Co-parenting isn’t always that simple especially at times like this.
Parents who have joint custody of their children will not be able to maintain access to their children during the COVID-19 nationwide lockdown.
Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu has reiterated that under no circumstances are children of divorced parents allowed to shuttle between their parents during the national lockdown.
Zulu says her department has fielded calls since the lockdown commenced from divorced parents.
“Movement of children between co-holders of parental responsibilities during the lockdown period is prohibited. This is to ensure that the child is not exposed to any possible infection while moving from primary caregiver premises to the other.”
“The child shall remain in the custody of the parent with whom the child was with when the lockdown was affected. The parent who is not with the child during the lockdown period in order to maintain a personal relationship with the child may communicate on a regular basis with the child in other manners including telephonic and other.”
The Department of Justice earlier this week urged parents with joint custody to negotiate in the best interest of the child.
Co-Parenting procedure during #21dayslockdownSouthAfrica #CoronavirusInSA #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/rFk73tPN2m
— South African Government (@GovernmentZA) April 1, 2020
Father of one-year-old child, Sibusiso Nkosana says he often sees his child thrice a week but things have changed since the lockdown.
“So far I have distanced myself to eliminate dangers of having my child infected. I do video calls via Microsoft Teams to his mother and he gets to see me on the video. We play normally it’ll be about 30 minutes per call twice a day.”
However, Nkosana says not seeing his child for three weeks worries him, “I don’t feel good, but prevention is always better than cure. My fear is that my son may not recognise who I am after 21-day lockdown.”
Nkoasana has advised parents with joint custody to protect their kids and not expose them to any possible infection. “COVID-19 is not permanent; parents should consider other means of communication. Take it like you got a new job in different province or country, far away from the kids, then maybe that will help.”
In the audio below Nkosana talks about his fears f not seeing his child
Johann van Eeden from Fairbridges Wertheim Becker Attorneys says parents should also be mindful that their conduct during the lockdown will be scrutinised ‘subsequent to it ‘and that they should act reasonably and in the best interests of children at all times.
“Parents must facilitate and encourage other means of contact telephonic and video calls, so as to ensure that children have adequate and generous contact with the parent who is not physically with them during the lockdown. This is a trying time for South Africa, its parents and its children. Parents must ensure that the safety and well-being of their children are prioritised as far as possible, that and that an appropriate channel of communication between co-parents remains open.”
Eeden advised that the lockdown presents an opportunity for parents to fix broken or dysfunctional co-parenting relationships, “by acknowledging the hardship caused by the lockdown and co-operating to minimize its impact on their children.”
In the video below Chief Family Advocate at the Justice Department, Petunia Seabi-Mathope says the constitution still remains operational and it acts at the best interest of the child.
