Durban - A Durban woman has been slapped with a High Court interdict stopping her from badmouthing the father of her child on social media.
The woman, who lives in Morningside but cannot be named to protect the identity of the child, did not oppose the granting of an interim order against her on Friday - but The Mercury believes 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 dad 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 that during the pregnancy, their relationship deteriorated and he broke up with her to concentrate on fixing his marriage.
“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 it had been agreed that he would pay for medical expenses for the birth at a hospital of her choice and with doctors 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.
The baby boy was born in October last year.
The dad said by this time he was only communicating with his ex through WhatsApp messages.
In December last year she asked for money and he paid her between R400 and R500 a month for milk.
His attorney then made an offer of R700 a month in lieu of maintenance.
“She refused this, saying she would approach the maintenance court.”
The father said he welcomed that, because then it would be clear that her demands were impossible.
“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.
“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.”
She posted pictures of me and the child. The posting has gone viral.
“She posted it in as many groups as she could.
“Her intention is to blackmail me into giving further money as she knew I did not want the affair to go public.
“I was contacted by various people, including members of my family, who assumed I had run off, when in fact I had been in communication with her and living and working at the same address as always.
“This has caused huge embarrassment for me and my wife of seven years. My attorney wrote (to the woman) asking her to remove the comments from social network, but she failed to.”
He said: “It is clear she intends litigating in public instead of going to maintenance court.
“I have always acknowledged my son and have undertaken to pay what I can afford. But she wants to hold me ransom.”
In terms of the order, the woman was ordered to remove and delete all the postings and interdicted from putting any further comments about the matter on social media sites.
She may only communicate with the father of her child through his attorney.
The Mercury
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