Gauteng Court Denies Zimbabwean Mother’s Relocation Request for Her Children After Father's Suicide

• The Gauteng High Court denied a Zimbabwean mother’s request to relocate her children to Zimbabwe
• The judge ruled that the move was not in the children's best interests amid family disputes and trauma
• The judge ordered immediate contact between the mother and children despite the relocation being dismissed

Justin Williams, a journalist at Briefly News since 2024, covers South Africa’s current affairs. Before joining Briefly News, he served as a writer and chief editor at Right for Education Africa’s South African chapter.

GAUTENG, JOHANNESBURG - A Zimbabwean mother’s urgent attempt to relocate her three minor children to Zimbabwe was turned down by the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg, which ruled that the move would not, at this stage, be in the children’s best interests.

Suicide of the children’s father

According to IOL, the application followed the suicide of the children’s father in November 2025 and a bitter family dispute between the mother, identified as FM, and the children’s paternal aunt, LB, who has been caring for them since their father’s death. FM asked the court to allow her to move her children, aged 12, 9 and 5, to Zimbabwe before she returned to her employment in Ireland. She argued that the relocation would provide temporary stability while she pursued legal avenues to be reunited with them abroad.

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Judge Stuart Wilson found that FM did not intend to live with the children in Zimbabwe, but planned to leave them in the care of relatives while she returned to Ireland. The court further noted that the children had no meaningful connection to Zimbabwe, as they were born, raised and educated in South Africa. The case arose from traumatic circumstances. In November 2025, the children’s father, TC, died by suicide after a period of marital conflict, in an incident witnessed by the children. One child was injured while attempting to help him. The children were subsequently placed in the care of their aunt.

Contact between the children and their mother

Although the relocation bid was refused, the court was critical of LB’s conduct, finding that she had deliberately blocked contact between the children and their mother and had encouraged them to blame FM for their father’s death. Claims that the children themselves had resisted contact were rejected. Judge Wilson ordered immediate contact between FM and the children and later interviewed them personally. He found that they wished to live with their mother and had not been alienated from her, despite the trauma they had experienced.

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While recognising that FM would ordinarily be entitled to live with her children, the judge held that the proposed arrangement would separate them from both parents and place them in an unfamiliar country without their mother’s presence. On balance, he ruled that it was safer for the children to remain in South Africa under their aunt’s care for the time being. The application to relocate the children was therefore dismissed.

Mom seeks help after Congolese father takes 5-year-old child to DRC

In another article, Briefly News reported that a desperate mother sought urgent intervention after her five-year-old daughter was allegedly taken out of the country by her father.

The emotional plea appeared in a video shared on X, where the woman detailed her struggles with local police and international travel concerns.

Source: Briefly News