A South African woman who married an Australian military man, came to SA to visit her parents with their one-year-old baby and decided not to return home, has been ordered to immediately take the boy back to his father, reports TimesLIVE.

The woman was accused by her husband, identified as MBM, of child abduction when he applied to the court for an order to have his child returned to him.

Despite efforts to legally oppose the matter, the mother, identified as NM, has been found to have unlawfully taken her child away from his father for more than a year.

She has to return to Brisbane with the boy, identified as NEM, for the matter to be resolved by Australian courts.

MBM, with the assistance of the SA Government (the central authority), instituted proceedings in the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) in terms of The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction for an order directing his wife to return their child to Australia.

The court ordered the return of NEM, subject to several conditions.

Unhappy with the decision, NM sought intervention by the SCA, only to have the court confirm the order for her to take her baby back to his father.

SCA Judges Baratang Mocumie and Raylene Keightley found it was in the best interests for NEM to be immediately returned to Australia.

Should she decide against leaving SA, she was required to notify the court, MBM and the SA central authority so arrangements could be made for NEM to be safely returned to his father in Australia with as little friction and upset as possible.

It was ordered that the instructions be made a mirror order of the court in Brisbane, Queensland.

Full TimesLIVE report

Judgment