"I am a divorced father of three minor children. Our children live with their mother primarily and our divorce order states that I will have them with me for half of every school holiday and on every second weekend. Does this still apply during the national lockdown?"

It is clear that the corona virus has caused great suffering, turmoil and uncertainty worldwide and we can expect that it will also have far-reaching implications on the lives of every single South African citizen, including all parents. 

The Minister of Police stated during a radio interview on 26 March 2020 that, during the lockdown, children will not be allowed to move between homes or places for any reason, other than for medical reasons. On 26 March 2020 two separate Courts were also called upon to make a determination regarding a parent’s rights to contact during this crisis. 

On 26 March 2020 the KwaZulu-Natal High Court and the Free State High Court heard two separate urgent applications pertaining to a parent's right to have contact with their minor children during the lockdown period.  Both courts ordered that the minor children must remain in the primary care and custody of their primary caregiver during this time. 

In the matter heard in the Free State High Court, the minor children were visiting with their father (who does not have primary residency) at the time of the urgent application and the Court ordered that the minor children were to be returned to their mother, with whom they reside primarily, before the start of the lockdown and would not be allowed to visit their father during the lockdown period. 

In addition to this, a directive was published and commenced on the 30th of March, which regulates the movement of children between co-holders of parental rights and responsibilities during the lockdown period. This directive stipulates that the movement of children between co-holders of parental rights and responsibilities is prohibited and a child must remain with the parent who exercised custody when the lockdown commenced.

In answering the question above, this means that the regular contact arrangements contained in a divorce order would not continue to apply during the lockdown period. This does not mean, however, that a parent may be refused all forms of contact.  In fact, it can be argued that the exact opposite may now be expected of both parents in that it may be considered reasonable for the primary caregiver to now allow for more frequent telephone conversations, Zoom, Skype and WhatsApp video-calls.

Modern technology, and social media in particular, has made it possible to stay connected with people from all across the world and parents are urged to make use of these tools available to them. Should one parent be unreasonable during this time and same becomes a cause for urgent intervention, the Courts remain open to hear such urgent matters. In the end all matters differ and every matter will be heard and judged on a case-by-case basis. It must further be borne in mind that a parent’s conduct during these times may have far-reaching implications and if it could be proven in future that one parent intentionally acted against the best interests of their children in not allowing proper and regular telephonic contact etc. with the other parent, same could affect their success in future legal matters. 

The challenges currently faced by all South Africans are to a large extent unprecedented in the modern world. What is important to remember is that everyone – and parents in particular – should do everything in their power to stay calm and reasonable. Our children look to us as an example of how they should react to this problem and the question becomes: are we going to use our actions and our resources to cause problems and conflict, or to solve problems and ease anxiety? 

It's most advisable that, should you require advice pertaining to dealing with the national lockdown and enforcing your rights as a parent, you contact a family law specialist as soon as possible.