Times Of Swaziland: CHILD MAINTENANCE CASES: SOME SENATORS CALL FOR MANDATORY DNA TESTING CHILD MAINTENANCE CASES: SOME SENATORS CALL FOR MANDATORY DNA TESTING ================================================================================ Siboniso Nkambule on 20/08/2024 08:02:00 LOBAMBA - Some senators have called for mandatory DNA testing before anyone is required to pay child maintenance through the Social Welfare Department. The lawmakers argued that this measure is essential to prevent cases where individuals are unjustly compelled to support children who are not biologically theirs and could also help reduce gender-based violence (GBV) cases linked to disputes over the paternity of the children in question. By ensuring that child support is based on verified parentage, the senators believe this measure could bring fairness to the system and address underlying tensions that contribute to GBV. Furthermore, they criticised the Social Welfare Department, accusing it of perpetuating GBV by taking sides in maintenance cases, instead of being impartially. This was disclosed yesterday when the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office (DPMO) was presenting its first quarter performance report for the 2024/25 financial year before its Senate Portfolio Committee. Biological A DNA paternity test uses deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), usually taken from a cheek swab, to determine a child’s biological father or to show that people are related. Making submissions, Senator Chief Mvimbi Matse raised concerns, saying that the killings in the country do not end. Matse said there are always stories reported about domestic violence in families. He explained that in the 11th Parliament, they discussed this matter, to say the Social Welfare Department was allegedly perpetuating the killings among lovers. According to Matse, when one comes to report a maintenance case, the Social Welfare officers allegedly criticise that individual without addressing the case being reported. He said in some instances, men tend to support children from birth and over the years, they learn that the children are not theirs. “They are reported to the Social Welfare Office and forced to pay for the child maintenance. This happens even with wives. You stay with her but some children are not yours, without you knowing. We need to see how we can address this, where one finds himself raising a child that is not his,” Matse said. He alleged that since the establishment of the Social Welfare Department, GBV cases have increased. Matse alleged that the female officials in the office usually side with the female complainant and make sure that the male pays. Adding, he said government should find a way to assist with free compulsory paternity tests, to prevent people from raising children who are not theirs. He stated that some people may want to do paternity tests but they cannot afford, thus a need for government’s intervention. Paternity He went on to state that free paternity tests for all could curb such scenarios, where one feeds children that are not theirs. The senator mentioned that without fixing these underlying issues in the country, killings among people would not end but increase. “In my area, in 2022 during the COVID-19 era, there were nine people who experienced this challenge of raising children who are not theirs. “Now we are discussing these cases where the homesteads need to be cleansed of wrongful representation,” he said. Perpetuated On the same note, the Portfolio Committee Chairperson, Senator Chief Mphatfwa, said these social ills were a thorny issue, as they had noticed that they were perpetuated unabated. Chief Mphatfwa blamed the Social Welfare Department, alleging that it (department) is being perceived as the cause of GBV. “In some cases, you find three fathers who pay maintenance for the same child and the mother collects the monies without a problem. We understand there is a high unemployment rate, but we should not create employment through unconventional ways, which will then increase GBV,” Chief Mphatfwa said. He urged the DPMO to make it compulsory for a DNA test to be conducted once a person comes to report about non-payment of maintenance for their children. He said both parents should pay for the tests to be conducted, so that they could furnish the department with proof before payments could be made. The chairperson mentioned that this could help minimise the chances whereby one could pay for a child who is not his. On the contrary, Senator Princess Ntfombiyenkhosi briefly stated that even if one could establish that he had been raising someone else’s child, that did not give them a ticket to kill a person. Senator Isaac Magagula said women were brutally killed and the country had reached a crisis proportion. Magagula said there was a need for robust and radical interventions. He also called for a structured and organised Indaba on GBV, to discuss its causes. He went on to suggest that the DPMO should go back to the ‘End GBV Strategy’ and not make it wide open, but focus on specific cases of GBV. Treatment The senator called for the special treatment of GBV cases in the different courts. “The office should engage the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, to see if they could make special courts for these GBV cases,” Magagula said. Senator Chief Gcokoma also called for community dialogues on GBV. Chief Gcokoma shared that they are pained to read in the newspapers about people beings killed every day. He explained that people in communities needed to be engaged and further capacitated on GBV issues. Adding, Chief Gcokoma urged the DPMO to start sensitisation campaigns in order to come up with solutions to this scourge. Senate President Lindiwe Dlamini stated that there was a need to come up with solutions to this challenge. The Senate president said solutions would come through engagement with communities. In response to the submissions, the Acting Deputy Prime Minister (DPM), Jane Simelane, who is also the Minister of Tourism and Environmental Affairs, thanked the senators for their submissions and suggestions. Simelane said GBV is a problem in the country and there is a need to address its root causes. According to Simelane, they will take the submissions as presented by the senators and work on them with the assistance of chiefs and communities. Capacitate She stated that they have started visiting communities to capacitate people about GBV. Adding, she assured the senators that the office would submit written responses on their submissions. According to a report that was recently tabled in Parliament by the DPM, during the reporting period, April to June 2024, 180 maintenance cases were referred to magistrates courts due to defaulting on maintenance payments, failure to attend mediation sessions, or parties not agreeing on the maintenance amount to be paid and 283 cases await finalisation. Comparing figures from the first quarter performance report of April to June 2023, where a total number of 1 232 cases were reported against a total of 1206 reported this quarter from April to June 2024, a decline had been observed.