Woman gets back R30 000 in maintenance
More than half of the maintenance defaulters in the Western Cape have been brought to book over the past year.
|||Cape Town - More than half of the maintenance defaulters in the Western Cape have been brought to book by the department of justice and constitutional development over the past year.
Last year, there were over 1 000 arrest warrants outstanding for maintenance defaulters - now 583 defaulters, who collectively owe around R3.9 million, are being sought.
At the launch of the Operation Isondlo there were 94 untraced maintenance beneficiaries, and 75 have since been located with R99 000 being paid to them.
One such benefactor was Ursula Onkruidt from Elsies River, who received R30 000 in maintenance on Monday. She said when she heard she was finally going to get the money, she thought it was a joke.
"When I initially got the call on Friday I missed it and heard the voice message saying they wanted to pay money into my account and that I must get back to them, I thought it was a joke. When they called again I was still sceptical, but after he explained it I had a long weekend because I had to wait till Monday to get it."
She said she made the application in 2009 and made another one in 2011 andwas "so grateful for this".
Onkruidt said she would use the money for her daughter's tuition, as she would like to become a teacher.
"She was very despondent when she wasn't accepted anywhere, but now she is very excited as this will change things for us because we have these funds now."
Provincial department head Hishaam Mohammed said the money paid to Onkruidt was part of their Operation Isondlo. He added he was glad to announce they had more than halved defaulters since last year.
"We are happy to share the success of Operation Isondlo and we hope this will show other benefactors not to give up."
He said the maintenance system was slow at courts because of the backlog of applications, but commended Onkruidt for persevering through her process. "We call on members of the public to assist us in identifying alleged maintenance defaulters and notify your nearest court manager or local police station."
yolisa.tswanya@inl.co.za
Cape Argus