key to the study guide - Name

Ways to obtain
authority
266
regulating the parent-child relationship is increasingly shifting from the
rights and powers of parents towards the rights and entitlements of
children. In the second place, you should know that apart from having all
the rights the Constitution confers on everyone, children below the age of
18 years are afforded special protection by section 28 of the Constitution
(the children's rights clause). In the third place, you have to know which
rights are intrenched in section 28(1) of the Constitution. These rights are
set out in the paragraph under the heading ``(a) General'' on pages 257±
258 in your textbook. Finally, you have to take note that section 28(2) of
the Constitution, which prescribes that a child's best interests are of
paramount importance in every matter concerning the child, creates an
independent right that goes beyond the scope of the rights enumerated in
section 28(1).
2 PARENTAL AUTHORITY
2.1 The nature of parental authority
Parental authority is defined in your textbook on page 265. You have to
study this definition.
2.2 The acquisition of parental authority
The explanation in your textbook of the acquisition of parental authority
starts on page 265 and ends on page 277. You only have to know that
which is discussed hereunder and those sections of the textbook to which
you are specifically referred.
You should be able to list the ways in which a mother, a father and samesex
life partners acquire parental authority. They appear under the heading
``21.2 Acquiring parental authority'' on page 265 in the textbook.
ACTIVITY
List the ways in which a mother, a father and same-sex life partners acquire
parental authority.
FEEDBACK
A father acquires parental authority by
(1) the birth of a legitimate child
(2) marrying the mother of his extra-marital child