A Johannesburg father has won a battle to keep his two children in the country after relatives of his late estranged wife sought to take them to Scotland.

The Mercury reports the court battle unfolded as the father – who struggled with a long-standing drug problem – was determined to prove his ability to provide a stable environment for his children, despite his past challenges.

The mother began divorce proceedings in 2020 but died in March 2024 before the divorce was finalised. After her death, the children’s grandmother was granted interim primary care.

In an urgent application filed at the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg), the late wife’s relatives – her brother and his wife who live in Scotland – submitted a report by a therapist, asserting that the children needed a stable environment.

They argued that they were suitable candidates for guardianship as they had maintained contact with the children and had stable jobs. They alleged that the father had been absent from the children’s lives for more than four years and, despite presenting clean drug test results, a doctor’s report indicated ongoing alcohol abuse. 

In his response, the father maintained that he had complied with the Family Advocate’s conditions, which required him to remain drug-free for two years before unsupervised contact could be reconsidered.

Regarding his financial situation, he argued that his income was terminated by his late wife’s brother and other trustees, as he previously received money from properties co-owned with his late wife.

Judge Mokate Victor Noko found that the late wife’s brother failed to provide financial evidence to support his case – and noted that his financial position should not be compared to the father’s, whose finances had been consistently unstable.

According to the report in The Mercury, the judge ruled that relocating the children to Scotland would be based on insufficient information.

He advised that if the couple wished to pursue guardianship in the future, they would need to present comprehensive plans – including financial proof, school arrangements and an assessment by Scottish authorities – confirming the suitability of their living conditions.

Noko also expressed concern about uprooting the children from their familiar environment and placing them in an English-medium school, as they had been attending Afrikaans schools in SA.

The court ultimately granted guardianship of the children to their grandmother in SA.

Full report in The Mercury

Judgment