Deadbeat dad faces time in prison

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, as a Durban businessman found out in a particularly dramatic way.

The man, who is not being named because the case relates to divorce proceedings involving a child, will spend 15 weekends in prison unless he can come up with R554,000, plus interest, in unpaid maintenance.

His estranged wife applied to the high court in Durban for the man to be jailed for contempt of court, after he ignored orders granted in 2013 to pay her legal fees and R10,000 a month maintenance.

While claiming he could not afford to pay the maintenance, the man spent "lavishly" on holidays to the Maldives and Disney World, bought his girlfriend a car, contributed R48,000 to his daughter's wedding and spent R113,000 on renovations to the home the couple still shared, Judge Mahendra Chetty was told.

Meanwhile, the woman was forced to "eke out an existence for herself and her minor son" 11 years after she began divorce proceedings which were still not concluded because of her husband's delaying tactics.

Chetty criticised the defaulting father, who manages a furniture company, for his failure to produce documentation to support his claim of "poverty" and gave him 30 days to pay up.

If he did not, he would be imprisoned from 5pm on Fridays to 7am on Mondays until he had served 30 days behind bars.