “to take note that more than one person may hold parental rights and responsibilities in respect of the same child”.

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