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National Water Day – Cape Town South Africa – Water Crisis[/caption]World Water Day
Yesterday (22 March 2018) was World Water Day. A day where the focus is on the importance of water and raising awareness on the issues surrounding it. The residence of the Western Cape, South Africa all to well know of the scarcity of water, as in the last few years, water has become in less supply and expensive. Dam levels have declined compared to previous years, and at the time of writing this article, there has been no substantial amount of rainfall positively predicted for the coming winter season. What this tells us, is that both government and civil society need to work together to alleviate the water crisis in South Africa. This can be done by better water management and drilling into alternative sources of fresh water, to mention a few. Clearly some businesses have benefited from the crisis. People are purchasing bottled water in its gallons and the sale of 25 litre containers has sky rocketed. Almost every household owns a few containers. Then there is the Jojo tanks residence purchased and used to catch and store rain water, and water from water sources. All these costs money to the ratepayer. As Our Lawyer (Pty) Ltd is based in Cape Town, we felt it fitting to use our legal expertise to write something on the water crisis in celebration of World Water Day. We too are feeling the crisis in our office building where water saving measures are in place.Cape Town Water Crisis
The water crisis in Cape Town is therefore clearly a real issue affecting not only its residents, but industry alike. Currently Cape Town is facing level 6B water restrictions, which allows its residence less than 50 litres of water usage a day. This has been the case for the past few months. Prior to that, the quota per person was in the region of 85 litres of water usage a day. With these restrictions, comes higher water costs in that, the more you use, the more you would pay as compared to periods before level 6B. This could be compared to the “polluter pays” principle when it comes to pollution. [caption id="attachment_5573" align="alignleft" width="300"]
Water Quota at Newlands Springs Cape Town[/caption]Water Outages and Problems
As with the electricity crisis not too long ago, Cape Town is now experiencing water outages. And in some areas, more than others. Certain areas experience blue coloured water coming from their taps, which may not be potable. Then there is the issue of the controversial water meters being installed for homes across Cape Town. In some areas, the communities opposed its installations citing faulty devices as a reason. When the device fails, residence is left without water until it is repaired, and sometimes not soon enough. This can be particularly annoying as the devices comes at a cost to the ratepayer. No matter how you look at it, water is still a vital resource on any level. We need it for our daily living. Industry requires it for their growth. And farms require it to ensure that there is food on our tables. But where does this leave us going forward? As can be seen, clearly there is a crisis, and costing us. Is there light at the end of the tunnel, or water at the bottom of the pit?A right to water in South Africa
South Africa is an arid country with a small percentage of its rainfall available as surface water. It further has one of the lowest conversion ratios in the world. Each time we lose a water resource due to pollution or to poor conservation, we are driven closer to ‘water resource extinction’. It is therefore critically concerning that many of the Western Cape’s rivers are heavily polluted.
What does our Constitution say?
Section 24 of our country’s constitution states that “everyone has the right to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being.” The same section further states that “the environment is to be protected, for the benefit of present and future generations, through reasonable legislative and other measures that prevent pollution and ecological degradation; promote conservation; and secure ecologically sustainable development and use of natural resources while promoting justifiable economic and social development. Furthermore, section 27 of our Constitution states that “everyone has the right to have access to sufficient water.”Alternative Sources of Water in Cape Town
Cape Town has now bought into the idea of desalination. There are currently three desalination plants in Cape Town, hoping to be up and running in a few weeks’ time. This however would not supply Cape Town with all its needed water should it be fully up and running. Then there is the issue of borehole water. Many residences and businesses have invested in drilling boreholes. This however comes at a cost and the water is not drinkable. It seems whatever the alternative sources are, it would cost the user a pretty penny. [caption id="attachment_5572" align="alignleft" width="300"]
Water Crisis Cape Town Newlands Springs[/caption]Spring Water
The South African Breweries has a spring water collection point in Newlands Cape Town open to the public. Here residence may collect their water. There is also another collection point a few minutes’ walk away. With only five taps, and long queues, even being open twenty-four hours a day, would not support the entire Cape Town population. People may find it easier to just purchase water from the store. There are quite a few springs in Cape Town, but not all of them are open to the public. You will find people queuing in Muizenberg or collecting the water coming from the Mountain on Boyes Drive. Be that as it may, it would be clearly impracticable for a household of five people to collect their free water from springs, to alleviate a huge water bill. People work, and there are costs involved in transporting the water.The way forward
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25 LWater Containers being filled.[/caption] Without pointing fingers, it is clear that something has gone wrong with regard to water management in the Western Cape. How can things change so quick? But we are where we are, and now with our eyes open. We cannot depend on government solely anymore to save us, we need to take positive action. If this means installing water saving devices, collecting water, or drilling boreholes; that is what we must do. In any event, our pockets will feel it. We wish the City success with their water desalination venture, and making use of groundwater, and truly wish the Winter season will fill up our dams. However, we all need to have systems and contingencies in place, as this crisis is one that may be around for some time. For environmental legal services, visit Envirolaws (Pty) Ltd. Happy World Water Day! The Our lawyer (Pty) Ltd Legal Team
Top Attorney Cape Town Relocation of minor child – Nicole Lawrence[/caption]Child Maintenance Court – What do you have to know to win. Tips and Tricks
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Child Custody of Parents[/caption]
Best interests of a child: When it comes to child maintenance, the child’s best interests are of paramount importance. This principle is immortalised in our Constitution and applied in our Courts of Law. Therefore, in relation to child maintenance matters, and specifically to the child maintenance court, the moment a parent files an application for child maintenance, the principal should apply. Before we move on, on a side note, it is not only child maintenance that the maintenance court deals with. A spouse may take the other to the maintenance court for personal maintenance. Read on above a Successful Child Maintenance Appeal before the Full Bench Argued by Adv M AbduroafParental Maintenance Obligations
