A man whose lengthy legal battle to get custody of his six-year-old daughter hit another snag when it was dismissed in the Limpopo High Court (Polokwane) recently is set to lodge an appeal in the SCA.

Judge Matsaro Violet Semenya dismissed his application for leave to appeal a 2019 ruling that denied him the right to custody of his child.

The legal battle ensued when the child’s mother, who was in a relationship with him, died when the child was three months old.

‘MM’ lodged a legal battle to get custody of the child after the grandparents refused to let him see her.

The Mail & Guardian reports that the Department of Social Development is in the process of finalising the Children’s Amendment Bill which will clarify the parental responsibilities of unmarried fathers.

This would mean that unmarried fathers would have the same rights as mothers.

MM, who is a father of four, argues that he is capable of taking care of his children.

His lawyers, Malose Monene and Sigwavhulimu Maano, said the only inference that can be made from the judgment is that the judge ruled against him because he is was unmarried.

Monene and Maano, who have taken on the case pro bono, said the father couldn’t be faulted for not having contact with the child because he was barred by the grandparents.

Full Mail & Guardian report