Why are so many fathers absent?
Johannesburg - Only four out of 10 black children under the age of 15 live with their fathers. Of the remaining six, three do not have regular contact with their fathers and three have absolutely no contact with their dads.
This is either because their fathers - unable to provide for them financially - are barred from seeing them, or because their father’s relationship with their mother floundered and in turn severed their relationship.
In other cases, their fathers are unable to pay damages, according to the cultural norms, and are then stopped from having contact with the children.
Or their fathers struggle to get access to them because their mothers are now involved in a new relationship.

And there are instances where their fathers shy away from them as a result of the pressure of not being able to provide.
The “So we are ATM fathers” study released recently was done by the Centre for Social Development in Africa, the Sonke Gender Justice Network and the University of Johannesburg earlier this year.
The information was gathered through focus groups with fathers in Alexandra, Tembisa, Doornkop and Devland in Gauteng, who had little or no contact with their children. The study hoped to give a voice to absent fathers.
Researchers wanted to understand what motivated their decisions to be absent fathers, what fatherhood meant to them and what they felt were the causes and consequences of being absent fathers.
The study found that one of the major contributing factors to fathers being absent was finances, and, in the case of the fathers interviewed, their inability to provide it.
In a South African context, fathers were primarily represented as providers.
Those who therefore could not provide would shy away from their responsibilities and their children.
Although researchers insisted fathers who were able to pay maintenance but defaulted on these payments needed be held accountable, the study suggested that alternative methods of motiva