Former President FW de Klerk is again set to be dragged into a long-running financial feud between his son Willem and Willem’s ex-wife, says a Sunday Times report. After struggling for years to get Willem to pay maintenance, Nicole Noordien is, for the second time, approaching his father, claiming that as her children’s grandfather he has a responsibility to step in if his son cannot afford maintenance.

Noordien’s previous attempt, in 2012, failed because at the time there was still a maintenance order against Willem, and the judge ruled that this order would have to be terminated before she could pursue payment from FW.

Noordien’s lawyer, Anya Kurdziel-Audagnotti, said an application was under way at the Randburg Maintenance Court to drop the maintenance obligation against Willem. The application will be based on Willem’s lack of income, which he claimed in an e-mail to Noordien’s lawyers in January 2018.

In the e-mail he writes: ‘I am currently unemployed and do not have access to any funds whatsoever. My elderly and unhealthy father has made it abundantly clear to me (and my former wife) that he is not in a position to assist financially in any way. To continue harassing him would not only be cruel, but also futile.’

Kurdziel-Audagnotti said that following the court’s removal of maintenance obligations against Willem, she would pursue the order against FW, and has already notified Willem’s and FW’s legal teams of this.

Noordien said that after two years without maintenance from her ex-husband, her children’s school fees are R80 000 in arrears. She said she had no option but to return to court to force FW to support his grandchildren.

Full Sunday Times report (subscription needed)