A South African mother has been ordered by the court to return her four-year-old son to Switzerland after she unilaterally decided to stay in South Africa, citing a support system and unresolved relationship issues with the father. A mother, who shares parental and responsibility rights with the father of her four-year-old child, has been ordered by the court to return to Switzerland with the toddler boy after she made a unilateral decision to stay in South Africa, where she holds dual citizenship. After the Italian couple attended a South African family wedding in 2022, the mother contracted Covid-19, and as a result, the father left alone for Geneva, Switzerland, with an arrangement in place that the mother and child would join later once she was cleared of the infection.
However, according to the court record, the relationship between the couple had become strained, and after recovering from the virus, the mother made several excuses to delay her return to Switzerland and stayed in South Africa, where she, as she contended in court, had a support system. Acting Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), Thandi Norman, said while the visitation rights of the father were not infringed and he remained responsible for all expenses and maintenance relating to the minor child, keeping the child in South Africa without consent was wrongful. “The retention of the minor child, L, in South Africa was a decision taken by (the mother) alone without the consent of (the father).
She wanted to be closer to her family… Her other reason was that (the father) was not committing to marriage. “She retained the child without consulting (the father), who had custodial rights. She decided unilaterally to retain the child in South Africa. (She) has failed to offer a satisfactory explanation to dispel the presumption of wrongful retention of the minor child,” said Acting Judge Norman.
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