A father who lives in Israel has lost his legal bid to for his now 5-year-old child to be immediately returned to him, after alleging the South African mother had abducted the child four years ago.

He had approached to the Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg, through the Central Authority of South Africa, in terms of the Hague Convention, which deals with the civil aspects of international child abduction.

The father said that the child should be returned to her country of “habitual residence” in Eilat, Israel, from where she was “unlawfully” removed in March 2021.

The mother opposed the application on the basis that the removal of the child from Israel was not wrongful, as the father had consented in writing to her bringing the child to South Africa.

The mother also argued that the child would be exposed to a grave risk of physical and psychological harm or be placed in an intolerable situation if the court were to order her return to Israel.

She argued that the child was removed with the knowledge and consent of the father. The mother explained that in November 2020, both she and the child’s father applied in Israel for a passport for the child.

She said he also signed a consent form in which he gave her permission to travel to South Africa with the child. He further provided her with a photocopy of his identity document, which she attached to the parental consent letter for the purposes of removing the child from Israel to South Africa.

The mother said she clearly told him that she was returning to South Africa to live with her family. He had visited South Africa with her in 2016 when he stayed with her at her family home, which is the very same address that she resides at with the child.

The address was on the parental consent form, which he signed electronically and which the mother sent to him via WhatsApp, to which he responded with a thumbs up emoji.

Judge Leicester Adams noted that a long time has passed before the father instituted these proceedings to get his child back with him. He said the child has been residing in South Africa since March 2021 – nearly four years.

During this time, she has settled into her life, home, and new environment in Johannesburg. She resides with her mother and her grandparents, and she only speaks English. She is happy and thriving and has no recollection of her life in Israel.

The judge said if he ordered that the child had to return, she would be separated from her mother, as the latter cannot return to Israel. This is because she has no tertiary education, and the last job that she had before the child was born was working at the duty-free store at the airport.

She was unable to cope financially after the child was born and approached a welfare organisation to obtain social support and financial assistance. The judge subsequently turned down the father’s application.

Cape Times