Dad fights for his daughter’s custody

A quadriplegic father says he will not give up the fight to see his daughter – even if it means he has to crawl to court.

It has been nearly two years since the Joburg father, who cannot be named because the case is still in court, has seen his teenage daughter.

“I have a high court order for her to be placed back in my care but they keep on saying she doesn’t want to see me. Can you imagine not seeing your child?”

The man was not having any luck with the department of social development (DSD) for help. He went to its Pretoria office on Wednesday, only to be referred to the Johannesburg office, which
referred him back to the Pretoria office.

The father took a week’s leave to try and get some answers from the department.

“This has become too much, I have appeared in court 11 times since 2019.”

He said his daughter had been in his care since the age of six and was removed when he was falsely accused of assaulting her after an argument. The charges were later dropped.

“Two weeks ago, I went to Durban to get my daughter but the social worker refused,” he said, claiming he was sure his ex was blocking him from their daughter.

“She would have told me if she wanted to live with her mother,” the father said.

Meanwhile, Solomon Mondlane, who protested in an 11-day hunger strike outside of a DSD office last February, said he has closed the case after fighting for three years to get custody of his two children following his wife’s death.

“I and my partner decided to close the case since I was diagnosed with depression a

nd anxiety during those days.

“I had to spend a few days in bed taking medication. I’m up again and doing my daily business, but I no longer need this case,” Mondlane said.

In the meantime, Mondlane was informed to attend the case again on 19 July.

“Yes, I will be going to court as a biological father and the only remaining parent of them. Showing my face in court means I am not a flight risk. It means I am not a sperm donor. It means I’m not an absent father by choice,” Mondlane said.

Gary da Silva from Justice for Fathers said cases such as the quadriplegic father and the hunger-strike father not only cost fathers their constitutional, legal, and financial rights, but also their
children.

“Why does the state always pursue the father who wants to participate?” Da Silva said.

Da Silva said he was aware of another father, from Springs, who has been falsely accused of sexual
abuse twice.