Case Law[2022] ZAGPJHC 13South Africa
ND v PT (25792/2020) [2022] ZAGPJHC 13 (18 January 2022)
High Court of South Africa (Gauteng Division, Johannesburg)
11 November 2021
Headnotes
both video and in-person contact between the applicant and the child.
Judgment
begin wrapper
begin container
begin header
begin slogan-floater
end slogan-floater
- About SAFLII
About SAFLII
- Databases
Databases
- Search
Search
- Terms of Use
Terms of Use
- RSS Feeds
RSS Feeds
end header
begin main
begin center
# South Africa: South Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg
South Africa: South Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg
You are here:
SAFLII
>>
Databases
>>
South Africa: South Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg
>>
2022
>>
[2022] ZAGPJHC 13
|
Noteup
|
LawCite
sino index
## ND v PT (25792/2020) [2022] ZAGPJHC 13 (18 January 2022)
ND v PT (25792/2020) [2022] ZAGPJHC 13 (18 January 2022)
Download original files
PDF format
RTF format
make_database: source=/home/saflii//raw/ZAGPJHC/Data/2022_13.html
sino date 18 January 2022
IN
THE HIGH COURT OF SOUTH AFRICA,
GAUTENG
LOCAL DIVISION, JOHANNESBURG
CASE
NO: 25792/2020
REPORTABLE:
YES
/ NO
OF
INTEREST TO OTHER JUDGES:
YES
/NO
REVISED.
18.01.2022.
In
the matter between:
N;
D
Applicant
and
P;
T
Respondent
## JUDGMENT
JUDGMENT
CRUTCHFIELD
AJ:
[1]
This application was brought urgently in
the week commencing 20 December 2021. The applicant, referred to
herein as ‘D N’
claimed an order of contempt against the
applicant, referred to herein as ‘T P’, pursuant to the
respondent allegedly
failing to comply with an order of this Court
granted on 11 November 2021 (the ‘order’),
regulating the applicant’s
contact to the parties’ minor
son, D N, (the ‘child’). The applicant is the child’s
father and the respondent
is the mother, with whom the child resides.
The child is approximately 19 months of age.
[2]
The respondent allegedly failed to comply
with the following provisions of the order:
2.1
Clause 3.1 to the effect that the
respondent facilitate video call contact between the applicant and
the child every afternoon between
17h00 and 18h00;
2.2
Clause 3.2.1.1.2 that the respondent pay
the social worker’s costs;
2.3
Clause 3.2.2 that the respondent permit the
applicant contact with the child;
2.4
Clause 3.2.2.1.2 that the respondent allow
the applicant’s mother to facilitate the applicant’s
contact with the child
in Johannesburg; and
2.5
Clause 3.2.2.1.3, that the respondent make
the child available to the applicant for collection from the
respondent’s parents’
home in Johannesburg.
[3]
The respondent initially permitted the
stipulated ‘in person’ contact between the applicant and
the child on 13 and
14 November 2021, the applicant’s first
contact in more than one year. The daily video call contact endured
until 24 November
2021, being the last occasion of such contact.
Subsequently, the respondent withheld both video and in-person
contact between the
applicant and the child.
[4]
The social worker’s invoice
became due and payable by the respondent on 14 November 2021 but
the respondent failed to
paid those costs.
[5]
The background to this matter, briefly
stated, is the following:
5.1
The parties’ marriage relationship
subsists but it is common cause that it has broken down
irretrievably.
The parties separated during
July 2020 and the applicant struggled to exercise contact to the
child from August 2020.
5.2
The applicant alleged that he made all
reasonable attempts to procure contact to the child, including by way
of letters written
by his attorney of record, an invitation to the
respondent to participate in mediation and two attempts to resolve
matters through
the Office of the Family Advocate, all to no avail.
The applicant instituted a Rule 43 application on 30 August 2021 that
resulted
in the judgment and order of Clarke AJ delivered on
11 November 2021.
5.3
The judgment criticised the respondent for
her conduct in deliberately withholding contact with the child from
the applicant and
referred to the respondent’s contravention of
sections 31(2) and 35(2) of the Children’s Act 38 of 2005 (the
‘Act’),
absent the applicant’s prior knowledge of
the respondent’s move to Cape Town with the child.
