Judgment from the Johannesburg High Court.
The parties are divorced. This application stems from a complaint made by one of the parties to their parenting coordinator that their child had been sexually abused by the applicant’s brother-in-law. The respondent had pressed criminal charges. An investigation was conducted by an educational psychologist to address the sexual abuse allegations, but in her report she also expressed concerns about the respondent’s ability to care for the child. The respondent disputes her report.
The applicant seeks inter alia the appointment of Tania Holz to assess the best interests of the child, which was granted. The applicant did not seek primary residence of the child in his notice of motion, however citing the Court’s duty to protect the best interests of the child, Meikle AJ also ordered that primary residence shall be with the applicant forthwith, subject to the respondent’s rights to contact.