Durban - A Howick mother of two was disillusioned with the justice system and feared for her and her two children’s safety after two interim protection orders against her ex-husband had been dismissed.
She said she complained twice, via e-mail, to the chief magistrate in the district about the conduct of certain officials, including the magistrate of the town’s court, and had received no feedback.
“I feel helpless. I don’t know what to do. I can now totally understand kangaroo courts… you hit such a low, you feel you are getting nowhere,” she said exhaustedly.
The woman’s struggle to get a protection order began in February while she was in the process of divorcing her allegedly emotionally and physically abusive husband.
She went on three separate occasions to get the order, but no one at the court was helpful. On the fourth visit, when she took a police friend, she was granted an interim protection order. The return date to confirm the order was in March.
“I went to court on the date with people who had witnessed the abuse… the magistrate did not listen to any of them, or me. He just dismissed the order.” She said she complained, via e-mail, to the chief magistrate in Pietermaritzburg about her treatment and received no feedback.
Her husband continued to abuse her by sending e-mails and text messages using vulgar language and belittling her. The couple’s divorce was finalised in July.
When she could not take any more, she went to the court again to apply for another protection order.
In August, an interim order was obtained, but dismissed last month.
She said she had been having problems with the man for 22 years and had been for counselling, but nothing worked.
“I could not leave him then because of financial reasons.”
The couple had a son studying and a daughter at high school.
She said that once, when her daughter intervened in a fight they were having, he grabbed the daughter and shoved her, injuring her.
The woman is being assisted by Debbie Schroeder, the founder of God’s Warehouse, a local organisation that assist single, divorced and widowed mothers.
Schroeder said: “Do we have to wait until she is killed before something gets done? How many people get killed because they are turned away by the system? There is a lack of empathy shown sometimes from some staff when they go to court.”
She said there were not enough places of safety for women to go to where they could be kept safe and protected from their abusers.
Schroeder said the woman was amazing.
“We will support her 100%. Her children need to know she has broken the cycle. No one is worthy of abuse.”
She added that abuse was not confined to poverty.
It also happened in rich suburban homes across all race groups.
With her help, the woman again wrote to the chief magistrate.
Acting chief magistrate Ashin Singh said a complaint was received last week and would be forwarded to the magistrate’s commission to determine if there were any merits.
He added there was no record of the woman’s first complaint.
“In court, there is always one party that is unhappy.”
The particular magistrate against whom the complaint was made could not be reached for comment.
* Comments have been closed to protect the identity of the minors mentioned in the article.
The Mercury