[6]
The applicant alleged that the
respondent used the litigation process as a means to delay and
frustrate the applicant from exercising
his statutory right to
contact with the child.
[7]
Shortly after delivery of the judgment, the
respondent withdrew the divorce proceedings, forcing the applicant to
launch divorce
proceedings afresh. The applicant alleged that the
purpose of the withdrawal was to fabricate a defence of ‘no
pending
lis
’
to the respondent’s noncompliance with the order.
[8]
In addition, the respondent applied for
leave to appeal the judgment, which was heard on 13 December
2021 and dismissed with
costs on an attorney and client scale.
[9]
The respondent filed two additional
affidavits, thus necessitating the applicant filing a further
replying supplementary affidavit.
The respondent did not seek the
leave of the Court to file such further affidavits.
[10]
Notwithstanding,
I perused and considered the content of both parties’ documents
given that this matter deals with the best
interests of a child. The
court n
J
v J
[1]
stated that a court:
‘…
is
empowered and under a duty to consider and evaluate all relevant
facts placed before it with a view to deciding the issue which
is of
paramount importance: the best interests of the child.’
[11]
In
Terblanche
v Terblanche
,
[2]
it was stated that when a Court sits as upper guardian in a custody
matter –
‘…
it has
extremely wide powers in establishing what is in the best interests
of minor or dependent children. It is not bound by procedural
strictures or by the limitations of the evidence presented or
contentions advanced by the respective parties. It may in fact have
recourse to any source of information, of whatever nature, which may
be able to assist it in resolving custody and related disputes.’
[12]
Clarke AJ in the judgment, detailed
the correspondence between the parties leading up to the Rule 43
application, including
the plethora of reasons and attempts by the
respondent to justify her refusal of contact by the applicant with
the child, finding
that the respondent was alienating the child from
the applicant and acting contrary to the child’s best
interests.
[13]
Clarke AJ noted that the
respondent relied half way through her opposing affidavit for the
first time, not having done so in
her particulars of claim in the
divorce action or in the correspondence preceding the application, on
the applicant being ‘a
drug user’ during the marriage and
that she ‘believes he still is now that he is a single person’.
Clarke AJ
found that the respondent did not provide evidence of
this allegation, including when the applicant allegedly used drugs,
what
drugs were used, how often he made use thereof, the effects
thereof or whether this was an area of conflict in the marriage.
Moreover,
the respondent failed to explain why she did not raise the
issue pertinently in her pleadings or why if she was concerned about
the drug use, she did not accept the applicant’s proposal made
more than a year previously, for a social worker to investigate
the
matter. Thus, Clarke AJ concluded that that Court could not give
credence to the respondent’s bald and unsubstantiated
allegations regarding the applicant’s alleged drug use.
[14]
Clarke AJ found that the respondent
‘flagrantly disregarded the applicant’s role as a parent,
denying him contact
for almost the entire young life of the child, at
a time when attachment to both parents is critical to the long-term
emotional
well-being and psychological health of the child.
Compounding this wrongdoing, (the respondent) relocated with the
child to Cape
Town without telling the applicant. CIarke AJ found
that the respondent intended to alienate the child from his father.
[15]
In this, the respondent was aided and
abetted by her attorney, who, as an officer of this Court was under a
duty to act in the best
interests of the child and not to advance the
mala fide
cause
of his client. The attorney’s willingness to fuel the flames of
conflict was evident from both the tone and content
of his
correspondence as annexed to the founding affidavit and the reply,
both to the applicant’s attorneys and even to and
about the
Family Advocate’.
[16]
Clarke AJ found further that pursuant
to the absence of contact between the applicant and the child for so
long, the services
of a social worker were required to facilitate a
‘reintroduction and to reconstruct the father-child bond. This
would not
have been necessary had it not been for the respondent’s
actions in wilfully withholding contact. As such, the costs of the
social worker to be appointed in this role must be paid by the
respondent’.
[17]
The
Court in
Fakie
NO v CCII Systems (Pty) Ltd
[3]
summarised the position in respect of contempt proceedings as
follows:
‘
1.
The civil contempt procedure is a valuable and important mechanism
for securing compliance
with Court orders, and survives
constitutional scrutiny in the form of a Motion Court application
adapted to constitutional requirements.
