Pretoria - A divorced father of two children, aged 9 and 11, turned to court to obtain an interdict against his former wife, to prevent her using corporal punishment on the children.
The father, who cannot be identified in order to protect the children, claimed that his wife smacked the children and that this is causing them emotional turmoil.
He asked the high court in Johannesburg to interdict the mother from physically disciplining the children in any manner whatsoever, pending the outcome of a forensic social worker report.
The mother said she has never beaten her children. However, on one occasion she “had to lay down the law” as they were playing a game (with each other) and she had to intervene. But she maintained that she did not hit them.
The father wanted the social worker to investigate whether it was not better that the children mostly lived with him. During their divorce they were given joint custody, but the children mostly live with their mother.
The father told the court that his children experienced emotional outbursts, which worried him.
The mother, on the other hand, said it was difficult for the children to cope with Covid-19 and the lockdowns.
As the parties are not living in the same city, the court was told that this added to the children’s distress.
Schooling arrangements changed, with the children sometimes being home-schooled online, and on other occasions they attended school.
It was also said that one child has special needs, having been diagnosed with Hirschsprung’s disease. This causes the child anxiety and physical discomfort. Changes in his routine, such as those necessitated by the lockdowns under the Disaster Management Regulations last year, caused him distress and aggravated his condition.
The parties said the enforced absence of interaction and recreation time with their friends, the cessation of school and sporting activities, as well as uncertainties caused by the pandemic and its potential ramifications, all contributed significantly to the frustration and emotional turmoil experienced by the children.
Acting Judge AA Crutchfield said it was to be expected that the children’s emotional and mental well-being was tested as a result of the changing demands made upon them by the pandemic.
“Adverse reactions by the children to the prevailing circumstances of the time should, in my view, have been expected by both parties,” he said.
He said the probabilities of the mother inflicting corporal punishment on the children was minimal.
The judge pointed out that she was a teacher of many years standing, and well aware of what she may and may not do in respect of children, including the prohibition on corporal punishment.
In finding that there was no evidence that the mother was hitting the children, the judge said it was entirely possible that the children’s emotional outbursts relied upon by the father were a reaction to the changes wrought by the pandemic.
Pretoria News