The current situation favours men, who are compensated for travel and accommodation when attending court, while the women are paying from their owns pockets.
The Al Jama-ah party in parliament is fighting for the rights of women to access a travel allowance when they attend maintenance cases in court.
In a Bill proposed by leader Ganief Hendricks and read in parliament yesterday, the party also proposed that parties to a maintenance matter should be able to opt for external mediation or arbitration if they like.
The need for mediation and or arbitration will be determined by a Magistrate’s Court. If it is to pass, it has to be voted in parliament. Should the vote succeed, Al Jama-ah would have concluded the Women’s Month by presenting a gift to the women by helping to boost their rights.
The Maintenance Amendment Bill as proposed is a progressive piece of legislation and one of several proposals in which the small party used parliament as a platform to enact progressive legislation in favour of the vulnerable.
“Al Jama-ah considers it a useful platform to bring about legal changes and for this very reason this route was pursued by Al Jama-ah leadership,” the party said in a statement.
Hendricks said efforts had to be made to cut the cost for the complainant. He said the current situation favoured men, who are compensated for travel and accommodation costs when attending court, while the women paid from their owns pockets and were not entitled to compensation.
Hendricks suggested that if mediation or arbitration is decided, it would be preferable if that happens before the matter was heard so that there was no cost for the woman complainant.
“All efforts to be made before to cut costs and avoid the financial burden,” Hendricks said. He hoped the Bill would be passed by parliamentarians as the matter affected all women across religious and cultural divides.
“But it’s difficult to say since those voting usually would happen in accordance with the decision and interpretation of their respective parties,” Hendricks said.
This is the first of three Al Jama-ah legislative proposals as the party used the opportunity to address issues that have been sidestepped by previous government administrations.
“While it is a pity the Private Members Bill only came to life since 2019, Al Jama-ah considers this process a useful platform to bring about legal changes and for this very reason this route was pursued by the Al Jama-ah leadership,” he said.