A South African court is due to rule on the future of two four-year-old girls who were accidentally switched at birth.

While one of the women wants to correct the error and reclaim her biological child, the other is refusing to give back the girl she has raised as her own.

The babies were born on the same day in 2010 at a Johannesburg hospital but ended up being taken home by the wrong mother.

There has been no explanation for the mix-up.

Last year one of the mothers sued her ex-partner for maintenance for her daughter. The man denied he was the father and a DNA test was done, which found it was not his baby and not hers.

Eventually she met the other mother and since last December they have been attending joint counselling sessions, arranged by the hospital.

This has included meeting their biological daughters.

The court has asked the Centre for Child Law at the University of Pretoria to investigate what would be in the best interests of the children and to report back to the judge in 90 days.