Plessislaer Advice Office

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Cases

In 2021, the advice office attended to 449 new cases, with the most common being help with obtaining financial rights and documents, domestic violence, and relationship breakdowns leading to questions of the division of property and child custody. Abandoned children, drug addiction and children in conflict with schools were other issues. Staff conducted mediations that successfully resolved 103 cases and helped 43 people get protection orders.

Financial Rights and Documents

A high number of clients come with claims for social grants, after trying unsuccessfully for a long time to make a claim. They also experience delays in obtaining pensions and provident funds.

Many parents do not have a birth certificate for their children, meaning that they cannot get a child support grant or enrol them in school. The most common grant that people seek is the child support grant, and this often involves first obtaining birth certificates for the children and IDs for the parents. People who would like to obtain a foster care grant lack the documents such as a guardianship letter that they require.

Domestic Violence

Reports of gender-based violence and the advice office and local police station are high. Many men have discriminatory attitudes towards women, have multiple partners and believe physical violence is excusable. Abuse in the home includes mistreatment of the elderly. They are assaulted, sexually abused, and have children left with them by relatives who spend the child support grant on themselves.

Relationships Breakdown

In 2021 a quarter of cases related to marriage (civil or customary), the separation of relationships, divorce, custody of and access to children and the division of property.