2.
The respondent in such proceedings is not an ‘accused person’,
but
is entitled to analogous protections as are appropriate to motion
proceedings.
3.
In particular, the applicant must prove the requisites of contempt
(the order;
service or notice; non-compliance; and wilfulness and
mala fides
) beyond reasonable doubt.
4.
But once the applicant has proved the order, service or notice, and
non-compliance,
the respondent bears an evidential burden in relation
to wilfulness and
mala fides
: should the respondent fail to
advance evidence that establishes a reasonable doubt as to whether
non-compliance was wilful and
mala fide
, contempt will have
been established beyond reasonable doubt.
5.
A declarator and other appropriate remedies remain available to a
civil applicant
on proof on a balance of probabilities.’
[18]
Both wilfulness and
mala
fides
on the part of the respondent
must be shown to be present.
[19]
The respondent admitted the order, that she
received notice of the order and did not comply fully with the
content of the order.
The respondent denied that she acted wilfully
and
mala fide
insofar
as she failed to comply fully with the order, alleging that she acted
in the best interests of the minor child.
[20]
Accordingly, the issues are whether the
respondent’s non-compliance with the order rises to the level
of wilfulness and whether
it is
mala
fide
.
[21]
The respondent raised the absence of both
urgency and a pending
lis
pursuant
to the respondent withdrawing her action for a divorce on 23 November
2021, as points
in limine
.
[22]
In respect of the alleged absence of
urgency, the respondent argued that the fact that the applicant
relied on contempt of a court
order was insufficient to justify the
matter being heard urgently and that additional facts substantiating
the alleged urgency
of the application were required.
[23]
The respondent alleged that the applicant
did not see the child for approximately 15 months and thus there was
no basis on which
to find that the application was urgent.
[24]
In my view, s 28 of the Constitution
together with non-compliance of the order justified this matter being
heard urgently. The absence
of contact and the resultant failure to
establish a relationship between a young child and one of the parents
is not in the best
interests of a child. Additionally, the longer a
young child is denied such contact the more difficult it becomes to
establish
a relationship between the relevant parent and the child.
The applicant’s newly established relationship with the child
should
not be further disturbed.
[25]
The respondent raised the point that she
should not be expected to deal on an urgent basis with an application
for contempt. The
respondent, at the hearing of the matter, however,
did not request further time within which to augment or supplement
her answering
papers. Hence, there was no basis upon which to find
that the respondent was prejudiced by the limitation of time periods
to answer
to the application imposed by the applicant.
[26]
In addition, the applicant’s attorney
of record utilised all means over an extended period of time in order
to engage amicably
with the respondent and reach agreement in respect
of the applicant’s exercise of contact to the child. The
respondent was
wholly unwilling to engage meaningfully or reach any
such agreement. The applicant cannot be penalised for the delay in
bringing
the rule 43 application pursuant to his attempts to settle
the issues at hand.
[27]
As to the absence of a pending
lis
,
the applicant averred that he was on the verge of instituting divorce
proceedings and that is intention to do so sufficed as a
‘pending
lis
’
in the matter.
[28]
The
applicant referred to and relied upon
Bienenstein
v
Bienenstein
[4]
to the effect that a divorce action that was about to be instituted
was sufficient to serve as fulfilment of the requirement of
a
‘pending
lis
’.
There are however numerous authorities to the effect that
Bienenstein
was incorrectly decided on this point.
[5]
The practitioners appearing in this matter did not refer me to those
authorities as they ought to have done,
[29]
The circumstances of the matter before me
are somewhat different to those of
Bienenstein
in that a pending
lis
existed
at the time that Clarke AJ delivered the judgment. Subsequent
thereto, the respondent withdrew the pending divorce proceedings.
The
respondent did not allege an intention to reconcile with the
applicant or to restore the marriage. Nor did the respondent provide
a cogent explanation for the withdrawal. Accordingly, the only
reasonable inference in the circumstances of this matter is that
the
respondent’s intention was to preclude the applicant from
enforcing the order.
[30]
Davis J
in
LS
v GAS,
[6]
found that the issue of interim custody and access to a child fell
within a court’s ‘residual jurisdictional power’.
