Louise Flanagan
30 June 2009
Cape Town tug-of-love dad Steve Swanepoel was overcome with emotion at the thought of seeing his two youngest children again for the first time in two years.
"I'm so tearful that I can hardly talk," he said.
On Monday, the Department of Justice told Swanepoel, who lives in Cape Town, the French authorities had decided to implement court orders - handed down by French courts in terms of an international convention aimed at combating child abductions - and hand over his children to him.
Now Swanepoel is scrambling to get his passport renewed so he can fly to France to fetch them within the next few days.
"I'm hoping to travel this week or, failing that, on Monday at the latest."
He said French authorities had warned that his children might have forgotten how to speak English. He does not speak French.
The dad hasn't been able to speak to his children yet, so he doesn't know whether they are aware they will soon be returned to South Africa.
He also has two older children, whom he brought up and who have been trying to deal with the loss of their siblings for the past two years.
"Their older brother and sister wept with joy when I told them the news," he said.
Swanepoel last saw his youngest children in March, 2007, when his former wife - who holds French, Swiss and British nationalities - told him she was taking them on holiday to France, but never came back.
His daughter is now seven and his son is six.
The Cape Argus is withholding their names to protect the children's privacy.
Since then, Swanepoel has won orders from three French courts instructing that the children be returned to him, but his former wife has ignored them.
On Monday, officials told Swanepoel that French authorities would forcibly remove the children because their mother had ignored the court orders.
Three weeks ago, when Swanepoel's fight to be re-united with his children came to light, Justice Department officials confirmed the French court rulings, but said the French authorities had failed to ensure compliance.
The department said it was taking up the matter through diplomatic channels.
Despite the abduction and two-year battle to see his children again, Swanepoel said he would not prevent his former wife from seeing them again. "I will never deny her access," the relieved father said.
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