| 2010 04 13 'Social Development taken to court for failure to extend foster orders' |
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The Centre for Child Law, on behalf of 93 children from Molteno in the Eastern Cape, is taking the Minister of Social Development and the MEC for Social Development in the Eastern Cape to court for failing to extend the foster orders made by the Children's Court. The Minister/the MEC has failed to make determination on whether or not the foster order should be renewed. Consequently the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA), which has been paying foster care grants to the children's foster parents, stopped making payment in July 2009. Foster care orders lapse after a period of two years unless extended by the Minister or the MEC of Social Development as the Minister's delegate. In this matter, the foster care orders were not extended and due to the lack of valid foster care orders, there was no legal basis for SASSA to continue paying the foster care grant. The majority of these children had lost their mothers to HIV and AIDS, others have been abandoned by their parents, and some have even lost their foster parents. The conditions in which these children live, makes them extremely vulnerable. They are all living with foster parents who are depending on foster care grants to support the children and their families. The lapsing of the grants makes it difficult for their foster parents who in the majority live in extreme poverty to care for them. Represented by the Legal Resources Centre, The Centre for Child Law is requesting the Eastern Cape High Court in Grahamstown to substitute its decision for the decision of the Minister and to order that foster care orders are reinstated retrospectively. Alternatively, it is requested that the court grant an order directly to the Minister to consider whether to extend the foster care orders made by the Children's Court or to order the Commissioner of Child Welfare to consider each child's case afresh. In addition, the Court is requested to order that SASSA pay foster care grants to the foster parents, including the arrears from the date the payment was stopped in July 2009.
Ends.
Contact:
Sarah Sephton Applicant's Attorney Legal Resources Centre Tele : 046 622 9230 Cell : 0834107646 Email : This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Carina du Toit Applicant Centre for Child Law, University of Pretoria Tele : 012 420 4502 Cell : 071 603 8292 Email : This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it NB: Please click here for the Notice of Motion or here for the Founding Affidavit |