Page 103 - Q&A 2019/2020

Every Magistrates Court in South Africa makes provision for granting of protection
orders, and in some areas, you will even find specific specialist courts that deal
specifically with domestic violence cases.

Your first step is to go to the relevant court and fill in an application form that
you can get at the court. Here you must provide the reasons why you are asking
for a protection order. Keep in mind the definitions of domestic relationship and
violence discussed above when filling in the form. Then arrange to have the
form commissioned at your local police station if the court cannot assist you
with this and submit the completed and commissioned form at the court.
You will then be requested to appear before a magistrate to address the court
on why you are requesting the protection order in order for the court to consider
whether to grant the order or not. The Magistrate may then either:
1. Refuse to grant any order if there are no grounds for the protection
order; or
2. Issue a notice to show cause but without an interim protection order.
This notice will be served on the other party with a return date for them
to also appear in court and give reasons for the protection order not
to be made final; or
3. Grant an interim protection order. This is already a protection order of
which notice will also be served on the other party and containing a
court date upon which the other party must provide reasons why the
interim protection order should not be made a final order.

Should a protection order be granted and the party against whom it is granted
contravenes it, you can approach your nearest police station and provide them
with the order as well as information on how the person contravened the order.
Following this the party in question can be charged with contravention of a
protection order and can even be arrested and detained as the protection
order document is tantamount to a warrant of arrest.

As a side note: You can also apply to the court for a protection order in terms of
the Protection from Harassment Act 17 of 2011. The Act’s definition of ‘harassment’
includes directly or indirectly engaging in conduct that the respondent knows
or ought to know causes harm or inspires the reasonable belief that harm may
be caused to the complainant by unreasonably engaging in verbal, electronic
or any other communication aimed at the complainant by any means, whether
or not conversation ensues (our emphasis). Under this act, is not a requirement
for the complainant to be in some sort of a relationship with the respondent.

Family

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