Revisiting the limping parental condition of unmarried fathers

• Jurisdiction: South Africa
• Author: Anne Louw
• DOI: 10.10520/EJC-57f92920b
• Published date: 01 December 2016
• Date: 01 December 2016
• Record Number: dejure_v49_n2_a2
• Pages: 193-212
• Published By: University of Pretoria

193

Revisiting the limping parental condition

of unmarried fathers

Anne Louw

BA (Stell) BIuris (UNISA) LLB LLD (Pret)

Associate Professor, Department of Private Law, University of Pretoria

OPSOMMING

’n Herbesinning van die hinkende ouerlike status van ongetroude vaders

Die oogmerk van artikel 21 van die Kinderwet was om die gemenereg so

te ontwikkel dat ten minste betrokke ongetroude vaders ook deur

regswerking as die ouers van hulle biologiese kinders erken kan word by

geboorte. Die wetgewer het egter hierdie proses bemoeilik deur die

dubbelsinnige en onduidelike terme wat in die bepaling gebesig word. Die

groeiende aantal sake waarin die howe genader word vir die opheldering

van die inhoud van artikel 21 is bewys hiervan en kom as geen verrassing

nie. Die artikel gee ’n kritiese oorsig oor hierdie uitsprake wat nog

grotendeels ongerapporteer is. Die mening word gehuldig dat die reg in

terme van artikel 21 nie net ongeregverdig teen ongetroude vaders

diskrimineer op grond van geslag en getroude status nie, maar ook teen

ongetroude moeders en veral die kinders van sulke vaders. Daar word

geargumenteer dat vaders op dieselfde basis as moeders ouerlike status

behoort te verkry bloot op grond van die biologiese band met die kind.

Indien dispute tussen die ouers ontstaan oor die uitoefening van hulle

verantwoordelikhede en regte kan mediasie, ’n ouerskapplan of selfs die

hof genader word om te bepaal wat is in die beste beland van die kind. Tot

tyd en wyl artikel 21 ongrondwetlik verklaar word, sal die hinkende

ouerlike status van ongetroude vaders egter voortduur. Die gevolgtrekking

wat bereik word is dat alhoewel die uitsprake van die howe kan help met

die uitleg van artikel 21, dit nie kan kompenseer vir die onderliggende

gebrek aan objektiewe kriteria vir die verkryging van ouerlike

verantwoordelikhede en regte deur ongetroude vaders nie.

1Introduction

Section 21 of the Children’s Act1 was intended to develop the common

law to allow at least committed unmarried fathers to become the legal

parents of their biological children by operation of law. Unmarried

fathers who qualify within the terms set by the Children’s Act can thus

currently acquire full parental responsibilities and rights on the same

basis as mothers at the birth of their child. The importance of establishing

a child’s legal parentage with the highest degree of certainty at the

earliest possible moment cannot be overestimated. The legislator has

unfortunately complicated the process in the case of unmarried

biological fathers by the vague and ambiguous terminology employed in

1 38 of 2005, hereafter the Children’s Act.

How to cite: Louw ‘Revisiting the limping parental condition of unmarried fathers’

2016 De Jure 193-212

http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2225-7160/2016/v49n2a1

194 2016 De Jure

section 21.2 The interpretational difficulties and increased litigation

which have resulted were predicted.3 Very few of the judgments have

been reported. The extent of the problem is thus not readily apparent.

This comment attempts to set the record straight by showing how the

courts have interpreted and applied section 21 to determine what has

been referred to as the ‘parental condition’4 of unmarried fathers in

recent times.

2 Preliminary Considerations

2 1 The Question of Urgency

It is one of the general principles of the Children’s Act that a delay in any

matter concerning a child must be avoided as far as possible.5 There are

numerous examples of court orders relating to children being granted on

2 Discussed in detail in Louw Acquisition of Parental Responsibilities and

Rights (LLD thesis UP 2009) 115-133. See also Heaton ‘Parental Rights and

Responsibilities’ in Davel & Skelton (eds) Commentary on Children’s Act

(2007) 3-11 to 3-15; and Skelton ‘Parental Rights and Responsibilities’ in

Boezaart (ed) Child Law in South Africa (2009) 75-77.

3 See Louw (LLD thesis) supra n 2 at 124 & 133.

4 A phrase used by the court in GM v KI 2015 3 SA 62 (GJ) parr 10 & 19. The

use of the phrase is not explained by the court, possibly considering it

superfluous. Despite the court’s apparent confusion between the content of

parental responsibilities and rights as defined in s 18(2) (par 10) and the

acquisition thereof as regulated by s 21 of the Children’s Act in the case of

unmarried fathers (par 19), the phrase ‘parental condition’ seems to have

been used as a substitute for the more clumsy phrase ‘acquisition of

parental responsibilities and rights’, introduced by the Children’s Act (see

heading of Part I of Ch 3 of Children’s Act). While other more common

substitutes such as ‘legal parentage’, ‘parenthood; and ‘parental status’ are

commonly used internationally, they are rarely employed in South African

legal discourse (recently only in the context of surrogacy; see Ex parte MS

2014 (3) SA 415 (GP) parr 37 & 67 and Ex parte WH 2011 6 SA 514 (GNP)

par 52). However, it is perhaps unwise to use the phrases interchangeably.

Only a biological link can e.g. create rights of intestate succession. As such,

even if non-parents acquire full parental responsibilities and rights they will

still not acquire ‘parental status’ in the true sense of the word. ‘Parental

status’ should thus, strictly speaking, only be reserved for biological parents

who have acquired full parental responsibilities and rights and persons who

are by statutory decree placed in the same position as such parents. With

regard to the latter category of persons deemed to be parents, it is

noteworthy that the definition of ‘parent’ in s 1(1) of the Children’s Act only

includes an adoptive parent. Since the commissioning parents in the case

of a confirmed full surrogate motherhood agreement (s 297(1) read with

s 298) and the consenting spouse of a woman who is artificially fertilised

(s 40(1)) also fall in this category, the definition is not inclusive enough and

should be amended. For purposes of this article ‘parental condition’, in

relation to an unmarried father, will refer to the acquisition of full parental

responsibilities and rights by the unmarried father or the parental status of

such a father.

5 S 6(4)(b).