A mother, who was ordered to return her biological son to a diplomat who helped raise him, will appeal the judgment, her Advocate Eliot Buthane said. As reported in Legalbrief Today, Gauteng High Court Judge Pierre Rabie ruled that should the mother fail to immediately return the minor child, the diplomat shall be entitled to apply for her to be held in contempt of court.

The judge also ordered the sheriff or his deputy to take the child and hand him back to the diplomat if the biological mother failed to immediately do so, notes TimesLIVE. This followed an urgent application that was brought by the diplomat on Tuesday, seeking the return of the minor to her care. She is due to return to her embassy post soon.

According to testimony presented in court, the diplomat procured a High Court order in September 2015, which granted her joint guardianship of the child in terms of section 24 of the Children's Act. She secured the order because she wanted to take the child with her after she was posted to her ambassador post in 2015.

The court heard that from the time the child was six months old, he had been living with the diplomat. However, the child had been living with his biological mother since March when the diplomat returned home after a family member fell ill. The child is believed to have been born from a relationship the diplomat's partner had while he was married to her.

Rabie said at the time of the 2015 judgment, the biological mother fully supported the diplomat's application 'in terms of which she relinquished guardianship over the child in favour of the second applicant'.

Full TimesLIVE report