Cape Town - A Cape Town businessman believes his former partner fled the country with his minor daughter, accusing her of abduction.
The Milnerton resident and owner of a men’s clothing store, appeared in the Children’s Court at the Bellville Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.
In a previous appearance on May 22, it was ordered that the mother appear in court with the child, and a social worker be appointed to investigate the child’s circumstances.
The court also ordered paternity tests be conducted.
The mother was not present in court and had been absent at the previous court appearance.
The pair had been dating since 2017, soon after she was given a job at his store.
In October 2020, the two became parents to a baby girl. The man said he believed the mother left the country with their toddler and was in the UK, with someone she had been intimate with since 2019, while the two had been in a relationship.
“The police went there (former residence) to look for her, she’s not there. The sheriff went there three times, she’s not there. The court served her three times via email; she never responded.”
A court order had made it possible to obtain the mother and child’s flight details indicating the two had left for London on May 5, three days before the court appearance scheduled for May 8. It is unclear if she had returned to South Africa.
The father also claimed the mother had applied for a passport for his daughter without his permission. The matter is set to continue in court.
The father, who had been granted visitation rights by the court, said he was told to collect his daughter in the UK.
When Cape Argus visited the family’s former residence in Parow, a woman claiming to be the grandmother’s sister, said they had left after the father “made a scene” at the home with the police.
She said she was unaware of their current whereabouts and had not been in contact with them for some time.
She said they were concerned about them, but did not believe they had left the country.
The businessman said he had pleaded to have his name added to the child’s birth certificate, however this was delayed and strongly denied by the child’s maternal grandmother.
“Home Affairs in Pretoria, they are the cause of the disappearance of my daughter. They lodged it too late. I applied on the 15th of May last year, till now they only lodge it on the system but did not put my name on the system,” he said.