- The High Court has turned down a mother’s urgent application to regain custody of her 14-year-old son.
- The judge has raised concerns about whether the boy should have been removed from his mother’s care in the first place.
- The family has been ordered to attend intensive therapy while the Children’s Court proceedings continue.
A Johannesburg judge has raised doubts about whether a 14-year-old boy should have been removed from his mother’s care. However, the judge found that returning him home right now would not be in his best interests, given his ongoing struggle with significant mental health challenges.
Judge SM Wentzel-Thompson, sitting in the High Court in Johannesburg, dismissed the mother’s urgent application to remove her son from his aunt’s care. Instead, she ordered intensive therapy and family reintegration while related proceedings continue before the Randburg Children’s Court.
The judge found that the teenager’s struggles with self-harm and suicidal thoughts required urgent court intervention. However, she decided that moving him now could further unsettle him.
“There is absolutely no need for me to delay this application,” the judge said. She emphasised that the allegations of imminent danger to the child were taken very seriously.
Long-running family dispute
This dispute goes back to July 2025, when the High Court made an interim order removing the teenager from his mother’s care and placing him with his aunt while an investigation into his best interests was carried out.
The boy’s mother kept her parental rights, but her contact was limited to supervised visits while a private social worker looked into the family’s situation.
Later, the mother returned to the High Court, claiming that her sister was repeatedly blocking court-ordered contact, leaving her out of important decisions about her son’s treatment, and deliberately alienating him from her.
The mother was also upset when she learned her son had been admitted to a mental health facility after self-harming, saying she had not been included in decisions about his care.
Judge hears directly from teenager
Instead of only reading affidavits, Judge Wentzel-Thompson spoke with the teenager in person in her chambers.
The judge described the boy as “such a sad and tormented child”, but noted that he spoke openly and honestly about the conflict between his mother and his aunt.
Although the boy had previously said he wanted to go back to his mother, he told the judge that recent events had changed his mind, and he now preferred to stay with his aunt.
The judge also spoke with the teenager’s psychiatrist, who confirmed that he needed ongoing psychiatric care, medication, and therapy. “There is no doubt that D’s current mental state needs urgent help and investigation,” Judge Wentzel-Thompson said.
The judge said that experts would need to determine why the boy’s mental health had worsened so much after being removed from his mother, and what part, if any, each adult had played in this.
Judge questions original removal
Although the court refused the mother’s application, the judgment makes it clear that the court is not convinced that removing the boy from his mother’s care was the right decision in the first place.
“I still feel there may not have been proper grounds for taking the drastic step of removing D from his mother’s care, without first trying less severe supportive solutions,” Judge Wentzel-Thompson said.
The judge also questioned how much authority the private social worker had and expressed doubts about her objectivity, noting concerns about the decisions that affected the mother’s contact with her son. The judgment says those concerns need further investigation.
Contact arrangements collapse
The court found that supervised visits at the social worker’s office created an artificial atmosphere and did little to heal the broken relationship between mother and son.
To improve things, the judge allowed for shorter supervised visits in public places chosen by the boy himself. At first, this approach seemed to work.
The teenager later said that one of the visits had been the best since he and his mother started seeing each other again. However, this progress did not last.
The judgment says the mother sent numerous messages, voice notes, and social media posts, which the teenager found emotionally overwhelming and guilt-inducing. He ended up blocking her messages and cancelling more visits as he became increasingly distressed.
The judgment also describes incidents where the mother allegedly turned up at the aunt’s home and at a hospital with police or emergency personnel, accusing her sister of abuse or of unlawfully keeping her son from her.
Judge Wentzel-Thompson found that the mother’s struggle to control her emotions had become a major barrier to rebuilding trust with her son. “I hope the applicant will see, when reading this judgment, that she too needs therapy if she wants to be reintegrated (with the child) and, hopefully, one day regain custody of him,” the judge said. “This is a two-way street.”
Warning against parental alienation
While the judge criticised the mother’s behaviour, she also warned the aunt not to do anything that might permanently damage the relationship between mother and child.
“As a psychologist herself, the respondent should know that further restricting the mother’s access to D will only make things worse for her,” Judge Wentzel-Thompson said.
The judge added that the aunt “should encourage reintegration with the mother and be careful not to cause parental alienation.”
The judgment recognises that the mother feels “wronged and unheard” after her son was removed from her care and acknowledges the desperation that has driven much of the legal battle.
Therapy ordered before any custody decision
Although the mother’s urgent application was unsuccessful, the judge stressed that the case is far from over. The application has been put on hold until the Children’s Court proceedings are finished, with the High Court still keeping an eye on the case.
The teenager will continue seeing his psychiatrist and will also have therapy sessions with another psychologist.
The mother, aunt, and teenager have all been ordered to attend 12 sessions of reintegration therapy. After these sessions, the therapists will report back to the High Court on how the family is progressing.
Judge Wentzel-Thompson said she hopes therapy will help repair the relationship between mother and son and help determine whether returning the boy to his mother’s care is really in his best interests.
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