Bitter Father's Day as man is 'denied' access to his children due to legal battle

AS FATHERS around the world were honoured on Sunday, Johannesburg father and businessman Asif Casoojee says marked yet another Father's Day alone, cut off from his children and emotionally drained by what he calls a "systemic failure to protect fathers' rights.

- SIFISO MAHLANGU

"For the fourth consecutive year, Casoojee says he was not allowed to spend the day with his two children, nor attend the Father's Day event hosted at their prestigious private school on Friday — an institution he continues to fund despite being denied access.

"I wasn't even invited," Casoojee told The Star "The school told me the next of kin is the lawyer Kaamilah Paulse and that I wasn't welcome. It's not just heartbreaking. It's dehumanising."

Casoojee places the blame for his exclusion squarely on attorney Kaamilah Paulse, who represents his ex-spouse in an ongoing legal dispute that has spanned over four years.

"She's made every effort to alienate me from my kids. Calls are ignored, emails bounce back, and I've been locked out of school records and events. And still, I pay the fees," he said.

"I'm their father, not a ghost."

His allegations are supported by a March ruling from the Appeals Tribunal of the Legal Practice Council (LPC), which found prima facie evidence of misconduct by Paulse.