Financial abuse is a reality many face #ChildMaintenance
SANDTON – Activist Felicity Guest fights to empower people who face maintenance issues.
Child maintenance issues is a problem many single parents face and who often do not know what to do.
To provide information, Felicity Guest started a Facebook group called Child Maintenance Difficulties South Africa in 2014 as a result of her own journey through the maintenance system.
Guest’s organisation is a registered NPC and she is an activist against financial abuse. She recently met up with the Sandton Chronicle on a visit to Sandton to discuss what her group does.
She said the purpose of the group was to reach out and offer support to single parents who are facing battles with child maintenance and children’s rights-related issues.
Guest started her journey around seven years ago during a complicated and devasting divorce. “I have five children, one of which is a mentally handicapped child and he managed to fraudulently divorce me saying he does not have any children.”
She said following the divorce she thought she would at least get maintenance, but that did not happen.
Guest had to get a protection order against her ex-husband after which she could have him arrested for financial abuse.
According to Guest, the Constitution is structured with the best interest of the children, however, “Our rights and our children’s rights are being violated every day.”
She said, however, the maintenance court system is not working and is pushing more single mothers into poverty and it is a cycle they can’t escape from.
Guest said that 52 per cent of our children are growing up without fathers and without financial support.
Her support group is a platform for people to share their experiences. They also have lawyers and department of justice staff on the group as well as court managers who are aware of the issues that people face.
“What we do is to assist people with knowledge so we teach people what their rights are.”
Guest said that the ones that do not know their rights are often abused by the system and they aim to empower them with knowledge.
She provided some advice for parents that are faced with a situation like this:
- Read the Maintenance Act and know your rights
- Prepare emotionally for the battle
- Separate yourself emotionally
- Do it for your children, it is their rights
- Lean on people for support during this process.
Have you received assistance from the CMDSA group? Share your stories with us on the Sandton Chronicle Facebook page
