SA: Court blocks mother’s request to relocate her children to Zimbabwe after father’s suicide; mum based in Ireland

By IOL News

• Judge ruled that the move was not in the children’s best interests amid family disputes and trauma
• Judge ordered immediate contact between the mother and children despite the relocation being dismissed 

SOUTH AFRICA: A South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg has refused an urgent application to relocate three minor children to Zimbabwe following the suicide of their father, ruling that such a move would not be in the children’s best interests at this stage.

The judgment follows a highly distressing family dispute involving a Zimbabwean mother, identified as FM, and her former sister-in-law, LB, who has been caring for the children since their father’s death in November 2025.

FM sought the court’s permission to relocate her three children, aged 12, 9, and 5, to Zimbabwe prior to returning to her employment in Ireland. She argued that the relocation was necessary to secure stability for the children while she pursued legal avenues to reunite with them abroad.

However, Judge Stuart Wilson, found that FM did not intend to live with the children in Zimbabwe, instead planning to leave them in the care of relatives while she returned to Ireland.

Judge Wilson concluded that the children had no meaningful connection to Zimbabwe, having been born, raised and educated entirely in South Africa.

The case arose from tragic circumstances. In November 2025, the children’s father, TC, died by suicide in an incident witnessed by the children after a period of marital conflict and emotional strain. One of the children sustained burn injuries while attempting to help him. Following the incident, the children went to live with their aunt, LB.

Despite ruling against the mother, judge Wilson was sharply critical of LB’s conduct in the weeks that followed, finding that she had deliberately prevented FM from seeing or speaking to her children and had encouraged them to blame their mother for their father’s death.

He rejected arguments that the children themselves had refused contact, describing LB’s stance as influenced by grief and anger.

After ordering immediate contact between FM and the children, judge Wilson personally interviewed the children and found that they wished to live with their mother and had not been alienated from her, despite the trauma they had endured.

While acknowledging that FM would ordinarily be entitled to live with her children, the judge emphasised that the current proposal would separate them from both parents and place them in an unfamiliar country without their mother’s presence. On balance, judge Wilson ruled that it was safer and more stable for the children to remain in South Africa under LB’s care for the time being.

The relocation application was therefore refused. However, the court made extensive orders to protect FM’s parental rights, granting her full unsupervised contact with the children and strictly prohibiting LB from interfering with or undermining their relationship. LB was also barred from removing the children from their school or residence without court approval.

Meanwhile, the family advocate has been directed to investigate longer-term options, including the possibility of the children relocating to Ireland, Zimbabwe or elsewhere to live with FM.

The matter will remain under the supervision of the same judge until a further order is made.