A man has been sentenced to 60 days in prison after the high court found he deliberately ignored a court order to pay more than R100,000 a month in maintenance to his estranged wife.
However, the jail term has been suspended. He will avoid prison if he pays all the maintenance he owes and continues paying the monthly amount ordered by the court until the divorce case is finalised.
The high court in Durban ruled the man was in contempt of court after he stopped paying the full maintenance ordered in August 2022.
Judge Mbuzeni Mathenjwa said the husband knowingly failed to obey the court order and could not convince the court he was unable to pay.
“The respondent’s failure to fulfil his maintenance obligations under the court order was deliberate and intentional,” the judge said.
The dispute dates back to a maintenance order granted while the couple’s divorce case was before the courts. The order required the husband to pay his wife R120,089 every month.
After the home loan on the family’s property was settled in January 2023, both parties agreed to reduce the monthly payment to R106,211.
However, from December 2024, the husband paid only R8,000 a month instead of the agreed amount.
He then asked the court to reduce the maintenance permanently, arguing his financial situation had changed.
The husband claimed he could no longer rely on loans from his construction company and a related business trust that had previously helped him meet his financial obligations.
He also argued his wife no longer needed maintenance because a family trust had received about R13.8m after selling a property for R17m.
His wife opposed the application.
She argued the trust’s money did not belong to her personally and the assets belonged to the trust. She also accused her husband of failing to fully disclose his finances and said he continued receiving large amounts of money despite claiming he could not afford the maintenance.
The judge agreed with her.
Mathenjwa said the husband’s inability to obtain loans did not automatically mean he could no longer afford to pay maintenance.
“The ability to pay should not be confused with a party’s ability to secure loans,” the judge said.
He also rejected the husband’s argument that his wife no longer needed maintenance because the trust had money.
The judge said the trust’s assets were separate from the wife’s personal finances.
The court also found the husband’s own bank records did not support his claim that he was struggling financially.
According to the judgment, he received R248,699 in one month and R911,642 in another, despite claiming his only monthly income was R141,000.
The judge said the husband failed to explain the payments.
As a result, the court dismissed his application to reduce the maintenance order to R8,000.
The court then considered the wife’s application to have him declared in contempt of court.
The judge said it was common cause that the husband knew about the court order and had failed to comply with it. The only issue was whether he had a lawful reason for not paying.
The husband argued he did not have enough money and his failure to pay was not intentional.
But the court found otherwise.
Mathenjwa said the husband applied to reduce the maintenance order on November 29 2024 and stopped paying the full amount on December 1 before the court had ruled on his application.
He also failed to ask for the matter to be heard urgently, leaving it unresolved for more than a year.
The judge stressed contempt of court is a serious offence because it weakens the authority of the courts and the justice system.
He ruled a prison sentence was justified if the husband continued ignoring the maintenance order.
The court sentenced the husband to 60 days in prison but suspended the sentence on condition that he pays all the outstanding maintenance and continues making the monthly payments until the divorce case is finalised.
Sowetan
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