Dad Who Failed to Pay R1.2M Maintenance to 2 Kids, Ex Wife to Spend 4 Years In Jail
- A man who allegedly failed to make maintenance payments to his former wife and their two children has been handed a sentence of four and a half years in jail
- The man, whose identity has been withheld in the interest of his children, went to extreme lengths to try and avoid his conviction
- Instead of getting a reduction or acquittal in his sentence, the man, identified as a successful businessman, was given an increased prison term
- The total sum of the outstanding maintenance payments is reportedly R1 226 869.90 over approximately four years
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The long arm of the law caught up with a father who avoided making good on maintenance payments to his two children and former wife dating back to 2012.
A judge in the Krugersdorp Magistrate’s Court on Thursday ordered the well-known businessman to report to jail to start serving a sentence of four and a half years.
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He has been instructed to do so within the next five days, according to IOL. The man, whose identity has been withheld in the interest of protecting the children, went to extreme lengths to try and avoid his conviction.
According to Cape Talk, the businessman failed to honour payments amounting to more than R1.2 million.
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The man, 50, was convicted on two charges of contravening the Maintenance Act and was sentenced to three years behind bars on each of the counts. In a later decision, the court adjudged that he would serve an even longer prison term.
Leave to appeal applications denied
Following the ruling, the man submitted an application to the court for leave to appeal both his convictions and his sentence. However, he was unsuccessful and after this failure, approached the High Court in Johannesburg.
Here, only his application to appeal his sentence was granted. Briefly News understands that the High Court, meanwhile, recently made the ruling that the State could not find fault with the sentence.
As a result, he would have to start serving his time. For nearly three years, he had been out on bail following his conviction in 2018 on the maintenance-related charges.
Despite being someone with a deep pocket – owning several well-known food franchises, the court heard – the man claimed he could not afford to honour the court-ordered maintenance arrangements.
More than R1 million owed in maintenance arrears
This, as he had sold his businesses and bought others over the years, before and after the separation from his wife in 2009.
It was revealed that he was allegedly in arrears of R242 864.90 pertaining to his children and R984 000 behind on payments to his ex-wife.
In total, the arrears were R1 226 869.90, an average of R306 717.48 over approximately four years.
The applicant contended that the court erred in imposing direct imprisonment and that the four-and-a-half years’ imprisonment sentence was shockingly excessive.
Man awarded R108k for raising child wife secretly had with another man
In other news, Briefly News previously reported that a High Court in Mombasa ruled that a man be paid R108 500 as damages after he found out that he was not the biological father of a child he had with his ex-wife.
According to the court's ruling, the money awarded to the man would be paid by the child's biological father.
In the judgment made by Justice Eric Ogola, the sum was compensation for mental anguish, stress and embarrassment after a paternity test revealed that the minor was not his.
The cash reward was also supposed to cater for R46 540 that the man identified in court papers as Mr SVK, spent taking care of the child's mother during pregnancy and for delivery costs.
Source: Briefly News
