Court finds Durban man in contempt for attempting to reduce maintenance payments.
The KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Durban found a husband in contempt of court for deliberately failing to comply with an interim maintenance order during ongoing divorce proceedings. The court sentenced him to 60 days' imprisonment, suspended on the condition that he settles his maintenance arrears and continues to honour the court order until the divorce is finalised.
Judge Thoba Poyo-Dlwati Mathenjwa dismissed the husband's attempt to slash his monthly maintenance obligation from more than R106,000 to just R8,000, finding that he had failed to prove any material change in his financial circumstances that would justify varying the existing Rule 43 maintenance order.
The court also ruled that his subsequent decision to unilaterally reduce his payments amounted to wilful and bad-faith non-compliance with a court order.
The dispute arises from divorce proceedings between the parties after the wife obtained an interim maintenance order in August 2022 requiring her husband to pay a monthly R120,000 while the divorce action remained pending.
