Durban - A mother of two young children has, in the face of strong opposition from their father and the Family Advocate, secured a high court order allowing her to emigrate to England after the judge ruled that they would have a better and safer life there than in South Africa.
Durban High Court Judge Isaac Madondo noted that their mother, who worked as a sales representative, could barely afford to school and house her 5- and 3-year-old children here, while in England they would have free schooling, free health care and a safe environment.
“They will have a fulfilled life,” he said. “There, tertiary education will also be subsidised. And their mother will have greater employment opportunities.”
The mother, who has primary custody of the children, brought the court application after their father, to whom she was never married, refused to consent to her taking them overseas “because she has not properly investigated the practicalities” and had no job to go to.
He said her plan was based on nothing more than speculation and hope for a potentially better life, whereas she had a stable life here.
If they left, it would damage his relationship with them.
But the mother said that was not true.
Through an ancestral visa she had lived and worked in the UK for eight years and had never been without a job.
Here, she had been retrenched twice in three years.
She said she had already investigated job opportunities overseas and had approached recruitment agencies and, while she had not received any offers, she had been advised there were vacancies for which she was suitably qualified.
“She has found it difficult, if not impossible, to find higher income earning positions in South Africa. She has basically reached her ceiling here,” the judge said.
“She lives with her parents because she cannot afford her own home. Her parents are also now emigrating. She is not receiving the full maintenance from their father and has a shortfall of R4 669 every month.
“Her concern is providing for her children. She is battling to find a good school for them. And her parents are continuously meeting her financial shortfalls.”
Judge Madondo noted that the Family Advocate and a family counsellor had recommended that the children remain in South Africa because their mother did not have sufficiently good reasons to deprive them of ongoing contact with their father.
But, he said, it seemed neither had been neutral in weighing and evaluating all the facts pertaining to the best interest of the children.
The mother, he said, had to demonstrate that the children would be better off in the UK.
“As a single mom with two small children in South Africa, she has numerous safety concerns and anxiety in her life. If she is forced to remain, she will not be able to maintain them. She will have no support base because her parents are relocating. She is battling to afford a small two-bedroom cottage, where in England she will easily be able to afford a three-bedroom house.
“In England there is a family support system and the children will receive good quality education,” he said, ruling that they would have a better life there.
He ordered that their father have reasonable telephone and Skype contact and be allowed to spend at least three weeks a year with them either in South Africa or in the UK.
The Mercury