[7]
Davis J heard the Rule 43 application in order not to leave children
unprotected, finding that their interests were served by them
being
‘protected by the inherent jurisdiction of the Court’.
[8]
[31]
Davis J included a provision in the
order that the applicant issue summons in the proposed divorce action
within a limited
duration, failing which the applicant’s rights
in terms of the interim maintenance order would be of no force and
effect.
The provisions of Davis J’s order in respect of interim
custody and access however were not made subject to the requirement
that the summons be issued within a certain period of time failing
which the applicant’s rights would be of no force and
effect.
[32]
In
TH
v LAH
[9]
the summons had not yet been issued. The court agreed with
Moolman
[10]
and
AD
v ZD
,
[11]
but considered whether notwithstanding the absence of a pending
lis
certain orders might be made by the court as the upper guardian of
all minors. The court concluded that it should not do so as
the
respondent’s version of the facts was not before the court and
issues could not be determined piecemeal.
[12]
[33]
The concerns and constraints that caused
the courts in the abovementioned cases not to hear the applications
before them are not
decisive of the issue before me.
[34]
The test that I must apply is whether it is
in the interests of justice for the order to be enforced despite the
subsequent withdrawal
of the divorce proceedings and the applicant’s
failure as at the date of the hearing before me, to issue fresh
divorce proceedings.
[35]
The fact that I am dealing with the
paramount interests of a very young child is an integral component of
the interests of justice.
[36]
The best interests of the child require
that he exercise contact with both the applicant and respondent and
that he develop a relationship
with each parent.
[37]
Furthermore, the applicant has a right at
common law to reasonable contact including interim contact
with the child and both the applicant and the
child have rights of contact under the Act. Rule 43 proceedings are
not substantive
but merely procedural by nature, regulating the
process to be adopted by parties in order to obtain the permitted
relief under
the rule. Rule 43 does not deal with the substantive
rights of either the applicant or the child to contact with the other
and
thus the applicant and the child are both entitled respectively
to such contact notwithstanding such flaws as may exist in the Rule
43 process.
[38]
As stated, the facts in the present matter
differ insofar as the respondent withdrew the divorce action
subsequent to Clarke AJ’s
judgment. In addition, there is
a pattern of conduct by the respondent preventing the applicant from
exercising contact to the
child, and, in respect of which Clarke AJ
found that the respondent’s attorney had aided and abetted the
respondent
in her attempts to preclude contact between the applicant
and the child.
[39]
The respondent’s conduct in
withdrawing the divorce proceedings in circumstances where she does
not allege an intention to
reconcile with the applicant or restore
their marriage relationship but is motivated apparently by a desire
to preclude the enforcement
of the Rule 43 order and contact between
the applicant and the child, cannot be countenanced. An outcome that
permits a deliberate
attempt to undermine or subvert the proper
administration and the interests of justice will not be tolerated by
this Court.
[40]
Insofar as the respondent’s attorney
of record may have advised the respondent to withdraw the divorce
action in order to
prevent the enforcement of the order, such conduct
is incompatible with the conduct of an officer of this Court.
[41]
In the circumstances and by reason of the
factors referred to above, I am of the view that the order, in the
specific circumstances
of this matter, remains enforceable and should
be enforced by me if the requirements for the respondent to be found
in contempt
of the order are met.
[42]
The respondent’s complaint that the
applicant has no real interest in the child and embarked upon the
proceedings to gain
contact as a means to harass her was not borne
out by the objective conduct of the applicant who struggled for an
extended and
unreasonable period of time to enjoy contact with the
child.
[43]
The respondent alleged that she permitted
the video conference calls between the applicant and the child
initially but that the
stipulated time of 17h00 to 18h00 was not
appropriate for the age and the needs of the child. The respondent
sent the applicant
a cellular short message system (‘sms’)
in this regard to which the applicant allegedly did not reply.
However, the
respondent failed to engage either directly with the
applicant or through her attorney in order to agree on a different
time suitable
to both parties and the child’s needs for the
video calls.
[44]
Nothing prevented the respondent from
complying with the provision of the order dealing with the video
calls by reaching agreement
with the applicant on an alternate time
suitable to both parties. Absent the parties agreeing on a different
time appropriate to
the child, the time stipulated in the order
remained applicable and the respondent was not entitled to ignore the
provision in
the order to facilitate the video calls at the
stipulated time.
