Joost goes to court for children

Johannesburg - Joost van der Westhuizen will submit documents to the court this week to gain access to his children.

Van der Westhuizen's children with estranged wife Amor Vittone are currently under her supervision.

However, according to Claudio Bollo, Amor Vittone's lawyer, the existing arrangements with regards to the children are sufficient and therefore Bollo has said it is unnecessary for Van der Westhuizen to submit an apllication to the court.

Vittone and Van der Westhuizen are still finalising their divorce and their children are under Vittone's supervision.

Bollo said he could not comment on court documents that have not been issued and that are not in his possession, but he regards the access that the former Springbok captain has to his children as sufficient.

Van der Westhuizen's attorney Robert Klinkenberg, said the court documents will be issued in the Supreme Court this week.

Father's Day

"I expect that we will receive a court date within two weeks. This is not an urgent application, rather a semi-urgent application. Joost believes that the current arrangement is inadequate.

"According to the current arrangement he gets the children every other weekend and he may sometimes pick them up from school during the week to take them home. We believe the time is right for a formal order made by a court so that everyone knows where they stand."

The two children spent Father's Day with Van der Westhuizen on Sunday. Neither he nor Vittone responded to voicemail messages.

Van der Westhuizen's spokesperson Bridget van Oerle said on Friday that a press conference will be held shortly to make an announcement about his illness.

It was initially announced that he had motor neurone disease, but he has now seen a second neurologist. These findings will be announced soon.