| (a) | obtain statements under oath or affirmation from persons who may be able to give relevant information concerning the subject of such complaint; |
| (b) | gather information concerning— |
| (i) | the identification or whereabouts of any person who is legally liable to maintain the person mentioned in such complaint or who is allegedly so liable; |
| (ii) | the financial position of any person affected by such liability; or |
| (iii) | any other matter which may be relevant concerning the subject of such complaint; |
| (c) | request a maintenance officer of any other maintenance court to obtain, within the area of jurisdiction of the said maintenance officer, such information as may be relevant concerning the subject of such complaint; or |
| (d) | require a maintenance investigator of the maintenance court concerned to perform such other functions as may be necessary or expedient to achieve the objects of this Act. |
| (2) | A maintenance investigator shall, subject to the directions and control of a maintenance officer— |
| (a) | locate the whereabouts of persons— |
| (i) | required to appear before a magistrate under section 8(1); |
| (ii) | who are to be subpoenaed or who have been subpoenaed to appear at a maintenance enquiry; |
| (iii) | who are to be subpoenaed or who have been subpoenaed to appear at a criminal trial for the failure to comply with a maintenance order; or |
| (iv) | accused of the failure to comply with a maintenance order; |
| (b) | serve or execute the process of any maintenance court; |
| (c) | serve subpoenas or summonses in respect of criminal proceedings instituted for the failure to comply with a maintenance order as if the maintenance investigator had been duly appointed as a person who is authorised to serve subpoenas or summonses in criminal proceedings; |
| (d) | take statements under oath or affirmation from persons who may be able to give relevant information concerning the subject of any complaint relating to maintenance; |
| (e) | gather information concerning— |
| (i) | the identification or whereabouts of any person who is legally liable to maintain the person mentioned in such complaint or who is allegedly so liable; |
| (ii) | the financial position of any person affected by such liability; or |
| (iii) | any other matter which may be relevant concerning the subject of such complaint; or |
| (f) | gather such information as may be relevant concerning a request referred to in subsection (1)(c). |
| (a) | If a complaint is lodged with a maintenance officer in terms of section 6 and the maintenance officer, after all reasonable efforts to locate the whereabouts of the person who may be affected by an order which may be made by a maintenance court pursuant to the complaint so lodged, have failed, the maintenance officer may apply to the maintenance court, in the prescribed manner, to issue a direction as contemplated in this subsection. |
| (b) | If a maintenance court is satisfied that all reasonable efforts to locate the whereabouts of a person have failed, as contemplated in paragraph (a), the court may issue a direction in the prescribed form, directing one or more electronic communications service providers to furnish the court, in the prescribed manner, with the contact information of the person in question if that person is in fact a customer of the service provider. |
| (c) | If the maintenance court issues a direction in terms of paragraph (b) the maintenance court shall direct that the direction be served on the electronic communications service provider in the prescribed manner. |
| (d) | The information referred to in paragraph (b) shall be provided to the maintenance court within the time period set out by the court in the direction. |
| (e) | An electronic communications service provider on which a direction is served may, in the prescribed manner, apply to the maintenance court for— |
| (i) | an extension of the period referred to in paragraph (d) on the grounds that the information cannot be provided timeously; or |
| (ii) | the cancellation of the direction on the grounds that— |
| (aa) | it does not provide an electronic communications service in respect of the person referred to in the direction; or |
| (bb) | the requested information is not available in the records of the electronic communications service provider. |
| (f) | After receipt of an application referred to in paragraph (e), the maintenance court shall consider the application, give a decision in respect thereof and inform the electronic communications service provider, in the prescribed manner, of the outcome of the application. |
| (g) | The list of electronic communications service providers referred to in section 4(7) of the Protection from Harassment Act, 2011 (Act No. 17 of 2011), may be used by maintenance courts for purposes of this subsection. |
| (h) | The tariffs payable to electronic communications service providers for providing information as determined by the Minister in terms of section 4(8) of the Protection from Harassment Act, 2011, apply in the case of information required in terms of this subsection. |
| (i) | If the maintenance officer is of the opinion that the person lodging the complaint referred to in paragraph (a) is unable to pay the costs involved in the furnishing of information referred to in paragraph (b), the maintenance officer may at any time after the maintenance court issues a direction under the said paragraph (b), request the maintenance court to hold an enquiry into— |
| (i) | the means of the complainant; and |
| (ii) | any other circumstances which, in the opinion of the maintenance court, should be taken into consideration. |
| (j) | At the conclusion of the enquiry referred to in paragraph (i) the maintenance court may make such order as the court may deem fit relating to the payment of the costs involved in the furnishing of information referred to in paragraph (b), including an order directing the State, subject to section 20, to pay such costs within available resources, in the prescribed manner. |
| (k) | The maintenance court may, if it has ordered the State to pay the costs referred to in paragraph (j), upon the application of the maintenance officer, order the person affected by the order to refund the costs so paid by the State in terms of paragraph (j), in the prescribed manner. |
| (l) | For purposes of this subsection, "electronic communications service provider" means an entity or a person who is licensed or exempted from being licensed in terms of Chapter 3 of the Electronic Communications Act, 2005 (Act No. 36 of 2005), to provide an electronic communications service. |
[Section (3) inserted by section 2 of Act No. 9 of 2015]