[45]
The respondent’s averments that the
applicant should not exercise contact without supervision, be it in
Johannesburg or in
Cape Town, were substantiated by her reliance upon
the applicant having a lithium deficiency and requiring medication,
the applicant
allegedly being a ‘drug user’ and the fact
that the applicant informed the respondent during the course of the
marriage
that he was molested as a child, allegedly by a person
living in the household in which the applicant is currently living
and that
she was concerned for the child’s safety.
[46]
The allegations of the applicant
having been abused as a child were not raised before Clarke AJ,
who noted in her judgment
that the applicant’s alleged drug use
was raised at a late stage in the respondent’s Rule 43
affidavit and had not
been raised previously by her either in
correspondence or in her pleadings.
[47]
Notwithstanding, the respondent’s
concerns are all adequately catered for by the provision for
supervision ordered by Clarke
AJ, which supervision exists in the
form of the presence of the social worker in respect of the contact
in Cape Town, and the presence
of the applicant’s mother during
the applicant’s contact in Johannesburg.
[48]
The respondent did not allege that the
applicant’s mother would not ensure that proper care was taken
of the child whilst
the applicant exercised contact to the child.
[49]
Insofar as the respondent alleged that she
could not afford the costs of the monthly flights to and from
Johannesburg and the social
worker’s costs ordered by Clarke
AJ, the respondent carried an evidentiary burden to place sufficient
facts, duly substantiated
by documentary evidence, of her alleged
financial inability before this Court.
[50]
The respondent disclosed six months’
salary slips that indicated different amounts of gross and net
monthly remuneration,
ranging from net pay of R10 000.00 on 30
September 2021 to R50 000.00 in respect of June and July 2021.
[51]
The respondent’s remuneration advice
dated 30 June 2021 reflected a basic salary of R50 000.00,
a travel allowance
of R5 309.81 and an ‘income
non-taxable’ of R12 000.00, aggregating gross earnings of
R67 309.81. Subsequent
to statutory deductions of PAYE, UIF
contribution, medical aid and a medical aid tax credit applied, the
total deductions amounted
to R17 309.81 giving net remuneration
of R50 000.00.
[52]
The July 2021 salary advice reflected the
same figures whilst the advice dated 31 August 2021 did not
reflect the non-taxable
income of R12 000.00 evident on the June
and July 2021 salary slips. Thus, the respondent’s net salary
for 31 August
2021 was R38 800.01.
[53]
The remuneration advice of 30 September
2021 disclosed a basic salary of R12 000.00 as opposed to
R50 000.00 for
the previous months and no non-taxable income.
[54]
The salary slip dated 31 October 2021
reflected a gross monthly income of R67 309.81, comprised of a
basic salary of R50 000.00
and a travel allowance of R5 309.81,
resulting in a variance of approximately R12 000.00 between the
described amounts
and the total amount of gross earnings.
[55]
The respondent did not provide an
explanation for the discrepancy on the salary slip dated 31 October
2021 or the differences
between the various salary slips. Nor did the
respondent disclose the provisions of her employment contract in
respect of her monthly
remuneration.
[56]
The respondent alleged that her reasonable
monthly expenses amounted to R79 400.00. The expenses included
R22 000.00 in
respect of the mortgage bond on the parties’
property in Johannesburg, a levy of R1 400.00, rent on the
respondent’s
home in Cape Town of R23 000.00 and a vehicle
repayment of R16 000.00 per month. The respondent did not
furnish the invoices
in respect of her monthly expenses or her bank
statements in support of her alleged income and expenditure.
[57]
There is a marked discrepancy between net
monthly income of R38 133.33 and expenditure of R79 400.00,
more than double
the alleged disposable income. The respondent
alleged that she received financial assistance in discharging her
monthly expenditure
from her father and various family members. The
respondent did not detail the amount that each specific family member
provided
to her or furnish any documentary proof, including
confirmatory affidavits, regarding the alleged assistance. Nor did
the respondent
furnish her bank statements reflecting income paid
into her bank account.
