Maintenance prosecutor René Botha quit her job as attorney the day she realised she was helping “the wrong people”.
Today Botha is one of the most important and successful torchÂbearers for neglected children, women and men in Johannesburg who do not receive the maintenance they are entitled to.
After finishing her studies, Botha worked full-time at a firm of attorneys before following her “calling”.
“It wasn’t nice [working as an attorney]. I was helping the wrong people. I wanted to help the children, women and men who really need the assistance,” Botha says.
In 2002 she was employed by the National Prosecuting Authority as a prosecutor in Vanderbijlpark and Sebokeng where she began to Âspecialise in maintenance cases.
She was later transferred to the Johannesburg Family Court where today she has an office on the second floor — not that she sees much of it.
“We are assigned a huge number of new cases. It shows you that more and more parents don’t honour their obligations. Some women just give up after a while.”
Botha explains that maintenance cases are very often complex matters. “The other day I was in court for nine days with one case.”
What bothers her is the delay in cases — sometimes a man denies that he is the father of a child and paternity tests have to be done. This takes time and during this period mothers and children quite often doesn’t have food or the means to go to school.
For Botha the ultimate goal of her work is to prevent putting criminals on the street.
“The first time you steal food because you are hungry. The next you steal something bigger, and after that you get drawn into gangs or syndicates.”
So getting a father (or mother) to pay their children’s maintenance will cause fewer juvenile offenders who ultimately feed into the cycle of crime.
“Even if you just help five children to eat and go to school, then you’ve made a difference.”
She admits that the job has its strains and seeing children Âtestifying in court upsets her.
But this strain turns to joy when the magistrate makes order she fought so long for.
“Remember that we are there for the child. We can’t choose between the husband and the wife. The public doesn’t always understand this.
“They [maintenance trials] are very emotional things and sometimes I let the parents express their feelings. But I can’t afford to get emotionally involved. I must distance myself and be able to cut out.”
One of the things Botha is lauded for is her ability to stand up to any senior lawyer or advocate in court.
“To tell you the truth, I sometimes prefer senior counsel because then I know the procedure will be followed logically and professionally. I also know that when a father arrives with his whole entourage of people, he is hiding something.”
Her strategy is simple and effective: know the law, know the procedure, get the experience and get the order you want.