Limpopo High Court mandates DNA test to resolve paternity and maintenance issues
A Limpopo mother was ordered to subject her child to DNA testing after the alleged father claimed that it is medically impossible for him to be the father.
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The issue of DNA testing came under the juristic spotlight in the Limpopo High Court as a couple are embroiled in legal proceedings regarding maintenance for a child.
The husband denies being the father of the girl, arguing that it is impossible as he had a vasectomy years ago.
He turned to court in a bid to enforce an earlier court order that he and the child's mother, together with the child, submit themselves to DNA testing to finally determine whether he is the father.
The judge, in ruling that the order granted last month concerning the paternity test be executed, commented that it is the child's constitutional and statutory rights to identity and parental care.
Another court earlier ordered that the parties had to submit the child to DNA testing, but this was not done, as there is a pending appeal by the mother regarding this and other legal issues.
In this recent application, the judge noted that a paternity test will, once and for all, resolve the maintenance dispute.
The parties were involved in a relationship, which the woman claims was a valid customary marriage, but the husband disputes.
According to the woman, her husband is the biological father of their now two-year-old daughter, but her husband said this is impossible.
The parties are in the process of divorcing, with their alleged customary marriage being one of the issues in the divorce proceedings.
The woman, however, earlier obtained an order in the Children’s Court that the husband had to pay maintenance towards herself and the child pending the finalisation of the divorce proceedings.
The husband paid maintenance as per the court order, but he then stopped. His wife obtained a contempt of court order against him, and he was fined R50,000 or 13 months imprisonment, which was wholly suspended on condition that he is not convicted of a similar offence.
His wife's counsel stated he is currently six months behind on both spousal and child maintenance, amounting to R126,000.
A warrant of arrest was issued after he failed to appear in court to explain why he did not adhere to the court order to pay maintenance. According to his wife's counsel, he is a “fugitive from justice”.
“The High Court is the upper guardian of all minor children, and the court has a duty to make orders in accordance with their best interests,” the judge, meanwhile, said regarding the paternity test.
The court also noted that the parties have dug their heels into the ground and there is no indication from either of them that they intend to back off from each other in the legal sense, while they lose sight of what is important - the child.
It was further noted by the court that while both adults have legal rights, it must not be allowed that their legal warfare impinges on the rights of the child.
“The minor child is her own person with her own rights, which include a right to know her genetic origins,” the court said.
zelda.venter@inl.co.za