Johannesburg -
A national study of child murders has found despite South Africa’s liberal abortion laws, there are still a high number of mothers who abandon their newborns.
The study, by researchers from the SA Medical Research Council (MRC), was published in the journal Public Library of Science (PLOS) Medicine this week.
The researchers estimated that 454 children younger than five were murdered in 2009, the majority by their parents. This is one of the highest child murder rates uncovered by academic researchers.
The purpose of the study was to identify when, where and why child murders occurred, so authorities could develop relevant interventions.
To calculate the murder rate, lead author Professor Naeemah Abrahams, of the MRC, and colleagues studied data from 38 urban and rural mortuaries countrywide and extrapolated it for the entire population.
They found most deaths - 51 percent - involved babies younger than six days old, with abandonment the most common method of murder.
But the high rates of abandonment indicated mothers were carrying unwanted babies to term.
“The research points primarily to a failure of maternal and reproductive health services,” the authors said.
They said expectant mothers should have easier access to counselling about abortions, or how to give children up for adoption.
Sunday Argus