Secretary must pay for action against Naas

PRETORIA -- The high court here on Wednesday ordered secretary Anna Jooste to pay former Springbok captain Naas Botha's legal costs of R31000. This followed the dismissal of an application by his illegitimate son for damages for failing to provide him with fatherly love and acceptance, the Citizen newspaper reported yesterday.

Botha's 12-year-old son Francois sued his father for damages last year, but the court dismissed the R450000 claim, finding that the boy did not have a constitutional right to fatherly love and acceptance.

Judge K van Dijkhorst sharply criticised Jooste at the time, saying she was the real litigant and the boy was too young to have an inkling of what it was all about.

He said the action was ill-conceived and the predictable concomitant publicity could only affect Francois detrimentally.

The judge said the legal action was not in the boy's interest, and he wondered what Jooste's motives were in subjecting him to it.

He dismissed the claim with costs.

Botha objected to the claim from the start, saying he had no legal obligation other than to contribute towards the boy's maintenance.

The former Springbok captain this week sought a court order to force Jooste to pay his legal costs of R31482 after she refused to pay, and her attorney made settlement suggestions which Botha found "immoral and unacceptable".

He said it was clear that Jooste, and not her son, was the real plaintiff and she should therefore pay the legal costs.

Judge JMC Smit granted the order against Jooste and also ordered her to pay the legal costs of Botha's latest application. -- Sapa