Social media ban for mom in dispute

Tania Broughton

A Durban woman has been slapped with a high court interdict stopping her from bad-mouthing the father of her child on social media.

The woman, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the child, did not oppose the interim order against her on Friday – but there is suspicion she is contemplating filing opposing papers before the case is next in court at the end of this month.

In his affidavit in the urgent application, the father of the child said he met the woman in October 2014 and, even though he was married with two children, they began an affair.

She fell pregnant in March last year, and “after she was adamant that she wanted to have the baby, I accepted the responsibility”.

He said the pregnancy prompted him to end the relationship to focus on his family.

“I had informed my family about the unborn baby. She felt that I was being pressured by my family and failed to accept that it was my choice.”

He said through his attorney that it had been agreed that he would pay for medical expenses for the birth at a hospital of her choice. He had taken out a loan of R48 000 to pay for this, which he could ill-afford because he only earned R5 000 a month.

When the baby was born in October last year, the man said he was communicating with the woman via WhatsApp. In December, she asked for money, and he paid her between R400 and R500 a month for child formula.

“She has continued making unreasonable demands. Once she came to my home, her intention being to disrupt my family, and she spoke to my stepmother,” he said, adding the woman made threats over maintenance.

“She then sent a message saying she no longer wanted to sue me as she was happy that the child was being acknowledged, but she changed her mind again and demanded money.”

He said that earlier this month she took to social networking sites, in particular Facebook, “depicting me as a recalcitrant father and making defamatory remarks”. The posts included pictures, most of them aimed at blackmail, he said.

In terms of the order, the woman was ordered to remove all the postings, and interdicted from putting any further comments about the matter on social media sites. She may communicate only with the father of her child through his attorney.