Question posted in the General Law category relating to Gauteng
This is a bit of a weird situation but I'll try to explain it as best I can. So I broke up with my girlfriend over a year ago, close to Oct of 2024. On the 23rd of November 2024, I met up with an old friend I haven't seen in a long while and we talked about our lives. I brought up how I was in a relationship with a wonderful woman that one day just stopped. I told my friend she broke up with me and never gave me a reason as to why. I told her it's still stuck with me because I never got that closure. So my friend decided to message her and ask on my behalf as to why she broke up with me. I don't know what was said in that conversation but, Skip to today my friend notified me that my ex-girlfriend opened a harassment case on her and she is freaking out because she has a child and recently gave birth to another one not too long ago, so financials are a bit tight and her stress is at an all-time high. I'm just reaching out to see the validity of this and what measures my friend should take going forward with this.
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There is unfortunately no online portal which we can use to see if your ex-girlfriend has actually opened up a harassment case or not.
What I can tell you is that what your ex-girlfriend is referring to is an Application for a Protection from Harassment Order which is heard in the local civil magistrates court. This is NOT a criminal matter at all.
The application is a 2-stage application, which means that in stage 1 your ex-girlfriend would need to sign an affidavit explaining how she is being harassed, and she would then need to appear before a magistrate to explain her case. If the magistrate feels that there is perhaps a case, then the magistrate will grant an interim protection from harassment order. That interim order must then be served on your friend by the SAPS.
In the interim order, there will be a date mentioned where your friend can file her own affidavit, explaining and giving reasons why the interim protection order should not be made final. There will be a court date mentioned, where both your friend and your ex-girlfriend can appear in court, before the magistrate, to explain their stories.
If the magistrate believes that your ex-girlfriend is deserving of protection, and that your friend has been harassing your ex-girlfriend, then the magistrate will make a final order. Normally the order would be "Don't contact her again".
So, in actual fact, if there is absolutely no reason for your friend to ever contact your ex-girlfriend again, like EVER, then your friend might form the view that she doesn't care if the interim order is granted, or if the final order is granted. There is no criminality in the order. It is a civil order. It is not recorded anywhere.
If your friend never speaks to your ex-girlfriend again, either personally or over the phone and if she never WhatsApps her, then she will never ever have an issue.
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Is this really possible in the span of 3 days? -- Probably not. The magistrate will hear her pretty quickly. Depending on how busy the magistrate is. But if she drafts her affidavit and goes to court today, the magistrate might hear her today/tomorrow. But the SAPS will take 4 or 5 days to serve the interim order. So it can all happen quite quickly.
Is this a situation that can just be left alone and ignored, or can there be further repercussions? -- Your friend could just ignore it. The interim order (if one is ever granted) could then be made into a final order. It will also be served on your friend by SAPS. But then, if your friend never speaks to your ex-girlfriend again, nothing else will ever happen.
Also you mentioned the application being 2 stages but I think you only explained the first stage. -- Stage 1 is the granting of the interim order without your friend being present in court. Stage 2 is when both parties go to court to argue whether the interim order should be discharged or made into a final order.