A SOWETO father who made headlines by declaring that he was prepared to be jailed than pay maintenance for his children has learnt a bitter lesson.

A SOWETO father who made headlines by declaring that he was prepared to be jailed than pay maintenance for his children has learnt a bitter lesson.

In December, Richard Seyaka, of Protea Glen, was sentenced to 2400 hours in prison for failing to pay R500 monthly maintenance.

But Seyaka, who is about to complete the seven-and-a-half months periodical imprisonment, got tongues wagging furiously when he recently told Sowetan he would rather be sentenced again than pay maintenance for his two children.

We reported that in December the 49-year-old father was sentenced to 2400 hours for violating the maintenance order. Seyaka immediately started serving his time from 5pm on Fridays to 5pm on Sundays.

Two weeks ago the self-employed carpenter refused to comply with a Johannesburg family court order compelling him to pay R24000 in arrears and dared his estranged wife Sibongile to take him to court. This was despite the fact that he was about to receive R280000 after allegedly secretly selling their house.

But Seyaka's audacity only brought him more woes.

Sowetan can reveal that he will not get anything from the sale of the house.

This is after after magistrate Daniel Thulare ordered that part of the proceeds from the sale of the joint estate be used to settle the maintenance arrears with effect from October 15.

Thulare also ordered that the rest of the money be transferred into the court's bank account, from where future maintenance will be paid.

"I am happy the magistrate came up with this kind of ruling. Justice has been served," said Sibongile.

But Seyaka, who earlier claimed he was broke, is understood to have filed a notice to appeal the ruling.

He was yesterday not available for comment. An unidentified woman, who answered his cellphone, said he had gone out. She said she would get him to return our call.