Upon consideration of:- a) the problems inherent in the maintenance system; b) the research conducted by myself; and c) the numerous proposed solutions and recommendations, it is my firm belief that the fastest and most effective manner in which to offer some relief to those who find themselves at the mercy of the maintenance system is education.
It is repeatedly documented (as is evident throughout this dissertation) that the government simply does not have the funding and resources to drastically amend the
P a g e | 179 implementation and loopholes in the 1998 Act or to place additional staff in the court system. I therefore am of the opinion that the only manner in which to improve the system at this stage is education of the procedure and the 1998 Act to both the staff and the public. Education, although not an all-encompassing solution will go a long way to addressing a large majority of the problems identified in this study.
It is certainly my view that the only way complainants are going to be able to make the most of the system is to find some manner of educating themselves, as the government cannot be relied upon to do so.
I believe further that comprehensive and ongoing training needs to be provided to all staff working within the maintenance courts. In my opinion I think that an education on the current problems facing the maintenance court as dealt with in Chapter 4 hereinbefore would vastly improve the staff's view of the process and their attitude towards the people seeking relief from it.
I propose two areas of training be carried out, namely the training of court officials and, secondly, the training and education of the public using the system. The training of court staff has been dealt with substantially herein, therefore only the training and education of the public shall be discussed hereunder.
In my opinion the system would become that much more effective should the people using it be aware firstly of their rights and secondly, of the process necessary to enforce them.
While conducting my research I was astounded by how little the people in the court waiting rooms knew about their rights. The majority of these people were completely at the mercy of the court staff. It was also clear that the posters and pamphlets supplied by the government briefly outlining some rights and a basic procedure were completely inadequate in assisting these people.
I am of the view that the complainants need to become proactive about their education of maintenance law and the procedure to be followed. My proposal is the drafting of a basic guide which outlines properly the rights of maintenance and also the procedure to be followed. This guide should then be made available to people at community centres, courts, NGO offices. It is argued that the government use its budget in this manner, as opposed to employing additional staff in the maintenance court, who
P a g e | 180 simply herd the people in maintenance waiting rooms around like they are cattle. It is further my suggestion that a facilitator be briefed in terms of the content of the guide, and workshops be regularly held in communities and courts to assist the public in better understanding the guide and consequently their rights and the procedure.
It is submitted that a properly educated public will speed up the maintenance process substantially in that:-
a) the correct documentation will be completed and submitted on the first court appearance;
b) parties will have a more realistic approach to bargaining and maintenance settlements;
c) the public will be in a position to protect themselves against bullying and ill-advice from maintenance court staff;
d) parties will not be forced to employ a legal representative to understand the process, thus avoiding costly legal fees;
e) form completion will become simpler, allowing the court staff to attend to court users more quickly and efficiently
I have drafted a rough and very basic guide to maintenance law as an illustrative example, marked Annexure 6.4 hereto. It is my intention to explore this concept and the impact (and hopeful improvement) that is may have on court users more thoroughly at PhD level.
It is suggested that the facilitation of such a guide would be hugely beneficial to the public. A further possibility regarding such facilitation would be the employment of law students to assist with both guide facilitation and also with completion of court documents at court. Law students are an untapped resource which could be used to alleviate much of the burden carried by court staff. As part of any university programme law students could be compelled to spend a certain number of hours doing
"community service" within the maintenance courts. Law students would be in a position to explain basic maintenance rights to court users and assist them with understanding the process and completing the necessary documentation.
P a g e | 181 It is evident that many of the problems facing the maintenance court system can only truly be resolved through an injection of resources from the government. Given the budgetary constraints experienced by the government however, this is unlikely in the near future.
It is my submission that as the system is unlikely to change dramatically in the near future, the only manner in which court users are going to make the existing system work for them, is for them to educate themselves about the system and about their rights. The public need to literally "take the law into their own hands" and ensure that they are equipped as best they can be when entering the maintenance court process.
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7 Chapter 7: Conclusion
As is evident from this dissertation there are numerous challenges faced by the maintenance system, whether it be relating to the content of the maintenance law itself, or simply the poor implementation of the law in the courts. An in-depth examination of the flaws found throughout the system highlights the fact that courts overall are user- unfriendly and the process of obtaining or enforcing maintenance is a long one filled with endless “administrative and legal potholes”(Annexure 7 hereto515).
The administration of the law is the biggest hurdle to achieving change in the system with maintenance courts being hugely under resourced in terms of staff and infrastructure. The key to improvement of the maintenance system at this stage is simply an increase in government funding and resources. However, due to a lack thereof it is doubtful that the system is going to improve dramatically any time soon.
In my humble opinion the most constructive alternative to government funding, which is unlikely to materialise, is the urgent and thorough education of the public making use of the maintenance system as to how to use the system to their best advantage. During my experience in practice as an attorney and from the perspective of being on the bench I have identified a dire need for the public to help themselves where the court fails them.
People engaging in the system need to educate themselves in a manner with which to circumvent the frustration of navigating the system alone.
For this reason it is my view that an initiative such as community education is imperative. The focus on public education would be useful if directed through the use of a guide similar to that prepared by myself in Chapter 6 hereof.
Those using the maintenance court system are sadly going to continue to suffer at the hands of a failing court system until such time as they take the initiative and find a way to familialise themselves with the system and their rights. It is my hope that in future a cost effective method of education be devised by interested parties, such as myself, in order to ease the burden of the impoverished and unrepresented who haunt the maintenance court passages almost daily.
515T Beaver 'Mending Maintenance' The Witness 7 May 2013 at 7.
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