Bosch v Van Vuuren - LexisNexis South Africa

8denial of automatic responsibilities and rights (apart from theduty of support) to all fathers of children who are born out ofwedlock most probably (I would say certainly) infringed theConstitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 – especiallythe equality clause and the children’s rights clause.”(Myemphasis)10 I will return to the requirements of Section 21. For the timebeing, suffice to say that the section forms part of a statutewhich was enacted primarily to promote and safeguard theinterests of children in a manner consistent with theConstitution.11 Returning to the facts, it appears that the Applicant had regular,albeit fairly limited, contact with R for some time after hisdeparture from the common home. Such contact consisted ofvisits and was took place in the company of the Respondent.After some time, that arrangement became unacceptable to theApplicant, and he sought to structure a new one. However, theRespondent was not amenable to him having any form of contactwith R other than in her presence. I would add in this regardthat there is some dispute on the papers regarding the extent towhich the Applicant in fact exercised his rights of access. In this