Gauteng high court suspends mother’s parental rights as father seeks to raise daughter with wife

Ask AI 3 min Mother’s parental rights suspended as Gauteng father keeps care of daughter.

A Gauteng father has asked the court to grant him parental rights over his young daughter who has been in his care for as long as she can remember, while he and his wife plan to adopt her.

The court ultimately found that it was in the child's best interests to remain in the father's care after considering a report prepared by curatrices appointed to investigate the child's circumstances.

The curatrices' report, delivered on August 28, 2026, substantially confirmed the father's account of the care he and his family had been providing to the child.

Judge Stuart Wilson said the father had demonstrated that he was a fit parent and ruled that he should be awarded the parental rights he had sought.