Child Support In South Africa: Mothers Speak About The Struggle To Get Fathers To Pay In A System Rigged Against Women

(MENAFN- The Conversation) Child maintenance – the duty to support a child – is more than a right. It ensures children have their basic needs met. It also means single mothers don't have to shoulder the responsibility of parenthood alone, which can deepen their poverty .

Despite the persistent gender wage gap, in 2023, 42.3% of South African households were headed by women , with the highest prevalence in rural areas (47.6%), particularly in the Eastern Cape province (48.8%). This disproportionate burden often pushes single mothers towards financial hardship.

In South Africa, child maintenance is regulated by the Maintenance Act, 1998 . When a custodial parent, often the mother, seeks support from the other parent, they can apply at their local magistrate's court. The process involves submitting an application with financial details, such as income and expenses. The court then schedules a hearing to review the case. A summons is issued to the other parent (usually the father), who may agree to the maintenance arrangement or contest it.

If the respondent consents to the maintenance amount claimed, a magistrate can then issue an order for the amount to be paid. However, if there is disagreement, a formal hearing is held to decide on the maintenance amount and responsibility.

I have studied gender, social development issues and structural violence for over a decade. Structural violence is a form of violence caused by unjust political, socio-cultural, and economic systems that hinder people's ability to achieve a good quality of life.

Recently, I was involved in a project focused on child maintenance issues in South Africa's Eastern Cape. This issue is deeply interwoven with the pervasive influence of patriarchy and patriarchal institutions. Inefficient government systems and gender insensitivity by state officials add to the problems that affect women and children severely.

Our latest research objective was to understand how structural violence contributes to women's poverty in child maintenance cases. Using an exploratory qualitative design, we interviewed 45 women who had faced challenges in securing maintenance payments from their children's fathers in Mdantsane, Parkside and the central business district of East London in the Eastern Cape. The fieldwork took place between 2022 and 2023.

The women were aged between 20 and 40 and had faced financial hardship, including non-payment of child support. We also interviewed nine key informants from the government, civil society and academia working in the field.

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We asked the women about their experiences when claiming child maintenance, their views on the role of child maintenance in alleviating poverty, and their socio-economic conditions and survival strategies, among other topics.

The experience of applying for child maintenance can be traumatic for women. Shutterstock

The study reveals that women already facing structural inequalities (such as economic, educational, socio-cultural and legal disparities) are most affected by a lack of child support. This forces them to rely on their limited income to raise their children, pushing them further into poverty.

Economic strain

A key theme that emerged from the interviewees was the severe economic strain they faced. Many of the women were in precarious employment and heavily dependent on the government's monthly child support grant of R530 (about US$29.27) a child. Their financial hardship was worsened by the lack of financial support from their children's fathers.

A significant number of the women expressed deep frustration and disappointment with the justice system, claiming it to be patriarchal and biased towards men. They reported a lack of thorough investigation by court officials, who mostly failed to demand proof of income or bank statements from fathers contesting child support payments.

This led to women feeling that the system readily accepted men's claims of financial hardship, resulting in minimal or no child support. As a result, these women bore more than their share of the financial burden.

One woman shared her experience:

Women reported that the experience of applying for child maintenance was traumatic and maintenance officers showed a lack of gender sensitivity. Some court officials showed little awareness or understanding of the emotional and financial toll the process took on women. This institutional insensitivity not only reinforces existing gender inequalities such as economic dependence, the unequal distribution of care responsibilities and upaid care , but can even worsen women's poverty.

One key informant said:

Despite child support being a fundamental right for children, the women expressed frustration with the justice system's inability to enforce fair financial obligations on fathers.

One of the women said:

To sum up, a significant number of women reported deeply negative experiences with the court system. While individual experiences varied, a common theme emerged: the perception of a patriarchal justice system that is unfriendly, ineffective in supporting women, and fails to prioritise the needs of children.

Systemic reforms

The findings of this study underscore the need for reforms in South Africa's child maintenance system, which is influenced by patriarchal and gender-biased practices that impede the effective enforcement of child support.

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Deep-seated biases create obstacles that affect single mothers, limiting their ability to receive consistent and fair child maintenance.

Addressing these institutional challenges requires not only policy reforms, but also a culture shift that recognises the shared financial responsibilities of both parents.

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