Pretoria – A single father is so desperate to see his 7-year-old child that he will subject himself to a hair follicle test at the University of Pretoria to determine whether he used any drugs.
The man, who cannot be identified to safeguard the identity of his child, said the mother of his child had to pay for the drug test.
Judge Billy Mothle granted this order, which included that as soon as he was declared “clean” following the results of the drug screening test, the process to reunite him with his son would start.
A hair follicle test is a measure whereby a small strand of a person’s hair is tested to see whether it contains any traces of drug use. In a drug user, molecules of the drug are carried to the hair follicles via the bloodstream.
The father said he had a brief encounter with the mother of his son, from which the child was born. He was at first allowed some contact with the child, but the woman subsequently severed ties due to his drug abuse.
He said he was desperate to be reunited with his son and accused the mother of using the child as a pawn in her gripes with him. She had pulling out all the stops to alienate the child from him, he said.
The mother at first complained that he had used dagga in the past and that he abused alcohol.
The father denied this, but on the woman’s insistence, he had an anti-drink chip implanted. He also submitted himself to several drug tests, but this was not enough for her.
The man accused the mother of being “exceptionally jealous” as he was engaged to another woman. “I believe she is using our son as a tool to hurt me,” he stated in court papers.
He said he was at first allowed sporadic access to his son, when “she is in a mood to allow it”.
While the mother questioned his social habits, the father said: “I admit that I have parties on occasion, as every person does, but I do not abuse alcohol, nor do I do drugs.”
In desperation to see his son he, however, agreed to have a chip implant, which prevents him using alcohol.
He said the mother’s reasons for withholding him access to his son changed all the time. Some of her latests concerns included that he had “lots of girlfriends” and that he drove irresponsibly.
The father said he had been frustrated for years now as he is doing everything she asked, but yet she still denied him access to his son.
“I had the chip implanted, I had drug tests in the past and I am prepared to go for testing at any time in future,” he stated.
He told the court that he undertook to go for the hair follicle test and tried to make arrangements accordingly with the mother, but she failed to respond to his offer.
He stated that if there is a formal court order in this regard, she could not bail out and this would open the door for him to be reunited with his son.