In South Africa, the phenomenon of "Silver Bullet" tactics in custody disputes—where one parent makes false or exaggerated claims against the other to limit their access to children—presents unique challenges. The South African legal framework, particularly in family...
Pretoria High Court Finds Parts of The Divorce Act to be Potentially Unconstitutional
The Pretoria High Court has made a ruling which found certain parts of the Divorce Act, Act 70 of 1979 (hereinafter referred to as “the Divorce Act”) to be unconstitutional. This article will discuss this landmark ruling and indicate the consequences it might have for...
A Courageous Fight for Joint Custody and Legislative Change
Although, having had the honour of being part of the legal team that was nominated into the final round for the Princess of Asturias Award in the “concord” category in 2019, we were not the recipients of the award. The Princess of Asturias Foundation convenes the...
COVID-19 Retrenchments and what to expect in simple terms
At the end of March 2020, the President of South Africa announced the nationwide lockdown, due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. This announcement had a severe negative impact on South Africa’s economy and accordingly also on all businesses and employers in...
Regulations unmasked
In terms of the Criminal Procedure Act an offence is stated as an act that is punishable by law. The Minister of Justice stated that not wearing a mask is a criminal offence in terms of the Disaster Management Act. The onus however does not rest on individuals to wear...
Criminal offenses under COVID-19
In the latest Regulations that was issued under the Disaster Management Act the most important regulation that was added is the one banning the transportation of liquor at all until the 30th of April 2020. The only liquor that can be transported is alcohol that is...
Between two parents – movement restrictions of children relaxed
Yesterday, the 7th of April 2020, the Minister of Social Development, Lindiwe Zulu amended her directions that she had previously given with regard to the movement of children between parents. If parents are the co-holders of parental responsibilities and rights as...
COVID-19 & Family Movement
Since the previous notes appeared on this website with regards to access to minor children the Minister made it clear that, despite what the order with regards to the custody of children determines, the children has to stay with the parent that they are with. This...
COVID-19 & Civil Obedience
Civil disobedience forms part of the DNA of South African citizens. That is how the struggle of our democracy started. We have now come to a point where we will have to change our attitude in this regard. The National Disaster and the Regulations imposed through two...
COVID-19 lockdown 2020
In terms of Section 27 of the Disaster Management Act, a national disaster was declared by the President. The Disaster Management Act provides for a national disaster to be declared if the existing legislation does not provide for the Government to deal effectively...