[58]
In the circumstances, I cannot make a
finding as to the amount of the respondent’s monthly disposable
income. The respondent’s
stated version was that her income
exceeded her alleged net monthly salary of R38 133.33, but the
applicant declined to state
what amount was made available to her by
her family members. In addition, the respondent’s averment of
the amount of her
average net monthly salary and the content of her
salary slips was not reliable.
[59]
Furthermore, I cannot find that the
respondent’s monthly expenses total an amount of R79 400.00
as alleged by her, in
the absence of documentary proof thereof.
[60]
In the result, I am unable to conclude that
the respondent discharged the evidential burden resting on her in
respect of her alleged
inability to pay the relevant costs of the
social worker and the monthly flights from Cape town to Johannesburg.
[61]
The applicant’s attorneys
corresponded with the respondent’s attorney prior to issuing
this application but to no effect.
The respondent’s reply was
not constructive and was devoid of any attempt at co-operation.
[62]
The correspondence sent by the respondent’s
attorney on the respondent’s behalf failed to either address
the issues
at hand or assist in resolving the respondent’s
alleged non-compliance with the order. The respondent was not
constructive
or
bona fide
in
her attempt to resolve the issues, such attempt being a single sms to
the applicant in respect of the video call conferences.
[63]
The respondent consistently sought to
frustrate the applicant’s exercise of contact with the child.
The lengths to which the
respondent was prepared to go to prevent
such contact was demonstrated by the respondent’s withdrawal of
the action proceedings.
Such conduct, being an attempt to subvert the
order, reflected not only the respondent’s wilfulness but also
her
mala fides.
[64]
The respondent’s conduct has the
effect of the child being deprived of contact and a relationship with
his father. That is
not in the best interests of the child. The
respondent has to understand and accept that the child is entitled as
of right to contact
and a relationship with the applicant and that
the respondent is not permitted to deny or withhold the exercise of
that right by
the applicant and/or the child.
[65]
In my view, the respondent failed to
furnish an exculpatory explanation regarding her non-compliance with
the relevant clauses of
the order. The respondent’s explanation
was not sufficient for me to find that she was not wilful.
[66]
The absence of
bona
fides
on the respondent’s part in
resolving the issues at hand demonstrated
mala
fides
on her part.
[67]
Mala fides
is
a conclusion of law to be drawn from the facts in respect of the
respondent’s conduct. The withdrawal by the respondent
of the
divorce proceedings in the circumstances referred to above, her
failure to negotiate an alternate time for the video conference
calls
and her failure to engage in respect of the contact in Johannesburg,
were indicative of the respondent’s wilful and
mala
fide
failure to comply with the order.
[68]
On
the respondent’s version before this Court, the evidentiary
burden resting on her in terms of the
Fakie
[13]
judgment was not met by her. The respondent failed to advance
evidence that established a reasonable doubt that her non-compliance
with the order was wilful and
mala
fide
.
[69]
The respondent’s conduct, objectively
assessed, demonstrated in my view, wilful and
mala
fide
non-compliance.
[70]
Absent compliance with the order,
unless a respondent is able to establish conduct that is not wilful
and
mala fide
,
that respondent is in contempt of a court order and is obliged to
suffer the consequences thereof.
[71]
Objectively considered, the
respondent did not provide an exculpatory version for her
non-compliance. In my view, a finding of wilfulness
and
mala
fides
against the respondent is
justified. It is the only reasonable inference established by the
respondent’s conduct.
[72]
In the circumstances, I am of the view that
the respondent is in wilful and
mala
fide
contempt of the order, and that
the applicant discharged the onus resting upon him on the standard of
beyond a reasonable doubt.
[73]
As to the costs of this application, the
respondent’s conduct in this matter justifies a punitive costs
order against her
as a mark of this Court’s displeasure at her
conduct and resolute refusal to abide by the order. In the
circumstances, I
intend to order costs against the respondent on an
attorney and client scale.
[74]
By reason of the aforementioned, I grant
the following order
1.
The respondent is found to be in contempt
of the Court order granted by Clarke AJ and issued out of this
Court on 11 November
2021, in that the respondent failed to
comply with the following provisions of the Court order:
a.
Clause 3.2.2, in that the respondent
withheld the applicant’s contact with the minor child;
b.
