What Are The Three Parenting Goals In South Africa?

The three parenting goals in South Africa, as set out in the Children’s Act 38 of 2005, are care (the day-to-day responsibility for a child’s physical, emotional, and developmental needs), contact (the right to maintain a meaningful relationship with the child), and guardianship (the legal authority to make major decisions about the child’s life, including education, healthcare, religion, and property). These three responsibilities form the statutory framework the courts use when allocating parental rights and responsibilities in divorce, separation, unmarried-co-parent disputes, and applications for care or contact orders. A separate parental duty — maintenance — sits alongside them as a financial responsibility rather than as one of the three primary parenting goals.

The Children’s Act 38 of 2005: Where the Three Parenting Goals Come From

The Children’s Act 38 of 2005 replaced the older Child Care Act 74 of 1983 and provides the modern statutory framework for all matters affecting children in South Africa. Two sections do most of the work for the three parenting goals:

• Section 7 sets out the best interests of the child as the paramount consideration in any matter concerning the child’s care, well-being, and development. Every order the court makes about care, contact, or guardianship must be measured against this standard.
• Section 18 defines parental responsibilities and rights. The Act lists four components in total — care, contact, guardianship, and a separate duty to contribute to the child’s maintenance. The first three are the parenting goals family-law practitioners, courts, and parenting-plan templates refer to as “the three parenting goals.”

The Act applies uniformly across South Africa. Both married and unmarried parents hold these responsibilities and rights, although the legal mechanics of acquiring them differ by parental status — a distinction that matters in practice, especially for unmarried fathers.

Goal 1: Care — The Day-to-Day Responsibility for the Child

Care is the right and duty to provide the child’s day-to-day needs — food, clothing, shelter, medical care, emotional support, education in the everyday sense, and age-appropriate guidance. Section 18 describes care as including protecting the child from harm, providing for their physical and psychological needs, and ensuring they live in a stable, safe environment.

In practice, the primary caregiver is the parent with whom the child lives day-to-day. Care can be sole (vested in one parent) or shared (joint responsibility between separated parents, even where the child spends most of their time at one home). Care orders can be granted by the Children’s Court in children’s-court matters, by the divorce court in divorce matters, and by the High Court in its constitutional jurisdiction in appropriate cases.

Goal 2: Contact — Maintaining a Meaningful Relationship with the Child

Contact is the right to spend time with and maintain a relationship with the child, including through in-person visits, phone calls, video calls, and written communication. The Act recognises contact as a fundamental right — it operates independently of whether the parent has care or guardianship rights.

A parent without care can still claim reasonable contact, and the court must facilitate contact unless doing so would be contrary to the child’s best interests. Contact orders can specify the frequency, location, and duration of contact, and may include supervised contact arrangements where the court considers supervision necessary.

Goal 3: Guardianship — The Right to Make Major Decisions

Guardianship is the legal authority to make major decisions about the child’s life. In practical terms, a guardian decides on:

• Education and schooling (subject to the child’s views where age-appropriate)
• Medical and surgical treatment (subject to the age-appropriate consent rules in section 129 of the Act)
• Religious upbringing
• Marriage consent (where applicable)
• Administration of the child’s property
• Decisions about the child’s place of residence in many interpretations

Guardianship is often held jointly by both parents, even after divorce, unless the court orders otherwise. Where a guardian’s decision is not in the child’s best interests, the court can override it on application.

How the Three Goals Are Allocated Between Married, Divorced, and Unmarried Parents

The table below summarises how the Children’s Act treats parental responsibilities and rights across the most common family situations. The category that catches most people off guard is the unmarried father — automatic rights depend on specific factual criteria, not biological paternity alone.

Parental Status	Default Position
Married parents	Both hold full parental responsibilities and rights automatically under section 20 of the Act.
Divorced or separated parents	Care, contact, and guardianship are typically allocated by the divorce court or by agreement between the parents; the Act favours continued joint responsibility where practicable.
Unmarried mothers	Hold full automatic parental responsibilities and rights from birth under section 19 of the Act.
Unmarried fathers (automatic recognition)	Acquire full responsibilities and rights automatically if they were living with the mother in a permanent life partnership at the time of the child’s birth, or in certain other circumstances set out in section 20 of the Act.
Unmarried fathers not covered above	Must apply to the Children’s Court for a parental responsibilities and rights order, which the court will grant on the best-interests-of-the-child standard.

