Former husband’s pension attached for maintenance

In what is seen as a landmark ruling, a mother of two has been awarded R100 000 in outstanding maintenance payments over five years from her former husband for their 10-year-old son. According to a report in The Star, Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandla handed Jane Johnson the cheque as apart of her department’s Operation Isondlo. Johnson obtained an order allowing the state to pay her a portion of her former husband’s pension after she discovered he was leaving his job. A maintenance investigating officer found that the resignation benefits had already been deposited in the respondent’s bank account and invested offshore. An urgent court order was granted for the nullification of the transactions and an attachment order was put in place.

Full report in The Star below

Mom’s joy at maintenance claim victory

This article was originally published on page 2 of The Star on May 04, 2006

Published on the Web by IOL on 2006-05-04 10:38:00

By Tsabeng Nthite

A mother-of-two has received about R100 000 in maintenance money owed to her for the past five years.

In what is seen as a landmark ruling, Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandla on Tuesday handed Jane Johnson a cheque for R95 400, which is the highest amount paid out to a beneficiary under the Justice Department’s Operation Isondlo.

Johnson had not received maintenance payments from her former husband for their 10-year-old son for five years. She managed, however, to obtain an order allowing the state to pay her a portion of her former husband’s pension, after she discovered he was leaving his job.

Johnson approached the maintenance investigating officer for assistance earlier this year after she learnt that her former husband was about to receive his resignation benefits. The officer conducted a full-scale investigation and found that the resignation benefits had already been deposited in the respondent’s bank account and invested offshore.

An urgent court order was granted for the nullification of the transactions and an attachment order was put in place.

The operation, Mabandla said, focuses on maintenance issues and is aimed at improving the maintenance system through a series of interventions, such as paying out about R80-million of unclaimed maintenance money to beneficiaries and the clamping down on maintenance defaulters.

Johnson said yesterday she was happy that the money rightfully owed to her child had been paid. She hoped her case would be a lesson for many other parents who did not care for their children.

“I have not received any money from my ex-husband for five years. I plan to invest this money for educational purposes and buy my children winter clothes,” she said.

People experiencing problems with maintenance claims can refer their complaints to the Justice Department and the complaint will then be assessed by a maintenance investigating officer for a ruling.

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