A mother’s joy as court returns baby
Temporary ruling follows MEC’s recommendation
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I STILL cannot believe that she is back in my arms. I’m overjoyed that my baby has finally come home after months of trauma and stress. I nearly died from the heartache of being separated from my daughter.”
This is how Mzamomhle mother Phumza Kadeni reacted yesterday after Children’s Court magistrate Francois Goosen reunited her with her eight-month-old baby.
Goosen ruled against his Komga Magistrate’s Court counterpart Michelle Pillay and reunited the mother with her daughter after months of a custody battle between the domestic worker and her former employer.
Yesterday’s temporary ruling was made after social development MEC Nancy Sihlwayi had recommended that Kadeni was fit to be a mother and that the infant should be returned to her care.
This was after social workers had conducted an investigation into Kadeni’s fitness to be a mother.
When Kadeni and her parents came out of the closed court sitting that was attended by Pillay, the Christelike Maatskaplike Raad (CMR) and government social workers, Mzamomhle residents, who have rallied behind the mother, ululated in celebration.
Department of social development social workers fetched the baby from Pillay’s home and took her back to Kadeni’s Mzamomhle shack, where Kadeni and her parents were excitedly awaiting her return.
Kadeni held on tightly to her baby girl, who amid all the attention only had eyes for her mother. The infant hung on tight to her mother and did not want to go to any of the residents who wanted to hold her.
Kadeni’s older son also clung closely to his mother and baby sister inside their one-roomed shack.
In an interview, Kadeni said she was happy to have her baby back.
“The ordeal is over. The judge found me fit to get my child back,” she said.
Goosen ruled that the baby be returned to her mother temporarily while a final court verdict on the child’s future would be issued on May 28.
Kadeni said her mother, Tototo, would look after her at their Mzamomhle home while she continued to provide for her two children.
The grandmother who lives in Centane, said they would soon be moving into the bigger shack Phumza built over the Easter weekend.
“It’s been a long and difficult four months of us trying to get our grandchild back. We’ll finally be able to sleep again knowing she is back where she belongs.
“I’ll make sure that I’m always here so no one else can ever take her away from us again,” she said.
In a show of solidarity, the Mzamomhle community pledged to club together and help Kadeni and her baby with any need they might have.
Kadeni and Pillay have been fighting over Kadeni’s baby for months now.
Last month, a court order granted Pillay 30-day legal custody for the baby while CMR and government social workers carried out investigations into Kadeni’s living conditions to determine where the child should be raised.
The custody battle started in January after Pillay, then Kadeni’s employer, allegedly refused to give the child back to her mother when Kadeni left her job at Pillay’s Gonubie home.
In a statement yesterday, Sihlwayi, who visited Kadeni on Wednesday to personally apologise to her for the custody battle “mess”, said she was happy the baby had been reunited with her mother.
“We are elated that the court has concurred with our recommendation on the future of the child as the best primary custody of any child is always with its biological mother.
“We implore families and communities to always be vigilant in ensuring the protection of children and their welfare.
“The department will continue to do post-reunification interventions for the affected persons,” she said.
Masimanyane director Lesley-Ann Foster, who was also in court supporting Kadeni, said she was incensed by the “first-hand demonstration of inequality on the poor and marginalised”.
“It was selfish and grossly unfair, a mother has the right to her own child. Phumza went to great lengths with the little she has to get the child back.
“We need to strengthen parents in order to strengthen their children.”
Attempts to reach CMR, Pillay and magistrate Goosen were unsuccessful. —