When the Court Intervenes: Care, Contact, and Guardianship Orders

A parent, the child (depending on age and maturity), or another interested party can apply to the Children’s Court for an order confirming, granting, or regulating care, contact, or guardianship. The court applies the best interests of the child standard, weighing the factors listed in section 7 of the Act — including the child’s wishes where age-appropriate, the nature of family relationships, the child’s cultural and religious background, the need for continuity and stability, and any history of violence or harm. A court can grant sole or shared care, specify contact arrangements, or grant or limit guardianship as appropriate to the facts. Orders can be varied on application if circumstances change materially after the original order.

What This Means in Practice for Separated Parents

Both parents remain legal parents after separation, and the Act presumes that shared responsibility is in the child’s best interests where it can be exercised safely and practically. Most separated parents reach agreement by negotiation, often with a family lawyer, a registered mediator, or the Family Advocate. Where agreement is not possible, the Family Advocate’s office may be asked to investigate and recommend an arrangement to the court, especially in higher-conflict matters.

For Gauteng families, the procedural layer is well established: non-divorce applications involving unmarried parents are typically heard in the Children’s Court for the area where the child resides (Gauteng Children’s Court seats operate in Johannesburg, Pretoria, and other regional centres under the Department of Social Development), while divorce-related parenting matters run alongside the divorce in the Regional Court for the district in which the divorce is filed or in the Gauteng Division of the High Court. The Family Advocate’s Gauteng offices in Johannesburg and Pretoria are the practical point of contact where the court requests an independent recommendation on care, contact, and guardianship, and their reports carry significant weight. Maintenance, which sits alongside the three primary parenting goals as a separate parental duty, is enforced independently through the Maintenance Court for the relevant district. Parenting plans — formal written agreements covering care, contact, and guardianship — are often incorporated into consent papers filed in the divorce court or the Children’s Court.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the three parenting goals in South Africa under the Children’s Act?

The three parenting goals in South Africa, as set out in the Children’s Act 38 of 2005, are care (the day-to-day responsibility for the child), contact (the right to maintain a meaningful relationship), and guardianship (the legal authority to make major decisions about the child’s life). A separate parental duty — maintenance — sits alongside them as a financial responsibility rather than as one of the three primary goals.

Are the three parenting goals automatic for unmarried fathers?

Not always. Unmarried fathers acquire full parental responsibilities and rights automatically only if they were living with the mother in a permanent life partnership at the time of the child’s birth, or in certain other circumstances set out in section 20 of the Act. Other unmarried fathers must apply to the Children’s Court for a parental responsibilities and rights order, which the court will grant on the best-interests-of-the-child standard.

Can a parent have contact without having care?

Yes. Contact is a separate parental responsibility under the Children’s Act, and a parent without care can apply to the Children’s Court for reasonable contact. The court will grant contact unless doing so would be contrary to the child’s best interests — the Act expressly presumes that contact is in the child’s best interests unless strong reasons exist to restrict it.

What happens if parents cannot agree on care, contact, or guardianship?

Where parents cannot agree, either parent (or another interested party) can apply to the Children’s Court for an order. In divorce matters, the divorce court can also make orders regarding care, contact, and guardianship as part of the divorce settlement. The Family Advocate’s office may be asked to investigate and recommend an arrangement in the child’s best interests, particularly in contested matters.

Is maintenance one of the three parenting goals?

Maintenance is a separate parental duty under the Children’s Act, but it is not typically counted among the three primary parenting goals. The three primary goals are care, contact, and guardianship; maintenance is a financial responsibility that runs in parallel and can be enforced independently through the Maintenance Court for the relevant district.

If you are navigating care, contact, or guardianship arrangements — whether during a divorce, after separation, or as an unmarried parent seeking to formalise your role — the Family Law team at Burger Huyser Attorneys can guide you through the application or agreement process. The firm practises from offices in Linden (011 888 0246), Sandton (011 253 3080), Centurion (012 644 4990), Pretoria (012 471 5700), Roodepoort (011 668 0030), Bedfordview (011 201 7190), Alberton (011 439 3990), and Midrand (010 022 4082), with a 4.8/5 average across 250+ Google reviews and family law recognition from the MEA Business Awards and Lawyers Monthly Legal Awards in recent years. Initial consultations are booked directly through the relevant branch.