You can claim maintenance from your sibling – here’s what you need to know

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has clarified some myths about the country’s maintenance system as part of its public education campaign.

The Northern Cape division held its maintenance awareness webinar on Wednesday.

According to the NPA, maintenance is the upkeep of a person’s accommodation, food, clothing, medical expenses and education fees, among other things.

According to senior state advocate Mooketsi Molaudi, maintenance is regarded as gender-based violence.

“We are quite aware in the country that maintenance features squarely in the national strategic framework of GBV in this country,” Molaudi said.

“Pillar five entrusts us to ensure that at the end of the day we must create a system that is going to ensure that we have economic power for our vulnerable groups. We have to deal with maintenance in that context, recognising that this is GBV and that it comes against the backdrop of President Cyril Ramaphosa recently classifying GBV as a national disaster.

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“We want to create a smooth system for vulnerable groups and ensure that at the end of the day, the system is realised and people get access to justice.”

Myths

Molaudi further clarified some myths about the system, including that it is designed for women against men.

“We want to encourage men and we know very well that there are fathers who live with their children, responsibly so, but can’t access the system because of the myth and the stereotype we have about maintenance. We encourage them to access this system, it is designed for South Africans and must be accessible to South Africans,” Molaudi said.

Maintenance is not only about men supporting their children; women are also responsible for supporting their children, he said.

Child maintenance does not stop at 18.

“The law says until the person to be maintained is self-supporting,” said Molaudi.

He further dismissed claims that maintenance officials in courts change paternity results from labs

“The courts are not responsible for conducting paternity tests. They cannot change that,” he said.

Who can claim maintenance?

“The duty to support a family member is not limited to supporting a child. Any family member, irrespective of his or her age, can ask any family member to support or maintain him or her,” says the NPA.

“The duty to maintain is based on blood relationship, adoption or the fact that the parties are married to each other.”

However, there are conditions that the claimant must meet:

The family member who claims support must be unable to maintain themselves
The family member from whom maintenance is claimed is able to afford it
The main requirement of the means test is that the person who is liable to pay maintenance must have means and the maintenance claimed must be reasonable