Clause 3.2.2.1.2, in that the respondent
failed to allow the applicant’s mother to facilitate the
applicant’s father-son
contact session/s in Johannesburg;
c.
Clause 3.2.2.1.3, in that the respondent
failed to avail the child to the applicant for collection from the
respondent’s parents’
home in Johannesburg in order for
the applicant to exercise contact with the minor child in
Johannesburg;
2.
The respondent is ordered to comply with
all of the clauses of the Court order dated 11 November 2021 as
stipulated in paragraph
1 above within ten (10) days from the
delivery of this judgment.
3.
The respondent is committed to prison for a
period of twenty (20) calendar days.
4.
The committal order granted in paragraph 3
above is suspended for a period of one (1) year on condition that the
respondent complies
with the Court order granted on 11 November
2021 within ten (10) days from the date of the delivery of this
judgment.
5.
The respondent is ordered to pay the costs
of this application on an attorney and client scale.
A
A CRUTCHFIELD J
JUDGE
OF THE HIGH COURT OF SOUTH AFRICA
GAUTENG
LOCAL DIVISION
JOHANNESBURG
Electronically
submitted therefore unsigned
Delivered:
This judgment was prepared and authored by the Acting Judge whose
name is reflected and is handed down electronically
by circulation to
the Parties / their legal representatives by email and by uploading
it to the electronic file of this matter
on CaseLines. The date of
the judgment is deemed to be 18 J
COUNSEL
FOR THE APPLICANT:
Adv Z Kara.
INSTRUCTED
BY:
Van Rhyns Attorneys.
ATTORNEY FOR THE
RESPONDENT:
Mr C Janeke.
INSTRUCTED
BY:
C Janeke Attorneys.
DATE
OF THE HEARING:
23 December 2021.
DATE
OF JUDGMENT:
18 January 2022.
[1]
J
v J
(A101/2008)
[2008] ZAWCAC 27;
2008 (6) SA 30
(C) (20 May 2008).
[2]
Terblanche
v Terblanche
1992
(1) SA 501
(W) at 504C.
[3]
Fakie
NO v CCII Systems (Pty) Ltd
2006 (4) SA 325
(SCA) (‘
Fakie
’)
para 42.
[4]
Bienenstein
v Bienenstein
1965
(4) SA 449
(T) at 451D-H (‘
Bienenstein
’).
[5]
RO
v MO
[Case
no 5834/2017] (unreported) dated 14 November 2017, Limpopo
Division, Polokwane and see the cases referred to therein
(‘
RO
’).
[6]
LS
v GAS
[Case
no 2258/2016] delivered on 26 August 2016 (WCD) (‘
LS
’).
[7]
Id
p
15 line 6 – 14.
[8]
RO
note 5
at
[17] quoting from
LS
.
[9]
TH
v LAH
[Case
no 10554/20] dated 6 April 2020 (Gauteng Division) (‘
TH’
).
[10]
Moolman
v Moolman
36397/2007
[2007] ZAGPHC 273
(15 November 2007
)
(‘Moolman’).
[11]
AD
v ZD
[Case
no 23031/2017] dated 29 June 2017 (Gauteng Division).
[12]
TH
note 9 at [12].
[13]
Fakie
note 1 above.
sino noindex
make_database footer start
Similar Cases
T.D.N v City Of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality (2769/2020) [2023] ZAGPJHC 727 (26 June 2023)
[2023] ZAGPJHC 727High Court of South Africa (Gauteng Division, Johannesburg)99% similar
L.T v N.A.T (2021/56157) [2023] ZAGPJHC 787 (11 July 2023)
[2023] ZAGPJHC 787High Court of South Africa (Gauteng Division, Johannesburg)99% similar
T.L.D v B.G (015642/2022) [2023] ZAGPJHC 872 (4 August 2023)
[2023] ZAGPJHC 872High Court of South Africa (Gauteng Division, Johannesburg)99% similar
NH v S (A128/2022) [2022] ZAGPJHC 1031 (21 November 2022)
[2022] ZAGPJHC 1031High Court of South Africa (Gauteng Division, Johannesburg)99% similar
DT v ST (1928/22) [2022] ZAGPJHC 176 (25 March 2022)
[2022] ZAGPJHC 176High Court of South Africa (Gauteng Division, Johannesburg)99% similar