While the Maintenance Online Listing of Defaulters (MOLD) system is a constructive policy move that reinforces parental responsibility and promotes the welfare of children, experts say successful implementation requires careful oversight to avoid unintended consequences.
On Friday, justice and constitutional development minister Thembisile Simelane signed the historic memorandum of understanding on MOLD with the Consumer Profile Bureau and Social Justice Foundation.
The department will develop a system to facilitate the forwarding of the details of people against whom child maintenance enforcement orders have been granted to a partner credit bureau, which will in turn make this information available to all other credit bureaus and credit providers.
This will affect child maintenance defaulters’ ability to get access to credit.
Concerns been raised about private companies owning data of maintenance defaulters.
Dr Mary Mangai, a senior lecturer in the School of Public Management and Administration at the University of Pretoria, said policies affecting access to credit must be applied transparently, with provisions for individuals facing genuine financial hardship.
“Research indicates that penalising individuals who are unable to pay due to economic constraints, such as unemployment or low income, can worsen poverty and social inequality. Therefore, debt counselling, financial literacy programmes and alternative support options may be necessary to ensure that the system is fair and targets only wilful defaulters,” she said.
Felicity Guest, founder of Child Maintenance Difficulties in South Africa, welcomed the department's move, but raised concerns about private companies owning maintenance defaulters' data.
She said there might be other ways of collecting the data included in their maintenance agreement.
“Considering there must be over 10-million maintenance orders in place, it is a mammoth task to undertake and a costly one. My concerns and questions are many; this is not an inclusive process due to the historic and ongoing inequalities including access to information, data and internet connectivity and then the ability to load it onto the NPO’s portal and then this information needs to be verified.”
Guest argued that if this is how the information will be collected, it will be done at the expense and free labour of applicants who are already financially compromised and vulnerable.
“How will this undertaking be financed and sustained? Does the Social Justice Association of Mediators as a private company gain financially from this model that depends on the free labour of vulnerable women? Consumer Profile Bureau is a registered business and will make money from this as credit profiling is a legitimate business model, and how much is to be established from the model and agreement?” she said.
Mangai agreed the issue of data privacy is significant.
She concurred with Guest that allowing private companies to control sensitive information could lead to potential misuse of data, which is a valid concern.
“Studies have emphasised the importance of data protection in sensitive matters like maintenance enforcement, suggesting that only relevant authorities should access this data to prevent breaches of privacy.”
“Effective enforcement requires accurate data and public awareness. Building a reliable database of maintenance defaulters and educating the public on the policy’s implications are essential for minimising errors. Research underscores that public understanding and compliance are often highest when clear, accessible information is provided,” Mangai said.
Thousands of vulnerable women have been blacklisted due to maintenance not being paid, or not being paid on time, it has had the opposite effect to what the legislation intended.
— Felicity Guest
Mangai said by affecting defaulters’ credit access, the system prioritises child support obligations, which can strengthen the financial stability of custodial parents and support the overall wellbeing of children.
“Nonetheless, careful consideration of data privacy, public education and equitable support mechanisms will be essential to ensure the MOLD system achieves its intended outcomes and serves as a model for balancing family law obligations with financial accountability,” she said.
Mangai noted that by integrating credit bureaus into the enforcement process, the policy creates a tangible consequence — reduced access to credit — for defaulters.
“Similar approaches have been implemented in countries like the UK and Australia, where linking financial obligations with credit assessments has been shown to improve compliance rates among defaulters. Additionally, the MOLD system aligns with the principles of social justice by ensuring that children’s welfare is prioritised, reinforcing the view that raising children is a shared financial responsibility,” she said.
Considering the state of the economy and how many people are battling to meet their credit obligations and are blacklisted, Guest doesn't see being blacklisted for maintenance being a major deterrent in the current climate.
“From an impact perspective, maybe prioritising improving court services, training, implementation and enforcement would have had immediate positive material impacts for maintenance beneficiaries. I believe there is a greater fear of going to jail than there is of being blacklisted. Our anecdotal data shows that over 60% of mothers get no financial support and most beneficiaries have a negative experience that results in no money and many eventually stop pursuing maintenance,” Guest said.
Speaking to Sowetan on Thursday, the executive director of Social Justice Foundation, Anneke Greyvenstein, said they have picked up that 70% of those with maintenance obligations default in the first two years.
Greyvenstein said it was worrying that the defaulters would complain to courts that they did not have money to pay for maintenance because they had other obligations such as paying for their vehicles and homes.
According to Mangai, the MOLD system has the potential to substantially improve the enforcement of maintenance orders and bring significant benefits to custodial parents and children.
Mangai said a key challenge in child maintenance enforcement is the absence of immediate repercussions for nonpayment.
She said by affecting access to credit, the MOLD system ensures that maintenance obligations are prioritised within a person’s financial responsibilities.
“The MOLD system establishes a bridge between family law obligations and financial assessments, creating a more holistic view of financial responsibility. The integration of maintenance orders into credit affordability assessments emphasises that child support obligations are non-negotiable expenses, aligning with broader global trends to incorporate family obligations into creditworthiness,” Mangai said.
Guest said the lack of implementation of this amendment has had a continued detrimental impact on beneficiaries.
“Thousands of vulnerable women have been blacklisted due to maintenance not being paid, or not being paid on time, it has had the opposite effect to what the legislation intended,” she said.
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