L

IKEmanyuniversitystu-

dents,hefindsittough

makingendsmeetand

hastoworkinhisspare

timetohelpfundhisdaily

commuteandlivingex-

penses.

Buthewouldn’thaveto

ThomasKlintworthsays,if hismothe

didherbit– whichiswhyhe’ssuin

herformaintenance.

The19-year-oldUniversityofWitwa

tersrandaccountingstudentisno

lockedina bittercourtbattlewithhi

mom– andit hasoutragedmanySout

Africans.

“I’mnottryingtoportrayherasa b

mother,”Thomassays.“Thelastthing

I wantis toslanderher.I justwanta fair

chanceatlife.”

Thomas’recentdecisiontosuehis

mom,LouwnaKlintworth(55),hasbeen

causinga buzzonsocialmediaandmost

commentatorshavecriticisedhimfor

hisactions.

“Thisiswhathappenswhenchildren

thinkthey’readults,”oneFacebookuser

says.

Anotherbelieveshe’snothingmore

thana spoiltbratwhohasnorespectfor

hismomand“doesn’tknowthevalueof

money”.

COUGH UP,

MOM, I HAVE

TO STUDY!

A student is suing his mother

for his education, but she says

she can’t afford what he’s asking

BY JACQUES MYBURGH PICTURE: ONKGOPOTSE KOLOTI

ButThomassaysthisisn’tthecase.

“I’vehadtomoveoutofuniversityresi-

dencebecausemydadcan’tcoverthe

costsalone,”heexplains.

Thefirst-yearstudentandhisfather,

CraigKlintworth(55),aretalkingtoYOU

attheirlawyer’sofficeinKrugersdorp,

westofJohannesburg.

InhispetitionintheJohannesburg

familycourtThomasdescribeshowhe’s

suinghismother,anofficemanager,

for maintenance, including class

s and pocket money.

omas and Craig, a weapons man-

cturer, don’t want to discuss the

ecific monthly amount but Louwna

s told the media it includes R3 000

onth for groceries and personal

oducts, R620 a month for clothes,

0 for outings and extracurricular

tivities, R500 pocket money, R

r lunch, R500 for recreation and hol-

ays, and R100 a month for leisure

ading material.

He’s claiming a further R2 200 a

onth for class fees and R3 404 for

ccommodation – all in all, an

mount of R11 074.

uwna argues she’s already contrib-

uting R3 300 a month towards her son’s

expenses and “can’t afford any more than

that”.

Her cost-to-company is R50 000 a

month. After deductions she takes home

R27 000.

Thomas’ lawyer, Vicky Louw, says the

divorce document stipulates that Louw-

na must pay a set portion of her son’s ter-

tiary education and his father the rest.

But Craig claims he’s paying the lion’s

share of his son’s expenses.

“You need to give your child all the

opportunities in life that you can offer,”

Craig says. “Louwna just refuses.”

Thomas Klintworth is being

vilified for suing his mom

for maintenance – but he

says he’s just trying to

safeguard his future.

Louwna and Thomas before their rela-

tionship soured. She says she’s doing the

best she can with the resources she has.

But he reckons she can pay more.

8 | 8 AUGUST 2019 you.co.za