Hi,
Are there ANY South Africans out there that have the same problem as me, and, if you do, did u get any help? My problem is that the Father of my child, who is South African, and lives in S.A. is not paying maintaince, and I was wondering what recall I have from this side? Any help or info would be appreciated.

Hi. Don't have the same prob as you but am fellow south African and thought I would say hi and wish you luck with your prob.

Ali

Aaagh thanxs man... I think at this moment I could use all the luck I can get. What a pulaver

An African guy not paying child support? Never heard of that before. Good luck!!!!!!!!!! Do you have a lawyer in SA? In the case of US fathers and European mothers the laws are different state by state. But normally it can only be sorted by you actually going to his country/state of residence and appearing before the court.

I actually know a couple other women in your shoes. Ive met several on airplanes doing exactly what youre doing now: Flying to Africa and trying to find this guy to get some support from him. All these women live in Paris and Brussels though. The one woman found a new African boyfriend who had located the father of the child and things went off like a fire-cracker! But in every case it seemed they had to go to Africa to threaten the guys. Dont think they got much though

But a SA lawyer is your first stop.

Zuger is spot on here. No laws outside Sa will help you. What was / is the court ruling if ther is one on the case? Without one you need to fight it under SA law from there

I do have an old ruling, but we updated the agreement without going to court. The problem is, is that he knows I cant do ANYTHING, and he just tells me if u dont like it, take me to court. Bam and thats it.

As with most cases in civilised countries , and SA falls in amongst them, the court that decided residency/custody , or the divorce must be petitioned to order periodical maintenance payments. The Court Order is then enforced in participating REMO countries (Both Switzerland and SA are members). So once an SA maintenance order is madein SA , the Swiss courts can enforce it, and vice versa, if you get an order made in CH , then the SA courts will enforce it. The best place to start is getting jurisdiction transferred to CH , getting a CH order and then asking the CH courts to liaise with the SA courts to have it enforced (via payroll etc).

I am not too sure how far 20% of an SA Monthly Salary will help in CH though or if costs involved may make this worthwhile.

Gosh, thanxs so much for all the advice, its really appreciated. I think I should also contact the Embassy and see if they could help me further.

Ill give you some advice

First off, dont take the baby to SA anymore unless you want to lose custody. Keep the baby in a jurisdiction that is of European back-ground. You see this very often in Turkey, Egypt, Kenya, Pakistan etc, where the mother in law wants to see her grandchild and then the family takes the child. They cut the woman off financially and force her to come back to beg for money. Its more normal than you think. I know an embassy official in the Nordics who has made an entire office devoted to this issue.

Second, you should try and obtain a copy of his previous tax records in order to document his finances. If he is in a union, even better. The Unions keep files on everyone and everything.

Third, if he has no tax records or has worked under the table most of the time (about 80% of SA does this) then you will likely not be able to get any money from the guy.

Its a question of investment. How much money do you want to invest in this, flying back and forth and paying phone bills and lawyers etc... Some times its better to realize the guys financial contribution doesnt make it worth your while. Im not saying thats your case. But I am saying to set yourself limits before you do anything else.