Both parents have a duty of support towards their minor child’s proper living and upbringing. This should be according to their means, standard of living, station in life, and the needs of the child. This is found in our common law and further applies to divorced parents. According to section 15(2) of the Maintenance Act, the duty “extends to such support as a child reasonably requires for his or her proper living and upbringing, and includes the provision of food, clothing, accommodation, medical care and education.” Furthermore, the duty is not discharged where one parent earns substantially more than the other. According to section 15(3) of the Maintenance Act, in determining the maintenance amount, the maintenance court must take into consideration the following: “(i) that the duty of supporting a child is an obligation which the parents have incurred jointly; (ii) that the parents’ respective shares of such obligation are apportioned between them according to their respective means; and (iii) that the duty exists, irrespective of whether a child is born in or out of wedlock or is born of a first or subsequent marriage. (b) Any amount so determined shall be such amount as the maintenance court may consider fair in all the circumstances of the case.” Lastly, there is an onus on both the maintenance officer and the maintenance magistrate in placing evidence before the court in determining a fair maintenance amount. This is our starting point going forward.Processing the Maintenance Application
When a parent approaches the maintenance court for child maintenance, it is the duty of the maintenance clerk to expeditiously process the application. In doing so, the clerk through the other resources of the maintenance court, should ascertain the details of the other parent, and ensure that he or she is brought to court as soon as possible for a maintenance enquiry before a maintenance officer. Therefore, for example, should the maintenance clerk not have the living or work address of the father, then he or she must enlist the assistance of the maintenance investigator to obtain it. For that, he or she can make use of the search and tracking resources the maintenance investigator makes use of and has access to. Getting the non-paying parent to the maintenance court
After the maintenance application has been processed, it is the duty of the maintenance court to ensure that the non-paying parent makes his or her way to the maintenance court as soon as possible for a maintenance enquiry. This enquiry is held before a maintenance officer. Even if the maintenance court’s diary is quite full, it should still expedite this process, giving both parents adequate time to make arrangements to appear in the maintenance court. Therefore, if the next available date for a maintenance enquiry is in three (3) months time, the parties can use this time to make arrangements with their work, obtain necessary information for the enquiry, or make alternative school traveling arrangements for the kids. There should therefore not be a delay in notifying the parents of the date of the maintenance enquiry. Furthermore, when notified of the court date, both parents receive a document stating what information they should bring with to the maintenance enquiry. These include three (3) months bank statements, and salary advices as well as proof of expenses. Giving the parties adequate time to obtain this information would be vital and, in the child’s best interests. The last thing we want is for the matter to be postponed to another date due to either parent not having been given adequate time to obtain the documents, even though the mother made the application many months ago. The maintenance enquiry before a maintenance officer
The maintenance enquiry is the next legal step in the process. This is where things get interesting. Sometimes, at this enquiry, it is the first time the parents are in the same room together, since the child was conceived. Quite often, both parents do not know much about the current financial affairs of the other parent. The parent asked to pay child support, furthermore, does not know what the child costs to maintain.Denial of paternity
What sometimes happens, is that the father denies paternity. This he would either do out of spite or due to genuine doubt on his side. This would often be the case if there was a brief encounter between the parents when the child was conceived. Sometimes the father is married to someone else, and for the sake of his current marriage, he needs to deny paternity. Once the paternity tests are finalised, the parties would need to return to court again for the results. If the results are positive, in that he is the father, then the enquiry proceeds. If he is not the biological father, the application is removed from the court roll.Role of the maintenance officer
Again, the golden standard in which the enquiry should be conducted is that of the child’s best interests. This is of paramount importance. The maintenance officer should, therefore, ensure that all the financial information about the parties are properly disclosed. This is very important. However, at the same time, the maintenance officer should try to settle the matter, taking into consideration the child’s best interests. Should the parents not be forthcoming regarding their income and expenses, and the needs of the child, then the maintenance officer must subpoena witnesses if need be and make use of the maintenance investigator which we deal with next. The maintenance investigator
Section 7(1)(d) of the Maintenance Act empowers the maintenance officer to “require a maintenance investigator of the maintenance court concerned to perform such other functions as may be necessary or expedient to achieve the objects of this Act.” Section 7(2)(e) of the Maintenance Act empowers the maintenance investigator after so being instructed by the maintenance officer, to: “gather information concerning- (i) the identification or whereabouts of any person who is legally liable to maintain the person mentioned in such complaint or who is allegedly so liable; (ii) the financial position of any person affected by such liability; or (iii) any other matter which may be relevant concerning the subject of such complaint; or (f) gather such information as may be relevant concerning a request referred to in subsection (1) (c). Now that we looked at the importance of the role of the maintenance officer and maintenance investigator, we move on to the role of the maintenance magistrate. This is where the formal enquiry takes place.
The formal enquiry before a Magistrate
Should the parties not be able to come to an agreement regarding the amount of child maintenance to be paid at the enquiry before the maintenance officer; the matter would have to go before the maintenance magistrate for a formal enquiry. Here the court has to properly consider the means and needs of the mother, the means and needs of the father, and the needs of the minor child. Thereafter, make a maintenance award. There is a legal obligation upon the maintenance officer and the magistrate to conduct a thorough enquiry. The court should not play the role of an umpire. Therefore, a passive attitude should not be taken by a judicial officer in a maintenance enquiry and then give judgment. Should all go well, at the end of the enquiry, a maintenance award would be made.Sharing is Caring
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