It's both parents' responsibility to look after their children, Kubayi tells Mfuleni residents
Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi visited Nyameko Primary School in Mfuleni on Tuesday to engage with residents about child maintenance.
Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Mmamoloko Kubayi. Picture: GCIS
CAPE TOWN - Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi visited Nyameko Primary School in Mfuleni on Tuesday to engage with residents about child maintenance.
She used the opportunity to inform people about child maintenance-related services available in the department ahead of the annual budget vote in Parliament on Wednesday.
The minister told residents who gathered at the school that it was both parents' responsibility to look after their children.
"So, if like myself, I'm working, and I have a child, I also have a responsibility to maintain the child. It's not the father's responsibility only."
Kubayi said it was a common belief that the male parent should be responsible for child maintenance.
"You find that I am working as a mother, and I work a good job, and the father does not work. Let's say the father has temporary work. The court can decide that I am able to afford to look after the child because what they look at is the income of both, they don't look at one income."
Kubayi, together with Deputy Minister Andries Nel, will deliver the department’s annual budget vote speech before Parliament on Wednesday.