Umamah Bakharia 

The Al Jama-ah party in parliament is fighting for women’s rights to access a travel allowance when they attend maintenance cases in court.

In a Bill proposed by Al Jama-ah leader Ganief Hendricks and read in parliament this week, the party also proposed that parties to a maintenance matter should be able to opt for external mediation or arbitration if they like.

Speaking to Radio Islam, the founder of the Al Jama-ah party, Ganief Hendricks, says this decision was taken after a webinar hosted by the party found that this was a concern for women.

“The status core is that a travel allowance and accommodation are given to the defendant [who] are men but not [given] women – that is discrimination, and that’s why the amendment is to give women the same rights as men to fight,” says Hendricks.

The act was tabled in Parliament and will have its first reading on 22 September.

“We’ve introduced an application for arbitration and mediation from the CCMA,” he says. Adding that the part has also asked for an interim relief grant during the decision-making process by the court on the amount of maintenance a man should pay towards his children.

Al Jama’ah wants children in a marital dispute to be given [R1 900] by the man and should be taken from the individual’s monthly wages.

Hendricks says the government has ignored this issue in the past; however, they are positive in their proposed amendments to the bill.